Sun.
BY EMMETT L. MOFFI IT.
IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTjlALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
ESTABLISHED 1844.
RALEIGH, H. 0., THDR
yAY,
APRIL
18:1896.
VOLUME XLIX; NUMBER 16.
C^mstiar* SUrt
The Organ of the General Convention
the Ohrlatlan Church (South).
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES.
1. The Lord Jeaue is tbe only.Head of the
church.
2. The name Christian, to tile exclusion
of all party and sectarian names.
5, The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures o(
the OJd and New Testaments, sufficient rule
of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, or vital piety, the
only tost of fellowship or membership.
6. The right of private Judgment, and
the liberty of conscience, the privilege and
duty of all. ,
•rMvWl MH mvllffflfwil
The negroes are flocking to
Savannah from the West, where
they leave their homes and sell
their property to enable them to
reach the colony in Liberia.
The great number of enor
mous ice-bergs seen in the wa
ters of the Atlantic have been
accounted for on.the ground oi
recent volcanic explosions which
tear in pieces the masses of ice
collected on the mountains along
the shore.
Senator Butler has introduced
a bill providing for an amend
ment to tbe Constitution to the
’effect that a majority of both
houses—instead of a two-third
vote—be sufficient to over-ride
the President’s veto. The bill
has been referred to a committee.
Further efforts are being made
to .retard the work of the Red
Cross in Turkey. Their work is
now confined to the cities, and
her agents are expected to min
ister unto the people just as the
Turkish Relief Committee does,
and not only that but they have
not fhe privilege of saying whom
they will aid.
Recently the farmers of a por
tion ot Kansas became discour
aged on account of a lack ol
rains and moisture sufficient to
grow and develop their farm
products. Many of the citizens
moved to other fields where they
hoped to find a better state of
affairs. Upon leaving the*State
they sold their tarms at low
prices. Since then artificial ir
rigation has been brought into
use and the once dry and fruit
less region is no jv one of the
most productive in the West. A
little common sense backed
pluck and energy never fails to
produce good results in any
phase of life.
In the Press-Visitor of the 7th
inst. Mr. H. H. Roberts wrote
of the hardships practiced upon
the patrons of our public schools.
He thinks that if experiments
with new text books are to be
made they should not be at the
cost of the patrons. Of course
we all believe in advancement,
but not in unnecessary changes,
attended with great expense.
An' effort is being made to
change the geographies and
grammars now used in most pub
lic schools. We do not think the
work of Mr. Maury, the old
Virginian, has been much im
proved upon, nor do we endorse
the proposed change.
One of the most wonderful
weapons of warfare introduced
to our people is a gun which will
throw 260,000 bullets per min
ute a distance of 6,000 yds. This
gun was invented by a man from
Montreal, and it very much re
sembles a .modern field piece.
There are numbers of cylinders,
into which the bullets are passed
by means of a funnel. There is
no powder used, no noise made
and no smoke caused in operat
ing the gun. The machinery is
set in motion by means of a le
ver worked by two men. The
propelling power is entirely en
closed so that the public may not
learn of the operations. It is
not clearly understood, even by
the inventor, how two men can
set in motion a power sufficient
to throw the bullets so tar.
Tennessee is making great
progress in her preparations for
the Centennial Exposition. A
half-dozen large buildings will
be completed by May rst, and
on June 1st the State centennial
anniversary will be celebrated,
at which time the expos! ion will
be formally inaugurated, al
though the exposition' does not
take place until May ist, 1897.
Strong efforts are being pul
forth and everything indicates a
great success.
The foreign press expresses
the opinion- that the United
States would not have to be pro
voked much more before it would
take a more bold stand upon the
Cuban war question. And if
thoroughly aroused it would ad
vance upon Spain and aid the
belligerents in maintaining their
position and in securing their in
dependence. It has also been
stated that while Spain would
necessarily have to succumb, yel
it would be a great blow to
American commerce. While it
would effect her trade and would
not prove beneficial to the Unit
ed States financially, it would
prove that our Government was
looking at it not as an investmei t
but as a matter of principle.
