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OFFICIAL ORGAN. OF THE PROHIBITIONISTS IN NORTH. CAROLINA.
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VOL. IV.
s
GREENSBORO, K C., FRIDAY, JANUARY-?,' 1887.
-v
NO. 52.
TOE FLYING TEAIIS.
REV. T. DE WITT TALMAfcl'S NEW
YEAR SERMON. " ' "'1
We Shonld Not Me A are Our Tears by
,Our Sorrows, but by Oar Joys For One
" Stalk of .. Kiglitstuule-'' there are Fifty
. Blooming; Marigolds and Harebells. ,
Brooklyn, Jan. JJ. This morning at the
tabernacle the Rev T. De Witt Talmage, i).
D.. expounded some passages of Scripture
concerning the longevity of the patriarchs.
He gave out the hymn beginning:
': My days are gliding swiftly" by; ; , '
- . - f And L, a pilgrim stranger, -:. ;
r ; Would not detain them as they fly,
-" ' Tnose hours of toil and danger. . ..
His text was Genesis, xlvii, 8: ... "How Old
Art Thou?" The preacher said: ; k '
, The Egyptian capital was the focus of the
world's wealth, . In ships and barges there
. had been brought to it from India frankin
cense, and cinnamon, and ivory and dia
monds; from the north, - marble and iron;
from Syria, purple and silk; from Greece,
Bome'of the flaest horses of the world, 'and
some of the most brilliant chariots, and from
all the earth that which could best please the
eye, and charm the ear, and gratify the taste.
There were temples aflame with red sand
stone, entered by the gateways . that were
guarded by Pinal's bewildering with hiero-
' gly hicsand wound with brazen serpents,
and adorned : with . winged creatures their
eyes,"" and i beaks, : and , pinions glitter
ing with precious Hones. There were
marble columns blooming into white
flower beds; there were stone pillars, at
the top bursting into the shape of the lotus
when in full bloom.- Along the avenues,
lined with sphinx and fane and obelisk, there
were princes who came in gorgeously uphol
stered palanquin, carried by servants in scar-'
ab; or elsewhere drawn by vehicles, the
snow white horses, golden-bitted and six
. abreast, dashing at . full ' run. . There were
fountains from stone wreathed vases climb
ing the ladders of the light '.You would hear
a bolt shove and a door of brass would open
like a flash of tho sun. . The surrounding
gardens were saturated with odors that
mounted the terrace and dripped from the
nr'oors, and burned their incense in the Egyp
tian noon. On floors of mosaic the glories of
Pharaoh - were spelled out in letters of
porphyry and beryl and name. There were
ornaments twisted from the wood of tam-ai-isk,
tinbossed with silver, breaking into
foam. There were footstools made out of a
single precious stone. There were beds fash-
1 ioned out of a crouched lion in bronze. There
were chairs spotted with , the sleek hides of
leopards. There were sofas footed with the
claws of ". wild beasts and armed with the
beaks of birds. As - you stand on the level
'beach of the sea on a summer day and look
either way and there are miles of breakers,
white with the ocean foam, dashing shore
ward; so it seemed as if the sea of the world1
pomp and wealth in the Egyptian capital (or ;
miles and miles flung itself up into .white
- breakers of marble temple, mausoleum and
obelisk. z
It was to this capital and the palace of
Pharaoh that Jacob, the plain ' shepherd,
came to meet his son Joseph, who had become
prime minister in the royal apartment. Pha
raoh and Jacob meet, dignity and rusticity,
the gracefulness of the court and the plain
manners of the field. The king, wanting tc
make the old countryman at ease, and seeing
bow white his beard is and how- feeble his
step, looks familiarly - into his face and says
to the aged man: "How old art thou?"
. Night before last the gate of "eternitj
. opened to let in, amid the great throng of de
parted centuries, the soul of the dying year.
Under the twelfth stroke of the brazen ham
mer of- the city clock the patriarch fell dead,
and the stars of the night were the funeral
torches. . It is most fortunate that on this
road of life there are so many milestones on
. which we can read just how fast we are going
toward, the journey's end. I feel that it is not
an inappropriate question that - Z ask to-day
when I look into your faces and say, as Pha
raoh did to Jacob, the patriarch: "Eow old
art thou?" ;
-People who are truthful on every othei
subject, lie about their ages, so that I do not
solicit from you any literal response to the
question I have asked. I would put no one
under temptation; but I simply want, this
morning,- to see by what rod it is we are
-measurinsr our earthly existence. There is a
" right way and a wrong way of measuring
, a door, or a wall, or an arch, or a tower, and
" so there is a right way and a wrong way Of
measuring our earthly existence.. It is with
- reference to this higher meaning that I con
front yon, this morning, with the stupendous
question of tho text, and ask; "How old art
thour ' " .
