North Carolina Newspapers

"6 , . , Good Advertisers ommonwea: Use these columns for results. An ad vert is ment in this paper will reach a good class of people. 'Excelsior" is Our Motto. Subscription Price $1.00 Per Year. SCOTLAND NECK, N. C, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 1909. NUMBER 12. i JdLfcL, 1 .. ... . (hi i!: : '-. it.C-I i i'.xwxy cr mini y v i -pesu jiic 2 oil'. v indicates an un healthy condi tion of the kid- v" ' r;jys; too frt J miei't tlesire I ', pars it or paii; i'-!ptoi::s that tc-l j or i. i-ier arc out of order To To. .n the know l-'f o: r.t ne- fitL'Ii in. sr. y d and ; - a ..::y::.-Vl.V: AT ':;: Trust BuiMhv: Norfolk, Va. T'blic. -ell Phono 700 ju:ssloi; at -6 'arm Lau. A v. O. 3 .a ...c. Ml f: duo . jr?t . i- 3 K3 ;. 9U '4 r -4jOLDS . Trh-.J o!u free! ! 0 All. wmxt AtiO TROUBLES. Icon's Argument Divine it ha.? been requested that the fol hwhg article which appeared in the Charlotte Observer of February 28, be published in this paper: To the Editor of The Observer: Thy follow inj; is a most remarkable cio-.-fession and its authenticity is abundantly certified. It is the first vpuleon argument for the Divine -in of the Scriptures, in a conver sion with General Bertrand at St. : ic-ria. If you- will give this "argu- :;t" space in ycur columns I will iciy appreciate the same. Alexander Graham. "True, Jesus Christ offers to out faith a series of mysteries. He com us authoritively to believe, . ; ! rives no other reason than Hi? iwt'ul word, I am God. True, this is f reticle of mere faith, and upon if -; n--a:s al! the other articles of the ' ' iric.tian system; but the doctrine f the divinity of Christ once admit .;"', Christianity appears with the i ' cidon and clearness of algebra. It v. the connectedness and unity of t. ' t r;re. This doctrine, resting upor, 3i!:'e,best explains the tradition.1 rv-.tk-nt in the world. It throws ::C upon them; and all the othei , : ;'.i ir.i.-s of Christianity are strictly ' -vvted with it, as links of the c hain. The nature of Christ's j x:-.' is mysterious, I admit; but uiystery meets the wants of man. i . ' zi ;t, and the world is an ine:-:-!; riddle: believe it, and the ry of our race is satisfactorily air ed. Christianity has one ad . , ca;:e overall systems of philoso I : ;.- sr.d all religions. Christians do : ; delude themselves in regard tc ru.ure of things. You cannot re ! . them with the subtleties and ; :'; -cs of those idealists who think l ! , ; ::) profound theological prob-.-; i y their empty dissertations. ! tbeir r?rrt r those of the .t who tries to touch the sky .' ; hi hand, or cries to have the - as his plaything. Christianity ; .-; -irrpiy: 'No man hath seen God ! . -:t God. God reveals what He is. j -m revelation is a mystery which -.c-'ther imaginatiou nor reason can ; nceive. But when God speaks, man r.ar.t believe.' This is sound common .; n ' 3 "The Gospel possesses a secret vir j -:;e of indescribable efficacy, a : v a smth. which influences the under j mding and softens the heart. In ; v:-di rating upon it, you feel as you 1 i ) ir. contemplating the heavens. '1 Gospel is more than a book; it is !;vii!g thing active powerful, over- ; rug every obstacle in it3 way. -o tipon this table this table this - u.k of books (and here the Emper . i uched it reverently): I never . : -"'j reading it, and always with : delight. Christ never hesitates, i ver varies in his instructions; and -.r lease of his assertions is stamped uh a simplicity and a depth which private the ignorant and the learn--., if they give it their attention. N r -;here is to be found such a series r 'vautiful thoughts, fine moral in:3, following one another like . i s of a celestial army, and pro i - jjiig in the &oul the same emotion .j io felt in contemplating the infi ); :? extent of the resplendent hea- : ::i on a line summer mgnt. inol ; Iy is our mind absorbed, it is con Ik:::; and the soul can never go as- - - ,-ith this Book for its guide. -r::wter of our mind, the Gospel ; . t.hfu! friend. God Himself is . :'r': nd, our Father,and truly our i . A mother has not greater care vhe infant on her breast. The !, captivated by the beauty of the : ', is no longer its own. God - ij iea it altogether; He directs its ;;;Vit:5 and all its faculties; it is .... What a proof it is of the di . -.