I
t
Sun.
BY EMMETT L. MOFFI IT.
IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY;
ESTABLISHED 1844.
RALEIGH, N. 0„ THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1898.
VOLUME LI: NUMBER 18.
Tfyo Christian SUi^
Tbe Organ of the General Convention
the Christian Chnrch (Booth).
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES.
1. The Lord Jeans is the only Head of the
church.
2. The name Christian, to the exclusion
of all party and soctarlan names.
8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures of
the Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule
of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, or vital piety, the
only test of fellowship or membership.
5. The right of private judgment, and
the liberty of conscience, tbe privilege and
duty of all.
Reflections.
The appeal that the Wilsons
—former Railroad Commission
ers for North Carolina—made
before the United States Su
preme Coutt agaist Governor
Russell’s appointees—Caldwell
and Pearson—has been dis
missed, the Court deciding that
it had no jurisdiction iu the mat
ter. So the new commissioners
hold on to their positions.
The report that Hon. William
E. Gladstone is dying of a can
cerous growth, involving the
bone tissues back ot the nasal
passages, will cause universal
regret. The “Grand Old Man”
has been a central figure of all
the world for many years, and
his death would deprive the
world of its greatest statesman.
His departure, however, cannot
be long hence: he has been an
old man for many years, and
soon will be no more—save as
he lives on in the hearts of men
and women for ages to come.
The question of the lease of
the North Carolina Railroad to
the Southern has now been tak
en out of the courts, and the
matter is left for Judge Simon
ton to pass upon, without argu
ment from either side, the South
ern' agreeing to pay all ex
penses that have been in^
curred by the State in the
fight that has been made.
The contempt cases that the
Railroad Commissioners had in
court against Col. Andrews and
others for failure to answer cer
tain questions have been decided
in favor of the defendants.
The Hartford Courant submits
the following five propositions,
which are as pertinent to every
other State as to Connecticut:
“i. That our soundest, wisest,
best-paying investment here in
Connecticut to-day is our public
schools. The most precious and
productive of all community ex
penses is, as President E liott
said at Fall River the other day,
the school expense. 2. That our
constant aim and policy should
be to improve our school system.
The better the schools the richer
the returns to town and State 3.
That we should economize any
where and everywhere else be
fore we begin to economize at
the expense of Connecticut’s
boys and girls. 4. That only a
demonstrated necessity ^ould jus
tify any crippling of the evening
school work, or of the school li
brary work. 5. That any dem
onstrated mistake, foolishness or
wastefulness in the school sys
tem should be corrected. Mon
ey’s worth for the money is a
good rule in school matters as in
other matters.” It would be
difficult to err on the side of do
ing too much for our public
schools; for they are indeed our
soundest, wisest, best-paying in
vestmest.” When we spend
money in developing the minds
and hearts of the boys and girls
of the land we may be sure of
rich returns in the iuture: more
productive, more intelligent,
more moral and religious com
munities ; a higher type of Chris
tian manhood and Christian
citizenship. A new North Caro
lina Legislature is to be elected
this fall; and we hope our peo
ple will vote for no man who
does not favor public schools in
the State. Make this one test.
Miss Clara Barton, who has
been in Havana for some time
endeavoring, through the Red
Cross Society, to relieve the
starving Cubans, has left that
city and gone to Washington tp
consult the President in
reference- to the manner
in which Spain has been in
terfering with her work. It is
claimed that “Spanish officers
have stolen large quantities of
the provisions sent fdf the recon
centrados, and that much food
has been spoiled by its wilful de
tention.” This is the first time
that Miss Barton’s work has ever
been interfered with. She has
everywhere been received as an
angel of mercy on a mission of
love to suffering humanity ; and
now for Spain to interfere with
her work is brutal and heartless.