-There are many who -estimate their life by
mere worldly gratification. ' When . Lord
Dundas was wished a happy "New Year, he
' said: "It will have to be a happier year than
the past, for I hadn't one happy moment ' in
alf tho twelve months thart have gone." But
' -that has not been the experience of most of
- us. We have found that though the world it
blasted with sin, it is a very bright and beau
tiful place to reside in. We have had joyt
. innumerable. There is no hostility between
the gospel and tho merriments and the festiv
ities of life. I do not think that we fully
enough appreciate the worldly pleasures God
erives us. When you recount your enjoy
ments you do not go""f ar enough back. Why
do you not go back to the time when you
were an infant in your mother's arms, look-
in cr up into the heaven of her smile; tc
those days when you filled the house with the
uproar of boisterous merriment: wiien you
shouted as you pitched the ball on tho play
ground; when, on the cold, sharp wintei
night, muffled up, on skates you shot out ve
the resounding ice of the pond I nave you
forgotten all those good days that the Lord
gaveyoqf Wero you-never, a boyj Vere
you never a girl? , Between those timesl and
this, , how many mercies, how many kind
nesses the Lord has bestowed upon you. How
many joys have -breathed up to you" from
the flowers, and shone down to you from the
stars, and chanted to you with the voice of
soaring bird, and tumbling cascade, and
booming sea, and thunders that with bayo-
- ue'jj of fire charged down the mount am side
Joy! Joy! Joy? If there is any one who
- has a right to the enjoyments of the world it is
; tho Christian, for God has given him , a lease
to everything in the promise:- "All are
yours." But F huve to tell you , that a
. man who estimates his Ufo on- earth by
mere worldly -gratification "is a most unwise
man. Our life is not to bo -a game. of chess.
It is not a dance in lighted hall, to quick
music It is not the froth of an alo pitcher.
It ii not the settlings of a wkio cup. It is not
a banquet with ihtoxicati i and roystering.
It 13 the first step on a ladder , that mounts
, into the skies, or the first step on a road, that
plunges into a horrible abyss. Bo that in this
world we are only keying up the harp of a
rapture, . or forging the chain of a bondage.
And standing before you, to-day, with life
on the one side and death on the other ; song
:. on the one 6ide and groaning on the other;
mansions on the one side and dungeons on the
other: heaven on the one side and hell on the
other I put to you the question of the text:
' aHoW ok) art thou?" Towards what destiny
gt-
ting on towards it I -u , ;
.Again, I remark that there are many who
estimate their life on earth by their sorrows
and their : misfortunes. Through a great
many of your lives the ploughshare hath
gone very deep, turning up a terrible furrow.
You have been betray'ad and misrepresented,
and set upon, and slapped of impertinence;
and pounded of misfoi-tune. The brightest
life must have its shadows, and the smoothest
path its thorns. On i the happiest brood the
hawk pounces. ' No escape from trouble of
some kSiid. While glorious John Milton was
losing. ;his eyesight . he heard that Salmasius
was glad of it While Sheridan's comedy was
being enacted in Drury Lane theatre, Cum
berland, his enemy, sat growling at it in the
stage box. While Bishop - Cooper was sur
rounded by the favor of learned men his wife
took his lexicon manuscript, the result ' of a
long life of anxiety and toil, and threw it into
the fire. -, Misfortune, trial, vexation for- al
most every on& : Pope, applauded of all the
world, has a stoop in the shoulder that annoys
him so much that he has a tunnel dug, so that
he may go unobserved from garden o grotto
and from grotto to garden. Cano, the
famous '( Spanish - artist, is disgusted
with the( crucifix that the priest holds
before him, because it is such a poor speci
men of culture. And so, sometimes through
taste and sometimes through learned menace.
and sometimes through - physical distresses
aye, in ten thousand ways, troubfes come to
harass and annoy.. And yet it isunfah to
measure a man's life by his misfortunes, be
cause where there is one -stalk of nightshade
there are fifty marigolds and harebells; where
there is one cloud thunder charged there are
hundreds that stray across the heavens, the
glory of - land and sky asleep in their bosom.
Because death came and' took . your child
away, did yon immediately forget all the five
years, or the ten years, or the fifteen years in
which she came every night for a kiss, all the
tones of your heart pealing forth at the sound
of her voice or the soft touch of her hand?
