ESTABLISHED 1844. i RALEIGH. H. 0., THURSDAY, MARCH 24,1888. VOLUME II; iff
Tl^ Christian $Ur\
The Organ of the General Convention
the Christian Church ('South).
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES.
1. The Lord Jesus Is the only Bead of the
church.
9, The name Christian, to the exclusion
of all party and sectarian names.
8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures ol
the Old and New Testaments, Sufficient rule
of faith and practice.
*. Christian character, or vital piety, the
only test of fellowship or membership.
6. .The right of private judgment, and
the liberty of conscience, the privilege and
duty of all.
•MumtmmmMwuwhWMmlMww
Reflections.
The Government is examining
a number ot merchant vessels
with a view to impressing them
for service in case they should
be needed. The “St. Louis” of
the American Line, has already
been impressed, and will be over
hauled, armoured, and equipped
at an early date. The Board
expects to get together and equip
about 200 of these.
One of the moat serious disad
vantages that the United States
would experience in a war with
any outside country is her chief
advantage in time ot peace*-her
long coast from Maine to Florida.
We would have to fortify at so
many different points. The Gov
ernment has already begun the
manning of fortifications along
the Southern coast especially.
This is done by way of precau
tion.
The Chamberlain and Hygeia
hotels at Old Point Comfort,
.Va., are built on government
land, somewhat in front of a part
of Fortress Monroe; and it is
said that, in case ot war, the
United States has reserved . the
right to raze the two handsome
buildings to the ground, in order
to make a clear opening to Hamp
ton Roads. The Chamberlain
cost about $1,500,000, and was
just opened in 1896. The Hy
geia is almost as valuable, but
has been open for severaljrears.
It would be a serious loss ; but
we don’t suppose the owners are
losing much sleep over the pos
sibilities.
The Spanish Minister at Wash
ington wanted to know of Assist
ant-Secretary Day why the Unit
ed 'States was Making so many
war-like preparations- His fejily
was that Spain first began nego
tiating tor a war loan. It is stat
ed that Spain intimated to our
Government the other day that
she would like for us to remove
our “White Squadron” from the
from the waters around Key
West. The responsive intima
tion of the United States was that
she wouldn’t do it. Such inci
dents as these have, no doubt,
acquainted Spain with the fact
that we have conceded about all
we are going to. Some conces
sions must come from the other
side. ’
“The Kentucky House of Del
egates”, says an exchange, “has
passed an anti-cigarette law that
is sweeping in character, and
provides that any person who
shall manufacture, sell, loan, bar
ter, give away or use cigarettes
or cigarette material shall be
fined in any sum not less than
$iO’nor more than $100. It is
made a violation of the law to
even have such articles in pos
session. The bill has yet to pass
the Senate, and the opponents of
the bill hope to delay it in that
branch so that a vote will* not be
reached before the end of the ses
sion. A good deal of the oppo
sition comes from the tobacco
interests of the State, while the
sentiment in favor of it has been
worked tip by the Woman’s
Christian Temperance Union
and other similar organizations.”
It is to be hoped that the Senate
will have as much regard for
their sons and other men’s sons
as the House had in this inr
stance, and pass the bill, not
withstanding the fight of the cig
arette men.
The Board of Trustees of the
Odd Fellows’ Orphan Home at
Goldsboro, N. C., met in that
city last week, and elected Mr.
D. A. Coble, of Raleigh, as Su
perintendent, at a salary of $300
and all living expenses for him
self and family. The Odd Fel
lows have a splendid Home
which was built at a cost of about
$10,500.
, j —
The suffering and dying in
Cuba goe? on with very little, if
any, abatement. Mr. Barker,
United States Consul at Sagua
LaGrand, Cuba, recently said:
“In my humble judgment sub
stantial relief can come to this
people only through peace alone.
Stop the war a~hd stop it instan
ter; if not, the Cuban race will
?oon bte extinct.”
The State of Louisiana is now
in a Constistutional Convention ;
and it. is generally conceded that
they will adopt a voting qualifi
cation requiring each one who
votes to be able to read and write,
or to. possess at least $300 wdrthi
of property in his own name, or
in the name of his wife, father,
mother, or minor child. It is a
blow at illiterate, incompetent
voters.
The report of the Court of En
quiry as to the blowing up of the
“Maine*’ is about ready now, and
vyill be made public very soon.
The President will then send it
to. Congress with whatever rec
ommendation he thinks best. He
will, no doubt, detnand a heavy
indemnity from Spain, which,
after much dilly-dallying, she
will pay, rather than go to war
with such a superior power as the
Upited States. The independ
ence of Cuba will also possibly
be one of the demands of our
Government.
