VOLXX1X.-N02.
THE ORGAN OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH.
ESTABLISHED 1855
r-r"llI-rAClC, .! t
Editors.
RALEIGH, N. C.f WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 1884.
TERMS: Jp u w, JJ.JJO
For the Advocate.
OUR VIRGINIA CORRESPONDENCE.
By REV. JOHN E. EDWARDS, D. D.
rR0F. TILLETT ON ' INSPIRATION.
The Advocate of May 17th, has an
rticle on "Inspiration of Scripture,"
bv Frof. Wilbur F. Tillett, of Vander
blt University, that is a marvellously
clever paper. No other writer than
one who had made himself master of
the whole subject could have said so
much to the point, in so short a com
pis. The article is a masterly vindi
cation of the plenary inspiration of the
hok Scriptures, as opposed to ration
alUtic liberalsm on the one hand,
and to loose jointed Unitarianism on
ft is a simrularlv compact
monograph, and covers a larger space
than Is usually comprehended in a
whole volume. The writer gets hold
of the rist of his subject, and holds
firmlv to all that is vital to its discus
sion. He defines inspiration as dis
tinguished from revelation, and clearly
points out the necessity of inspiration
as absolutely indispensable to invest
the Bible with divine authority, and to
command our faith in it as "an infal
lible record of divine truth concerning
the redeeming will of God.'' Verbal
inspiration, under carefully guarded
qualifications, is as clearly brought out
by the writer, as the fact of inspiration
itself. It is clearly shown that dis
crepances in no way invalidate the in
tegrity of the original divine record.
These are chargeable to the account
f tmndritnrs and coovists who were
Ul um"1-" A J
not inspired men. It would be well for
voun J preachers who are studying this
subject, wnicn just now is engaging u
much thought, to cut out this article
of Prof. Tillett's, and keep it, and
ch.h- it- dncp. in so small a comnass.
jLUUt - - ' 7 1 j
it contains a clear, succint outline of
the whole argument in support of the
plenary inspiration ui mc uoiy oui
tures. A NEW BOOK.
Phillips & Hunt, of New York, have i
recently published a new book which
is attracting a good deal of attention.
The title of the book is; " Outlines of
theDotfrine of the Resurrection, Bib-
lica', Historical,and Scientific'by Rev.
R. J. Cooke, M. A., with an introduc
tion by D. D. Whedon, LL. D. Mr.
Cooke holds no middle ground on the
subject of the resurrection of the bod7, j
It is a resurrection, not a creation.lt is
the resurrection of the vile, corrupti
ble, weak, dishonorable animal body,
tenanted by the spirit and soul of the
man in this life, that is raised up in
the last day. He combats strongly
and vehemently the Swedenborcian
theory : the Germ theory, of Samuel
Drew, and the Orifenic theory, as it
is styled, having had its inception and
first distinctive propagation by Origen,
the celebrated Christian apologist of
the third century. Against these
several theories Mr. Cooke dashes
himself with the force of a catapult:
and, having fairly demolished them by
a line of argument that has more in it
than mere plausibility, he addresses
himself to the task of establishing the
doctrine of the resurrection of the
identical body laid in the tombs. He
tvades no objection, but squarely
meets the whole question, and climax
es on the doctrine as taught by St.
Paul in the 15th chapter of his 1st
tpistie to the Corinthians. The book
shows patient research. There is
some hard reading in it some that
nay seem irrelevant; but he holds to
his subject, in the main, with a firm
gnp, and prosecutes his line of argu
ment with a force and determination
iat shows he is instensely in earnest.
u's aecidedly a strong book on the
object, and Dr. Whedon. nn ordinarv
Judge of such things, says, " "it is the
iv.3i u cause in our language on
the subject." It certainlv well repavs
patient perusal.
SUNDAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY POOKS.