It is estimated that the Geor
gia farmers this year will de
crease their acreage of cotton
about fifty per cent. That this
is a wise decision, five-cent cot
ton will bear witness. If all the
States would make a similar re
duction, and put more time,
more land, and more money into
the raising of what they have to
use on the farms, cotton would
soon be a money crop again.
Bearing out this idea, Mr. Pat
rick, of the S. A. L. Industrial
Department, sends out the follow
ing “Lesson About Cotton”:
“Here are some facts about cot
ton every one interested in the
production of cotton would do
well to study. The 9,900,000
bale crop of 1894-95 sold for
$228,000,000. The 7,000,000
bales produced in 1895-96, sold
for $292,900,000. The crop of
1896 97 amounted to 8,750,000
bales, sold for $327,000,000, Or
the big crop of 1884-95 sold for
$64,000,000 less than the suc
ceeding year’s crop, although it
was nearly 3,000,000 bales lar
ger. The crop of 1896-97 sold
for $199,000,000 more and was
over 1,000,000 bales less. Thus
it will appear that the larger the
crop the less it sells for, and a
7.000. 000 bale crop is really
worth more to producers than a
10.000. 000 bale crop.-Exchange.
Or the more cotton the less mon
ey, a verification of the well
known law of inverse proportion.
Moral—Plant more corn, sow
more wheat, raise more to eat.”
From an examination of the
statistics on cattle-raising in the
United States the Progressive
Farmer finds that there has been
a gradual decrease in this indus
try during the last few years. It
says : “A glance at the statistics
compiled by the United States
Department of Agriculture shows
that since 1892 there has been a
regular and quite rapid decrease
in the number of cattle in this
country. There were in 1892,
54,067,590 head while the de
cline has brought us to 45,105,
083 in 1898, showing a net fall
ing off of 8,962,507, or in round
numbers 9,000,000, or i6f per
cent. Considering the fact that
our population is steadily and
regularly increasing, this de
crease is beginning to look a little
serious. It is beginning to be
4elt already, not only in the
beef, but also in the hide and
leather trade. Taking these sta
tistics as we find them, and as
they are reliable, ought not our
people to begin to hedge against
a further diminution by giving
more care to their cattle? Those
who “take time by the forelock”
and give best care and attention
to their breeds and grazing and
marketing, will be apt to reap
good rewards tor their pains ”
This is a condition very much to
be regretted ; for it means that
if the decrease continues the
consumers of beef (and they are
many) are soon going to find
prices going up ; and leather, to
gether with everything that is
made out of leather, will take a
corresponding rise. The condi
tion-in North Carolina is a little
better than this general showing.
The decrease here during the
past three years has been only
from 653,528 to 608,872—only 61
percent. Would it not be well
to look a little more closely to
our cattle-raising industry now,
before it is too late ?
Contributions
ESAU, THE ELDEST SUN OF ISAAC.
BY HERBERT SCHOLZ, A.M.
Part II.
Esau sold his birth-right to Ja
cob for a mess of pottage. Esau
had been out on an extended
hunt. He came home very hun
gry, almost perished, as we some
times say. He found his brother
cooking pottage. This was a
mixture of vegetables and meat,
and was a common dish in those
times. The savory odor that
arose from that pot ot pottage
made hungry Esau still more
hungry. His mouth watered for
some of that pottage. He asked
his brother to give him some to
eat, tor he was very hungry.
His brother told him that he
would barter him some for his
birth-right. This was indeed a
very dear price for a dinner, but
Esau’s stomach finally overcame
every other consideration, and
he consented to exchange. So
Jacob gave to Esau some of the
pottage which he was cooking,
and Esau ate it and then went on
his way. This was but the be
ginning of the downward course
of Esau and the \ipward course
of Jacob. One bad deed usually
leads to another.. It was so in
Esau’s case. He first gave his
consent to dispose of his birth
right. That was the first big
mistake of his life. The second
mistake occurred a few years la
ter.
Like the most of young men,
Esau thought that he could get
along better in the double har
ness than in the single state. But
he went farther than that. In
stead of contenting himself with
one wife, he went and took two.
