North Carolina Newspapers

XXIX. NO. 44 vot. !.' V ip I'll. I For the Advocate. BISHOP PIERCE AS A MODEL. Z REV. A. W. MANGUM, D. D. jv o-reat man is a revelation. His Advances beyond the sphere that f iliarto the multitude, displays Ascendent powers and brings to ff1' .pncion of others knowl- comprehension they have never before pos- e . onnreciated. Hence one of the m.st tidies is interesting and the life of one profitable whom the 01 men pronounces b&lJ . j.i,oi-onr mpr man is to bp ird-d as perfeet or worthy of imi r!n iu all respects; but that great lPiches its lessons with an em , -,c rommensurate with its own ? Lind Drominence. Its faults and ..p ire often alike, extraordinary line one to warn, the other to encour inspire. S'lVe that is both great and good is of the most invaiuauie 01 mbu w MNto man. In its character it is god ''ke in 113 llicajui- " " 1 tation ot practical nobility. It is duty Ilach'i bv example. Above all, it is ln exhibition of excellency that helps and laitniui soui iu a ucuci appreciation of that one perfect ir the character of Him char who is lhp source of all greatness in the creat .,thp maker of man, moral nature and aii the one who is infinitely neat in every attribute that is em il' nVnl.ite crreatness. Hence a tj!v noble life proclaims the excellen t nf God and points us to him. Such AvoC tW nf Bishop Pierce. It abounded in finished morals for all who wish to be noble, successful ana usemi. First. He was A MODEL IN ORATORY. Nature did much for him in form and feature. The charm of eloquence ..hufirp nnd sounded in his rid-., strons, musical voice. But this rinrmwas not all the gift of nature, it Mffl r'nierlv from the real fountain of eloquence in his heart. In this . sneak carefully, neither his fine per son nor even his po-verful intellect tt-ic v..; rhief secret of his influence ....... Qroc With nil his nhvsical UCl tlLtUs-iiv-- " 1 j , wrl intellectual endowments he could never have achieved such oratorical eminence without that glorious devo tion or obedience to divine truth and Christian dutv that characterized all his efforts. To me he is the only expla nation I have ever seen of the Athenian's definition of eloquence Action, all his powers were roused to action by the call of duty a call that he felt to be worthy of the unreserved ottering of his all and then all those powers moved in harmony t! the per formance of that duty, without ever sugzsting a suspicion that he had a single thought of himself he evident ly gave to the grand object of his ef forts, all that he had to give. He preached with an object; the object appointed by God to govern every eff ort by His servant. He said once that he preached to effect a purpose, and that, if one effort failed he tried another line of thought, and another, till he succeeded. HE WAS A MODDLE IN SOCIAL INTER COURSE. He was as admirable in the private circle as before the great cangrega- tion. His winning smile and noble voice and kindly spirit made his pres ence a rich delight. He loved his fel lowmen and was always glad to give them pleasure. Noble in soul, he was natural in his very nobility, moving serenely and grandly in a realm of honest and unselfish sympathy, free from the chilling restraints of hollow fashion and the dictates of deluded vanity. In all relations his language and thought were exceptionally chaste ana becoming. I have never heard of nis uttering an impure anecdote, sen tence or word, verily he was a man of pwelips. While so ready and anx ious to be pleasant to others, he gov eried all his words and actions in ev ery presence by the spirit and require ment of the Gospel of Christ. Henev er yielded his duty as a Christian to fevor or frown of those who fool ishly govern their lives by the ways f the world. He always wished to be 'lS-eeable, but he always sought first and chiefly to be true as a lover of suls awf a servant of God. This made him pre eminently A MODEL AS A FRIEND. haiwann, genial nature that he a'vays displayed in association with e various classes of his fellowmen, tecame a delightful charm in the pres- f?ce of those whom he blessed with hls friendship. No intimacy revealed Jriy unlovely care for himself, and no hin forget his religion. As he drew iiv.i.l I i I 1 I I . r " til I lil.nDUl nearer to others, he impressed them th e more with his enchaining siraolic- i 7 and ever dominant piety. As ,is whole life was devoted to his faven appointed work, his chief in- " "-l.MJUi.Ul.CU. VV Ulh, 1113 " j nee upon those who loved him was I - . 1 THE ORGAN OF THE a godly pressure to christian duty. In 1 - urn m - - Dnet, his friendship was the fruit of his religion. It was altogether Dure and faithful. He found his own great peace and joy and hope in Christ and he was too true to guide any one he loved to any of the treacherous sources of pleasure outside his holy Father. He was a model friend to his friends, sim ply from the fact that he was always inspired and controlled in his friend ships by the impulses of a heart that was full of the love that christian de votion ever secures. He was a friend to man because he was a servant of God. He served God in his friend ships. This it is to be a friend. HE WAS A MODEL OF PATRIOTISM. He that is true to his fellowman is true to his country. Well balanced benevolence to individuals makes one a useful citizen. The selfish man will sell the interest of his country for gold; and the ambitious man will country for power. The man whose nature is swayed by