The United States has pur-:
chased • the two new war ships
that were built for Brazii—the
“Amazonas” and the “Admiral
Abrenall”. These are the two
vessels that Spain wanted to pur
chase, and couldn’t. They are
supposed to be worth about a
million and a half each, and are
said to be very fine for war, hav
ing been equipped with all the
latest improvements. One of
these vessels will be called the
‘^Maine”, in honor of the one that
was lost. Two other big new bat
tleships—the Kentucky and the
Kearsarge—will be launched at
Newport News to-day ; and a
number of other war vessels of
various types are soon to be built.
A«d thus the preparation for
protection or for. war goes on.
Sometime ago we made refer
ence to the fact that Virginia had
decided to displace some of the
histories taught in the public
schools of the State, because of
the injustice that they did the
South ip relating the causes, clr
cumstances and incidents ot the
late war. New books will soon
be selected to take the place of
these; and speaking of this
change the Norfolk Ledger very
wisely says: “In making a
change of histories in the public
schools ofVirginia—a ipovement
to which end is now on foot—
great care should be taken to re
place those now in use with
books that are as nearly correct
as is possible to have them. It
is very easy to imbibe error in
any line of education, but it is de
cidedly difficult to unlearn it.
Only those who have tried to
eradicate from thought that
which has once been accepted as
fact can appreciate what a mis
fortune to the student it is to
place before him or her for ac
ceptance, erroneous statements
instead of truth, and it is to be
hoped that the lesson learned
from past experience along this
line will urge the Board of Edu
cation, and those who are trying
to help that body to a conclusion,
to give the most earnest and con
scientious labor to the selection
of the histories that are to be
placed in the Virginia schools.
It iB a matter ot great import
ance, and as the hooks now to be
selected will be-those which are
to impress a generation, at least,
of our children, we feel that the
subject cannot be considered tod
seriously.”
Contributions.
ISAAC, THE HEIR OE ABRAHAM.
BY HBRBBRT SCHOLZ, A.M.
Part IV.
In some respects Isaac was a
considerable improvement over
his father, Abraham. Every
young man ought to be an im
provement over his father, and
every young woman ought to be
an improvement over her moth
er. If a boy does not make a
better man than his father is, the
fault lies in the boy. It a girl
dqgs not make a better woman
than her mother is, the fault lies
in the girl. The experiences of
parents are worth a great deal to
their children, if they will but
profit by them. We, in this pres
ent age, ought to be (our thous
and years more advanced than
people in the time of Isaac, be
cause we have the knowledge
and the experiences of people
who have lived all along down
those forty centuries; and this
knowledge and these expe
riences ought to help us. A boy
fifteen years old can know more
about mathematics than the great
Sir Isaac Newton knew when he
died. An ordinary Sophomore
in the University could teach
Galileo things about astronomy
that he never heard of, if Galileo
could only make his appearance
on earth again. Evefy genera
tion ought to be more intelligent,
more ingenious, and more relig
ious than the one preceding it.
We shall mention two points
in which Isaac surpassed his fa
ther. The first one is this. Isaac
never practiced polygamy:
Abraham did. Isaac contented
himself with one wife, and as a
consequence the morals of his
home were purer than those of
his father's house. There were
no intrigues arising in the home
of Isaac between women jealous
of one another, and anxious to
secure the special favor of their
lord. What troubles arose there
were brought about by the chil
dren of one woman, and not of
several. Isaac’s love for Rebek
ah was sufficient to keep him free
from obligations to any one but
her, and they were always hap
py in the mutual confidence and
love which existed.
l ne second improvement is
this. Isaac was more kindly in
his disposition than his father.
There is no evidence that Isaac
ever turned one of his sons out of
house and home to battle alone
With the hard, cold World, or to
starve in the endeavor. Abra
ham did this, and had it not been
for the intervention of an angel,
Hagar and her son Ishmael
would both have perished from
their inability to find water
to drink. Isaac was a pure
man and a kind man. His
greatest fault has already been
stated, that of showing favoritism
between his children. He was
true to his God, never deviating
from the path of righteousness,
so far as he understood the
right; and when he came down
to his grave, he was. rich in the
experience of the religious life,
and confident of an eternal abid
ing-place in that happy city
where the many mansions are.
The name of the father to-day
eclipses that of the- son. Abra
ham is much better known than
Isaac. There has lived many a
hero at heart in the different pe
riods of the world’s history,
whose name never rose out o|
obscurity, because nothing ever
presented itself to be done that
was sufficient to make him fa
mous. But they lived just the
same, and did their little part
well in life’s great drama,
and, though they have never
been praised and applauded on
earth, yet their names are writ
ten in brilliant letters in the
Lamb’s Book of Life. Earthly
honots were not theirs to share,
' but an everlasting crown that
j fadeth not away will be their
jensignia in heaven.