These were the daughters of the
Hittites, and were entirely un
congenial to the parents of Esau,
and by no means disposed to
check Esau in his downward
course. The Bible narrative de
clares that they were a continual
grief of mind to Isaac and Re
bekah, doing what they could,
we presume, to render unhappy
the home into which they had
been taken by the marriage.
The union produced domestic
discord and established idolatry
in an hitherto religious home.
Esau’s mother had never loved
him so well as shfe did her young
er son, and the mistakes which
Esau made had the tendency to
make the ties which bound
mother to son much weaker than
they were before. Hence it is
not a matter of very great sur
prise that she should enter into a
compact with Jacob to deprive
Esau of his father’s blessing.
When Isaac was about one
hundied years old, he became
somewhat blind. He was, per
haps, able to see a very little,
but not enough to clearly distin
guish objects. He thought, on
account of this blindness, that
the end of his life was ne;ar at
hand ; that his race was almost
run ; and that he was about to
sink into the grave. So he called
his favorite son, Esau, to him,
and bade him go into the fields
and hunt down some venison
and bring to him, that he might
eat of it and then give to him a
father’s blessing betore he died.
Esau went out from his father in
obedience to his command. It
happened, however, that Rebek
ah had heard what her husband
had said to Esau, and she at
once set to work to turn aside
this last great blessing intended
for Esau, and to bring it on the
head ot her beloved son Jacob.
She called Jacob to her and told
hiui to go and kill a kid, and
dress it nicely and bring it to
her that she might prepare savo
ry meat which he should take
in to his father and pass off for
venison, and pass himself for
Esau. Jacob was afraid to do
this, lest his father might detect
the deception, but his mother
persuade*! him to obey her. So
the kid was caught, killed, and
prepared, and Rebekah took
parts of the kid’s hide, and
placed them on the neck and
and hands of Jacob, so that if his
father should feel of him, he
would find him hairy, just as his
brother Esau. Dressed in this
manner, Jacob took the savory
meat and went into the presence
of his father afld told him that he
had brought to him the venison
as desired, and was now ready
to receive the blessing.
There were two things which
made Isaac suspect that he was
being deceived. One was, the
shortness of time thai intervened
between then and the moment
when he had sent Esau out; the
other was the voicfe which he
heard. Isaac did not think Esau
could have gotten back from the
hunt so soon, neither did he
think that it was the voice of
Esau that he heard. But he
thought ho could test the matter
by feeling of him, so he said to
him, “Come near, my son, and
let me feel of you.’ Jacob ap
proached the bedside, and when
Isaac felt the hair on the hands
of Jacob, he said, “Truly these
are Esau’s hands, but the voice
is the voice of Jacob.” And he
said to him, “Art thou my very
son, Esau?” And Jacob said, “I
am.” Then Isaac took of the
meat which Jacob had brought,
and ate of it, and when he had
finished, he gave to Jacob the
blessing which he had for Esau,
thinking at the time that he was
bestowing it upon his elder son.
When he had finished, Jacob
both joyful and conscience
stricken, went out from the pres
ence of his father. Shortly after
wards, Esau returned from the
hunt, and went into the apart
ment of his father, and an
nounced to him his return with
the venison. We can hardly'
imagine how great was the sur
prise ot both father and son,
when the father found out that
he had been so thoroughly de
ceived, and the son discovered
that he had been so shamefully'
defrauded. Both were much
distressed over the matter, and
Esau wept most bitterly. He
asked his father if ^ie did not
have yet another blessing, which
he could bestow upon him. His
father told him that there was
yet another blessing, but it
was nothing compared with the
one intended for him. So Esau
received the blessing which his
father proffered, but it was one
which made him second to his
brother, and deprived him of his
prestige in the family.
HAVE FAITH IN HOD.
FROM THE CHRISTIAN.