Some of our own leaders in
commerce hold the same views
in regard to trade. On every
hand we hear of the unsettled
condition 6f trade in our midst.
Our manufacturers who. have
been engaged in foreign trade
are closiog down or rupning on
about half time. Those who have
money to invest are afraid to let
it go on an uncertainty. Nearly
all join in the desire that the
matter between Spain and the
United States be settled in some
way. Of course they all prefer
that a friendly agreement be ar
rived at, but if it cannot be done
they want to be prepared tor the
worst.
The Cuban resolutions have
been sent to the President, but
he says the time has not yet
come for him to act. He inti
mated that if circumstances de
mand immediate action at any
time he will take decisive steps,
but if the situation remains as it
is at present he will probably not
take a decisive stand before
June or July. Some hold the
belief Jhat if the matter is not
settled between Spain and the
insurgents by June, Mr. Cleve
land will be in favor of lending
aid to secure the independence
of the insurgents. This however
is mere conjecture. An intimate
friend of the President said : “I
have no doubt that the President
has put himself in a position to
secure accurate information as
to the true condition of affairs.
He has ample means at his dis
posal for such an investigatior,
and that such an investigation
will be made or is now in prog
ress I entertain no sort of doubt
Upon the result, taken in con
nection with the expressed opin
ion of Congress, he will act.”
The navy officials do not tear
the result of any conflict between
Spain and the United States.
While the Spanish Government
has some good guns, yet her ves
sels are generally of an inferior
character. Nor is it probable
that Spain could materially add
to her fleet in time to use the
new vessels against the United
States. Even <f Spain has the
money to purchase new war
ships it would be hard to find
them for sale, for those now in
course of construction are. being
built for some special purpose.
Judging from the past and what
we can learn from the present
status we do not think there is
any great danger of serious
trouble with Spain. The follow
ing is a copy of the resolutions
passed by Congress, recogniz
ing the belligerency of the Cuban
insurgents:
RESOLVED, That in the opinion of Con
gress a condition at public war exists be
tween the Government of Spain and the
IP vernment proclaimed and for some time
maintained by force of arms by the people
of Cuba, and that the United States of Amer
ica should maintain a strict neutrality be
tween the contending powers, according to
each all the rights of belligerents in the
parts and territory of the United States.
RESOLVED, That the fricudly offices of
' the United States ahnlt be offered by the
President to the Spanish Government for the
recognition of the independence of Cuba.
Am Our Contributor!.
among my wants papers.
, BY RBV. R. H. HOLLAND.
The Way of Sin and Its Consequences.
“There is a way that ^eemeth
right unto a \man, but the end
thereof are the ways ot death.”
Prov. 14: 12.
There are two diametrically
opposite courses in life, two di
verging lines of direction and
two ultimate ends to reach. One
of these is the way of life, and
the other is the way of death ;
and all rational and intelligent
men and women have the pow
er of volition and the privilege
and ability of making choice 01
the ways. God does not pre
determine the course of any man.
He does not coerce his will to a
certain end. He addresses us a?
the creatures ot choice. His dec
laration is, “I have set before
thee this day life and good and
death and evil. Joshua recog
nized this grand and glorious
privilege of determining our
course and final destiny, when
he said to the hosts of Israel at
Shechem, “Choose you this day
whom ye will serve.” Decide
between idol worship and the
service of the true God.
But men pOme to very widely
different conclusions as to the
way of happiness. Moses when
he came to years, “chose rathei
to suffer affliction with the people
of God, than to enjoy the pleas
ures of sin for a season, esteem
ing the reproach of Christ great
er riches than the treasures of
Egypt.” The grand old apostle
Paul, who suffered and labored
so much for Christ, also made
this wise and noble choice. Yet
we have examples of those who
have chosen the opposite course,
the pleasures of sin which are
but for a season, the end of which
is aearii. x ncrc is a way iucu
of sin and sensual pleasures and
a way of holiness and self-abne
gation. The broad way and the
narrow way. And many choose
the broad way, the way of sinful
pleasures, because it is a way o)
so many privileges. In it there
is no restraint to appetite or pas
sion. Its votaries can indulge in
the greatest sins. But these
pleas''.^only temporary^
and then comes remorse. “Each
pleasure has its poison too, and
every sweet a snare.”