corrupt principles cannot be a real blessing in his re lations of subject to his government,for an evil tree cannot bring foith good fruit for the na ion collectively any more than for each of the multitude that con stitute the nation. The pure man is a power for good in all his relations. His influence makes others better and his purity involves fidelity to the gov ernment. It is not only true that re ligion makes men worthier as citizens: it is even true that no one can be per fect in his service to his country with out the heaven-guided devotion that is possible only to the christian. Bish- op Pierce served his country by serv ing his God. HE WAS A MODEL AS A METHODIST. He loved his church but he did not love it blindly. He loved it, but not for its own sake. He loved it because it seemed to him to be peculiarly adap ted to the specific work that God has appointed to the church on earth. No other church-love is rational or godly. By this he judged of its rites, its polity, and its doctrines. There was no fool ish, wicked vanity in his denomina tionalism. He valued all customs and agencies by the one standard of prob able influence on the spiritual life. Gentle and loving as he was, he never hesitated to condemn and reject any proffered means and services that he believed to be against the vital interests of the church. Organs, choirs ora torical display, self-confident learning, pride of riches, everything that tend ed, in his judgment, to divert the mind and heart from the essential duties in religion, he boldly yet kindly antag onized. The examples of the fathers and the practices of his contempora ries he studied in their relation to the teachings of the Savior on the para mount duty of saving souls; and this relation determined whether he would follow or shun whether he would approve or oppose. In all this, as in all other aspects of his character, we see that HE WAS A MODEL AS A CHRISTIAN MIN ISTER. In his own Christian life he con stantly sought the evidences of the di vine presence and favor. Thus by ex ample he taught what it is to be a God. While thus watching his heart as his first and greatest duty, he was free from the least inclination to monastic selfish M.UW ness. He was true at heart and with his whole heart, that he might be true 1 in the dutv that God reauired of him. He revealed the main secret of ministerial powei and efficiency when, in approaching the church in California, he remarked, "I can't preach unless I am happy in God." As I write, the thought comes t n m P What blessed and wonderful results would follow if all our preach ers were happy in 00a evciy tunc they enter the pulpit ! Oh, brethren, though we cannot be like our dear, sainted Bishop in those respects in which he was peculiarly gifted by his Maker, we can be like him in this re gardlike him in his humble trust, in his living so near to Christ, in his constant effort to have the precious love of God in his heart. We can, therefore, by the mercy of our Father, be like him in that in which he was greatest. "The success of Christ's mission in volved the destruction of the whole world of falsehood and unreality, of which every existing religious, social and political institution was then full to overflowing. The kingdom of truth therefore, from its very nature, must enter into deadly conflict with the kingdom of error, and as such, it must exert a revolutionary influence on every department of man's individ ual, political and social life, until it has effected its complete regenera tion." Row. V . Renew your subscription. NORTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE RALEIGH, nTc., WEDNESDAY, NOV. THE LAST CHANCE. In two weeks Conference will be upon us, and the year's work will be done, so far as your pastors are con cerned, and not done so far as you had part of it to perform. From now till then will be a stirrino- time on manv charges. The fifth Quarterly Confer ence is to be held. The af amnv will be enacted in regular Post-Oak style. Terry Larkum mav be on hand. and it is to be hoped that many of the 1 Goodman family still live, and that the brother with the buried negroes has found his way to the same quiet resting-place, where he can no longer preach righteousness and practice covetousness. This meeting is often made a trying time, not of necessity, but from sheer neglect upon the part of those who have failed to meet their obligations to the Church of Tesus Christ. It may sometimes be for want ot information, but much more fre quently trom meanness. A steward asked a member of the Church for his assessment a few days ago, and he said: "1 onlv have a few dollars and I and my family are sroine: to use that to go to the State Fair.