Half our troubles come from
despondency, discouragement,
grief. We faint in the day of
adversity. We abandon the strug
gle when enemies oppose. We
say, “I have labored in vain and
spent my strength for naught,”
when a few little difficulties cross
our path, or a few discourage
ments try our souls. But have
we not seen shadows before?
and are we afraid of shadows?
Have we not passed under
clouds before? and are we afraid
of clouds? Have we not met
with enemies and conquered
them? Have we not seen moun
tains before us which yret have
been moved out of their places?
Have we not had trials, conflicts,
and temptations, and yet have
overcome them ? He who has
been with us in time past will
still be with us to the end.
Have faith in God. The God
of heaven does not taint and is
not weary ; does not forget and
does not falter ; and if we trust
his promises and cast our care
upon him, he who has been with
us in the past will be with us in
the future, will help us in our
time of need, will drive our foes
before our faces, and will at last
crown us with strength and joy
and victory in the glory of his
kingdom.
Wlmt thou ill thou rulest not?
Yet heaven, and earth, and hell
Proclaim. God sitteth on the throne,
And rnl'ith all thinge well!
Leave to Hia sovereign sway
To choose and to command:
So sha t thou wondering, own hia way,
llow wise, how strong his hand 1
Far, far above thy thought
His counsel shall appear.
When fully he the work has wrought
That caused thy needless fear.
As will be remembered, some
time ago the North Carolina
Railroad Commissioners made
an order reducing first-class pas
senger rates to 2^ cents a mile
and second class rates to 2 cents.
Last week, however, they recon
sidered the question and restored
the old rates—3^ and 2f cents a
mile.
BEV. ». O.aeWHAN.
The Pulpit.
PAUL Oil MAR’S HILL..
BY REV. N. G. NEWMAN.
“For as I passed by and beheld your de
votions, I found an altar with this inscrip
tion, To thi Unknown God. Whom,
therefore, ye ignorai tly worship, him de
clare I unto you.”—Acts 17: 23.
Paul was re-visiting all the cit
ies in which he had preached and
strengthening the churches. At
Thessnlonica and Berea he was
persecuted and forced to flee to
Athens. Here he tarried awhile
for the coming of his compan
ions, Silas and Timothy. While
waiting in Athens, Paul’s soul
was stirred within him, as he per
ceived the whole city given over
to idolatry. He could not be
idle. He entered the synagogues
and preached Christ to the Jews
and proselytes, and disputed
daily in the market place. In
the latter place he was encoun
tered by the Epicureans and Sto
ics. Some said he was a bab
bler. Others said he seemed to
be a setter forth of strange gods.
So they took Paul and carried
him before the court of Areopa
gus, which would hear what this
new doctrine was. Such were
the circumstances leading to this
memorable address. Let us no
tice :
1. The Circumstances Un
der Which It Was Delivered*
i. It was delivered on Mar’s
Hill, which was one ot the four
great hills of Athens. On the
rocky summit ot this hill was
held in open air the great court
of Athens, where distinguished
judges and senators sat tc decide
upon all the more important
questions of state and religion.
They sat in concentric circles
upon seats hewn out of the solid
rock, while the accused and the
accuser stood each upon a stone
in the centre, the one upon the
right and the other upon the
left Upon one of these stones
stood Paul, not as a criminal on
trial, but as one who seemed to
have set forth strange ideas, and
had thereby excited the curiosity
of the Athenians, “who spent
their whole time in nothing else,,
but either to hear or to tell some
new thing.”
2. This discourse was deliv
ered to the most cultured.,and
refined audience the wca^ld
could then produce. Athens rep
resented the highest culture ol
the world, and this court the
highest culture of Athens. Not
only were the Athenians an in
tellectual people, but they were a
religious people. Paul told them
they were too religious. They
believed in a god for every do
main ot nature and every divis
ion of state. Along the high
ways, in the streets, in the tem
ples and groves, and in the
homes—everywhere 'in Athens,
were statues of gods and god
desses. There were gods sitting,
gods reclining, gods standing,
gods quarreling, and gods fight
ing. There were gods of wood,
gods ot stone, gods of ivory,
brass and marble. Standing up
x>n Mar’s Hill, Paul’s eye was
greeted at eveiy turn by these
products of human ingenuity and
human lolly.