Wicked old Belshazzar no
doubt thought he was the hap
piest man on earth, when as he
supposed securely ensconced in
the magnificent city of Babylon
with its impregnable walls, and
within, a store of provisions for
twenty years’, he could laugh
at his enemies in their efforts to
scale the walls and storm the
fort. He could revel to his
heart’s content in his wicked ca
rousals, his scenes of infamy and
debauchery. He could with
boasted impunity in his sacrile
gious feasts, with his lords, prin
ces, wives and concubines, des
ecrate the holy vessels of the
Lord’s house and seem to defy
God. But his happiness when
at its flood-.tide came to a sudden
check, when he saw the writings,
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin,
j upon the wall. That night Cy
rus the threat witn nis macicienea
cohorts by a strategical effort en
tered beneath the massive walls,
rushed eagerly to the palace hall,
and the scene of merriment and
sinful pleasures was changed to
a scene of horror and death ; in
stead of music and dancing and
drinking wine, was the midnighl
cry of slaughtered victims, and
Belshazzar was slain.
Proud and haughty old Ha
man no doubt thought he had
projected a grand scheme, and
one in which ne would h£ aven
ged upon Mordecai, when he
thoughtfully wrote out and made
a decree for the destruction o(
all the Jews in the kingdohn of
Ahasuerus, from India to Ethio
pia. He gloried in his exalted
position, boasted of his honors,
riches and environments. But a
sudden cloud came over his
bright vision of prospective glo
ry, at the tables ot Esther’s rich
banquet, when Ahasuerus asked:
“Who is he, and where is he,
that durst presume in his heart
to do so? And
adversary and
:her said. Tin
iemv is this
wicked Haman.” s This bold ut
terance no doubt struck him with
sudden tremors and heart-rend
ing horrors as he quailed pros
trate at Esther’s feet. What he
had sapposed the ifery royal road
of his supreme gloky proved onl)
the way of his complete abase
ment and the uttej destruction ot
himself and his waell-laid plans
Positions and circumstances were
reversed. Mordefcai, the object
of Hamao's hateu and revenge,
was invested with honors, riches
and emoluments as a reward tot
his integrity and Hrtue ; whilst
the guilty Hannan* the wonld-be
wholesale murderer of an inno
cent^ defenseless ' people, was
hung upon the very gallows, fif
ty cubits high, he had erected foi
Mordecai.
God is to the Christians refug«
and defence , a very present helf
i.i time of need. His face it
turned against sin, and he is tin
avanger of the Christian’s ad
versaries. Certain ruin await.*
the incorrigible, guilty sinner
God’s retributive justice, ano
even his fierce judgments, offer
overtake the wicked in this
world. He cannot escape the
vengeance of an angry God—hi.*
overthrow is certain. Wealth,
honors, place or station will noi
appease God’s wrath or avert hi.*
doom. Thrones,kingdoms,prince
ly palaces and royal robes or im
perial dignity affords no securitx
and is no refuge when God it
against us. “The wages ot sir
is death.” “There is a way that
seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways ot
death.”
oin nas many treacneroiu
paths, and most of them like thi
forbidden fruit in |he garden of
Eden—fascinating and alluring ;
yet their end is death. Wemaj
be enticed into the ball-room and
the giddy dance and call it inno
cent amusement, but they are the
snares of satan to catch deluded
souls, are destructive to piety and
offensive to God. We may visit
the saloon and quaff down the
liquid poison and esteem it ont
of the privileges of social life,
but it is the way of physical and
moral ruin ; and the Judge of tin
earth says “No drunkard shah
enter the kingdom of Heaven.’"
