Newspapers / North Carolina Christian Advocate … / Feb. 11, 1874, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
ate Tin .voc o KEY. J. B. BOBBITT, Editor. PUBLISHED IH THE INTERESTS OP METHODISM IN NORTH CAROLINA. $2.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE, VOL. XX. NO. G. KALEtGII, N. C, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11. 1874. WHOLE NO. 1,004. Will IS IbldW A Song Tor Peace. JoAQUIN MlLLEU. 11 Uli' tli 't la told, at a visiou, t" l'iv n.i.l f rj:t; lor i saj Tli.it the true sliall emlurc ;lu- lU rljinii Of the f.il-e till the tall of the d j ; Ay, forgive, as ya would be f.irtjlvtm, Av, to sot, lest the ill you have done Ili rcoi.'niticredaiiai.iat yu In Heaven nd alt the days uudir the &uu. F.-r wh shall a:ivo brefitl without labor? .1 ml wh i shall h;ivfl r. at without price 1p1 wh shall hdld ar with his nnlKhbor With roaiie of peace with the Christ? The y.jsrs my lay hand ou fair Hvin; M:y plnce aud displace tlie red star:; Mav stain them, as blood status are- driven At sunset ia beautiful bars; May shroud thont i.i blaok till taey fret us As eloii.ls with their.'showers of tears; M.iy crind ua to dust aui in. May the years, O, the pitiless years! The preempts of Christ sre beyoai them; , Tue truths by theaiarene taajtbt, : With tue tramp of the, aires upon them, Tney ei.dure as though ae were naught. The desert? tii.iy drink up the fountains, T'ie tor.-sM Kive pi-tee to ths plain. The main may give place to the mountain!. The in-Miutaius returu to the. mala. Mutatious of iv.r!b a id nuts ttoos OC suus may take place; but the reign Of Time and the toiia sud, wxations Beq ieath them, no, never a staiu. Go forth to the fields as oae sowin;, Sing sots an 1 ha glad aa you go, TliTe are seeds that take root without sowing. And bear some fruit whetlur or no. Anil the suit shall shine, sooner or later. Though the midnight breaks ground on the moin; Then apneUyou to Chruit, the Creator, And to emy-le!irdd Time. Hi? first born. 0 For tho AdToeate. Letters to a Young Itinerant. ---No. III. Much of the pleasures and benefits of r.astoral visitation is due to the J. wives of the brethren among whom you go. The visit of the preacher, with her. is no common or unimport ant event. The upper room, with "table and cam lie-stick is duly over hauled and carefully prepared, chil dren are instructed servants are ad m unshed, and the whole household is m tde ready. from her supplies the be.4 are selected, and unusual care and skill are cnrployed in their prepa--ration, so that taste, elegance and plenty, as well as that which is whole Bime and inviting, shall crown her board. Now all this extraordinary forecast and preparation so willingly anil almost universally bestowed, is called forth by an earnest desire to honor the preacher, please her hus band, and extend her hospitality without grudging. (What a pity that bo many husbands overlook these ef forts and sacrifices, and how much the pleasure and profit of the pastor's visit is due to their wives.) I need scarcely remind you that all these well -directed arrangements, prompted by a sense of duty and a profound re -gard for your office and wort, demands something at your hands; that you appreciate it, enjoy it, and even com pliment, is not enough. Common justice, not to say common politeness, demands that your deportment should not interfere or conflict with the order and harmony of the household a mo ment's reflection will show you that perhai's you can do this in no way more flagrantly than by lying in bed too iu'.e in the nurnmj. Just think of it: the good wife '-arises while it is yet night," sets her house in order, in augurates the preparation of her meal, and knowing there is a point in the preparation of food at which it attains its highest savoriness, she arranges to secure this at the right tune, and ac cordingly, the family being all in place, and the last touch given to her steak, muffin, biscuit, toast, &c, the preacher iB summoned for prayers, when "tell it not in Gath" he is snoring away in bed like it was mid-mght. Imagine, if you can, the overwhelming effect of such an announcement upon the wife? In dismay, she remembers how this and that viand she lias expended so much care and skill to prepare, is to be unsavory and insipid in fact, ruined and how her reputation as an expert and skillful house-wife is to be coin promised, and the breach that ia ma le upon the usual order and regu larity of the family, and all by what? by the indolence and the unwarrant able self-indulgence of one upon whom s laid the solemn injunction, "Redeem the time." Such untimely self-indul-jence is not only an outrage upon the mtience of woman, but will soon stu pify the usefulness of any minister, ispecially him who is just entering ipon its solemn duties. I entreat you, my dear young broth jr, avoid yielding to this temptation f by nature or by habit, you are dis )osed to indulge in it, at once begin ;he work of conquest if unable in roar own, seek Divine strength. You mis' overcome it, or it will overcome 'Oil. But biippose you arise iimeiy, and riten called for, are in your place, "eady -there .