Speaking of books reminds me of
something that I deem it rerrinent to
say about Sunday-school library books.
ne Sunday-school library has become
uiMuution. in the last few years
has grown into proportions that are
Positively astounding. In tfie Va.
onterenr th
spools that have from 500 to n 00
volumes in library. The whole num
ber of volumes, in all th r1mn1; nf
Conference, is 60,483. Of these,
more than 60,000 volumes, it would
lrPnse many persons, who have not
fought on the subject, to learn how
o?,Cpmparative!y' bear the imprint oi
Hr lubhshing House in Nashville.
ooks are selected almost indisc.imi
cat 1 ln many stances, to fill up the
atalogue of these libraries. There is
growing demand in the schools for
CeJT Education is on .the
Wn he aPPetite for reading is
wlng more general among our
oung people. Books they will have.
Many of them look to the Sunday
school library for the major part of
their readme: matter. To meet this
demand books are bought from the
Publishers who have learned how to
pander to the taste of the young. The
consequence is that, out of a library of
500 volumes, you win sometimes nna
nine tenthe of the books bearing the
imprint of other houses than the
Southern Methodist Publishing House
in Nashville. Why is this ? I answer,
because our house does not publish
the books, or keep them on sale, that
meets the demand. There have been
more books added to our own cata
logue in the last two years suited to
Sunday-school libraries, such as the
times and tastes demand than in a
whole decade, preceding the publica
tion of the class of books to which I
allude. Such books as, California
Sketches; The Lights and Shadows of
Forty Years; John Newsom; Burl;
Who's to Blame; Lessons for Youth,
and books of that class are sought af
te with avidity by the young. Hap
pily the number of this class of books
is on the increase, coming from our
Publishing House. Entertainment
and instruction is what we must have
combined. It is idle to prate against
books in this line. We must write
them, and publish them ourselves, as
a Church, or, others will write and
publish them for us. We ought to
have 2 or 300 volumes to-day, of this
class, from our own Publishing House.
And, if we can not pay writers to give
us new, fresh, Southern books, imbu
ed with our own Methodist doctrine
and experience, and in harmony with
our usages, Church polity and econo
mv; then, our Book Agent ought to
make arrangements with other Pub
lishers to furnish him with all the new,
and more recent books in this line,
and our Sunday-school Book Editor
ought to examine them, and see that
there is nothing in them, impure in
morals, or false in doctrine according
to our standards, and nothing offen
sive to Southern taste; and, ouc of
such books they should get up a cata
logue that can safely be recommended
to our Sunday-schools. This is our
only protection. The books,I repeat,
we must have. It was but to-day, that
I saw one of our preachers who was
looking out for suitable reading books
to replenish his Sunday-school library.
He wanted entertaining books for
young people. I mentioned all I could
recall in our own catalogue, that I
thought would meet the demand.
"But," said he, "I have $75 in hand
to lay out for books at once."
WHAT DID HE DO ?
He went into a bookstore, and the
accommodating bookseller offered, at
once, to order five or six hundred vol
umes of carefully selected Sunday
school library books, from .various
publishers, at the North, and then al
low the preacher, and his committee,
to examine the books, one By one,
and select just such as might prove
acceptable to him; with the offer of a
very liberal discount on the catalogue
prices. The books were ordered.
Whv could not our Book Agent, and
Sunday-school Book Editor, manage
to get us up a carefully selected Sun
day school library, of four or five
hundred volumes, and thus be able to
furnish a school with fifty or a hundred
dollars worth - of books, at once ? In
the absence of some such arrangement
we shall continue to get "the fly in the
pot of ointment." In the meantime
the Book Agent should add to our cata
logue, as rapidly as the means of the
House will justify, new books from
Southern writers, entertaining and
instructive, suited to the class of read
ers that get books from the Sunday
school library. The book may be all
the more attractive by reason of its
having a pretty and pleasing tale of
fiction interwoven with it. I repeat,
the books of the class indicated, we
must have; and if we cannot get them
from our Publishing House with its
imprint, and from Southern writers, or,
on the indorsement' and recommenda
tion of ourBookEditor,then we must be
content to do, as we have been doing,
get them from other Publishers, even
if we incur the risk of "the fly in the
pot of ointment." Others will do as
did the preacher referred to above.
WHAT SOMEBODY SAYS.