It is erroneous for us to hold
'rto the idea that the only great
1 men ahd the only really good
men in the world are those whose
'names are household words.
There are numbers of Lees and
Jacksons and Gladstones and
Longfellows and Vances and
Talmages all over the world, but
their environments arid Circum
stances have never been the sort
to push them forward to the pub
lic gaze. Vet they move in their
own individualjtircles ana wield
an influence that is refreshing
and ennobling jind revivifying.
Like Isaac of old, they act well
their part, and leave the rest to
Him who holds the reins of des
tiny in his omnipotent hand, and
guides the progress of the world
according to hi&own good pleas
In the Ine ot Jsaac is a lesson
for us. Our name’s may not long
survive us to be handed down
from generatioq to generation,
but our deeds will live to bear
witness tor us or against us in
the last great day. Abraham
Lincoln on the field of Gettys
burg said, “the, world will little
note nor long remember what
we say here, but it can never for
get what they did hery.” The
Christian life ip a life of doing
something. Perpetual motion is
the law of life. Whenever we
stop moving we die. Whenever
we stop doing, good deeds, we
swing to the other extreme and
do bad ones. It requires trying
in order to be good ; it requires
no trying to be bad. Onward
and upwapd must we move, if we
expect to reach that sVa'ge of in
tegrity, piety, afcd courage that
characterized the young Isaac
who did not flinch when placed
upon the altar of stone as a sac
rifice. As one ascends the
mountain side, and gradually
approaches the: summit where he
can look down upon the beauti
ful landscapes and valleys and
rivers and plains, which God has
rolled out like a scroll, so a
Christian must climb up the
heights of his bad habits and
dispositions and stand above
them, if he would behold the glo
ries of the spiritual, kingdom
which God hdids in store tor
those who deserve to see them.
Isaac was a good man at heart.
His heart was right toward God.
The great question which con
cerns uS the most is, “What is the
condition of our hearts?” There
are only two beings in all the
world who can know the condi
tion of your heart. They are
God and yourself. “Man look
eth on the outward appearance,
but God looketh upon the heart.”
In that are locked up the secret
springs of your life. It that is
corrupt, your life will be corrupt,
even though you may appear
spotless to others. Sweet wa
ters cannot flow from a bitter
fountain, nor clear waters from
a stagnant pool. If the life is
pure within, the life will certain
13' be pure withoyt. What we
need to make us better as human
beings is a higher degree of puri
ty. Purity of thought, purity of
purpose, purity of action, purity
of heart. Christ said, “Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God.” The dross of
earthly lusts and unholy desires
must be melted out of our natures
by' the fires of God’s Holy Spir
it, and pure gold of religious
character left there, if we are to
enter into that rest that remains
for thp people of God. Ma)’ the
God of Isaac present Himself to
us a* he did to Isaac, and may
we form a covenant with Him to
be kept by us honestly and sa
credly until we shall hear the
plaudit* .“Well done, good and
faithful servant, enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord.”
Prof.C.J.Parker, who has done
so much for the N. C. Teachers’
Assembly during the last two
j’ears, has resigned his position
as Secretary ; and Prot. W. T.
Whitsett, of Whitsett Institute,
has been chosen as his successor.
We extend our congratulations
and best wishes to Secretary
Wi itsett in his ifew work.
The meeting of the new Span
ish Minister Bernabe and Presi
dent McKinley March 12, was
the occasion for an exchange of
most friendly greetings, and an
earnest hope on both sides lor a
closer, relationship between
Spain and the United States. We
are1 glad to find such a reassur
ing exchange of courtesies, and
trust that it may prove more than
a mere mechanical formality.
Just at this time, however, these
ardent professions sound a little
hollow.
FIDELITY TO DUTY.
BV DR. J. W. MANNING.
To my mind, one of the most
beautiful examples of fidelity
to duty was the apostle Paul.
We are first introduced to him
as a young man standing by
consenting to the death of Ste
phen. From the environments
of Paul up to that time, we are
constrained to believe him act
ing from a sense of duty, as later,
after he has been waging a vig
orous persecution against the
church, even on his memorable
trip down to Damascus, we hear
him say, after his conviction, that
he verily thought he was doing
the will of the Lord. Paul
was doing what he really
thought to be right. Here we
might get a lesson : doing what
we think is right, if it is wrong,
does not lessen the consequences.