-ue still one or two points, U.-t here, I feel th.it I ought to men icn. When Hie wife announces her eachness for prayer, it i;s rpjn the Hre.-iumption that in 2 or '50 minutes J her preparations for the ta?le will , be completed; with her, now, every moment is urecious.. Judere then of her feelinars when she sccb you sit down, and in a quiet leisure way com inence turning over the leaves of the Bible, till half of her estimated time is gone; finally you alight on the 2Gth or 27th chap. Mat., or it may be 119th Psalms, and commence reading. You continue to read, and you go on read ing, till in spite of her earnest desire and purpose to worship God without distraction she, time to her official duty and womanly instincts, remem bers what havoc and ruin is eroincr on in the cook-room. Now, who will say that this is not a tax upon her patience and forbearance wholly uncalled for, and could be, and ought to be averted, and might be by the exercise of a little discretion or reflection, or what would be still better, a little common sense? Allow me here, also, to bespeak your attention and the exercise of a better judgment in all these matters. While on this subject of pastoral visitation, there is still another matter, that in this connexion I feel constrain ed to notice. I allude to the use of tobacco, especially chewing, as this hab it is fraught with more inconvenience and conflicts more with neat and clean ly habits than other forms of its use. The nature of the plant, in almost every person who chews it, is to excite an increased flow of saliva from all the secretory glands of the mouth. This necessitates its frequent and profuse ejection all salivary secretions when pure are tenacious and slimy in their nature, and exceedingly repulsive to the eye, and polluting to the touch; but when perfumed, admixed and dis colored with tobacco, its odor and eight are execrable beyond description. Just think of a man, and a minister, with a dar k zone of offensive incrus tations cropping out on his lips, a slimy rill coursing down each corner of his mouth spewing out one huge mouthful after another of this detest able admixture upon spotless floors, or spurting it at fire-places and be spattering, polluting and defacing neartnstones, mantel, lams and all or if he at all notices the spittoon, it is only to lrarl an overflowing mouthful toward it which, missing its aim, comes down in a discoloring, tainting fog upon the carpet, to befoul and corrupt it or, as if to cap the climax, that even fills his mouth on lying down, and in his hours of dreanis, pours forth upon the snowy sheets and pillows a winding sluice staining, corrupting, and despoiling as it flows. What a revolting picture! and how utterly incompatible with every law of that "cleanliness, which is next to God liness." It is almost universally true that the "slaves of the weed" become care less or indifferent as to where they empty their mouths, and in this way, oftimes, unconsciously and uninten tionally offend all good taste and pro priety; however indifferent men niay act in the presence of one another, a respect for female eyes, to say nothing of their intuitive, instinctive delicacy and taste, neatness and purity, should deter men from such wanton violations of all that is decent and proper in their presence. An obligation of this kind rests upon every man, but with ten fold force upon ministers, who are commanded, "Be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in PURI TY." 1st Tim. iv and 12. I will notice some of the physical evils growing out of this habit in mt next. Yours in Christ, Watchman. Cedar Grove, Jan. 1874. For the Advocate. B0ND-H0LDEK. Who can Answer ? A number of preachers and laymen hold the bonds of the Publishing House at Nashville, showing they have paid one hundred dollars to that In stitution on certain conditions therein named. Nothing has been heard from the House or its Agent since the war on that subject. I listened for some thing in regard to it from Dr. Bedford at our Conferenc e in Goldsboro, but was disappointed. Some of us would be glad to get some light, as another scheme is on foot for the relief of said house. Will the present plan enable the house to resume its payment an nually of the books, and to furnish the Bibles it has given its paper for, be fore the war ? Who cart answer 1 A BOXD-HOLDEK. Ma. Editor: I flndtho above card in the Jig'ei(h Chi-ialian Advucale of Jan uary the 2Sth. I am nofc aware that bonds of the Publishing House have ever been issued for any such purpose as that suggested by "j'Jond Holder.' If so, allow me to say th;rl they will Ik; promptly mid faithfully r. vleeiiud. It occurs to me that if the v. riter of the card had conferred with m v at Golds boro, it might have been bett r than the publication of his card i u the Ad vocate. I will be glad to recei"e a letter from him, giving me a coj ty of the bond to which he l efers. .TV ft a dollar of the paper of the Publish 'ng House hai ever been rejiw.liuteJ. 