Because in some financial Euroclydon ' your
fortune went into the breakers, did you for
get all those years in which the luxuries and
extravagances of life showered on your pafih
way! Alas! that is an unwise man, an un
grateful man, an unfair, man, an unphilo-
sophicman, and, most of all, an unchristian
man, who measures his, life on earth hy
groans and tears, and dyspeptic fit and abuse,
and scorn and terror, and neuralgic thrust.
Again, I remark that there are many
people who estimate their life on earth by the
amount of money they have accumulated.
They say:i "The year 1866, or 1876, or 1886
was wasted.", Why? Made no money. Now,
it is all cant and insincerity to talk against
money as though it had no value. It is re
finement, and education, and ten thousand
blessed surroundings. It is the spreading of
the table that feeds your children's hunger.
It is the lighting of the furnace that . keeps
you warm. It is the making of the bed on
which you rest from care and anxiety." It is
the carrying out at last of you to decent
sepulture, and the putting xfp of the slab, on
which is chiseled the story of your Christiav.
hope. It is simply hypocrisy, this tirade ia
pulpit and lecture hall, against money,
as though it had no uses. It is hands,
and feet,, and . sails, and ten thousand
grand and glorious enterprises. But while
all this is so, he who uses money, or thinks of
money as anything but a means to an end,
will find out - his mistake when the KlitteriiM:
treasures slip out of his nerveless grasp, and
ne goes out or tnis woria witnout a snuung or J
money or a certuicateor stock. He might
better have been the Christian . porter 'that
opened his .gate or, the begrimed workman
who last night heaved the coal into his cellar.
Bonds and mortgages and - leases have their
use, but they make a poor, yardstick with
which to measure life. They tha boast them
selves in their wealth, and trust on the multi
tude of their riches, none of them can by any
means redeem his brother, nor give to God a
ransom for him, that he should not see cor
ruption. "Wise men die likewise the fool
and the brutish person perish, and leave their
wealth to others." '
. But I remark: There are many I wish
there were more who estimate their life by
their moral and spiritual development It is
not sinful egotism for a Christian mn to say:
"I am purer than I used to be. I am more
consecrated to Christ than I used to be. I
have got over a great many of the bad habits
in which I used to indulge. -1 am a great
deal better man than I used to be." There is
no sinful egotism in that It is not base ego
tism for a soldier to say : "I know more about
military tactics than I used to before I took a
musket in my hand,- and learned to 'present
arms,' and when I was a' pest to the drilling
officer." . It is not base egotism for a sailor to
say: "I know how better to clew down the
mizzentopsail, than I used to before I had
ever: seen a ship." 7 And there is no sinful
egotism when a Christian man, fighting the
battles of the Lord, or if you will have it,
voyaging towards a haven -of eternal rest,
says:-; VI know more about spiritual tactics,
and about voyaging towards heaven, than I
used to." '. VVhy, there are those in this pres
ence who have measured lances with many a
foe,-' and unhorsed it There are Christian
men here,! who have , become swarthy by
hammering at the forgo of calamity. They
stand ' on f an entirely different plane
of character from that which they once oc
cupied. .They are measuring their life on
earth by golden gated Sabbaths, by Pente
costal prayer meetings, by communion tables,
by baptismal fonts, by hallelujahs in the
temple. They have stood on Sinai and heard
it thunder. They have stood on Pisgah and
looked over into the Promised Land. They
have stood on Calvary and seen -the cross
bleed.' . They, can, like Paul the Apostle,
write on their heaviest troubles "light," and
"but for a moment." The darkest night their
soul is ; irradiated, as was the night" over
Bethlehem, by the faces of those who have
come to proclaim " glory and good cheer.
They are only waiting for the gate to open,
and the chains to fall off, and the glory to
begin. , -' -J
I remark again : There are many and I wish
there were more who are estimating life by
the amount of good they can do. John Brad
ford said he counted that day . nothing at
all ' in which he . had - not, by pen or
tongue 'jdone some good. If a. man
begin right, I cannot tell how : many tears he
may wipe away, how many burdens he may
lift, how many orphans he may comfort, how
many outcasts he may reclaim. There have
been men who havorgiven their wholo life in
the right direction, concentrating all their
wit and ingenuity, and mental acumen, and
physical force: and enthusiasm for Christ
They climed the mountain, and delved into'
the mine, and. crd the sea, and trudged,
the desert, and dropped at last into martyrs'
graves, waiting' for the resurrection ,of the
just They measured thejr lives by the chains
they broke off, by the garments they put
upon nakedness, by the miles they traveled to
alleviate every kind of suffering. .. Tfcsy pit
In the thrill of every nerve, in the motion . of
every muscle, in very throb of their heart,
In i every respiration ; of ' their lungs,
the , -magnificent j truth: ui(y raan. Ijveth
for himself." x& They - wen.t through
cold ' ; and , through jjeat, foot blistered,
cheek smitten, ajck' scourged, - tempest
lashed, to, do their whole "duty. That is the
way they measured life by the amount of
good they cwld da
Do you want to know
bow old Lather was; how old
xuuiara ax-
are you tending,' and how fast are yoa
fter was; how old Philip Doddridge was?