It will be said by somebody; "we
already have the books on hand in
our Publishing House." I know we
have a fine catalogue of good, stand
ard books, but we do not have the
books desired for Sunday-school li
braries, in sufficient number at least to
meet the demand. You might as well
put Kant's Philosophy, in a Sunday
school library, as to put "Studies in
the Forty days," and the "Conflict of
Centuries," and so of various other
first rate books issued by our Publish
ing Hoi se. What we want and mutt
have is, books for children, and for
bright, intelligent boys and girls, and
for our reading young people. The
Sunday-school library is the circulat
ing library for the congregation. How
long are we to be shut up to the dif
ficult and delicate, not to-say the
dangerous task of replenishing our
Sunday-school libraries from the pro
miscuous catalogues of other Publish
er ?
HERE AND THERE.
Revivals of marked interest are pro
gressing at High St. Station in this
city, and at Ettrick, just over the rtver.
The former under Rev. Jas. C. Reed;
the latter under Rev. Jacob Mauning.
The great revival in the Methodist
Churches in Lynchburg have resulted
in the coversion of largely over 200
souls; and at last accounts, were still
progressing. Preparations are still on
foot for Centennial operations: A
meeting composed of the Presiding
Elders of our Conference, and one
layman for each District, was held in
Richmond, May 14th, for the purpose
of rearranging the Districts, with the
design to make them more compact.
District Conferences will soon com
mence in our Conference. Bishop
Pierce is expected to preside at the
Norfolk District Conference to be
held in Hampton in July. A good
time is expected at the Randolph Ma
con College Commencement. Fine
speakers are engaged.
Petersburg, Va., May 17th, 1884.
For the Advocate.
FROM FAYETTEVILLE DISTRICT.
Messrs Editors : Twelve days ago
"wife and I," left Rockingham in
"our" buggy for the "inland" trip. A
cordial welcome, a good dinner and
four hours rest, at Brother P. Stand
back's greatly refreshed us. We found
delightful entertainment that night
and next day at Bros. Baldwins and B.
Ingrams, at Mt. Gilead. That com
munity is filling up with good families,
drawn together mainly by the excel
lent school of Prof. R. H. Skeen. The
next evening we reached Troy, where
we had a good Quarterly Meeting, the
two days following. The Divine bless
ing was manifest upon each of the
four services. The growth of Metho
dism here is slow, but encouraging.
The pastor, Rev. C. M. Pepper, and
assistant, Bro. Duglass,are doing good
work and hope for a large harvest be
fore Conference. The vote against
the sale of liquor in this Township
on the first Monday was 98 only 8
for its sale. The good day is coming
when we shall all rejoice that license
to sell liquor is no where granted in
this fair land of ours. God hasten
the day. All honor to Troy and oth
er Townships which lead in this great
reform. The past week was spent no
Montgomery Circuit, where I preach
ed five times at four appointments
administered the communion at each
Church and to a sick lady at her home
baptized 1 1 children and one adult
visited and worshiped with ten fami
lies and travelled about 80 miles, over
as rough roads as I have found on the
District.
I was very much impressed with
several things during the week. . 1st
The habits of the people in regard to
sleeping and eating. Generally retir
ing about 8 P. M. and rising from 4
to 5 A. M., breakfast from 5 to 6
dinner at 11 A. M. supper from 6 to
7 P. M. The average preacher don't
conform very cheerfully with that pro
gamme. 2nd. The absence of religious news
papers and the sparsity of family altars.
I could learn of but four copies of the
Advocate and three places of family
worship among four congregations,
possibly there are more. Then the
contributions to Church purposes and
development in all that secures the
best, type of Christian life, . are corres
pondingly painful. There was honest
seedsowing in public and private. I
trust there is a better future for that
section. A good school has been
planted near its center. The resources
of the people are considerable. Some
of the congregations are building good
Churches. The schools are improv
ing. The pastor, Re v. F.M Shambuger,
is very faithful and prayers go up
daily that the Holy Ghost may lead
the peop'e to nobler views and prac
tices. ,
3rd. The work of the cyclone in the
same .section was fearful. Nature is
hOrng all the marks of ruin as fast as
possible, yet many of them will abide.
