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flu it'i Sun. BY EMMETT L. MOFFITT. IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY ; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY $2.00 PER YEAR. ESTABLISHED 1844. RALEIGH, N. 0., THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1898. VOLUME LI: NUMBER 29. Tti<* Christian Sur* The Organ of the General Convention the Christian Church (South). CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. 1. The Lord Jesus is the only Bead of the church. 3. The name Christian, to the exclusion of all party and sectarian names. 8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures dt the Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule of faith and practice. 4. Christian character, or vital piety, the only test of fellowshlp'or membership. 5. The right of private Judgment, and the liberty ol conscience, the privilege and duty of all. Reflections. In an article on “William Ewart Gladstone’’ in The Chau tauquan tor July, Pres. Charles J. Little, LL. D., says: First of all, Mr. Gladstone has reformed the finances of his native coun try and lifted burdens from ev ery industrious English shouider. To say nothing ot his service in the free trade legislation, his budgets have determined the principles of taxation, from which no future chancellor dare depart. There shall be no taxes upon knowledge, there shall be no taxes . upon industry, there shall be no taxes upon thrift, so read the splendid clauses of this financial Magna Charta. In 1852 he crushed Disraeli as a fi nancier. In that tremendous et fort he avenged his buried mas ter, Peel, and established him-' self as the greatest business brain j in England orrthe world. There was somethingawful in thebur^t of fury with which he broke up ou ids victim’s head ; something majestic in the quick recovery of his self-control and the de structive progress ot his logic something superbly ludicrous in his demonstration that Disraeli’s surplus of millions was really a deficit. And his defeated rival, returning to the vacated place in after years, was wise enough to learn irom tnis mcomparauie master. Gladstone’s budget speeches would be impossible in, any other country, and were pos sible in England to no other man. The skijl with which he marshalled and adorned the dri est facts, the play of philosophic and historic intelligence that lightened up his propositions, were wonderful indeed, but the fascination of these earlier budg ets, the magic of them, was the relief they gave to thousands and the simple means by which ft; was obtained. These budgets had in them the divine thought fulness that counts the drqps of sweat upon the taxpayer’s brow, that sees where taxes hurt and why they hurt; they had, too, the divine boldness that seises the right remedy and applies it Without fear or favor. * * * * Gladstone was the kind of man the Romans called ‘felix’; one who enjoyed the uninterrupted favor of the gods and brought to others blessing and prosperity. He was happy in his early and in his later home, in his parents and his children, in his wife and in his friends. Happy, too, in his wealth and in his learning, in his vast endowments and his wonderful opportunities. But he was more than ‘felix’; he was also ‘victor’. He fought and he conquered himself and then the world. “The king is dead, long live the king!” Gladstone of Hawarden Castle no longer fells the trees marked for destruction by decay. Gladstone, of Hawar den Castle' no longer gathers wife and children and servants about the family altar to keep himself and them in touch with God. Gladstone, the great com moner, no longer holds en tranced excited friends and jeer-, ing foes with the flashing splen dor of his brain and the tpusic of his voice. But:the Gladstone of English history sits remnant a} the mighty council board from which the future of the thVed kingdoms shall be deterrrtiued by the immortal patriots whose aims have been God’s and their country's and whose tradition^ ■constitute the ever-flowing silver strealc that protects the British nation froth hef chief, if not her only, foe, Unrighteousness. Writing of ‘‘The Philippine Islands” in 'the July Chaulau quan, John A. Osborne Says: Off the seven million inhabitants of the Philippines,very few of whom are Spaniards, less than one-for ticth of them live in Manila, and about one-seventh of the entire population are believed to be un conquered natives. Among the natives are found representatives of several distinct races. The aborigines were probably the Negrotis, a diminutive, dark hued race, with features resem bling the American negro. They are still found in limited num bers, a harmless, nomadic peo ple Very fond of the dog and of a cigar, which they frequently smoke with the lighted end in the mouth. The aboriginal people were gradually conquered and driven into the interior by invad ing Malays, whose descendants now form a large proportion of the population. TheTagalsand the Igolotes are the most import ant of the Malay tribes, the latter being law-biding and devoted to agritultural pursuits. The Ta gals with more war-like propen sities, occupy the lowlands, liv ing near the water in pictur esque, elevated huts. They are in full possession of the interior of Mindanao, where under the sovereignty of their own sultans they are free to enjoy the cock fight, dancing, and music, for which they seem to have a great aptitude. They have strongly stockaded villages on the moun tain