North Carolina Newspapers

nn EPISCOPAL MET OD ST H k PUBLISHED IN THE INTEREST OF METHODISM IX THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA- Vol. II IJALEIGH, 2s. C ALAiROI-l 25, 1868. ISTo. tO. The Last Call of Mercy. 'TU tho last call of Mercy That lingers for thw, O ! Siuner, receive ii, To Jesus now flee. He often ban called thei, But tbou liaat refused; ITis offered salvation And love is abused. If thou slightest this warning Now offered at last. Thine will ba the sad niourniug, The harvest is past. Salvation I've slighted, The summer is o'er Anil now there is pardon. Sweet pardon no more. 'Tis the la:t call ef Mercy O turn uot away. Tor now swiftly hateth The dread vengeance day. The Spirit invites you, .4nJ pleads with you. Come; O fome to life's waters. Nor tliirstinly roam. "l is the last call of merry, O .iei.-l not ihy heart. For now )m is riri.'jy; From earth to depart. The last note is sounding, The judgment is nigh. The JJridejrroom is coming. Obey lest ye die. 'Tis the last call of Mercy That lingers for thee, Break away from thy bondage, O sinner be free. De not a sad mourner. The harvest is past. The summer is ended. And perish at last. Shs pulpit. As we have space in our paper we expect to publish a series cf sermons adapted to the peculiar wants of the times. These sermons will bo very and health, not radiant faces unstain suggestive to the preachers and edify- j ed with tears, but the great band of ing to the laity especially on those I earthly sufferer. '-Blessed are the Sabbaths when they havo no oppor- j poor in spirit;" "Blessed are they tmiity of attending Church. They will be sermons on various subjects by American living divines. As to how we get them and who are tke authors of them, are matters that need not concern the readers. Sermon or Affliction. "And one of the elders answered, saving unto me, 'tVbat aae these which are arrayed in white robe? and whence came they? And 1 said unto him. Sir. theu knowcat. And he said to me. These are they which came out robes, and ra:de thera white in the blood of i joy. 1 he happy are not ripe nor sea ihe Lamb 'Ikveito. j soned. Those to whom the world has The sublimity of this whole scene brought no trouble, those that have and vision can scarcely be over-estiraa- j p:lSBed through the world without be ted. It seems tuat, the exceeding brightness of some attracted the seer's ; jiotice. "Why, he was a.skou, are UiC7 so radiant Y Hence came niey , TThf fcve- they ? What is their history ?" Tlie a!.'swer s n spirits the whole I ,i 1 . . i. T I scene. r tlio numuer meuuoneu. A trreat mult' itule there was gathered j out of aliases aml om OI au "uo- i Not the whole o the stream ot time j nto heaven were , tuat hau nourtij i. meant; but there ha,1 ,,;m poloetftd ones, host. A picked "band i was -an eieer. Brides these, th orR vycra in iieaveh vast multitudes. eiiiiiess aie i inftnits population; but then. 3 wpro 8- : o-ted andVhos-u :ts th motif; ,'mimmt :,orieu thev v:h. n- ' no ' for some reaso.!.. And ot time. These wei'i1 -iey i Ktatiou in life, had le&r- who, in evn ned the deep V-son that no other : . i fo-i.lta oTcerit that sehooimao-i -L one named Trouble. A terrible school- ,,-.oter is he. A drend ml school is his. , Unwilling are It?:; pupus. itii-iuun, ; and uproTir, and dinovder are in all the j lower forms of the school, though it ..rows quieter as you rise to the upper j classes.1 And when tho pupils gradu- ! ate and rise, behold they are the most, j radiant of the heavenly host. This is a very striking drama, if we develop itn implications. j There have been in every age the j rr :i unfortunate among men. m mi tCoTwho had good parentage, good ous garments which the saints wear -. J and '. ,od opportunity are they tho result of any and of ad training, and ,-oi u l A,,9 a,i if i nnlv siifter- riv mtied. J here ehave been those m groan uu- ; who had bad parentage, bad train- from every ""'" ' .usoiaei, . xr.-i-f. us vovatrers wihhoi' 1.!' - yj fi.f. beffinnincr. so that they ,vere obliged constantly io iaoor to t, ;t fmm foundering. There have w nmoi iiiMtv. J here nave n no om ,f",;r"u 2"ftTtJrV 'ifolU.l.lh l. K.o things? Of i,een tho,.. U ,.,i!)t,m. wa ! eom-Bo, ..... Iti suffering in the or Stvc,gU .. : ,.no1(ltnmili(.oUooU,:St .ntiments; it is aw.;1 '";!';;; mKKting, ot simPi, wu. - to ecstasy, 1..:. ,ml wiu, U!tory ,vhicl. come been those who have ueeded in for-1 tune, in honor, in love, and that with- out eminent. irouoie. xliere nave been, right by the side of them, under a dark shadow, those who compassed neither of theso things, but every day stumbled over the ruins of yesterday. There have been thftso who groped and found not; who sighed, and yearned, and died without sight and without joy. There have been those, on the other hand, who seemed on every aide to find preparation, flowers blossomed at their