3. This discourse was deliver
ed by a poor persecuted unknown
and uncared-for wandering Jew
from Cilicia. You may imagine
with what contempt these haugh
ty Athenians looked down upon
such a man—a man whose bodi
ly presence was weak and whose
speech was contemptible. But
in that careworn and homely pil
grim who stood before them they
had met the great hero and
scholar of history. Some critics
say that here for one time Paul
met his match. I take issue
with them. Here for one time
0
the Athenians had met their
match. He could meet them on
their own ground: they could
not meet him on his. He knew
their poetry and philosophy, and
appreciated whatever was good
in their art. But they were stran
gers to the teaching of Paul.'
This was a great opportunity for
Paul and the gospel. It was car
rying the gospel to the mighty of
earth and attacking the enemy
in his own stronghold. Nineteen
years before, it had started with
a few fishermen of Galilee. Now
it is proclaimed by one of the
greatest scholars of the age, and
perhaps of all ages, in the most
cultured city of earth, and to the
most cultured audience of that
city. Such opportunities are
rare and come only to such men
as Paul. Great men are not made
by great opportunities, but great
opportunities are made for great
men.
II. The Character of the
Discourse, i. It was courteous
and complimentary. He begins,
“Ye men ol Athens”. No phrase
could have fallen more suavely
upon the ears of an Athenian au
dience. It was the polite ad
dress of Greek orators, and the
one always used by Demosthenes
in his Oration on the Crown.
His reference to their religion
was equally courteous. He says,
“I perceive that in all things ye
are too superstitious”, that is,
very devout, over-religious. In
this Paul sacrificed no principle.
It was a true statement. Perhaps
no people were ever more relig
ious than the Greeks. The only
trouble was the kind of religion
they had, and that trouble Paul
had come theie to remedy.
Courtesy is a cheap thing and
pays well. Rudeness and blunt
ness have no place among Chris
tian graces. Give a man credit
for whatever good there may be
in him, and use that as a means
through which to bring him a
blessing. No man knew better
how to take advantage of circum
stances than Paul, and in no one
thing is his human shrewdness
and ingenuity more evident. He
says, “I am become all things to
all men, that by all means I
might save some.” By this Paul
does not mean that he ever sac
rificed principle by deviating
from truth or descending to low
and vulgar flattery : but in a le
gitimate and honorable way he
took advantage of circumstances
as only the wise can do. To the
Jew he asserted his character as
a Jew. To the Roman he assert
ed his character as a Roman ;
and thereby he many times saved
his life. “Be ye therelore wise
as serpents and harmless as
doves.” So Christ taught and so
Paul practiced.