So we may say of sin of ali
grades, falsehood and fraud ol
a if kinds for tlie sake of gain, it
has the seal of God’s condemna
tion upon it, and a paintul retri
bution, often in the present life.
We may hastily drink as sweet
nectar the cup of sinful pleas
ures, but the dregs of death are
at the bottom. Sinful pleasures
may charm and captivate our
natures, they may throw enchant
ment around us, they may excite
and inflame our desires and pas
sions, but they poison the soul
and end in spiritual death. We
may put the asp in our bosoms
and call it innocent, but its bite
is none the less painful and fa
tal. “So when it is finished bring
eth forth death.” The true child
of God only can joyfully say
with the Psalmist: “Concerning
the works of men, by the word
of Thy lips, I have kept me from
the paths of the destroyer.”
TITLES.
BY REV. H. Y. RUSH.
Some time since a brother re
quested me to write an article
upon titles—against them, I in
ferred from the tone of his letter.
There would probably be little
profit in an article on either
side. Titles are little more than
names that imply special office,
position, or attainment. All per
sons, things, ideas must have a
name, and names, like vessels,
may be names of honor or dis
honor. The title “A.M.” says to
me that this or that nr«n or wo
man worked through a grand
curriculum and won the honors
of graduation. That’s a grand
thing to say of one who so work
ed for years for God’s glory and
the world’s good.
The title “D.D.” says much ia
a man’s behalf, and if nothing
contradicts what it is supposed
to mean, it sits on the bearer oi
it with becoming grace. So with
any .title, and so with them all.
Granted that some of them are
misconferred, it is so with anji
other name. John is a goad
name, and means “mercy of the
Lord,” but many a John ha*
justly received his thirty-nin*
lashes as a heartless husband
and a wite-beater. Parents used
to give their children Bible
names to make them good, bui
in spite of all such precaution
Harry turned out to be mort
pious than Hezekiah.
Perhaps some men have sought
titles for the sound of them, and
some that they might seem mort
wise as they sat still among
greater talents yet untitled. But
all that has nothing to do with
the question. The better any
thing is, the better it will endure
all abuses. The better any thing
is, the more will bad men seek
to abuse it. And sometimes the
less worthy a man is of distinc
tion, the greater his envy of
those more widely and bettei
known. We are such weak
mortals that we must watch
against the domination of tradi
tion, education, egotism and
prejudice. The more you min
gle with titled and untitled great
ness the more are you convinced
that neither class is thinking 01
caring one whit about the dis
tinction or non-distinction of tht
other. Even the Son of Goc
was as a man among other men ;
the father is a child among his
romping children ; and good
kings fall on their all-fours and
trot around the room with laugh
ing children on their backs. L
is a very low stature and a ver\
limited goodness that -- cannoi
root itself among the little ouet
and the lowly, and yet tower tc
the love of God and to the sun
light about the throne.
Evidently it requires couragt
to be willing to be small in th*
eyes ' of the world. But sucl
heroism has in it a ten-fold vir
tue over those who itch foi
imioence and those who
envy eminence. It is needful
and it is providentially orderet
that some men stand high anr
prominent in public relations
And if any title may tell of theii
varied intellectual and religious
qualifications, it saves a lot ol
printer’s ink and circumlocution.
But where am I, and what side
am I on? On both sides, foi
there is room for much common
sense and charity on this side
and that. Much at ease am 1
on the subject, for among my
host of noble and good brethren
and sisters there are the titled
and the untitled—those widely
known among men, and those
seen hy few other eyes than that
of God. One kingdom, one
home, one reward await them
both.
The late grotesque perform
ances of Spanish students in
Spain, and ot American students
in the United States, were not oi
serious moment. They were
manifestalions of patriotism, less
the ingredient ot good sense.
The Yankee boys and the Cas
tilian youngsters will know more
and look at extravagant, impul
sive demonstrations from a dif
ferent standpoint when they are
older. Then these acts will be
a matter of as keen regret tc
them as iheyr are to their elders'
of to-day.—The Youth’s Com
panion.