-My cf Christ, that with so abso r n empire His single aim is the ' -ixvie amelioration of individuals, hir purity of conscience, their un- i cc truth, their holiness of soul. ' ; ty ?ft argument is, there is not i i a heaven if a mere man was i o conceive and execute success gigantic design of making ;f the object of supreme wor-;-.i nurnino- thp name of God. .... uK-x i-.o - , aleni lirprl to do this: He siid clearly and unfalteringly i -.self, I am God; which is quite o; i diliorent from sayingl araagod, or, thr. e are gods. History mentions no otlu r individual who has appropriat ed to himself the title of God in the Heathen mythology absolute sense ' .i- t..;v. nowhere pretencis uiatiiuim the oher gods themselves assumeu tne o ner t . . . part he height of p id e and absur - pirt in nei&'O' h deified by their pos- dity. They were for Origin of Scriptures t ?rity, the heirs of the first despots. As all men are of one race, Alexan der called himself the son of Jupiter; but Greece laughed at the silly as sumption; and so in making gods of their emperors the Romans were not serious. Mohammed and Confucius merely gave out that they were agents of the Deity. Numa's goddess, Eeria, was only the personification of his reflections in the solitude of the woods. The Brahmas, of India, are only deifications of mental attri butes. How, then, should a Jew, the particulars of whose history are better attested than those of any of his contemporaries how should He alone, the son of a carpenter, give out all at once that He wa3 God, the Creator of all things? He arrogates to Himself the highest adoration. He constructs His worship with His own hands, not with stones, but with men. You are amazed at the con quests of Alexander; but He is a con queror who appropriates to His own advantage, who incorporates with Himself, not a nation, but the human race. Wonderful! the human soul, with all its faculties, becomes blend e 1 with the existence of Christ. "And how? By a prodigy surpass ing all other prodigies He seeks the love of men, the most difficult thing in the world to obtain; He seeks what a wise man would fain have from a few friends, a father from his chil drenin a word the heart; this He s-?eks, this He absolutely requires; and He gains His object. Hence I infer His divinity. Alexander.Csesar, Hannibal, Louis XIV., with all their genius, failed here. They conquered the world and had not a friend. I am perhaps the only person of my day who loves Hannibal, Caesar, Alexander. Louis XIV., who shed so much lustre upon France and the world, had not a friend in all his kingdom.not even in his own family. True, we love our children, but it is f rom iuilmcl, xi'orn a necessity which the beasts themselves obey; and how many children manifest no proper sense of our kindness and the care we bestow on them how many un grateful children! Do your children, General Bertrand, love you? You love them, but you are not sure of being requited. Neither natural af fection nor your kindness will ever inspire in them such love as the Christians have for God. When you die your children will remember you doubtless while spending your money; but your grandchildren will hardly know that you ever existed. And yet you are General Bertrand! And we are here upon an island where all your cares and all your en joyments are centered in your fami ly. Christ speaks, and at once gen erations become His by stricter.clos er ties than those of blood; by the most sacred, most indissoluble of all unions. He lights up the flame of a love which consumes self-love, which prevails over every other love. "In this wonderful power of His will we recognize the Word that created the world. The founders of other religions never conceived of this mystical love, which is the es sence of Christianity, and is beauti fully called charity. Hence it is that they have struck upon a reck. In every attempt to affect this thing namely, to make himself beloved man deeply feels his own import ance; so that Christ's greatest mir acle undoubtedly is the reign of charity. He alone has succetfed m lifting the heart of man to things in visible; and in inducing him to sacri fice temporal things He alone, by in fluencing him to this sacrifice, has formed a bond of union between heaven and earth. All who sincerely believe in Him taste this wonderful, supernatural, exalted love, which is beyond the power of reason, above the ability of man; a sacred fire brought down to earth by this new Prometheus, and for which Time.the great destroyer, can neither exhaust the force nor limit the duration. The more I think of this, I admire it the more. And it convinces me absolute ly of the divinity of Christ. I have in spired multitudes with such affection for me that they would die for me. God forbid that I should compare the ! soiuier s enthusiasm wiui ouosuou charity, which are as unlike as their causes. But after all. my presence was necessary, the lightning of my eye, my voice a word from me, then the sacred fire was kindled in their hearts I do,- indeed, possess the secret of the magical power which lifts the soul: but I could never mi A, -2 , eral3 ever learned it from me; nor ! have I the secret of perpetuating my i,.a anH lnvAfor me in the hearts j name and love for me in the hearts of men, or of effecting these things without physical means. "Now that I am at3t. Helena now that I am alone, chained to this rock, who fights and wins empires for me? Who bestirs himself for me in Europe? Who remains faithful to me? Where are my friends? Yes, two or three of you, who are immor talized by your fidelity; ye share, ye alleviate my exile. . . . Yes, my life once shone with all the brilliance of