There is a morbid fear in the public
m'.nd which causes anxiety whenever
a cloud appears or the wind blows. A
large per cent of the families have
prepared pits in which to find safety
in future storms. One good sister
said she wanted no pit, but expected
safety only in the "rock of ages." She
is right. The one important thing is
to so live that neither the ordinary,
nor extraordinary forces, which "hurry
mortals hoone," may find us unprepar
ed. The manner, time and place of
death should be left with "Him in
whose hands are the issues of life and
death." Unless faith in God, which
so appropriates the provisions of the
atonement, that love comes to reign,
and expells fear from the heart, there
can be no true and solid comfort in
life. Storm pits will fail to secure
it.
- 4th. Facts about three old people.
The cyclone blew the houses away in
which an aged and almost blind lady
was sleeping she did not awake until
after the bed on which she was lying,
together with the cover, had been sep
arated from everything else and car
ried about twenty yards. She calleo
ro her son to shut the window as it
was raining on her. Great was her
surprise and thanksgivings to God
when she learned ;hat the house was
completely destroyed, and that even
the straw mattress which was under
her bed could not be found, and that
none of her family were seriously hurt.
The second party is a man who has
had rheumatism forty years. His un
der jaw is the only, joint that he can
move. The contraction of the muscles
in his hands, feet and some other parts
of the system has produced fearful de
formity. And, yet his cheerful sub
mission was beautiful. I was greatly
profited by my visit.
The third was an aged lady who has
a fearful cancer on her face. We had
a communion service with her and a
small circle of friends. It was truly
refreshing to hear her Christian ex
perience, so rich and full of comfort.
Grace victorious over nature. "It is
enough."
Yours truly,
J. A. CUNINGGIM.
Troy, May 13th, 1884.
For the Advocate.
THE CENTENARY SUNDAY-SCHOOL FUND.
BY REV. W. G. E. CUNNYNGHAM, D. D.
The Centenary Committee, in de
signating Sunday-schools as one of
the objects for which funds are to be
raised during the year, had in view
schools in our missions and in desti
tute parts of our country. The object
is missionary, and belongs to the same
class of work with Church Extension
and Domestic Missions. Only those
schools, therefore, that cannot raise
money enough to purchase the neces
sary literature will be beneficiaries of
this fund. The next General Confer
ence will determine the manner of in
vesting the money raised, and the
method of distributing the proceeds.
The interest only, I presume, will be
used, the fund itself being permanently
invested. The interest itself may be
distributed among the several Annual
Conferences according to some equita
ble rule, and the Conference Sunday
school Boards can use it as they may
deem most advisable.
The reasons for this appeal to our
people on behalf of needy Sunday
schools may be set forth as follows :
1. The Sunday-school is a regular
and legitimate part of Church work,
and as such has for its chief object the
salvation of souls. It is not a literary
institution, or a social organization
merely, but a specific religious agency
employed by the Church for the
special benefit of the young and not
the young' people of the Church only,
but of our country. In communities
where the Church is well organized,
the Sunday-school extends its facilities
and benefits to all classes, and the
poor children are well provided for in
this respect; but in communities where
no Churches exist, or where their
means are limited to the bare neces-.
sities of existence, little or nothing is
done for the religious .instruction of
the young. They are not only with
out the benefit of Sunday-school in
struction, but, as a rule in such locali
ties, the home life is of a low moral
and religious grade, and the children
are left to grow up without any special
religious training. For these the
Church must provide, as it does for
the adult population, by its missionary
agencies. The mission Sunday-school
is the only means for such work. Ex
perience has proved it to be the most
efficient agent which the Church can
employ, and it therefore takes its place
among the most successful methods of
evangelistic and missionary work.