1 am yours very truly, A. H. liEDFOliD, A&Qld Southern Me thodist Publishin g House. Nashville. Tenn., Jan. 30th, 1S7-1. Fur lite .'.J-, jcuU', The Poor Indian Boy. Being in Oxford on the firs I Sab bath of this year, I attended service in the Methodist Church. I have heard i -tii i ii . .I H saici uiai tne way one commences rue year he will hold out to the end of it. I hope, however, the rule will not ap ply to those young men that became so boisterous on the streets on Sunday night, instead of going to the house of God as their parents should have taught them. Perhaps soberer reflec tion will excite feelings of regret, and induce them in the future to imitate the example of more considerate per sons. The inmates of the Orphan Asylum were out. The managers very properly carry them to all the churches, as it is an institution bast d on the benevolence of Christian hearts, and cannot be limited to sectarian blindness and prejudice. On the right of the speaker sat the male, and on the left the female por tion of the inmates of the Asylum. I noticed among the boys a little Indian boy the lone representative of one of the aboriginal tribes of our country. The sight of the little fellow sitting among the children of the pale-man, isolated from his people, awakened melancholy reflections in my mind. Little knows he of the treachery and vindictiveness of the past, when in the bloody struggle for the mastery the dwindling tribes fell like autumn leaves commingling with the dust, and his fathers turned their backs to their wigwams ami their hunting grounds, with tearful eyes and saddened hearts. Had the spirit of Christian love and forbearance dictated the cause of the early settlers of our country, instead of the revolting scenes of cruel tv which characterized the age, a differ ent result mi"ht have been effected. But alas! the grasping cupidity of man, mushing out higher and holier influences from the soul, renders it in its darkness oblivious to ennobling sentiments of Christian consideration and duty. Many generations have mingled with the mother dust since the camp fires of the forest tribes shone out from the hill top on which stands the Orphan Asylum, and the War-whoop and the dance of the red-man awakened the echoes of the hills around. But the "pale" and the red-man will meet again. In the book of God's remem brance is chronicled all the thoughts, emotions, and deeds of the past. The merciless Pizarro and gold infatuated Cortes will find the blood of their slaughtered victims staring them in the face, at the dread tribunal of Him who will mete out impartial justice to all. The Judge of all the earth will do right. And it is a consoling thought that the tears of innocence and purity fall not unobserved in Mercy's sight. Lo. the poor Indian boy! Perhaps his mother sank into her grave when he was "too young to know his loss;" or his young heart may have felt the bitterness of grief, feeling that he had no one to love and care for him in his hours of loneliness and his sadness. But such was not the case. The same God who sent His angel to comfort the soul of Hagar, and supply the wants of her weeping boy, was watch ing over him, and directing the eye of Christian love and compassion to his condition. Cheer up my little orphan boy! the arms of Christian love will embrace thee, and direct thy mind to the source of consolation and truth, though far away from the humble domicile of your earlier days. Who will not contribute to the en lightenment and comfort of the little Indian boy, and help him to look out from this mental darkness to the sun light of sold elevating and expanding day f Who knows but what a little assistance from those who have "enough and to spare," might send him forth one of the brightest lumin aries of the institution, a missionary of the Cross, like the Star of Bethle hem, directing the footsteps of erring ones to the Saviour of man ? The managers are nobly performing their duty in the matter; but without the needed assistance of those who possess the means, and whose Christian duty it is to assist the institution, they are powerless to accomplish the desired and beneficial results proposed by the Asylum. Ye sons of North Carolina! let it never be said of you who profess to be the followers of Christ, with the lamp of truth in your hands, that the cries of ragged, hungry, and homeless or phans, elicited no feelings of sympathy and compassion in your souls. A.vake to a full sense of your Christian duty, and lend a helping hand in