feet, fruit, hanging rich down to their very hand. Now, should you attempt to draw a favorite picture of the world, which of these would you select ? You would gather the youth; you would gather those of blooming health; vou would . i. i i nil f gather those of manhood strength wisdom, and aptitude, that bring sue- i cess; you would gather the learned and t 'refined, the children of beauty, crea- 1 ting beauty; you won1- mt'I those i who were the children of sunshine and song, and love, and duty, and joy, and : laughter. These would make up your earth!' scene of happiness, if you were to form it according to the current op inions of men. And so men draw a picture of the blessed world, in which vet the Greek notion of perretual youth, and fresh and unwasting sensibility to pleasure, is the ideal blessing. But on Patmos sat one who drew the picture of heav enly blessedness. And who arc they that are chosen ? Thev are, not kings, not mijrhtv men, not those with vouth that mourn;" "Blessed are they which do hungor and thirst after righteous ness;" "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." And all that men counted to be happy f are passed wholly by in this heavenly vision. The class into which all strove to enter upon earth, and exclusion from which caused infinite sorrow and pity, is passed wholly over by the prophet and seer. There is in their exporionee no material for heavenly in,, hardened and tempered, are crude. Xo whom this world has brought no I tears, tue other world r.iiail hring no pearls. They to v. hom this world tins ; brought ease, and luxurv, and sur shmo, and not chastisement, are not the sons of God. - .... .... , . . Hut, umler tins oohl iimre, wiiat is washing in blood ? Why, it is man- hood gained through trouble. As ,00i is fo sign of trouble, so being, j cashed w-hite in blood means bing ! cleansed through suiiWing. rho e that shine out so wonderfully, lw p the- siiinls that have (h rough trouble come to .liniiy, and honor, ! and glor. And every one of their sainUv qualities their high fautasi-s, their wondrous exaltation, their great natience. their vesoundincr self-denial every one of these things has been wrong dit out and washed out by the tfrition of pain, r by the cleansing ! of blood. the axe the. rude wood as- i 1 .,.!- 41. .v.:i sumes' 3iiapeiy use-j, u. ny mr stone n ent to beauty; as by the fire, lamps cf clay grow into white vases; aa by the flail, grain is redeemed from ciau- and straw; and as by crushing, grapes change to wine; so by suffering comes honor from vulgarity, patience from irritation, depth from shallowness hope from fear, sympathy from selfish - ness, and joy from trouble. They were! js, then, au sueenu -- have been lev? This manhood, and .these gloii- mJ ui ing t,W And if a man is only sutler roav he have faith to believe that i c. ,r of a true faith, a true j Mihor sprinirs from your ailhe- i " . v., . j sion to the faith which is in Christ Je- or eke develops in vou those pe sus euliar quaUties which belong to the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. It i.. if our! wolf to t.hn enl. the same point. It is suffering that works out Christian nobleness and manhood in men. And they that, stand as most glorious in heaven are tho.se who on earth were men of care ; men of yokes and burdens; men that sorrow sought; men that were hewed, and stoned, and sawn; men that, were cast out, and that made use of this mighty instrument, the school of affliction, to develoy in them, not querulonsness, not pinings, not, complainings, not sourness and bitterness, not revenge, not apostasy and abandonment through want of hope; but to work out in themselves sweetness, forgiveness, love, gentleness, triumph of conscience over all passions, of faith over all sense, of the invisible I over the visible, of the things of the soul over the tilings of the flesh. Such are they thai, stand first and I hiuhest in heaven jot" the great :-.ee.r. Sueh is the vision This feeljug eomes from t he highest state; and it. is t hoaa who have risen to that state that stand with raiment whiter than snow, washed in the blood of the Lamb. Thev have made them selves illustrious by suffering; and that suffering has wrought in them not only the likeness but the spirit of Christ; find so they have risen to dig nities, and triumphs, and exaltations. "What shall we say, then, of those who all their life have thought them selves to be Christians, but who have had but this one thought -how to build a fence so high that the wind should not smite them; how to thick en their walls so that the sounds of trouble should not come with discord on their oar; how to build a fence be tween themselves and suffering, so that they might be unvexed and untroub led ? God says to such : " You are J bastards !" There is not a lineament of the Father's face in them. There is not a throb of the Great Sufferer's