sides, and while they ac knowledge the suzerainty of Spain, they do not pay taxes nor permit Spanish officials to re side among them. Besides these i two races there are in the Phil ippines Malay Indians and na tive Caucasians,- with a large number of Chinese and Mesti zoes. The laziness of the natives in times of peace is proverbial, but this is not to be wondered at when we know that nature has' furnished the islands with a wealth of vegetation which may be used for food. Their indo-' ilence is probably increased by the climate, which is hot and en-jj ervating. The beat is, however, greatly moderated by alternating land and sea breezes, and a more< healthy climate is unknown in tropical countries. Themen and woman interest ed in organized temperance work in this country, are, on the wl}o1e, very worthy people,” writes Edi-' ward W. Bok in the May Ladie^’ Home Journal. “They are sin-‘ cere, energetic and well %triean ing. - But sometimes they.lack that nicety and wisdom of judg ment which is absolutely neces sary' in organized effort in order that the surest success may be won. They somtimes, unfortu nately, allow their zeal to run away with them. This tendency was recently shown in one pf their official statements which bewailed the startling growth of intemperance in America during the year 1897. Many good peo ple to whom the circular contain ing this statement is sent, will be prone to believe this assertion. They have not the means at hand by which to verify such a state ment, and will be made uncom fortable by it, whereas, in reali ty, exactly the opposite is the truth.' There has never been a time in America when every in dication pointed so strongly to a decrease of intemperance as 'the present. There has never been so little drinking as.at present, and never such a strong' tenden cy toward moderation in quar ters where alcoholic indulgence is general. This is a fact impos sible to' controvert, because the most careful figures bear out this very hopeful statement.” Admiral Cervera and the Oth er officers and men of the Span ish fleet destroyed at Santiago who were taken prisoners are be ;ing sent to the United' States. The non-commissioned officers and tfcen will be kept on Sea voy*S Island, in the harb'dr o( Portsmouth, N. H., while the ad miral and the commissioned offi cers will, be sent to Annapolis for safe-keeping.—Exchange, i ’ ‘» Contributions. LEAH, THE ELDEST DALUIITER 0? LAHAN. ! . BY.HKKBKRT SCHOLZ, A.M. There are some characters in the I^ble that receive very little notice by Bible revelers, Leah is one of them. Sarah, ReBekah, and Rachel are well known. Circumstances brought them in to prominence. Nature endowed them with beaut}’ and grace and winsome Planners; They attract ed the attention of men, and were the recipients of many favors. But Leah was not blessed with a pretty face. Her eyes were weak, and this physical defect made Her uncongenial to the so ciety of men. The outward ap pearance is often the only thing by which people judge of anoth er. Leah was by no means pre possessing in appearance ; hence she was doomed to be a stranger to the true, sincere love of men. It is true that she succeeded in becoming the wife of Jacob, but this was brought about through the treachery of her father. Ja cob had no desire to.have her to vyife, and when she was forced on him by Laban, he hated her. There is an abundance.of love for the beautiful Rachel, but nothing short of hatred for Leah. Rachel could have the offer of social position, of kind words, of bright smiles, of wealth, of all that Jacob could offer, but Leah must remain away back in the suburbs of Jacob’s affection, and he haunted with the horrible idea that her life was to be overcast forever with frowns and disap pointmems ana griei ana nairea. i There has always been a pre mium on'beauty. The tekkofl is because it is so rare. There are very few hand/spaae men and women in the world in propor tion to the number of the race. The great majoritywsf people are not pretty, and Leah was one of the majority. She had grown up in the household of her fath er, and had been trained in the same way as her younger sister Rachel. She was probably well versed in the art of house-keep ing so far as knowledge on that subject went in those primitive times. She knew how to look after her father’s flocks and did her share in all the daily duties of the shepherd’s life. She could not- help being ugly in appear ance,iaud.we have no record that shejwas ugly in habits of char acter,.or, in manners. We be lieve that she realized the prin ciple expressed in the proverb Uhat ‘‘Handsome is that hand some does”, and we have no ev idence that her life was not a handsome one. Leah never stole her father’s household gods; it was pretty Rachel who did that. Leah did not murmur and com plain to Jacob; that he was not treating her right; Rachel did the complaining. But Leah,: poor unfortunate Leah, did do all she could to win her hus band’s affection, and her failure was not her fault. When a person does the best he can in this life, that is all he can be expected to do ; arid we believe that Leah did the best she could. She has not received the applause of the human race. Her name is not embalmed in those: hallowed memories that cluster around others whose bi ography is better known. But in the great record book of heav en, We shotildnit wonder if the statements recorded concerning her are equally as proud as those of her sister Rachel. We are told that the