elevating the orphan mind from the dismal vale of obscuring darkness to the purer at mosphere of Christian illumination and love. Do sometliing for the men tal and moral enlightenment of your i ace tor tne iiuren and your Lod. How pleasant to feel ! as you are near ing the end of life's joiu-:iey, with the smiles of heaven resting upon you, that, like old J ob, you have been "eyes to the blind, and feet to the laiue a lather to the poor causing the wid ow's heart to sing with joy." In conclusion, for the consideration of the kind sisters, I will give a short extract from Solomon's description of a ij od ic man whose "price is far above rubies." "She stretcheth out Iter hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She opoueih her mouth with wisdom; and iti her tongue is the law of kindness." How significant the language of the Master ! "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." Header! remember the inquiring eyes of the poor Indian boy are look ing to yon for Christian aid and sym pathy. Shall he plead in vain? Oxonian. Oxford, N. C, Jan. 15th, 1874. For lite Advocate. Mi:. EniToi:: I have now been one month in my new station. I am highly pleased with this new field of labor. This is one of the most desira bio stations in the Conference. The people are intelligent, refined and so cial. I feel proud of my congregation. The membership is one hundred and twenty. They are zealous, noble hearted, liberal, working Christians. There is largely more intelligence and culture in this almost mountain town than in many of the Eastern cities. I have been here scarcely one month, and yet I am receiving those- atten tions from our people to which pastors hi some other towns, in their riper as sociations, arc strangers. Shelby is a pleasant town, located 20 miles South east of the mountains, whose giant forms, draped in blue beauty,stand out in full view. The liailroad from Char lotte (oU miles) conies in 5 miles of the place. This gap of 5 miles is to be finished in a few months. The town has a population of 800 souls 12 Dry Goods stores 2 Drug 3 Confec tiontiiies 1 Newspaper (the Cleave land Banner) 4 Churches, and one of the best Hotels west of llaleigh. The Episcopal Church has no rector, and very few members. The Presbyte rians, though few in number, are building a new church. The con troll ing churches are the Methodist and Baptists, very nearly equal in mem bership, wealth and influence. Dr. Tinner's High School is located here, liev. Mr. Gwiu (Baptist) is teaching a mixed school. Mrs. Brevard is con ducting a Female Seminary at Cleave land Mineral Springs, 2 miles East ward from the town. We have skill ful physicians. (5), who find the place distressingly healthy, and talented lawyers (7), whose business, they say, has grown "beautifully less," as time recedes from the war complications. The cotton crops are growing larger in the country cveiy year. About three thousand bales are shipped an nually from this place. Corn, wheat, all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and grapes .ire grown plentifully here. The mountain breeze, so balmy and pure, the cool sparkling springs, and the healing waters of Sulphur and Chalybeate Springs, in and around the town, make this region exceedingly salubrious and delightful. Dr. Burk head (our P. E..) has moved his family into the District parsonage, located in this place. The Doctor says that he never has been more comfortably sit uated than he is now. He has attend ed several of his appointments, and his effective sermons and euergetic management of the District affairs augur great prosperity for the "Em pire District. Two other good things we liked to have forgotten; namely, a dai'ij m:iil and the absence of grog shops. Yours, &c, H. T. Hudson. Shelby, Feb. 2, 1H74. Stanjhnu Fire. A young soldier, going to his barrack room to sleep for the first time, quietly kneeled down to pray in the presence of his comrades. This act was the signal for a storm. Hisses, shouts and whistling filled the room with hideous noise. Belts were thrown at the kneeling soldier, one man leaped upon the bed and shouted in his ear. But he was unmoved to the end of the prayer, when he arose and silently went to his repose. The next night liis comrades eagerly watched to see if he would dare to pray a second time. To their surprise he again dropped on his knees, and they saluted lnni with the same noises as on the previous evening. He did not flinch, however. The third evening he kneeled down and prayed, regardless of their continued mocking and noise. On the fourth evening the noise was less. On the fifth it was still less, and on the sixth one of the soldiers exclaimed: "He stands fire, he stands fire. He's genuine." After that, no one disturbed him. He had overcome opposition he had won respect. A good brother in a Boptist chxh in Miami comity, who while giving his experience, not