The same reasons, consequently,
which justify our domestic missionary
operations apply with equal force to
this. We cannot neglect this field
without incurring great guilt; for such
destitution at our very doors is a loud
and imperative Providential call to the
work. We cannot consistently pro-1
vide for the religious instruction of
children iu China, and leave those in
our' own country to perish in ignor
ance. j
2. Again : This wide field of Chris- j
tian enort not only calls and com
mands us, by all the obligations of
duty, to enter and cultivate it, but it is
full of promise. It is a fact in the
history of Church Extension through
out . our country, that almost every
movement toward "the regions be
yond" has been led by the Sunday
school. The order of advance is usu
ally, first, amission Sunday-school,
in which a revival soon occurs, souls
are converted and join the Church, a
Society is organized, a house is built,
and it becomes a settled congregation.
In many cases want of means to
purchase suitable Sunday-school liter
ature has prevented the permanent or
ganization of a school, and thus the
attempt to establish a Church has
failed where a little aid to the school
would have insured success. It is in
order to furnish the necessary help in
cases of this kind that we ask for a
Centenary Sunday-school fund. We
are frequently asked at the Publishing
House to help needy Sunday-schools,
but no means having been furnished
for such purpose, we can do but Lttle.
I am sure that the same amount of
missionary money could not be more
advantageously used in any department
of Church work.
3. The Sunday-school fund for
which the Centenary Committee calls
is to be raised by special collections
on Children's Day, and by the sale of
the Centenary Medal. The medal is
intended to commemorate the Cen
tenary ofAmericanMethodism,and has
on one side a profile likeness of Bish
op Asbury, with the date of organiza
tion, 1784; on the other side a profile
likeness of Bishop Pierce, the Senior
Bishop cf the M. E. Church, South,
with the date of the current year, 1884.
One style of the medal is plain white
metal; the other is plated with gold.
The first is given to any one contri
buting to the Centenary Sunday-school
Fund fifty cents; the second to any
one contributing one dollar. Col. L.
D. Palmer, of Nashville, Tenn., is
Treasurer of the Sunday-school Cen
tenary Fund, and fills all orders for
medals.
I hope the pastors of all ourChurch
es, and the Superintendents of all our
Sunday-schools, will see that the
Centenary Sunday-school Fund is re
membered, not only on Children's
Day, but during all the year. I think
it will commend itself to all who con
sider the great need there is for the
extension of the Church, with its
means of grace, into the destitute por
tions of our countiy. It is the cause
of .Christ, and the cause of perishing
souls.
Nashville, May, 1884.
Tf.KsKG RELIGION IN CAPSULES.
We have some teachers and preach
ers in this country, professional revi
valists, who offer religiun to the peo
ple in homeopathic doses in gelatin
capsules to hide the bitterness of re
pentance a godly sorrow for sin.
Some of them have, by some new
chemical process peculiar to their the
ological laboratory, discovered a
sulphate of religion from which the
disgusting and offensive element of re
pentance has been extracted. Others
retain this element, but exhibit the
dose in capsules so it will not be offen
sive to their patients. These doctors
and their new nostrums, or with the
old medicine for sin-sick souls in cap
sules, are in demand, particularly in
some communities and by certain
classes of people. Repentance for
sin is the offensive part of religion. If
it were not for this more people would
be willing to take religion. In order
to popularize religion and make it pala
table these doctors have invented new
ways of administering it. It is almost
impossible for one to know when a
patient swallows a dose exhibited in
these one grain capsules. It is an
easy going case. No tears are shed,
no wry faces made, no effort, no
agony; the tiny pellet is gulped down
with scarcely an effort at deglutition.
This sulphate of religion with repen
tance taken out, or the old specific
for sin in capsules, would be a great
improvement ifit were as effective as
the old was of admin istratioh. Un
fortunately the effects are not what
they ought to be. There is no godly
sorrow for sin, no turning away from
it. s It produces a sort of religiousness
rather than pure religion. Some of
the patients are partially reformed
without any radical tiansformation.
The V ranches of sin are cut off and
the strongest shoots are chopped down
for a time, but the roots of sin form a
mat over the entire surface of the
soul. The new process looks more
to the repression of sin than to looting
it Out of the heart and life. It helps
to make gentlemen and gentle wo
men, but develops little Christliness
in those who take religion in this
form. This sulphate and capsule pro
cess makes some violent and vicious
sectarians who would shed other peo
ple's blood for the maintenance of de
nominational peculiarities, but it de
velops few, if any, Christian men and
women who love God and hate sin.'