nature in them. He that went out of His abode, and left behind Him all glories, and descended to the earth, and took upon Himself the form of man, and of a serving man, and suffer ed death, and of all deaths the lowest the death of the cross and went down so low that it was impossible for human beiug to go lower, and then from that lowest point began to lift the whole world above. Him, that with all His strength in suffering He might make them glorious He is tlio exam- pic which the true Christian must fol- low. And are you His disciple, when your chief thought and ambition is, to find out how to escape suffering, how to throw it off, how to get rid of it ? Or, are you professing to walk, or wishing to walk, in the way of the Lord Jesus Christ? and does suffering excite hi you vehement rebound of passion ? Do you suffer ? and are you anry ? Is your requital of suffering bitterness '? Do vou marvel that vou should have suffered such ami such j things? and do you say: f O God ! why should I suffer?" Why should you not ? Toll me, why should yon ; not ? ! There is a piece of clay over at. Houghwout s that is pist like you. It would not go into the furnace to be baked, and it is dirt yet, when all the pieces that did go in are china. They have come out enameled, and painted, and glowing, and beautiful; but since that refused to go in, saying, "What dm I, thai I should go into the lire?" there it. stands, a homely iass of un baked dirt. And of how many is it. true that, when in life they are cidled to suffer cruelty, aud wrong, and various chas tisements, all that n wrought in tnem is vindietivenesfj; all that is done to them is to stir up the bottom of the pools in which their passions are. For, as in stagnant waters the alligator, the lizard, and all manner of reptiles reside, and ss where the waters are disturbed they start up and run every whither; ko in man's lowei nature re side passions hideous as any reptiles, which, when tho lower nature is dis turbed, spring forth in every direc tion. And suffering, frequently, is on ly the means of showing how wicked, j and cruel, and infernal are men's pas- siorts. ihji in", iiunwiiif you wicked Toko care how suffering i operates in the bottom of the souk and - inot in the top Are ther, still further, those who have so far tuiuniphed hy tha iststruc 1 comes from or returns to tion and power of the word of God, and by faith, that they begin to take hold upon a better notion of living, and are asking, " How shall I convert suffering into profit to myself?" not, "How shall I rid myself of suffering?" Are there those who understand that the thorn shall not be removed that it shall abide, or shall come often; who comprehend the meaning of the declaration, " My grace shall be suffi cient for you,"' and who begin to say, willingly:' "Let me suffer, so that if I suffer with Christ I may reign with him?" My Christian brethren, aug mont that experience. It is the first distinctive form of Christian experi ence under tirmble. You have begun to wash your garments white, and to know the true uses of the blood of Ch in st So he suffered, that, he might become the perfect Captain of Salva- ! tion; so yon are becoming perfeci in proportion as yo.i suffer in she spirit in which he suffered. Net he that untried is the most truly noble. There lies a ship out in the stream. It is beautif il in all its lines. It has swung out from the pier, and is lying at anchor yonder. And men, as they cross the river on the ferry-boats, stand and look at it, and admire it; and it deserves admiration. But it has never been out of port. There it stands, green, new, untried. And yet. everybody thinks it is beautiful. It is like childhood, which everj'body thinks is beautiful or ought to be. There comes up the bay, and is ma king toward the Navy -yard, another ship. It is an old ship of war. It has been in both oceans, and has been round the world many times. It, has given and taken thunder-blows under the flag of its country. It is the old Constitution, wre will suppose. She anchors at the Navy-yard. See how men throng the cars and go to the Navy-yard to get a sight of her ! See how the sailors atand upon the. dock and gaze upon her ! Some of them, perchance, have been in her; and to them eho is thrice handsomer than any new vessel. This old war-beaten ship, that carries the memory of many mem orable campaigns, lies there, and they look at its breached bow, its shattered rigging, its coarse and rude lines, its dingy sides, which seem long since to have parted company with paint, and j evcrv one nf them feels, if he is a true j patriot: " God bless you, old thing! God bless you !" Do not show me the shaiely man; do not show mc tho man that lives in ease and comfort; do not show me the man that has never known what suf fering or trouble was ; but show me the man that, has gone through sick ness, and losses, and