When the Lord appeared unto
Paul and showed him that he
was wrong, Paul asked the ques
tion, “Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?” He was deeply
in earnest when he asked that
question, as all his after life
proved. But alas I how many ot
us ask the same question, and
when the Lord tells us what to
do, if it does not exactly suit us,
we are like the young man who
came to the Saviour and asked,
substantially, the same question,
and the Lord’s answer did not
suit him, he went away, and we
hear no more of him. He was
not earnestly seeking the path of
duty. But as soon as it was
shown Paul what his duty was,
though it was directly in opposi
tion to the doctrine he had been
teaching, though he knew it
would array against him the ma
jority of his own people, whom
he loved, and to whom he would
gladly have cartied this message,
but when it was shown him to
be his duty, he went as a mis
sionary to the gentiles, he enter
ed heartily into the work, cogni
zant of the fact, no doubt, that he
was sacrificing a career of great
ness as a leader among his own
people. All the bright prospects
on this line he nobly sacrificed
on the altar of duty, and faced a
life of toil and hardships endured
by but few, if any human being,
but with duty as his guiding star
lie sieeieu a Mictigiii tuuiac iu
ward it, and we hear him say, as
he reaches the end and is under
the very shadow of the heads
man’s axe, as he calmly reviews
his past, “I have fought a good
fight, I have kept the faith.”
How is it with you, my dear
reader,to-day ? Have you done
vour duty? If not, why not?
Have you some reason that you
could really take with you to the
judgment bar of God? Do you
really know just what your duty
is? Have you 'ever made an
earnest effort to find out? If not,
go to God at once, and ask him
to show you your duty and to
give you strength to do it.
Now, brother, sister, there are
a great many things that might
be mentioned along the line of
duty, and I fear that a great
many of us would find ourselves
falling lar short of them. But
there is one I want especially to
mention, that is our duty as lay
men in the church to our pastors
financially. While I am persuad
ed that it is a duty sadly neg
lected in almost all the churches,
I realize it as woefully neglected
in all our churches in the Ga. &
Ala. Conference. And now I
want to say a few things to the
brethren here^ and I wish I
could say’ them in such a way or
through such a medium that it
would reach every member of
the Christian church in Georgia
and Alabama, and with a force
that would burn its way deep in
to every heart and conscience
that is guilty of neglect along
this line.
The last statistical table is a
shame and a disgrace to the
Conference. Only one church
has paid more than $i per mem
ber ; not one of the others, large
or small, has done that much.
Just think of a church of nearly
too members, paying its pastor
less than ten cents each for 24
days of his time—not ^ cent a
day. Brethren, don’t your con
sciences condemn you? But
you say, “We are country peo
ple, we are poor, we can’t pay
more.’’ There are individuals
among you who could pay more
than the whole church pays and
not make one-tenth part the sac
rifice to do it that your pastor
makes to serve you. Possibly
some few members do their duty
towards the support of the pas
tor, but very few ; but we have
n’t a church as a body in the
whole Conference that does half
what it ought.
Now,brethren,candidly,do you
think that you could go march
ing up before the Great Judge as
a church one hundred strong and
say, “Here, Lord, we are with a
clear conscience ot duty well
discharged. You said for us to
give as you had prospered us,
and to support your ministers,
and that you loved a cheerful
giver, so we have been careful to
do all these things, we wanted
to be liberal, so we gave our pas
tor $10 last year ; we think that
quite liberal, for he only gave us
two days each month, with •
week in summer in protracted
meeting, he preached only about
fifty sermons. It took him only
a day or two to prepare each
one, and he just had to furnish
his own horse and buggy to
make the trips, which was in all
only about 240 miles. Of course
he hqd to be away from his fam
ily, and they had to stay at home
a great many times, or walk, be
cause he had the horse and bug
gy ; but all that is only a little
denying of themselves, and we
are commanded to deny our
selves. And we, Lord, only one
hundred of 11s, made a great self
denial, we “clubbed” in and
made up the magnificent sum of
$10 for his services”?
Now, some of our churches
present even a worse picture than
this—but I forbear, for surely
this is bad enough. Some have
done better than this, but not one
has done its full duty.
Now, dear pastors, a word to
you. You may think as you
read this that lam hitting hard,
but that the churches deserve it.
But, my dear ministers of the
Georgia and Alabama Confer
ence, YOU ARE MORE AT FAULT
TUAN ANY MEMBER IN YOUR
charge. And why, do you say ?
Because, if I may say it, you
have not done your duty. How
many of you during the past con
ference year preached so much
as one sermon on the important
subject of giving? Aside from
the direct plan ot salvation, I
don’t think there is a more
weighty subject than that of
money, for on it our success in a
great measure depends. With
out it we can’t build churches.