Why, you cannot calculate the .length of
their- lives by any human arithmetic. Add
to their lives ten thousand times ten thousand
years and you have not expressed it what
they have lived or will live.- 0, . what a
standard that is to measure a man's life byF
There are those in this house who think they
have only lived thirty years. They will have
lived a thousand they have lived a thousand.
There are those who think they are eighty
years of age. They have not even entered
upon their infancy, for one must becomes a
babe in Christ to begin at alL -, J ' ' - . -:
Mow, I do not know what your advantages
or disadvantages .are; -1 do not know what
your tact or talent is; I do not know what
may be the fascination of your manners or
the repulsiveness of them; but I know this:
There is for you, my hearer, a field to culture,
a harvest to reap, a tear to wipe away, a soul
to save. " If you have worldly means, conse
crate them to Christ - If you have eloquence,
use it on the side that Paul and Wilberforce
used theirs. If you have learning, put it all
into the poor box of the world's suffering.
But if you have none of these neither wealth,
nor eloquence, nor learning you at any rate
have a smile with which, you can encourage
the disheartened, a frown with which you
may blast injustice, a voice with which, you
may call the wanderer back to God. , "Oh,"
you say, "that is a very i sanctimonious, view
of life 1" It is not It: is the only bright
view of life, and it is the only bright view of
death. Contrast the death scene of a man
who has measured life by the worldly stand
ard with the death scene of a man who
has ' measured life by the Christian
standard. Quinn, the actor, in his last
moments said: "I hope this tragic scene will
soon be over, and I hope to keep my dignity
to the last" .Malherbe said in his last mo
ments to his confessor: "Hold your tongue!
Your miserable style puts me out of conceit
with heaven."' Lord Chesterfield in his last
moments, when he ought to have been pray
ing for his soul, bothered himself about the
proprieties of the riek room and said : "Give
Day boles a chair.", Godfrey Kneller spent
his last hours on earth in drawing a diagram
of his own monument "Compare the silly
and horrible departure of such men with the
seraphic glow on the face of Edward Payson,
as he said in his last moments: "The breezes
of heaven fan me. - I float in a sea of glory."
Or, with Paul the Apostle, who' said in his
last hour: "I am now ready to be offered
up, and the time of my departure is at
hand. I have fought the good fight, I
have kept the faith. Henceforth, there
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will
give me." Or compare it with the Christian
death bed that you witnessed in your own
household. Oh, my friends, this world is a
false god! It will consume you with the
blaze in which it accepts your sacrifice, while
the righteous shall be held in everlasting re
membrance; and when the thrones have
fallen, and the monuments have crumbled,
and the world has perished, they shall ban
quet with the conquerors of earth and the
hierarchs of heaven. ' - !
This is a good day in which to begin a new
style of measurement How old art thou?
Yon see the Christian way of measuring life
and the ' worldly . way of measuring it - 1
leave it to you to say which is the wisest and
best way. The wheel of time has turned very
swiftly, and it has hurled us on. The old
year has rone. - The new year has come. For
what you and I have been launched upon it,
God only knows
Now let me ask you all; Have you made
any preparation for i the future? You have
made preparation for time, my dear brother;
have you made any preparation for eternity!
Do you wonder than ' when that man on the
Hudson river, in indignation, tore up the
tract which was handed to him, and just one
word landed on his coat sleeve the rest of
the tract; being pitched into the river, that
one word aroused his soul It was that one
word, so ; long, so broad, so high, so deep,
eternity! A dying woman, in her last mo
ments, said: "Call : it back 1" They said:
"What do you want?" "Time," she said;
"call it back !" Oh, it cannot be called back!
We might lose our fortunes and call them
back; we might lose our health and. perhaps
recover it; we might lose our good name and
get that back; but time gone is gone for ever.
- Some of you,' during the' past year, made
preparation for eternity, and it makes no dif
ference to' you really, as to the matter of
safety, whether you go now or go some other
year whether this year or the next yeaov
Both your feet on the rock, the waves may
dash around you. You can say: "God is our
refuge and strength a very present help."
, You ore on the rock, and you . may defy all
earth and hell to overthrow you. I congratu
late you. I give you great joy. It is a happy
New Year to yon. ; .