the diadem and the throne; and yours, Bertrand, reflected that bril liance, as the dome of the.'Invalides,' gilded by me, reflects the rays of the sun. But disasters came, the gold gradually became dim, and now all the brightness is effaced by the rain of misfortune and outrage with which I am continually pelted. We are mere lead now.General Bertrand, and soon I shall be in my grave. "Such is the fate of great men. So it was with Caesar and Alexander, and I, too, am forgotten, and the name of a conqueror and an emperor is a college theme our exploits are tasks given to pupils by their tutor who sits in judgment upon us.award ing us censure or praise. How dif ferent the opinions formed of the great Louis XIV.! Scarcely dead, the great king was left alone in his soli tary chamber at Versailles neglect ed by his courtiers, and perhaps the object of their ridicule. He was no more their master. He was a dead body, in his coffin the prey of a loath some putrefaction. "Such is soon to be the fate of the great Napolson. What a wide abyss be tween my deep misery and the eter nal kingdom of Christ, which is pro claimed, loved, adored and which is extending all over the earth? Is this death? Is it not life rather? The death of Christ is the death of a God." The Emperor paused, and as Gen eral Bertrand did not answer, the Emperor resumed: "You do not perceive that Jesus Christ is God? Then I did wrong to appoint you general!" The above is translated from a French tract.printed at Paris in 1S59, with the title, "Napoleon." The nar rative is confirmed by a letter from the Rev. G. de Felice, professor in the Theological Seminary at Mon tauban, France, who states that the Rev. David Bogue sent Napoleon, while at St. Helena, a copy of his "Essay on the Divine Authority of the New Testament," which eye-witnesses attest that he read with interest and satisfaction. He also read much in the Bible," and spoke of it with profound respect. And,further,it is stated that there was a religious re vival among the inhabitants of St. Helena, which extended to the sol diers, who praved much for the con version and salvation of the noble prisoner. A French journal gives the follow ing conversation related by Count de Montholon, the faithful friend of the Emperor: "I know man, "said Napoleon, "and I tell you that Jesus is not a man! The religion of Christ is a mystery which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find it in a marked individuality, which originated a train of words and maxims unknown be fore. Jesus borrowed nothing irom our knowledge. He exhibited in Him self the perfect example of his pre cepts. Jesus is not a philosopher; for His proofs are miricles.and from the first His disciples adored Him. In fact, learning and philosophy are of no use for salvation; and Jesus came into the world to reveal the myster ies of Heaven and the laws of the Spirit. "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and myself founded empires; but upon what did rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded His empire up on love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. It was not one day, or one victory.which achiev ed the triumph of the Christian reli gion in the world. No; it was a long war, a contest for three centuries, begun by the apostles, then continu ed by the blood of Christian genera tions. In this war all the kings and potentates of earth were on one side, on t'hp other I see no army, but a mysterious force some men scatter ed here and there in all parts of the world, and who have no other rally ing point than a common faith in the mysteries of the Cross. "I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. We say without hesitation that Do Witt's Kidney and Bladder Pills arc unequalled for weak kidneys.backache, inflammation of the Bladder and ail urinary disorders. They are antiseptic and act promptly. We sell and recom- i mcnd them. E. T. Whitehead Co. i - - to become food for the worms. Such is the fate which so soon awaits him who has been called the great Na poleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom Of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved and adored, and which is extending over the whole earth! Call you this dying? Is it not living rather? The death of Christ is the death of a God!" Count Montholon, who heard the conversation of Napoleon with Gen eral Bertrand, wrote to the latter, saying: "I do not think it possible to express better the religious belief of the Emperor.', Unfilled Ideals of Lincoln. This solemn and instructive day that marks the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln a century ago should nerve all Americans to take up with fresh courage the three ! unfilled tasks that engrossed his thought, and for which chiefly he would have desired to live longer. What were these incomplete under takings of his? THE UPLIFTING OF THE WHITES. First, is the uplifting of the mass es of plain white people in the South, to whom Lincoln belonged. "God