The Seaboard Air Line ha?
offered special inducement to
those who wish to attend the
Northern Settlers’ Convention
to be held in Southern Pines on
May 5th. The round trip will
cost only $3 50 from Atlanta and
from other points proportionately
low rates will be given. The
fare Irom Raleigh and return
will be“$1:25, the lowest rate yet
offered to the travelling public
It is thought that the 5th of May
will be the greatest day in the
history of Southern Pines.
The Southern Baptist Conven
tion will be held at Chattanooga,
Tenn., May 7- 14th, 1896. The
Southern Railway will sell tick
ets tor the occasion at reduced
rates. The rate from Washing
ton, D. C., is $16.50, and from
Raleigh $16. From other points
the rates will be in the same pro
portion. Tickets on sale May
5th, 6th, 7th and 8th, limited tif
teen days from date of sale. For
information write W. A. Turk,
G. P. A., Washington, D, C.
The Pulpit
A PRECIOUS HOPE.
BY REV. JAMES MAPLE, D. X?.
1 shall go to him.—2 Sam. 12: 23.
David’s little boy was gone.
The angels had taken him to
Heaven. He could not return ;
but| David was comforted by the
assurance that he should go to
him when he left this world.
The desire to meet our friends
in Heaven is enshrined in human
nature. Every mother who has
' children in Heaven longs to meet
and embrace them there in their
own appropriate forms. If I
should tell such a mother that
she should meet her child again,
but not as her child in its own
form, she would answer in the
language of the poet:
‘O say not so! How shall I know my dar
ling
If changed her form, and veil’d her shin
ing hair:
If, since her flight, has grown my starling.
How shall I know her there?
Oh memory’s page, by viewless fingers
painted,
I see the features of my angel child;
She passed away ere vice her life had taint
ed—
Passed the undefiled.
‘■O say not so! for I could clasp her, even
As when below Bhe lay upon my breast;
1 would dream of her as a bud in Heaven,
Amid the blossoms blest.
My little one, she was a folded lily.
Sweeter than any on the azure wave,
But night came down, a starless night and
chilly:
Alas! we could not save.
“Yes, as a child, serene and noble poet—
O Heaven were dark were children want
ing there—
1 hope to clasp my bud as when I wore it,
A dimpled baby fair.
Though years have flown toward my blue
eyed daughter,
My heart yearns oftimes with a mother’s
love;
It’s never-dying tendrils now enfold her,
E’en as a child above.
‘•E’en as a babe, my little dark-eyed daugh
ter,
Nestle and coo upon my breast again :
Wait for thy mother by the river water,
It shall net be in vain.
Wait as a child,—how shall I know my
darling,
If changed her form, and veil’d with
shining hair:
If, since her flight, has grown my little
starling,
How shall I know her there?”
The tender sentiment of these
beautiful lines is far more com
mon than we are wont to imag
ine, but the mother will not meet
her just-as k-lefe -hers -• Its
powers are being enlarged un
der the elevating influence ol
Heaven, and the mother will
meet it in a higher sphere of be
ing. No mother, on reflection,
would have her child remain an
inlant forever. It is far more
pleasing to think that it is grow
ing in Heaven, and all the yearn
ings ot the parent’s heart are
met if we can think that amid
all the progress of that brighter
clime it still retains the human
form—that even there the moth
er may trace the family likeness.
Though retaining the human
form after it leaves ihe body, the
soul will be far more beautiful
in its appearance than the body
was. There will be all the dif
ference that there is between the
spiritual and the material. Just
what this is we know not, tor it
is entirely beyond the bounda
ries of our experience. We see
something of the beauty of the
pure soul even here in its power
to transtorm the physical man,
for there are persons yet in the
embodied state so uuder the con
trol of the love of Christ that the
body is almost spiritualized. The
soul has transformed the body
into its own image. As Christ
was transfigured on the mount,
and the outer man all aglow with
the light of the divinity within,
so the pure soul transforms the
material body into the image ol
its own lovliness. The beauty,
ot the soul shines out through
the body, and from this we may
form some idea of what the beau
ty of the spiritual man will be
when freed from this gross ma
terial nature in which it now
lives.