pride of a Syrian mother was her children. They were her jewels. This being so, Leah had greater cause to be thankful than Rachel. Six sons and one daughter were the-sol ace of her life, while her sister could claim only two sons. Na ture is always kind. She does not give the same blessings to all, but all receive equally, even though' different in variety. The bird can lly, but cannot swim. The fish can swim; but cannot fly. The peacock has pretty plumage, but a deplorably harsh voic'e. The prettiest things ancj persons in life are not always the most useful. The-stag ad mired fits- -horns, blit hatqd his feel, and yet, when danger threatened; his feet would have tftfeetT hint Heyond harm’s way il his nortis mfd hot caught in the thicket*, S,cld»m do we find the true, the be/tutfyul, and the good, all blended, proportionately in any one hiur.^n being. Leah possessed the true, the good, and the useful, but riot tire beautiful, It was through, Leah that the Jewish race was brought into ex istence. Her son Judah gave the name to the race. Jacob on his dying bed pronounced blessings upon every one of bis sons, and when he came to Judah, he said, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come.” When the ten tribes of Israel re volted from Rehoboam and set up a kingdom of their own, it was the tribe of Judah, the tribe that gave birth to a David and a Solomon, that remained true to the rightful heir to the throne. And from this tribe sprang up the great Redeemer who came tc save his people from their sins. Could X»eah have had a fore-know ledge of the future, could she have known that through her veiiis- flowed the blood that was to bring into ex istence the great being who was the one to whose coming all the true followers of "God were look ing forward, hep physical de fects would have been entirely forgotten in they recognition of being so remarkjfble an ancen tress. From this one fact we who have not been blessed in crea tion with fine forms and hand some features car. gain a practi cal lesson. In the economy of nature nothing .is* created in vain and nothing created is squan dered. We all have our part to play in the great drama of life which is now being enacted. Let us play that part well. Some may think that their talents are too few to make their part at all significant, but, believe me, that part is very important. The cup ot cold water in no wise loses us reward. Tfye bread cast upon the waters will return in the form ot blessings after many days. The opportunities for self-devel opment, self-culture, arid the do ing good to others are more nu merous than there is time given to appropriate them. Innumera ble voices from the tongues ot na ture invite us to be up and doing, for our three-score years and ten are rapidly passing>away. Time is the warp of life, but unless we keep the shuttle flying, the cloth will hardly be finished ere the “curfew tolls the knell of parting day”. Like Leah, we may have physical infirmities to combat, but without despairing we may like her live on in generations to come, when neither beauty nor ugliness can have any effect,up on the influence that continues to flow;as a river. PATIENCE'IX SUFFRRFXG. FROMTHK SOI'THKRX cnuRcif M AN . “In your patience possess ye yotir souls." Luke 21 : 19. The soul loses itself by impatience ; whereas, when it submits \V ithout repining, it possesses itselt in peace, and it also possesses .God. To he impatient is to will what one Iras not; or not to will what one has. An impatient soul is a slave to passion, having cast otl the restraints of reason and faith. What weakness, what er ror is this ! As long as we. will the evil we endure, it is not evil ; why, then, should we make it a real evil, hv refusing to hear it willingly? The inward . peace resides, not in the senses, or in ferior appetites, but in the will. It may be preserved amidst the bitterest sorrows, as long as the will continues in a firm resigna tion. Peace here below consists not in an exemption from suffer ing, but in a voluntary accept ance of it. To hear you murmuring and repining, it would seetii that you are the most innocent soulliving ; and that it is great injustice that you are not admitted into the ce lestial paradise. Remember how you have offended God, and you must acknowledge his righteous [dealing with you. Confess to him j with the humility of the Prodigal I Son, “Father, I have sinned against heaven an^ Thee”; 1 know how I am indebted to Thy justice, but. I have not myself the courage to discharge the debt. If it were left to me, I should deceive, I should spare, I should betray myself. But Thy merciful hand executes what I should never have had the cour age to do ; it corrects me in love. Grant also that I may endure with patience its salutary cor rections. among the mormons. BY REV, If. Y. KUSH. Kito. Editor.