long ago, said; "Brelhciin, I've been tiyin' this nigh onto forty year to serve the Lord and get rich both at onct, and I tell yer, it's mighty hard slcddiu'." Note from Bishop Keener. STKAMKB FbAHKFUET, Mississippi Rivar, Jan. IS, 1874. Onboard; steam up. I have for traveling companions Bishop Simpson and lady, and Mr. McCreary, of Phil -adelphia. The prospect of getting off on yesterday morning was very dim; but I have all my life only stepped in to open doors, and so the Liord open ed the way General Grant, the Gov ernor and two consuls being called into requisition. Ti e guu has just fired. The Lord be with all at home! All the appointments on this ves sel are admirable. It is thoroughly clean in the cabin and about decks, and presents a marked contrast to the Tabasco, which I now recall, with its narrow quarters and steaming messes of codfish and sweet oil, with onions and garlic for flavor. We are now, while I write, plowing our way down the river, with but little disturbance from the engines. We shall be, they say, two and a half days getting to Havana, and there we expect to meet the English mail line froni St. Thomas to Vera Cruz, which leaves Havana for that port not earlier than the twenty second of each month and not later than the twenty fourth. I was informed yesterday that there will certainly bo a line of steamers between New Orleans and Vera Cruz in a few weeks. This would make the trip to Mexico a matter of foxu- days. Then Mexico will be only the next circuit outside of Calcasieu. Indeed, one at sea is very much like Bro. Parvin in the midst o: the big Calcasieu praire, with a gui le whose knowledge had ran out. It is easier now to go to China than to make the round of the Manny mission,and when the streams and bayous wo well up the danger by water is not much great er. The Lord has narrowed the world amazingly since the days of Mr. Wesley, and one trip of Dr. Coke to America and back was fully equal to a passage .round the world in these days of steam and railroads. The greatest strain on the laborer in foreign fields is the absence of his own kin and peo ple. He is thre-vn on his ov?u resour ces and his Savor. Faith then be comes a necessity to comfort. What communion lie ought to have with his God, and no doubt does' have ! faith for himself and faith for those that sent him. I forgot to say that just before leav ing I received a letter from Bro. Daves, dated at Yej a Cruz. He had a some what rough passage; though to one born far up on land any uneasiness of the sea seems stormy. Then he had a French opera troupe, which crowded the steamer from Havana to Vera Cruz. But he was well, and just about to tal e the cars, at three in the morning, for the City of Mexico. Evidently things in general were overwhelming his pen when he Avrote, and he was; getting ready for much newspaper utterance. Friends will please not expect an swers to letters, which probably came to hand just on the instant of my starting. When I return, which will be in six weeks, they shall have at tention. Ycmrs truly, K. Neto Orleans Christian Advocate. Early Instruction. The father of Johu Stuart Mill held that 'Christianity, as commonly pre sented to mankind, is the ne plus ultra of wickedness,' 'the greatest enemy to morality,' 'radically vitiating the stand ard of morals,' and 'lavishing phrases of adulation on a Being whom, in so ber truth, it depicts as eminently hate ful.' These shocking views he im pressed on the mind of his son with assiduous care, under an idea oldu'y. The effort to impress them began with the earliest years of the mind which he sought to pervert; and he jealonsly guarded that mind against all influ ences contrary to his own convictions and feelings hostile to religion. The success of this maleducation was com pletc. The son, whose writings, as a philosopher and a statesman, are standard works, text-books and clas sics, lived and died without having ever been an enquirer into the truth of Christianity. Revelation and its great verities were regarded by him, from first to last, as "things which in no way concerned' him. A more absolute ir religion is scarcely possible to the Jiu man mind than he evinced through out. Now, is there not here a lesson of value to Christian parents? Should they not seek to inweave the sacred, saving truths of Scripture into the first impression of their childen, j sowing the seeds of the gospel in the virgin soil Should they not sedulously ward off from the young the influences which might bias them against these truths. the cm-rents of feeling and thought on which theymight drift away from reverence toward God and trust : in Cluist? Is Jthere not reason to fear that more, and more disastr ous, "sin: of omission" prevail in this dc partment cf Christian work than any 1 where else? Who that is conscious of delinquency in the past, will not resolve to do the divine will