. I can see no sorrow at all in the fact that
our years are going. You hear some people
say: "I wish I could go back again to boy
hood." I would not want to go back again to
boyhood. I am afraid I might make a worso
life out of it than I have made. You could
not afford to go back to boyhood if it were
possible. You might do a great deal worse
L than you have done. The past is gone! Look
out for the future! . t : i
- To all Christians, it is a time of gladness. I
am glad the years are going. 11 You are com
ing on nearer home. , Let your countenance
light up with the thought i Nearer home.
Now, when one can sooner get to the center
of things, is he not to be congratulated? Who
wants to be always in the freshman class?
We study God in this world by the biblical
photograph of Him; but we all know we can
in five minutes of interview with a friend get
more accurate idea of him than we can by
studying him fifty years through pictures or
words. The little child that died at 6 months
of age knows more of God thai all Andover,
and all Princeton, and " all - New Brunswick,
and all Edinburgh, and all the theological
institutions in . Christendom. Is it not
better to go up to the very headquarters of
knowledge? 1 ( .
Does not our common sense teach us that
it is better to be at the center than to be clear
out on the rim of the wheel, holding nervous
ly fast to the tire lest we be suddenly hurled
into light and eternal felicity? Through all
kinds of optical Instruments trying to peer in
through the cracks -. and the keyholes of
heaven afraid that both doors of the" celes
tial mansion will-be swung wide open before
our entranced vision rushing about among
the apothecary shops of this world, wonder
ing if this is good for rheumatism and that is
good for neuralgia, and - something else -is
good for a bad cough, lest we be suddenly
ushered into a land of everlasting health
where the ! inhabitant, never says: "I am
vick.'V . . , v - . x j'
What fools we all are to prefer the circum
ference to the center. What a dreadful thing
it would be if we should' be suddenly ushered
from this wintry worW into the May-time or
chards of lieavenv and if our pauperism of sin
and sorrow should be suddenly, broken up by
a presentation of an emperors castle sur
rounded by . parks with springing fountains
and paths, up and down which angels of God
Lwalk two and two.:. p:;-yi:'-,KpS: HVi?;'.'
y- We are like ' persons , standing on the cold
steps of the National picture gallery in Lon
don, under umbrellas, in the rain, afraid to
go in amid the Turners, and the Titians, and
the Ranhaels. I : eome to them and sav r ;
why don't you go inside the gallery?'? "Oh,"
gy tWQ don't know .whether we can get
I say, fDont ee the door is open?"
"they say, "bat we have been so long
u
on these cold steps, -we are so' attached to
them we don't like to leave. "But," I say, "it
is so much brighter and more beautiful in the
gallery, you had better go in." "No," they
say, "we know exactly how it is out here, but
we dont know how ft is in there." Oh, let us
be glad that we are cne year nearer the scene
that explains all and irradiates all! " ' ,
In 1835 the French resolved that at Ghent
they would have a kind of musifal demon
stration that had never been heard of. It
would-be made up of the chimes of - bells and
the discharge of cannon.' The experiment
was a perfect success. What with the ring
ing of the bells and the report of the
ordnance, the city trembled and the hills
shook with the triumphal march that fras as
strange ' as it was overwhelming. ; Tfath a
more glorious accompaniment will God's dear
children " go into their high residence,
when the trumpets thall sound and
the last ' day . has come. At the signal
given, the bells of the towers, and l of
the lighthouses, and of ' the cities, will
strike their sweetness into a last chime that
shall ring into the heavens and float off upon
the sea, joined by the boom of bursting mine
and magazine, augmented by all the cathe
dral towers of heaven the harmonies of
earth and the symphonies of the. celestial
realm making up one great triumphal march,
fit to celebrate the ascent of the redeemed to
where they shall shine as the stars for ever
and for ever. - With such anticipations, we
can look back without a single regret upon
the flying, years, and forward' withu exulta
tion to the time, when the archangpl, with
one foot on the sea and the other foot on .the
land, shall swear by Him that liveth Tor ever
and ever, that time shall be no longe?.
V-
A FAREWELL TO TTtE OU YEAR
. St
Good-by old friend, the tour lias
. When you and I must part; -;
You've thrown some sunshine on ray .way',
Some shadows on my heart.
You've smiled on me, Ycu've frowned on
me, - ' -. f
- Aa many another friend; , . , . r
In fact, upon your varying moods .1
I, could not loog depend. . f
And though so fickle you have prored,
My heart has loved you well, ) -And
mournful is the sonnd lo me "V
Ot this your parsing bell. r ,
Iv'e heaped the holly on your grave.