must love the common people, be cause he made so many of them." Such a sentence, so full of the milk of human kindness, bespeaks his in dividual history as well as betrays his unfaltering affection for his kith and kin in their lowly estate. Four millions of native American stock are skulking yonder in the passes of the Appalachian chain, with mental horizons no broader than their nar row valleys, and all unconscious of social efficiency "our contempora ry ancestors." In the remote rural districts they lead joyless lives upon thin patches of soil, or they have been swept by the thousand about the newly built cotton mill, where child labor brings its train of social ills. Proofs abound that these peo ple do not lack capacity, but oppor tunity. The school opens to them the door to life. If we love Lincoln, let us serve this humble folk, of whose native worth he is an inspir ing example. THE EDUCATION OF THE BLACKS. Second, is the training of the Ne groes for life under conditions of freedom. . Slavery was only one stage in the continuous process of racial adjustment which is going on in the South. There was never a greater mistake than to suppose that the abolition of slavery was the end of the Negro problem. It is truer to regard emancipation as marking the beginning of that problem in its most baffling aspects. If Lincoln had lived to fill out the span allotted to his contemporary in birth, Glad stone, his mightiest achievement would probably have been in efforts to train these millions of former slaves in the basal lessons of respon sible life, love of home, obedience to law, kindly feeling for one's neigh bor, and, in a word, character. In the alembic of the school, can the nature of the Negro be trans muted m the character of the citi zen? I believe firmly that it can. The school must be nicely adapted to this specific racial purpose. If results thus far do not satisfy you, fault Is to be found, not with the principle or efficacy of training to attain thi; end, but rather with the kind of school which has been used. If the school we inherited Irom the English does not do the work needed for the Necro, let us experiment until we find the exact discipline that will yield the moral results de manded in his case. Human nature is too elastic and susceptible to right education for me to despair of the Negro's ability to rise in the scale of economic efficiency and moral re liability. This stern necessity of discovering the best method of fitting the Negro for freedom is a commanding chal lenge to the constructive energies of modern educators. It is because Hampton and Tuskegee have man fully addressed themselves to this knotty question that they merit the attention of the American people. in Qrdcr that the resut may be duy If we love Lincoln, let us serve the tabulated and set forth in the uni black people whom he set free by , versitv annuai, js said always to in moralizing them for the daily duties J clud3'in hia jist this question: "Are of life. Universal education is a I vou engaged?" surer test of democracy than univer-1 " Jt wQulJ seem that one of the sal suffrage. According to the strict j members was curseti with doubt in ethics of democracy, quality of citi- j th;s respect for in tne blank space zenship is more necessary than equal-1 giyen QVer to the query mentioned ity among citizens. Let us energize he ma(e h5s retum as foilows: reason and conscience to do their p0 not know. Am awaiting bit perfect work in every American, ami t(jr IIarper's Magazine. politics will take care oi itseii. NATIONAL RECONCILIATION. Thirdly, the task of reconciliation between the rent sections of our common country wa3 what lay hca- The Only Baking made irom Roya! Grape Cream of Tanar Made from Grapes A Guarantee cf Pure, Healthful, Delicious Food viest uPn Lincoln's heart when he breathed his last. Greater than hi genial gift in soothing party fric tion, greater than that rare com mingling of strength and gentleness in his large nature, greater than his clear vision of the central issues at stake in that juncture of affairs,' greater than the patience shown in the solitude of his lr.yjf.-Htii; ; pint in that terrible crisis into which di.'.-ti-ny had thrust him, greater thin his faith in eternal principles of justice and humanity, was' his divine spirit of forgiveness. That was the ( 'hrist like touch in Lincoln's life. As regards the perpetuity of the Union and the freedom of t he slaves, Lincoln's untimely death did not leave his work fragmentary. The main thing that was left undone by his sudden death wa? the fact that the North and South remained un reconciled. Singularly fitted was he to conduct the war; but still rarer ability had lie to add reconcili ation to peace between the two sec tions. This supernal achievement suffered shipwreck in his overthrow. Lincoln and Lee, unlike in so many respect?, and the forefront of the opposite sides in that fratricidal struggle, were yet absolutely one in their pa&donate eagerness to bring about