in teach ing divine truth to his offspring more iaithfully for the future? Christian Inuex. Short or Long Pastorates? The question is being discussed in many journals, 'How long ought a minister to stay in one place V Cler gymen and laymen and editors are wagging tongue and pen on that sub ject a most practical question and easy to answer. Let a minister stay in a place till he' gets done: that is when he has nothing more to say or do. Some ministers are such ardent stu dents of the Bible and of men, they are after a twenty five years residence in a parish,so full of things that ought to be said, that their resignation would be a calamity. Others get through in three months and ought to go: but it takes an earthquake to get them away. They must be moved on by committees, and pelted with resolutions, stuck through with the needles of the Ladies' Sewing Society, and advised by neighboring ministers, and hauled up before Presbyteries and consociations, and after they have kill ed the Church and killed them selves, the pastoral relation is dis solved. We know of a man who got a unanimous call. He wore the finest pair of gaiters that ever went into that pulpit, and when he took up the Psalm book to give out the song, it was the perfection of gracefulness. His tongue was dipped in "balm of a thousand flowers,' and it was like the roll of one of Beethoven's symphonies to hear him lead the hardest Bible names, Jechonias, Zercdbvbel and Tiglath-Pilesfk. It was worth all the salary paid him to see the way he lift ed his pocket handkerchief to his eye lids. But that brother, without know ing it got through in six weeks. He had sold out his entire stock of goods, and ought to have shut up shop. Con gregations enjoy flowers and well folded pocket handkerchiefs for oc casional dessert, but do not like them for a regular meal. The most urbane elder was sent to the minister to inti mate that the Lord was probably call ing him to some other field, but the elder was baffled by the graciousness of his pastor, and unable to discharge his mission, and after he had for an hour hemmed and hawed, backed out. Next, a woman with very sharp tongue was sent to talk to the minister's wife. The war-cloud thickened, the pickets were driven in, and then a skirmish, and after a while all the batteries were opened, and each side said that the other side lied and the minister drop ped his pocket-handkerchief and showed claws as long as those of Nebuchadnezzar after he had been three years eating grass like an ox. We admire long pastorates where it is agreeable to both parties, but we know ministers who boast they have been tJiirty years hi one place, though all the world knows they have been there twenty-nine years too long. Their congregations are patiently waiting their removal to a higher lati tude. Meanwhile, those churches are like a man with chronic rheumatism, very quiet, not because they athnire rheumatism but because there is no use kicking with a swollen foot, since it would hurt them more than the ob ject assaulted. If a pastorate can be maintained only through conflict or ecclesiastical tyranny, it might better be aban doned. There are many ministers wdio go away from their settlements before they ought, but we think Jthere are quite as many who do not go Jsoon enough. A husband might just as well try to keep his wife by choking her to death with a marriage ring, as a minister to try to keep a church's love by ecclesiastical violence. Study the best time to quit. Christian at Work. Difficulty and Effort. It is not ease, but effort; not facility, but difficulty that makes men. There is, perhaps, no station in life in which difficulties have not been encountered and overcome before any decided measure of success can be achieved: those difficulties are, however, our best instructors, as our mistakes often form our best experience. We learn wisdom from failure more than from our success; we often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and he who never made a mistake never made a discovery. Home Tooke used to say of his studies in intellectual philosophy, that he had become all the better acquainted with the country through having the good luck sometimes to lose his way. And a distinguished investigator in phy sical science has left it on record that whenever, in the course of his resear ches, he encountered an apparently insuperable obstacle, he generally found himself on the brink of some novel discovery. The very greatest things great thoughts, discoveries, inventions have generally ben nur tured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrows and at length estab lished with difficulty. Beethoven said of Rossini, that he hadinhimthe stuff to haveniadeagood musician,if he had only when aboy been well flogged; bmt he had been spoilt by the facility with which he produced. 