, The Christmas berries red, i :
And as I saw yoa take your flight
Sad were the words I said. 1 5 '
: ' ' - yY
Good-by, Old Year, good-by.my" friend,
: The fondest have to part; j'. .;
But who need monrn if some one keeps
Our memory in his heart! . :
If some one says, 'I loved her well, :
And now that she ia dead, - .- . - . -'
I've come to place my votive wrea'h
Upon her honored head!"
-.,:- .. ,.:, : ':.- ..... i '. ....
Oh! happy then we'd tike our flight,
And sweet 'twould be lo die;
Well, here's the wreath I've woven you,
: Good-by, Old Year, good-by!
' Louisa H. Walker.
THE FIELD AT LARGE
The . Unwisdom: op Capital
Stbikes and Prohibition Thf
Peesuasive Power, of Song The
Conservatism: of Culture-
Amsterdam, N. Y., Dec 14, 1886.
We are holding the second series
of Field Meetings Eev. C. H. Mead,
myself, and the Silver Lake singers.
Two have been put in here at this
great knitting town, ' so familliar by
name to all who these weeks past have
read the daily press : dispatches.
Lockouts and strikes are making Am
sterdam notorious. Last week a riot
was inminent, but now the4 Kuights
are quiet. - Indeed, little real disturb
ance has been seen at any time; - and
would the outside world know why?
The " Knights?1 are practical Prohibi
tionists! Their officers are forbidden
by Knightly law. to drink : and
during these weeks ' of strike and
lockout the entire membership, , by
official order, have kept away from
saloons. The thing that amazes me
most, in all this ' labor connection, is
that- capitalists, mill owners, em
ployers verywhere, do not for their
own self-interest stamp out the liquor
traffic. ' I heard a reason here, yester
day, that amazed me not , less" for a
moment than the fact itself.? Said
one mill-owner. "..We can't afford to
put -away saloons, for if we should,
these laborers would all be ; running
mills themsleves pretty soon, -and
where V should - we look for
hands? V ' .; ' ' ' "
So it would appear that when at
. , ......
work the mill operrtives do . not pro
hibit themselves," thrugh- they may
hold their officers to , personal ; pro
hibition. Perhaps if " they , made a
common rule for official and private,
in the Knights of Labor, and at all
times boycotted : the saloon, v there
would be less occasion for, strikes,
and laber'would more surely ; come
toits own. y . " v- 1 ' : J.
It is a rule, within, the range of my
own somewhat v wide .- observation,
that large - .manufacturing towns
afford richest harvest for liqnor r eel -
in!"
lers, and that in them the refrom
spirit fights ever " against . greatest
odds There is another rule, paral
lel with this, viz, that great manu
facturers are fast allies of the old
parties, and . opposed to the "union of
morals and ? politics. Take, the
leading mill men of the , town, and
they are Republicans. They oppose.
temperance at every opportunity
They are more better y against third
party effort than any; others. , They
give no help toward ' putting the sa
loon out of labor's way, - Is this all
because of misguided: selfishness or
pure ignorance? . . '
The ways of ; capital puzzle : me,"I
confess. . Its best good, its highest
profit, ' lies along the line" of total
prohibition; ' yet everywhere in the
main, it keeps fast league with liquor
and with the parties reponsible . for
ilquor power. For years I have
marveled over this fact. . And more
than ever I am convinced that , our
platform teachings must grow strong
and insistent as to this material side
of 'temperance While sentiment
may not be abandoned, let . a wise
selfishness dominate, until .'we
get the ears of capital, and persuade
it we are right. ' .
- How shall we win a hearing?
One i method has been demonstrated
here. On Saturday , night we had
but a hundred to hear us, and that
was a fair sample, -! am assured, ' of
the Amsterdam temperance audience.
But on 1 Sunday afternoon a" good
sized church was filled, for our
gospel temperance service; and ; last
night, despite an all-day storm, and
wretched streets, the large opera
house was r packed bv those in
vited to a dewnright Prohibition
meeting. - Nothing like it has been
known before, i for the meeting was
a magnificent ' success.. - We held
the crowd and gave them the strong
est party diet till half past ten. It
was a surprise to ' everybody. What
wrought so wonderful a change?
Music! Not the die-away sort which
abounds generally at', temperance
meetings; not these old familliar
iovorites which form f the stock trf
church choirs, and the average glee
club; but those "fresh and virile,' und
aggressive party and prohibition
songs which the Silver Lake quartet
nave made . and acquired for their
own use, and with which they set
even an old-party -' audience into
rapturous good feeling.