Without it we can’t educate our
ministers. Without it our min
isters can’t live unless they occu
py all, or most all, of their time
in manual labors. Without it we
can’t sustain our missionary in
terests. You have heard of the
old brother who got up and said,
“Piaise the Lord! salvation’s
free. I’ve been a member of the
church twety-five years, and it
has not cosP me twenty-five
cents.” Now, if that man was
not a pauper, he was a hypocrite,
tor the blessed Book that he was
professing to go by, teaches to
give as the Lord has prospered
you.
When Christ sent out his
preachers he Jtold them to go and
take with them neither purse nor
scrip. I am afraid if our minis
ters were to go out that way
now they would have to do like
one of them really did a few
years ago—had to pawn his
pocket-knile to get across a riv
er. I believe if each member in
the Conference would preach at
least one sermon during the
year on the subject of giving and
the importance of supporting the
pastors and the different enter
prises of the church, that by next
conference the pastor’s salary
and the various collections for
the church would be greatly in
creased.
Personally, I believe the only
way to really give as the Lord
has prospered us is to have a
systematic way of giving. I
have adopted a plan by which I
can do that. If any would like
to know about it, if they will ad
dress me, I will take pleasure in
telling them about it privately.
Brother layman and pastor,
let us all determine to do our
full duty; and if we do it, the
Georgia and Alabama Confer
ence will experience such an im
petus as it has never known be
fore.
Mfllhdf'eviHe, Georgia.
18 THAT YOUR REASON ?
BY PROF. S. A. HOLLEMAN.
While reading Dr. Long’s ar
ticle in The Sun a short time ago
I recalled the fact that some par
ties who have given to El on Col
lege have a false impression
about the use, of their contribu
tions by thfe authorities here.
The fact was called to my at
tention first by a good brother
who had done much for the col
lege, with the statement that he
had heard of such ideas being
prevalent in different sections,
and asked me tor the truth of it.
I explained it to him simply, and
he saw it was untrue, and within
six months afterwards paid a t
nice sum to the college without I
having given a subscription.
The impression he referred to ^
was this: Many persons loyal to
the church and its enterprises
hesitate to give to Eloti College,
thinking their hard-earned con
tributions go direct to the pock
ets of a high-salaried faculty.
This is simply untrue in two
senses. First, their money does
not reach the faculty. Second/*
the faculty is not high-priced.
Inasmuch, then, as the contribu
tions of the friends of Elon Col
lege do not reach the faculty di
rectly nor indirectly, the first
refutation above is the only one
pertinent to this article. I have
been Treasurer of Elon College
several years,during which time
all payments of whatever nature
have passed through my hands
and been recorded on my books ;
and, with two exceptions, all con
tributions have gone to pay other
than salaries of teachers. These
two were small balances paid
parties who were not of our
church and who had ceased to
be members of the faculty. On
the other hand, the members of
the faculty have from time to
time waived their claim to tui
tion fees in .order to aid in pay
ing the college debt. In addi
tion to this, it is well known that
the members of the faculty have
co-operated by their own contri
butions, beyond their ability (of
no inconsiderable amount ei
ther), to relieve the college in its
struggle.
This piece is certainly my
own, and not instigated by any
thought (or person) save my de
sire to assure the friends of Elon
College that their contributions
so far, and likely to be so for
some time yet, have gone to pay
the debt of building and equip
ping the institution, which is
doing a grand work tor the
Christian Church.
That other feature of high-sal
aried faculty does not belong to
this paper. If any parties desire
to know anything of that, let
them consult with authority the
Treasurer, and when they find
out the facts, I am inclined to
think they will never intimate
again what has been hinted
above.
What I have written above
will he read by the authorities of
Elon College, and I am sure they
w'll not deny its truth. While I
can say what I have said, to be
iho case since I have been Treas
urer, I can say it further was the
case the first years of Our history,
for I am intimately acquainted
with the finances of the institu
tion from its beginning in 1890.
The vouchers for all payments
of whatever kind are now on file
to answer to the truth of this ar
ticle.
Now, brother, whoever you
are, if you think you have mis
placed your money or that you
will misplace it by giving to Elon
College, your only relief is to
look at the buildings, which are
a monument to the everlasting
intent of all true Christians;
namely, the opportunity of the
rising generation to learn truth
and get wisdom and grow more
like our Master. You have no
investment in the faculty yet.
Your faculty is trying to do its
duty. Will you do the same?
Elon CoUege, North Carolina.
The Hon. Tom Watson, of
Georgia, has been enthusiastical
cally nominated for Governor by
the populists of that State,