1 Men who feel their strength within them, need not fear to encounter ad verse opinions; they have far greater reasoH to fear undue praise and too friendly criticism. When Mendelssohn was about to enter the orchestr a at Biimingham, on his first performance of his 'Elijah,' he said laughingly to one of his friends and critics, 'Stick your claws into mt! Don't tell me what you like, but what you don't like!' It has been said, and truly, that it is the defeat that tries the general more than the victory. Washington lost far more battles than he gained; but he succeeded in the end. The Romans, in their most victorious campaigns, almost invariably began with defeats. Moreau used to be compared by his companions to a drum, which nobody hears of except it be beaten. Welling ton's military genius was perfected by encounters with difficulties of appar ently the most overwhelming charac ter, but which only served to nerve his resolution, and bring out more prom inently his great qualities as a man and a genend. So the skillful mariner obtains his best experience amidst storms and tempests, which train him to self reliance, courage and the highest discipline; and we probably joweto rough seas and wintry nights the best training of our race of British seamen who are not certainly not surpassed by any in the world. Se, Help. Unction A young man rises in the pulpit. You see nothing engaging in his per son, nothing musical in his voice, noth ing winning in his manner; he has no reputation for genius, or learning, or wisdom; no illustrious ancestry, or secular sources of influence or author ity; he speaks, but when you come to analyze liis speech you may find neith er logical ability nor rhetorical charms in it; indeed, it may be wanting in connection and void of new thought, yet all listen with eager interest the giddy are sobered, the worldling feels that he is a fool, the sinner shudders as if brought to the mouth of hell, the saint resolves to live a better life, the minister who had preached for fame turns pale, the whole crowd trembles as in the presence of God. What is the cause? We call it unction. The man has been in his closet, has wres tled with God and prevailed; he has received his commission anew, has had a fresh anointing from the Holy One. He did not tell you this, but 3'ou found it out; you detected the odor of the divine ointment as the smell of a field that the Lord had blessed, and therefore the words went forth into your heart with power as the words of God. Test the discour ses of Whitefield, Massillon. Summer field, by logical or rhetorical reagents and you will be at an utter loss to account for their results. As well test the power of the lightning by analyzing the rain drops that fall from the clouds. A few weeks since, we heard one who has been instrumental in the con versions of more souls, pei'haps. than any one of his age in this generation. Men flock around him, and a marve lous power goes forth from him. It was so when we listened to him, and yet how little did he say! Lest we might have been inappreciaitve, we turned to an aged philosopher and asked him what he thought. 'There is not sense enough in his discourse to fill a lady's thimble, but there is devotion enough to float the chariot of Elijah.' Varieties. Never turn a blessing around to see whether it has a dark side to it. It w as said of the ancient Spartans "that they never inquired after the number of their enemies, but where they were." Let us shun everything which might tend to efface the primitive lineaments of our individuality. Let us reflect that each one of us is a thought of God. Great moral reforms, like the birth of the Saviour, came into the world in obscurity. They are trifling things, which the grave historian of the day will not stoop to record. The human race is divided into two classes those who go ahead and do something, and those who sit still aud impure, "Why wasn't it done the other way." The chief secret of comfort lies in not suffering trifles to vex one, and in prudently cultivating an undergrowth of small pleasures since very few great ones are let on long leases. As we pour water into a dry pump when we desire to obtain more so must we have the love of Christ im parted to the heart before we shall feel any uprisings of delight in him. An English school girl recently wrote a composition on the provisions of Magna Charta, one of which, she said, was that the rights of the church should be preserved "in. violet." Literary Gleanings. The executors of the late Charka Dickens have erected a mural table in Rochester Cathedral, the chief object of which is to connect the memory of Dickens with the scenes in which his earliest and latest years were passed. The word "imp" originally signi fied young man. Edward VI. is so styled in a letter of Cranmer, and a young son of Dudley, Earl of Leices ter, who was poisoned by his nurse aB is supposed, is described as an imp