I am not making this reference
to advertise the Silver Lakers. They
don't need it. Their own effective
singing advertises them widely
enough. But I" want once more to
urge on our friends the -more liberal
employment of music, and a wiser
selection and adaptation of it in
their campaign- work. Fairly ' good
singers abound at every' cross-roads.
Get them enlisted. ' Supply them
with Prohibition Songsters, publish
ed , by the National Temperance
Society, and coax them " into careful
practice. It will pay. Tell them
you : have "Rescue the Perishing
till you are. tired; and that it is not
proper advice to Pepnblicans anyhow.
Bid them sing with the spirit ' and
with 'the understandings also-7-the
linderstanderstanding that men are
to be won. over from bitterness and
prejudice to mellow toleration, and
full belief, through the rare efficacy
of sons:. . . '
HAMILTON, N- Y., Dec. 16.
Your college town is conservative.
The rule " holds generally good.
For years this "pretty village, of two
thousand people has been dominated
by, temperance conservatism. Mad
ison University set the level of pul
lie sentiment: and the University
seemed careless whether its young
men faced saloon perils pr no. Li
cense theories over weighted prohibi
tion. The few Prohibitionists were
thought impracticable, and discount
enanced, t A great and influential
Baptist church sounded never a key
note r of radical reform." Men and
women alike among those who are
social and educational leaders, were
indifferent to -the -onward march of
humanitarian efiort outside. Ham
ilton had living missionary zeal in
behalf of .remote brethren, but no
active concern about or help for the
awful evils j which beset ' American
homes. . - " : ' -:
I knowV you see, because I have
often been here, and felt the public
pulse." -So I read,1 withj some sur-
1 Pse , after our late election, k that in
Hamilton the third party had come'
to be second, having, polled more
votes than the Democracy. , A " year
of agitation and ; organiz ation, not
third party, had made' third , party
voters. It all came of a little woman
in black, - who attended Brother
Mead's ' Silver Lake camp in 1885
and went home bearing a big wish
to do something:. She was frasl of
body, unused - to any ; work along
such lines, but she .was patient and
she could pray. And finally a W, C.
T. U. took -form. It did .not early
promise much, : and consevatism
handicapped it from the first. Yet
it has gone forward, and is becoming
a power; The leaven of radical
thought has been put " into conserv
ative meal. , - " '
Familiar with the place and - its
people as I long have been, it maybe
imagined that these changes please
and encurage me. " Our meeting last
night, was another big success. The
hall would seat no ' more than came,
and in our audience were Rev Dr.
Dodge, president of the university,
and his wife, and Dr. Spear, his oldr
est colleague in the faculty, while
Professor Ford presided. .All these
gentlemen became active members of
the bureau, and expressed great sym
pathy with its plans and methods.
No such temperance occasion was
ever known here ; before, and they
want us back to repeat it. ' Yes, the
leaven is working. With prayer and
song and logic our cause lifts -upward
all the time. God multiply the singers
as well as the logicians! We , need
both to bring victory.
A. A. Hopkins.
A -CARD.
JAMESTOWN, N. C,
December 28th, 1886. 1 .
Editors Daily. Workman:
Deur Sirs: , I - thank you" and all
other friends, in all praties, for kind
words and good wishes. . I appreci
ate it very much. But -permit me to
say,, I seek no office. I want none. I
would accept none with the majority
against me. ' " "
. I would rather cr.joy the peace ofj
home with family and friends, than to
be congressman for life or king;
in Jerusalem. At the earnest solic
itation of my personal . friends, I
helped make the late Prohibition
Campaign. I do not think it would
be proper noio to accept any .office in
in the country if tendered me. Be
cause myself and associates were baat
en at the polls. .1 accepted the
defeat with good grace and the best
of feelings for every body. We have
an excellent Board of Commissioners,
with.one vacancy caused by the death!
of Mr. J ordan, one of our best citi
zens, and a most worthy, and effi
cient officer. v "
May peace as lasting" as eternity
be his. - " . , . V
Our Commissioners are in harmony
with the majority of our people.
That must be right. My views on
one of the living issues of the day do
not agree with the vews of the major
ity. t ;
We, as prohibitionist, are" not fight
ing simply to gain office, but fight
ing to make public sentiment, fight
ing for a majority of votes. That will
come. If our opponents think our
party dead they will find a lively
corpse.
We know not what the future may
bring, but we are satisfied the fight
will be renewedf with more arid better
leaders, more vigor, greater numbers,
better organization, more harmony
and with an - unbroken phalanx: of
men, who know they are right, and
fear nothing. '
With love for all and malice for
none,
I am most truly yours, v ; . .