Religion with the element of repen
tance extracted, or hidden in a cap
sule,may be more palatable to godless
men and women than the old article,
but it is every way less effective in
saving the human soul from the reign
ing power and dominion of sin. Con
viction for sin and turning away from
it with loathing and hatred of it lie at
the foundation of all genuine devo
tion to God. This kind produces an
awful agony, a great struggle, a con
sciousness of the need of Divine help,
and it leads to faith in God. Out of
it there comes a crucifixion of the flesii
with the affections and lusts thereof, a
turning away from sin of ail kinds
and in every form, an eamst longing
for holiness of heart, and a fixed pur
pose to live and die for God. In some
parts sf our country there is, I am
sorry to say, a tendency to lower the
gospel to the measure of the people.
We ought to hold up the standard and
urge the people to come to it. We
ought to come to the measure of the
stature of grown men and women in
Christ, our Lord. An earnest con
versation in the p2St few weeks with
some who were urged "just to stand
up and confess Christ," the common
capsule, revealed this fact : They were
willing to conform to all the external
observances of religion, but they must
be excused from the internal graces
they could not no man could love
his enemies or bless them that cursed
him or pray for them that despitefully
used him. Inordinate affection, lasciv
iousness, evil concupiscence, lust,
hatred, envy and wrath was perfectly
natural, and hence they could be re
tained and indulged in the heart, but
they must not be allowed in open arts,
because this would disgrace the church
and put the party in a bad light be
fore the world. They say "sin is an
act, and nothing is an act but that
which is overt." This new sulphate of
religion stupefies the soul and deadens
the conscience to the existence of sin
in the heart. We should reaffirm with
unction and power the doctrines of
conviction and repentance, turning
away from sin internal and external.
Gilder oy in X. 0. Advocate.
BLESS His' DEAR HEART.
In a very elegant palace car entered
a weary-faced, poorly dressed woman,
with three little children one a baby
in her arms. A look of joy crept into
her face as she sat down into one of
the luxurious chairs, but it was quick
ly dispelled as she was asked rudely
to "start her boot." A smile of amuse
ment was seen on several faces as the
frightened gioup hurried out to one of
the common cars. Upon one young
face, however, there was a look which
shamed the countenance of the oth
ers. "Auntie," said the boy to the lady
beside him, "I am going to carry my
basket of fruit and this box of sand
wiches to the poor woman in the next
car. You are willing of course !"
"Don't be foolish, dear; you may
need them yourself, and perhaps the
woman is an imposter."
"No, I'll not need them," be ans
wered, decidedly, but in a very low
tone. "You know I had a hearty
breakfast and don't need a lunch.
The woman looked hungry, auntie,
and so tired, too, with three little ba
bies clinging to her. I'll be back in
a minute, auntie; I know mother
wouldn't like it if I didn't speak a kind
word to the least of these when I meet
them."
The worldly auntie brushed a tear
from her eye after the boy left her, and
said, audibly : .
"Just like his dear mother."
About five minutes later, as the lady
passed the mother and three children,
she saw a pretty sight the family
feasting as perhaps they never had
done before; the dainty sandwiches
were eagerly eaten, the fruit basket
stood open, the eldest child, with her.
mouth filled with bread and butter,
said :
"Vas the pretty boy an angel, mam
ma ?"
"No," answered the mother, and a
grateful look brightened her faded
eyes; "but he is doing an angel's work,
bless his dear heart!"
And we, too, said, "Bless his dear
heart!" Peoria Call.
A saloon at Danville Junction, on
the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, was
located so near the track that the
rain men found it altogether too con
venient to run in and take a drink
while their trains were stopping. Su
perintendent Lyford hit upon a novel
plan to get rid of the nuisance. He
ordered a tight board fence, ten feet
high, built not only in front of the
salQon, but for quite a distance on
both sides parallel with the tracks.
Cheaper than fe -cing would be pro
hibition by the state and nation.
Woe to us when the world favors u.,
and our life seems void of trouble.
Crosses and difficulties are the surest
marks c f the way to hearven. Fayson
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