-' This man is the type of thousands. Selfishness, and not obligative covenant vows, is the rule of action. In God's name, think of your solemn vows, and of the man who has served you and your family faithfully for the past vear. You pay your taxes, or your property goes. You pay your hired man, or he will compel you. You withhold from your preacher because you can without fear of law. Wipe this blot from your character, and do the i ork of honesty and righteousness once, and be happy. iet not your preacher leave your charge till the last stiver due him is paid; not only so, but let all your part of the collections be paid in full, that you may have a conscience void of offense towards God and man. Rich mond Advocate. SOMETHING ABOUT LOOKING, BY CHARLES F. What we see in DEEMS, D. D. any thing or any to the eyes with 1 .1 man is largely due which we look. It is a rule that we any thing ac we carry to it. ordinarily bring from cording to that which picture, one 01 apnaei s, may always be the same in itself, but is it not really as many pictures as there are beholders? An untutored child sees in it only a group of persons, per haps only a woman and child. An anatomist sees something which never enters the eyes of the child. An artist sees a third picture, a poet a fourth, a saint a fifth. It depends upon the eyes, and, still more, upon what is behind the eyes. An o;d, blind beggar sits by the way side. To the political economist who passes by he seems a factor in the great system we call "society." An oculist does not see that picture at all, but he does behold a very interesting patient. The artist sees what he A j . . . r t- 1 afterward reproduces in a picturesque sketch, the poet what he afterward weaves into ib.2 lines of a touching poem A philanthropist beholds an object of charity, a destitute and afflicted fellow being. As Jesus looks upon the man he sees a soul for whose salvation he has an unutterable longing. It is what is in the beholder rather than what is in the spectacle. In many places in the history of our Lord there is the statement that Jesus ''looked." If only those on whom he looked could have known what was behind those eyes, how they would have been thrilled! In the third chapter of the Acts of the Apostles is a story, one phrase in which led to what is written above. Peter and John were going to the temple to worship. It was "the hour of prayer." A lame man lay at the gate which was called "Beautiful." Many had seen him that day. Perhaps Peter and John had seen him often before. But somehew, on this occasion, Peter look ed with different eyes, that is with a different state of mind and heart. The phrase, "fastening his eyes upon him," is very - impressive and instructive. Pentecostal power had quickened and strengthened all Peter's faculties. Love for the ascended Lord and apostolic responsibility had so transformed Peter that even on his way to pray he was moved to work. He looked upon the man, and as he looked the man gained a kind of fascination for the apostle who saw in him, not simply an un gainly beggar who had never walked, but a human being in whom might be shown the power of the ascended Jesns. And so the lesson comes to us all to take heed how we look as well as how we hear. The best proparation for the eyes is in the heart. A selfish man sees in every thing only an intrument for his selfishness or an obstruction to his selfish enjoyment. A generous man sees in the same things outlets for the refreshing and fertilizing streams of his soul. A sinister spirit can find OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL faults every-where and in every being, even in saints, in martyrs, in apostles, and in Jesus; and there is no human being living so utterly worthless that a truly Christian man can find nothing in him to love. Let us not judge the world and men by what we see in them, but by that judge ourselves. If all things seem yellow, we have jaundice. If we see all the faults and none of the beauties of our fellow-men, we may be sure that something has gone wrong with us, If we see only what we may pervert and destroy, we are like the devil; if our eyes seek and find something in every soul which we may make the field of operations for that soul's uplifting and sanctification, we are like Jesus. Ex. WHAT TRANSPIRES AT CONFERENCE. Much depends on what is thought, said, and done at Conference What is Thought. It is a time for thought. The past year is reviewed, the coming is forecasted. Short-com ings are more fully seen and deplored in the face of the naked facts brought out in the annual exhibit. Mistakes are made manifest by the accomplished results. The laborer sees wherein he might have done better work, and his thoughts are self-accusing. But he is in the midst of conditions that turn his thoughts to the future inquiringly, and more or less anxiously. Where he is to go and what he is to expect for the coming year, are questions that press upon his mind. His usefulness, his support, and if he have a family, their health and comfort, are all involved in the disposition that will be made of him by the appointing power. He may have grace enough to be ready to accept whatever comes to him in due course of law, but he has his own thoughts, and perhaps his own pre ferences which he may hold blame lessly. The thoughts that crowd upon the mind of a sensitive man, thus placed, are exciting, and without watch fulness and prayer, tend to disturb his tranquillity and interrupt his commun ion with God. Iherefore, while at Conference, let all concerned watch fully and prayerfully guard the thoughts IViiat is bam. Light, hasty, im prudent, and uncharitable speech is to be guarded against with special care while at Conference. The little as penties ot the whole past year some times culminate during the few days of the Conference session. Good men who are antipathetic in temperament, or who have honestly differed in judg ment, are, at Conference, thrown into official and persenal relation and con tact in such a way as to bring out al their actual or latent antagonisms o opinion or feeling. If one of the parties should be in such official lation to the other as to have it in his power to influence action affecting his ministerial position, there is danger