reconciliation for their coun try. If we love Lincoln, let us try to serve the cause of national concil iation which he cherished as dearer than life. President S. C. Mitchell in The Congregationalist. E2 Wliat Ycu Will Be. If you desire to be anything m character, disposition or conduct be it. Say to yourself each day I am love, cheerfulness, joy, usefulness, kindness. Sit in your room alone a few mo ments morning and night, inhale deep, slow breaths, and make these assertions. Then go forth every day determined to look for the agreeable trait in everyone you meet for the pleasing and pathetic quality, and, for a chance to add a little to the worlds store of kindness by some kind act. Think of yourself as neeess-iry to the world say: "There is need of me or I would not be," and then look for the opportunity to prove the fact. You will find it. There is need of each one of us every hour in the twenty-fiour, .so help brighten the world for others less fortunate than ourselves. Your great trouble seems to be that you dweel too much on thoughts of your self and your troubles and think too little of other people about you. Think of yourself just as you would like to be, and insist mentally that you are that. Never mind if no change seems to come at once. Keep on insisting, and bye and bye the re sults will appear. And all the time watch for oppor tunities to do kind acts. It is wonderful what an interest we will find in people whom we can benefit. Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Uncertain. The Secretary of one of the college classes of Princeton, in sending out each year a list of questions to be anstt'Prpfl bv members of the class, Don't. let the baby .sutler from ec.a ma. sores or anv itching of the skin. Doan's Ointment rives instant relief, cures quickly. Perfectly wife for chil dren. All druggist tell it. Sbsolzttaly Pure IB Powder gpSl raking One's Self Too Seriously. There is such a thing as taking ourselves and the world too serious ly, cr at any rate too anxiously. Half of the secular unrest and dis mal, profane sadness of modern so ciety come-? from the vain idea that every man is bound to be a critic of !if..ar finding 1 t i K't i ; ;!.iy pass without some fault with the general order p!2? 1 f its imy-r-'V -rrent. And the If comes from the greedy other I notion that :i man's lif life does consist. after ali, in the abundance of the things tlr.it hcpossrv.uth,antl that it is mehf ivy or other more respect able and pious to b" always at work making '- lirger living, than it is to lie on your back in the green pas tures and beside the sti!l waters and thank God that von arc alive. ll'-nry Van l)yh -i Kinr.vii ii!!-i'o! lc-t I'illa I. Vitt- i.iMlo M.iiiy KIm'I. Itl.H.l Tin v a iv ;l re Mil: i ,11 ;- In f :l V "('III Il :Ml.l . -. ...... 0 .... C1 till II. a I hind to. .1 HIT M T. Wlil. Hub -But if you like the young fellow, Kuic, why do you object to our daughter man yirg him? Wife Oil, she'll many him, for all that; but I want to give her a chance to say, when tht-y quarrel. that "Mother didn't want me to marry you, any way." Boston Transcript. 'II lis is til" IliCst lilll? ToflM time of tli" :(Nr to r.ittli cold, iinil it tlio Iiiinlcft timi' to cuii' it. If you idioiiM t.ikt co'ul, a few iloscs of Kennedy' Laxative CotiIi Syrup will act very promptly. Its laxative principle cuie-i the cold l.y a gi-ntlc but natural action of tin- bowels. Children especially like Kennedy's Laxative Coiili Syrup, as it ta-tcs nearly as o1 as maple sugur. fl is sold l.y :. T. Whitehead Co. Mr. Scrappington (musingly) As Lincoln said, a man may fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time. Mrs. Scrappington (briskly) But you can't fool me any of the time. Puck. K Saved His Leg. 'All tliollj;'lit I'd I'.semy lcr,"wTitcs J. A. Sweu-.n;, W atertowu, Wis. "Ten years of ecema , that 1" doctor. could iiol , ore, had at lat laid me ii. Then r.u. klen'.- Arnica Salve cured it sound and well." Infallible for Skin Eruption-, Kee.ma.Sall. Kheiim, Boils, Fever Sores. Hums, Scald. Cut and Piles. ''. :tt II. T. Whitehead (Vs. His Ma Willie, where have you been? Your hair is suspiciously wtt. Willie I fell in the river. His Ma Hut your clothes are not wet. Willie We!!, you see, ma, while I was stand in' on the bridge.I thought maybe I'd fall in. so I took off my clothes, an I did.- Illustrated Bits. Plant Wood's Seeds For The Garden 6 Farm. Thirty years in lu.sis, with a steadily" inci-eaiin trade every vear until wo have to-day one of the largest busiuehses in miiN in this country is the Lent of evidence aatoilie superior oual ity of Wood's Seeds. Wood's Descriptive Catalog and monthly -Crop Special" have done more to encotirair! diversified farming and moti table rnarket-trrowiD of vegeta ble crops than any other similar publications. If you want the best and most proti table crop, Plant Wood's Seeds. Wood's Descriptive Catalog and monthly "Crop Special," mailed free on request. T. W. WOOD & sons, Seedsmen, Richmond, Va.