Death is usually looked upon
as a misfortune to man, but this
is a wrong idea of it. Instead of
being a misfortune it is an ad
vance to a higher life. It is the
putting oft' of the gross material
part of our nature, and the pass
ing into the spiritual realm. We
have illustrations of this wonder
till change in the loWer forrrtft of
life, in which insects and birds
pass from an embryo state into
a higher lite. The bird in the
eggshell has all the power of the
lark soaring and singing in the
air, but it is in prison. This is
the incipient state of its being,
and there is no possible chance
for the development and exer
cise of its powers while in this
prison house. Thebreakingofthe
shell and the letting out ot the
bird is not a misfortune to it,but
a blessing. It is the introducing
of it into a higher life where-all
its powers can be developed and
used. What the breaking of the
eggshell is to the bird, death is
to the Christian,. It is freeing the f
spul from ...this prison house of
clay, and its introduction into
the higher life of Heaven where
all its wonderful capacities shall
be developed.
We find a beautiful illustration
of this subject in another form ot
life. In the latter part of the
summer may be seen an uncouth
worm crawling on the ground
without any capacity to rise
above this low condition of, life.
After a time it fastens itself to
the limb of some shrub, wraps
itself up in a shroud, and to all
appearance dies. It remains in
this dormant condition until the
warm days of the opening of the
following summer. Then the
shroud is broken, and a beauti
ful imperial butterfly comes out
clothed in all the blended beauty
of the rainbow. Was this change
a misfortune to this insect? Cer
tainly not. Through it it passed
from a low to a higher form of
life. In its first estate it could not
rise above the dust through
which it crawled, but now it can
soar through the air from flower
to flower. At first it was a
coarse, toatnsome ODject tnai an
shunned or crushed beneath
their feet; but now it is a thing
of beauty floating through the
air, the admiration oi all. Such
is the mysterious change we call
death to the Christian. It is ex
changing the heavy material
body for a spiritual one, and the
passing out of the low estate, in
whch we now live, and are con
fined to the earth by the inexo
rable laws of nature, into a high
er realm of *piritual existence,
where the soul will be independ
ent of all the laws that govern
tohyKfcal'y&tayie." Tiky the'tftjWl-T'w'I
ing worm we are now chained to
the earth and cannot rise above
it, only in thought and feeling,
but in the change we call death
we drop oft’ the physical, rise
into the spiritual where we will
possess the power to rove at will
from point to point in the vast
universe of God. Is this a mis
fortune to man, and something to
be dreaded ?
To illustrate this subject let us
suppose that a man is confined
in a dark prison, and doomed to
remain there until the walls of
the tower rot and fall down.
Then he can come forth and be
at full liberty. Would he not be
right glad to see the walls begin
to tumble, and would he not look
forward to the day of his release
with joy? Thus our soul is im
prisoned within this body,
as in captivity and bonds ; and
must remain thus till the prison
is taken down. Hence death is
represented as a dissolving of
“this tabernacle.” When the
prison begins to totter and our
eternal deliverance approaches,
ought we to be sorry?
A tun realization ot vvnat aeatn
is brings joy to the soul of the
good man. “I want to talk to
you about Heaven,” said a dying
Christian to a member of his
family. “We may not be spared
to each other much longer : may
we not meet around the throne
of glory, one family in Heaven?”
Overpowered at the thought of
her father’s death, the beloved
daughter exclaimed, “Surely
you do not think that there is
any danger?” Calmly and beau
tifully he replied. “Danger? my
darling ! Oh ! do not use that
word. There can be no danger
to the Christian, whatever. may
happen. All is right: all is well.
God is love. All is well—ever
lastingly well, — everlastingly
well.”
Such is death to the Christian
, —a joyfully-welcomed change
[ from a low to the highest state.