not onlv of hard thoughts, but of hard speeches. A generous mind may, under such conditions, be betrayed into the use of ungenerous words. anxiety of mind and consequent nervous irritability disturb the normal current of thought and feeling, and the "unruly member" takes unwonted free dom and cuts like a sword. The un- der-buzz;ng of a Conference session has destroyed the spiritual enjoyment of many, and sowed tares that have infested the field for years afterward. The laborers good men at heart, honest, courageous, magnanimous look at one another askance, their fel lowship is only half-hearted, and their co-operative service is crippled and robbed of half its pleasantness and efficiency. A judicious and charitable control of the tongue is called for at Conference. We have aid nothing under this head about the men who still further complicate difficulties and embarrass the officers of the Church by their intermeddlings the men who, with mistaken zeal, take upon them selves as far as they can, the respon sibilities which the law of the Church has laid upon other shoulders, and thus make under-currents and counter currents that make confusion and lead to harmful results: One voluble, badly-balanced man of this sort can do wonders in the way of producing ob struction, confusion, and dissension in the Church. There is no use in saying any thing to a man of this sort; he is incorrigible; it is his way, and he will not change it. But the officials he pesters can gauge the spirit and value of all volunteer counselors. The rest less, intriguing, caviling, inter-meddler can easily be distinguished from the frank, fair-minded, zealous brother who is ready to give information when it is called for, and who loves the Church too well to embarrass its action, and loves his brethren too sincerely to strike them in the back. What it Done. The work of the Conference tells upon the whole work of the coming year. A blunder that might be avoided is a sin. One mis take is the seed of many more. The Head of the Church rules and overrules in its interest, but we have had abun- CHURCH, SOUTH. 5, 18S4. dant evidence that when passion, prejudice, undue haste, weak compli ance, or invincible obstinacy, cause wrong action, we have no guarantee that the natural consequences will be averted by divine interposition. The business of a Conference is business for eternity. It involves the glory of Lrod, the weltare ot the Church, and the salvation of the lost. With what prayerfulness, diligence, and prudence, should it be conducted ! At Conference every member needs to be especially furnished for the work in hand. Let the blessing be sought in the place of secret prayer. Nam ville Advocate. METHODISM'S PERIL. The greatest danger to Methodism is in the wealth ot her membership. Very many Methodists are substan tially rich very many more live as though they were rich have all the tastes and many of the habits of rich people. The tendency of Methodism has been to make its adherents rich The sobriety, the self-denial, the dill gence in business which Methodism has fostered, have brought many fami lies from poverty to wealth. Indeed, this is the constant tendency of the religion of Jesus Christ, but its ten dency in this respect has had striking exemplification in those churches, which, like the Methodist,have reached down after the poor, the outcast and degraded classes of men.i By insis tance on the economic virtues it has brought many families from abject poverty into affluence in one or two generations. Thus danger has set in to those families from a new direction. For nothing is more perilous to the human soul than wealth. Our Lord has put the greatest possible emphasis upon this danger in His pregnant words: "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven." Having the means for self-indul-gence, the rich are inclined to gratify themselves. They are strongly tempted to trust in uncertain riches, and not in the living God. They are tempted to despise others to treat with contempt the opinions and the rights of the poor. They find it extremely difficult to give of their substance as God has prospered them. A man worth fifty thousand dollars and having an income of foui thousand and an annual expense of twenty-five hundred is powerfully tempted to add twelve or fourteen hundred dollars to his substance and give for the causes of humanity only one or two hundred dollars, and think himself more liberal than the man who has no capital and gives to charitable objects twenty-five or fifty dollars out of a hard-earned income of one thou sand dollars. St, Paul wrote to Timothy the only rule by which rich men can live safely: "Charge them that are rich in this world . that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come; that they may lay hold on eternal life." This is the only antidote to the danger of riches a danger personal to the rich and always imminent. Those who having a moderate in come, yet live like rich people, as to outward appearance, have the tastes and habits of the rich and affect the society of the wealthy, constitute by far the larger class. They are so taxed to gratify their desires and to, keep up appearances that they are in great danger on the one hand of , outliving their income and on the other 'of having nothing to give to those who are in need. Thus their personal isalvation is in constant jeopardy. But these two classes combined to gether in a city or town church present such a striking contrast with the