- v, J. S. Ragsdale. v
" The latest returns of the Prohibi
tion vot last November include Hyde
1, Iredell 100,' Pamlico 35, Pasquo
tank 300, Pitt-50, Yadkin 150. Total
4107. : With organization all over the
State like that in Gastou, Guilford,
Randolph and Rowan counties it
mierht have been 25,000. And ,if
every Prohibitionist will only. w work,
O ...'.- V
call conventions, talk and pray ; from
now onward it is fair to pre diet that
the Prohibitionists can carry the State
in 1888. "" " .
; The funeral of Hon John A. Lo
gan took place in.the Senate chamber
at Washington, D. C, on Thursday
last. The ; ceremonies were very
impressive. . "
; WASHINGTON" LETTER.
(From otJR Regular Correspoxd
- . . . - ekt. ...
Washiugton, Jan, 3, 1886.
That human life is madff rm nf
startling contrasts is probably no
where so often felt as at the Capital
of a great nation. On the last day
of the old year, amid great pomp and
display of official mouring, all that ;
was mortal of one of the most prom-
was laid "away in : the tomb The
following day was the most ' brilliant
one of the Washington social season, -and
the gay world of fashion began
its round of festivities. -:-.
At the beginning of this New Year,
it is more difficult than usual to let
the dead past . bury its dead. Vis
ions of the future will mingle' ..-with
reflections of days that are . gne.
Death made an exceptional havoc
among leading -men in 1886, as is
shown by the names rof Hanocock,
Tilrtan Hrrnllovi AT-fVinv TTo-
dricks and Logan.
At the funeral of General Logan
held in the Senate Chamber, were
present men and women representing
the highest and the lowliest people
of the country. Of his comrades in
arms Generals ' Sherman, ' Sheridrn,
and Oglesby were prominent, with
hundreds of others, - soldiers of the
Grand Army of the Republic. Mem
bers and ex-menbers of both houses
nf Cnnorrp.sH wifVi wVinm Tia had rf.tv-
"ed , many years, were there, amon g
them the notable figures of Roscoe '
Conkling and William Evarts, while
in front of these sat the members of
the Supreme Court and the Cabi
net officers. " The chair provided for
the President was vacant. He was
anxious to be present, but the day
was exceedingly inclement, and hav
ing been confined to the house for a
week previous with another rheumatic
attack, his physscsan advised-him
not to subject himself to the drafts'
that are so prevalent in the Capitol
building. ' -
No great political - measures have
been con summated durin g 1 88 6 except
that -which deals with the
Indian -question, but - others
have " been . inaugurated, " and it
yet remains to be seen whit shall be
come of a protectiy tariff , a curren
cy agitation, the "Blair educational
bill, and further developments of civ
il service reform. But while the
region of practical politics has been
comparatively barren, movements
are on foot which are rapidly form
ing opinion -.in one direction or ths
other for serious legislation in the
future.
There are, as yet, no coast defeneses,
and no navy. And will . there ever
be, and have we real need for either?
That is the question. Is it not pos
sible that the principles of Henry
George, which have taken root in
some quarters, and which will have
to be reckoned with in any thorough
scheme of social re-adjustment, will
also have a hearing upon the naval
question? He says the American
Republic has no more need for its
burlespue of a navy than a peacable
giant would have for a stuffed club
or a tin sword. It is only maintained
for the sake of th6 officers and the
naval rings. In peace ' it is only a
source of expense and corruption; in
war it would be useless We are
too strong for any foreign power to
wantonly attack, we ought to be too
great to wantonly . attack others.
If war should --ever be forced upon
us, we could safely rely on science
and invention, which are already
superseding navies faster than they
can be built.' So with our army. All
we need, 11 we even now need that, is
a small force of frontier policemen
such as is maintained in Canada and
Australia. Standing; navies ' and
armies are mimical to the genius of
democracy and it ought to be our .
pride as it is our duty,' to show the
world that a great republic can dis
pense with both: and in organization
as in principle both our army and
navy are repugnant to the demo
cratic idea. In both we maintain
that distinction between commission- .
ed officers and common soldiers - and
sailors which arose in Europe when
the nobility who furnished : the on 0
were considered a superior race to
the serfs and peasants who supplied
the other. Tue whole system is an
insult to democracy, and ought to
be swept away. Our diplomatic sys
tem, too, is servilely copied from the
usage of kings before the ocean steam
er and the telegraqh were inventeb.
It serves no purpose save to reward
politicians and occasionaly to demor
alize a poet. .To abolish it would
save expense, corruption, and nation-
1 dignity. , ..
V
y