misconstruction; show me soma man that has borne the strifes and storms of life, and that, though worn and scarred, has tri umphed over them all, and I say: find bless von, old battered hull! j. V ' j xh ere is more in you than merely a nian. There is in you what the grace 0j (0d has wrought there Christian manhood." Now, Christian brethren, disdain to neak out of trouble. Disdain to send j onf engineers to see which w ay vou can go and keep out of the forest. Straight and narrow is the way. Take a direct line, and follow it without turning to the right or to the left. If God sends you trouble, s i : I was built for trouble, as much as the ship that goes to sea is built for the storm." If suffering comes upon yru, let it not daunt you. Conquer it. And with ; pride wear the scars which you receive ; iho conflict. The lines and wnuk les on many a man's face are God's Hino- and the charters of the mnnwlar, ifwfionlv knew how to - ' O ' interpret such writing May God give you this heavenly j calling! May God give it to me! And j since we are followers of Him whose sign is the cross, since wo are follow ers of Him whose signature is blood, let it not be ours to de dain the cross, or to refuse blood; h t it be ours to suffer with Him, thai then we may reign with Him. ... .. .r f .,ii iv i j . pvovo ot- .;. " in.eaehei Ull" I J H I ! .,,., ,: i' ' : ' Ortllh- ! notes, we answer m the negaiive; it he ...(..ins eviiion-Tiotes. we answer ves, it ' lie WalllB lO. XII UIi: 1 L,l.?r- lit. .Tin .to - ho iu to.-..,.;.-1.. i voably do as his church pleases - 1 jutpiL i Vi'lTUOUL nottli ii uv i' ". -. ill f I' wwvv-.i ..... i,.:L.l,11.l.'lflU It KK 11)11' (. hllll.l Our Work On The Pacific? Cms. 15Y BISHOP AX1UIF.W. In a former number he took the po- sition that our Pacific friends should have a Bishop residing among them. The more I think on the subject, the more I am convinced that it is a cor- rect position. There is something in the oflieo and character of a Bishop which necessari ly gives to his opinions and counsels much additional weight; and then the Bishop is regarded as the officio! rep resentative of the Church, an 4 hi su pervision is especially important in the exercise and oversight of the iaws and government of the Church. The Presiding Mlders may be men: of wis- j dom and experience, but. their decis- ! ions will not command the same obe- ijdienc as will the Bishops'. All ; is I rue, supposing the Conference to I be composed of a reasonable propor tion of old ?.nd experienced men; but I suppose, as is the case with too many of our new Conferences, the! Confer ence is mainly composed of young men. How, then, can any arrange ment be made which will dispense with the presence and work of the Bishop V Ordinations, too, are required, and i very often it is important that they take place promptly. Iut suppose no Bishop has presided at the Conference for a .year or two -the Conference may elect, but the preacher, although perhaps elected for some time, cannot be ordained, although the people of his charge are suffering greatly for want of the sacraments. And we say farther that the visitations and pulpit labors of the Bishop in the various de partments of the Conference must, if the Bishop is a faithful man, wield a glorious influence upon the ministry and membership. Who can estimate the results of the visit of our beloved Kavanaugh to the Pacific coast ? We havo had on the Atlantic coast for tho past year au unanswerable argument in favor of the great usefulness of Episcopal visitations. Why, then, if so great are the bene fits of Episcopal supervision to the Church, and especially in that far dis tant portion of the field, why is it that no Bishop is resident on that coast ? For at least two General Conferences I have directed tho attention of the General Conference to the importance of this subject, but without success. The Conference felt that it was impor tant that the Church there should have Episcopal visitation, yet no Bish op must reside there, but instead, on of the Bishops must be sent there eve ry year; he must have all tho risk of a voyage by sea, or still more hazardous overland route, and then there is the expense of going and returning, and a more important objection still is, that the Bishops will scarcely be sufficient ly acquainted with the preachers and people of the Conference in two years to discharge intelligently the duties of his office. To me it is exceedingly strange that the Conference should have taken the course which it did on this subject. I urged the Confer nee to give to the Pacific brethren a Bish op to reside among them. It will be it!ioml)(rml. too. how earnestly the delegates from the Pacific Conference urged it ; they assured us that the best interests of our cause there would he affected by our action on this subject. Thev offered, if I am not mistaken, to l x ' i . it . ,. i supoort the Bishop we miht send support the Bisliop them. But the General Conference determined to send a man there every ! year. Supposing that way riJ,' th era two vears. if lie is a man of taiai- ly, what wii.i he do? Is he expected to leave his famiiy for two years? Is the Missionary Society so rich that it can spare the money to foot these bills, which . must needs be heavy V Mr. Editor, the longer I think of this thing the more I am astonished at the course of the Conference. They preferred that course which was doubly expen sive and decidedly less efficient. If I 1 live to see another General Conference, : 1 hope to see this mistake corrected. A I am decidedly of opinion that when- i ..... i 1 1 I ever we select, n tregn neni nr mis- ! : .4;..,.. un.l t..,i,.l ,,4 l.olt' . ' 1 . . -. ,11 : " ' ; i Such a ill be greatly better ftu- the 1 , ,1 1 .1 t ana infinitely better for the Bishop. Summerfield, Ala., Jan. 21, 1868. Kvv. th ai v Ward )tce hi- nm4 iieacial Le. The speech of Henry Ward B.wlifr. at Cooper Institute, on Moucfay uijj'hl, in behalf of the Washington ColW. j Virginia, was a production renwrlttlJl? ! s uu.h for its kindly spirit a far it : novelty, at a time when the party, f which the speaker is supposed tab, shining light, is dealing in stupidity,, ! malice and all uucharitablens x I ashington. The first resolution in? troduced by Beecher, for example, reads that "it is at once the duty rag the privilege of those who maintained the unity of this nation by war to h foremost in time of peace ill ai! work of lov which tend to makstho Aaier.ir can people one in sentiment as well a in government." How does that bar? monize with tlie action of theBferpa-stnu-iion Cominittee and Cmigres-, j whose "works oflove" are so ttestitiftlK thisUy demonstrated in the Sou t bur States through military rule ntf n gro supremacy V But General 11. 1). Lee is President of WashingtonX'ollege; and how do Beecher speak of him V He Bays: " plead this cause because General Let is President of it. No man more than I regretted las decision; but knoving how human nature runs I cannot Mjr f was surprised, though grieved. I di not know that ifJ had been bora antl bred in the South, but what I ahal'd have done the same thing. But tor Divine e Providence ho , would fcka? stood in New York and bean at City Hall dictating terms to thopfta pie of the North. He f failed. Hit General Lee stands iu New York t night, not with his svronl dictatis terms, but as a scholar, holding oat ft hand of peace and saying to u, wQiy me bread for my scholars; give- m books for my scholars." And Beecher pleads earnestly that Leo should bar bread and;books,not as a matter of charity,' but in thej form of jusliet, mingled a little, perhaps, with selfish ness, or, as he calls it, self-preservation ; for he argues that by fastarta education in the Southern States iy confer a i benefit, uponj the North. However, it is an admission worth ob taining just at this moment vheu persecution, not unmixed with folly, i so rampant that the South ia not an outcast and absolutelyjjpdisinheriterl; that she is still a part of the country, and has interests in common with all. A'. 1". Herald. mp. Eggs are twenty-fire cents a ttaz in Savannah, and they are taring t ported to the North. New York drenches itself with 4ft, 000 bottles of mineral water a dtty. aW in this weather. Fifty-seven men want to be mall bankrupts in the Southern Districts of Georgia. Massachusetts educates her child re if -at a cost of nine dollars per annum frr every child within its limits. Henry Ward Beecher expect ti Un vote five or six years to his "LifMjf Christ." It is a terrible fact that there 'a ry one hundred thousand drunken w men in the United States. The uew Gait House, at Louisville, Ky., will cost $lt'J00,00la, and will U finished bv .July next. The Tennessee Legislature toes I Wti tli.uain wiu, .-.r.'- tot,' to each family. i Sixtv tine sheep, belonging to twu ! i'liiiit'i's in W ashington county, Pei., i u ,.!-,. l.-ilU..) I.v dofrs few iiihfa &irii-. AYisconsni has paid more than 4k.4 , ' . ..... l too ior uoiniiies on witu auiuiaes um- der the recent law. Wild cats are tin most common. ( - Fifty thousand American breech-io ding rilles have been ordered by the Spanish Government. In a recent invention of steam car riages for common roads the tirs of the wheels are made of India rnbtjr, which is said to work nicely. The Memphis Christian Attn via t: ports a revival in the M. ChuTcit, South, at Columbus, Ky. Juarez's government of Mexico progressive. One man in four now dfo peacefully in his bed, according to. fa latest, vital statistics. California is astoninhing every um with her wheat iroducts. Agriciutm e lis drawing off large numbers Uftkfe. people from mining. Cattle are among the chief experts of Texas, yet the State imports expen sively butter chese, and rea milk.