really poor of the same community that the really poor are in danger of being ex cluded from their fellowship.! Should then the rich live like the poor? No; but the rich should love the poor, and should manifest that love in no patronizing, no high minded, no boastful way, but in the spirit bf Christ, who went about doing good. King Humbert was never more a king than when visiting the sick of Naples and ministering to the wants of his destitute and stricken subjects. The future of Methodism will de pend upon what she does with her accumulated wealth. If she retains it to increase her personal comforts, to enable her to live at ease and enjoy the offices of the Church with no ap preciable burden upon her income, leaving the poor at home and the perishing millions aboad to gather up only the crumbs that tall trom her table, her decline may be slow, but it will be certain, and her desolation will be grievous. God's providence has to do first of all with the thoughts of men. Who knows but that the suggestions of this centennial year, to endow an educa- ESTABLISHED 1855 (tional institution and to greatly increase our missionary force in heathern lands, is the providence of God to save Meth odism from being destroyed bv her wealth. Who will turn and go away sorrowful because thev have srreat possessions? Wesley on Advoca'c. AFTER THE ELECTION. How is it with us in these days of intense political excitement? Are we sure that we have not lost the genuine spirit of heavenly citizenship ? The religion we profess is able to Keep us from falling under every strain. There may be differences of opinion on worldly matters, but the heart should not admit harsh and unkindly senti ment toward any one. Down in the deepest substratum of character where the motives to action find their origin religious principle should reign in undisturbed repose. In this respect ample provision has been made in Christ to cover our deficien cies. If there has been any consci ous, hasty temper, any wrong judg ment, defilement of any sort there is one infallible remedy. In penitence we may seek pardon and inward clean sing. Coupled with this, there must be a readiness to confess, in .'11 proper ways, our weakness, a" d make suita ble reparation for any injury done an other. In all the trying ordeals of this life ordeals which arise front necessary divergence of thoi'ght he is in greatest danger who does not feel the need of constant watclv.ulness and prayer. Happy will he be, when the conflict is past, if there is not found any spiritual loss. If the be liever is thus graciously preserved, the influence for good which he may ex ert upon others will probably be in creased tenfold. Ejl DO NOT NEGLECT liii:"i Earnest workers are some danger of neglecting duties times in that be- 1 long to the social relations 01 lite. rlave we aged paren's still lingering on the shores of time, waiting patiently for the final summons? Never let it be said that our earthly engagements have been so absorbing and imperative that we had no time to visit them; no time to" bow with them at th fireside altar; no time to reassure them of our love, and receive in return their bless ing. "Where there is the will there is the way." The loss to one's self, through such inexcusable delinquency, can never be repaired. Very soon they will disappear from our iew. Their fond embrace will only be a blessed memory; their words of coun sel and affection no more repeated; their presence no longer our inspira tion. Make haste. Let not others claim our best affection and help that which God has adjudged as right fully due the chiefest benefactors of our mortal life. And in this age of opportunity is there not danger, even in respect to the family relation itself? The husband and the wife are called tofuifili most sacred obligation ob ligations to each other which no church claims may remove; obligations of care and love for the different members of the household which the Supreme Author of all domestic relationships has himself imposed. If our piety is of the kind that makes us less careful as to domestic duties; if the husband can excuse himself from lightening the burdens of his wife because of other demands upon his time; if the wife, ab sorbed, it may be, in noble charLies without, can lay aside the important trusts within the sacred precincts of a world which, in a real sense, is emi nently her own realm; if parents, on the ground of pressing Christian work, can neglect those offices of affection and culture which are indispensable to childhood and youth, then will the power of Christian religion be surely neutralized before an observing world. No amount of public prayer, exhorta tion, or song will atone for such failure. God's word and human reason will alike pass the merited condemnation. Exchange. CONFERENCE NOTICE. The North Carolina Conference, Methodist E. Church South, will meet in Front St. Church, Wilmington, No vember 26th, 1884, at 9 o'clock, A. M., Bishop Parker presiding. The Presiding Elders will please send me the names of Local Preachers for ordination. Secondly, ot appti- cants fur admission, lhirdly, 01 the Delegates elect. Will any of the superannuated brethren, or others, who do not expect to attend Conference, please send me ' their names immediately. Rates upon tne various railroads, will be announced hereafter. E. A. Yates, Wilmington, N. 0. I know that all spirits and scholars together are not as wise as is the Divine Majesty in His little finger. Luther. G