But now comes Paul’s most
masterly stroke. I regard Paul’s
address on Mar’s Hill as the
most wonderful production I
have ever read, and I believe ii
is tne most wonderful in exist
ence. It should be a feasting
ground (or every Christian stu
dent. Space forbids more than
a bare reference to it here. 1
wish all Christians, and especial
ly scholars, would make it a
study. Paul had been in many
close places, and had had many
occasions to exercise his wis
dom ; but until this occasion the,
supreme hour had not come. He
now stands where Socrates had
stood four centuries before, and
stands guilty of the same thing
for which Socrates had been con
demned and executed by that
very court; that is, for introduc
ing gods not recognized by the
Athenian state. It w-as a terrible
ordeal. Une misplaced worn,
and his life must pay the penal
ty. Can Paul prove equal to the
occasion? He begins, “As 1
passed by and beheld your devo
tions, I found an altar with the
inscription, To the Unknown
God ; whom, therefore, ye igno
rantly worship, him declare I un
to you.” He took his text from
the inscription on one of theii
own altars. In expounding to
them this “Unknown God”, he
could not be accused of intro
ducing new ones. This is one
ot the most masterly strokes of
shrewdness and policy on re
cord. Yet it was perfectly legit
imate. It was sincere and hnn
orable. The true God whom he
would declare unto them was
truly the “Unknown God"—un
known by the Greeks in that they
had no conception of him, and
unknown in that he is the Great
Unknown and Unknowable God,
whose judgments are unsearcha
ble and whose ways are past
finding out,
2. This discourse was weighty
and powerful as an exposition of
the “Unknown God”. Paul saw
in the idolatry of this city a feel
ing after God, and in this in
scription, though faint and dim,
a confession of a belief in some
being whom eye had not seen
and of whose character and at
tributes the mind had never con
ceived. They had been feeling
in the dark and perhaps had
gone as far as human wisdom
could carry them, and at this
point the apostle would take hold
with revelation.
ram aici not oegin nere, as ne
always did to the Jews, with the
cross and the resurrection. This
would have been meaningless to
an Athenian who knew nothing
of the Scriptures. He began
with the God of Creation, the
supreme Governor and Ruler of
the Universe, sets forth his rela
tion to man, and closes with the
doctrine of the resurrection. In
doing this he demolished the
whole system of Grecian philos
ophy. Epicureanism taught that
all thinps came by chance. Paul
declared that God made heaven
and earth, and all things that are
therein. Their common mythol
ogy had peopled the universe
with gods and goddesses, and
filled Athens with temples, im
ages and shrines. Standing in
full view of these, Paul declared
that God dwelt not in temples
made with hands, neither was
worshipped with men’s hands, as
though he needed anything, for
he himself gave life and health
to all thing. Stoicism denied
the immortality of the soul and
the resurrection of the dead.
Paul declared that God had ap
pointed a day wherein he would
judge the world in righteousness
by the man whom he had ap
pointed, whereof he had given
witness in that he had raised him
from the dead. They represent
ed their gods and goddesses by
images of stone and brass. Paul
reminded them that one of their
own poets had said, “We are the
offspring of God.” If we are the
offspring of God, says Paul, how
can the godjiead be like unto sil
ver, or brass, or stone? The
Athenians claimed to be of a dif
ferent origin from the rest of
mankind. Paul declared to
them that God made of one blood
all nations of the earth. Thus
Paul dealt the Grecian philoso
phy blow after blow, and at eve
ry blow a system tumbles.
Critics say that this discourse
was a failure so far as fruit wras
concerned. Not so ; it was a glo
rious success. “Howbeitcertain
men clave unto him and be
lieved”, and one of these a mem
ber of this distinguished court.
Paul sounded from Mar’s Hill
that day the death-knell of pagan
Athens. It was the beginning
of the downfall of paganism. Pa
gan Athens could flourish and
revel in her glory, but when once
the gospel had been sounded
from ber hill-tops, pagan Athens
could be pagan Athens no long
er. She must be Christian Ath
ens or perish in the dust.
In conclusion, I ask, Where
is ancient Athens and all her
glory to-day? Her poetry and
philosophy are but facts of histo
ry, and her art has perished in
the dust. Where, I ask, is Paul
and the gospel he that day
sounded on Mar’s Hill? Paul's
memory has lived and expanded
with the ages, inspiring and
transforming the lives of men.
The truth he preached has trans
formed pagan Athens and pagan
Greece and pagan Europe. It
has crossed the waters and trans
formed the wild continents of the
west. It has penetrated the dark
est continents of earth and the
remotest islands of the sea, trans
forming and elevating whatever
it has touched.
Time is an important element
in all things temporal, HtpJt it is
worth remembering thath noth
ing great is ever accomplished
bv a man who has formed the
habit of watching the clock.—
Richmond Christian Advocate.
Send in your renewal lor Svii