in the inscription on his tomb at War wick. Most American traveller throw away much of their reading matter at their journey's end. But in England, at each station can be found a box fastened up, very similar to our letter boxes, but sometimes larger, iuto which the tr aveller puts papers, books, etc. Those are in turn collected by men who carry them to the hospitals, homes for old men and women, and similar institutions. The criticism of a Southern mem ber of Congress for his provincial pronunciation of "poor" as '-pore," "litre" as "har," etc., has induced a "Washingtonian" to retaliate good naturedly in the New York Tinus, upon the Northern provincialisms which are heard also in the halls of Congress. The Southern critic says: "I wonder that the very fastidious lady (who criticised the Southern member) does not give the. Northern members a lecture for pronouncing, as they all invariably do, the word news, 'nooze,' the word new, 'noo,' duty, 'dooty,' constitution, 'constitution.' Tuesday, 'Tooseday,' etc. It is the rarest thing imaginable to hear a Northern person, cither in Congress or out, pronounce the long u ' correctly as Southerners do, and as Webster and Worcester authorize it. In Wash ington we can always tell a man is a Northerner when he asks 'What's the "nooze ?" ' It is certainly as great a vulgarism as to say 'pore' instead of poor. "Washington" is right, and all provincialisms are very much to bo deprecated, especially when they vio late so flagrantly the most ordinary rides of pronunciation. There are no elements of a correct pronunciation more essential than that of the vowel sounds, and none which contribute more largely to beauty of speech. Of Mr. Disraeli's recent address, at Glasgow, the London Court Journal says: "The address has been in MS. for a couple of years; but Mr. Disraeli spoke it off-hand, without a pause or a slip, without once looking at a note; and every point, except that bit of Greek in the peroration, told well. That fell flat, because it came like a flash, most of the assembly knowing not a syllable of Greek, and the rest having to translate it in their own minds before they could appreciate it, this process in Greek across the Tweed is generally slow. It only appeared the next day in the Times, and it ap peared there because the original MS. of the address was sent to Printing house Square, and printed with Mr. Disraeli's own punctuation even. It is the shortest university address that has been delivered for a longtime, Mr. Gladstone talking an horn aud a half about the Greeks; Mr. Carlyle for more than two hours, principally, of coure, about the gospel of silence, which his jmblishcrs are now illustrating in twenty volumes; and Mr. Stuart Mill for close upon three hours, talking in that time a complete treatise upon tho whole work of education. It was all OTer with Mr. Disraeli in five-and-twenty minutes; and yet the address will sink deeper than Carlyle's. Glad stone's, or Stuart Mill's." The London Saturday Review devotesaleadertothe subject ofmodern fairy tales, in the course of which it says: "It is supposed that anybody can write fairytales, and if a wiiter who is known by greater things chooses to descend to such an oecuimtion, it passes for an innocent caprice. Now the truth is, that it is very difficult to write a good fairy tale, and there are not many men who can do it. In such a work several qualities are required which the other kinds of writing most practised at this day do not tend to foster, and the absence of any one of which is fatal. Imagination a nd con sistency are not less necessary in this kind of fiction than in any othe r, and the conditions under which the im agination is to be exercised, and con sistency preserved in the exercise of it, are more trying. The writer of ordi naiy fiiction has to make new combi nations of the elements given in the actual life of the present or of some past age. and the limits within which those combinations must be made are to be found by observation of the known course of human nature and human affairs. It is not so w ith the writer of fairy tales: unless he follows veiy closely in the track of some cycle of established popular legend, which veiy few have the framing or the pa tience to do, his creatures must live and move in a world made by himself and governed by laws of his own de vising. His imagination must tiieie fore be not only consirueive, but 'rea tive, that is, he must be in borne meas sre a poet. More than this, he must have the simplicity and good faith of an ancient poet, so that he can tell his story aa if he believed eveiy word of it, and expected his hearers to do the same. If he moralizes, or allegorizes, ox-apologizes, he is lost."
North Carolina Christian Advocate (Greensboro, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Feb. 11, 1874, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75