—Your editorial, “'Kiie Mormons Again”, prompts me to pen this article. I am pleased with your forcible ex posure of this monster iniquity. All that you say is true, as every traveller in Utah and student of Mormonism will testify. That any professed Christian should harbor or in any way favor Mor mon missionaries, is a tiling in consistent and unaccountable. Christ tells us that we should command Satan to get behind us and not harbor him in our houses nor help to spread his de lusions among the people. If any of our people in the South should board, or harbor a Mor mon missionary, they would thereby strike a blow at the fam ily relation, the home, the sheet anchor of civilization. To do that is to defy God and become a friend of Satan. Several years ago I went to Utah to study the institution of Mormonism. I was kindly re ceived ; stopped at a Mormon hotel, visited Mormon families, went with Mormon excursions, witnessed their dancing, games and feasting on their fine Salt Lake vessels, conversed with their leaders and laity privately, atiencieu men ounuay sLauuis, their preaching services and mu sical concerts ; visited Brigham Young1 in his office, his home, and his cottage-harem. All this was summed up in the conclusion that their whole system is ol Sa tan, their leaders lechers, their followers dupes, their practices licentious, and their religion not one whit short of a legalized sys tem of prostitution, social inde cencv, and damnable licentious ness. I heard Orson Pratt, their greatest preacher and expositor, deliver a sermon smutted with allusions that no decent man would allow at his fireside. I do not dare to quote . more of lus statements than one. All else played as promises and “elys ian" possibilities around that one thought. Said he: "No person can go to heaven who has not been the parent of children in this world, and joy there will be measured by this parental dut\ here. When 1 reach, heaven — if I have complied on earth with this Bible condition of entrance ——I expect to become the father of millions and millions of chil dren." That sermon was preach ed to a mixed tabernacle au dience of four thousand people. It had already been announced that the “apostle” Pratt would that day preach a sermon in proof of Mnrraonisni as doctrine of the Old and New Testaments, corroborated by the yet later rev I elation of God to the“Latter Day i Saints”. Repellant as were many | tilings in that sermon, no one ! could know the spirit anil genius j of Mormotiism without hearing | it—without stud\ ing the speaker, land the facial and visual approv al of the Mormon portion of that vast assembly. I I talked with mans Mormons, j privately- From one only did I receive what seemed a frank ad mission of what ten thousand Others knew to be the misery of their domestic life. He and I .were riding alone in his cairiuge. After a long discussion upon the doctrines and practices of their church, in which he was as ob | stinate as fluent. I si] id.-: ‘A on j say you had a good w.te and ! a happs', family neat Cleveland, j Ohio. Now let me frankly ask you whether you were n-u hap pier then with your out. wile, trying with her to train that one set of children ior hie and tor usefulness, than you now are with your three wives and twen ty-three children, with less oppor tunity; to be with them in then homes, to be with your children at their firesides, to look person L ! ally and carefully after their ed j ucation—in other words, my j friend, don’t you think that in i view of all these advantages of , having but one wile, one home, ana loosing personally alter tne interests of one and only one set | of children, a man is happier ! than with three wives, three | houses for them, and three sets of children ?’; Turning to me, and looking n?i* | squarely in the face, he answer ! ed : “Now, friend, I’m going to | he honest with you, and I’ll just ! tell you what’s so. I’ve tried married life both ways, and if a man wants to be contented, pros perous, and happy, and do’n’t want all the hair pulled out ot his head, he had better never have but one wife !” Brother Editor, I could till a page of The Sun with my obser vations among the Mormons; but it is not a profitable theme further to pursue. Mormonism is a religion of social, domestic, and political rottenness. That it should be tolerated in our repub lic, be a factor in national poli tics, and a power in the halls of our American Congress, is a menace and a calamity. That any church member should har bor Mormon missionaries seems incredible. Should any one read this article who has been guilty of such inconsistency, let him re pent and sin no more. THEPARABLEOFTHE EOSTSHEEP; OR, (JOB’S UJiDYINtt LOVE FOR THE SI.YSER. iiv \\\ F. PRICE. Luke l‘>: 3 ‘ This is one of the most beau tiful of all of Christ’s many par ables, and has for its great cen tra! truth God’s supreme and un dying love for the lost sinner. We gather three lessons from it: First, Ail men are lost. Second; Christ came to seek and to save the lost.' And, Third, There is joy in heaven over a sinner’s re pentance In the garden-ot Jiden man the garden-of Eden was created in the likeness of his Maker—pure and holy. Under the smiling presence of his Lord he must have been supremely j happy. But through some mys terious providence of God, sin entered there, and death became the consequence of sin. Man was driven forth out of the love ly fold of Eden, and soon be at me a pilgrim and a wanderer In the wilderness of earth, and since that day, sin and sorrow has ever been his portion. If there is joy in heaven over a sinner’s repentance, there must Have been sorrow over his fall. When the announcement went forth that man had sinned, there was sorrow and weeping among the angels (if, indeed, the an gels can weep) , and for the sec ond time in the bright history of heaven, selfish ambition cast over it a sorrowful gloom. From lip to lip, in a hush and a whisper like that which forebodes the coming of some great disaster, the news went forth throughout -ill the realm of God that man was lost ! The angels and arch ngels and all the shining hosts of heaven, to show their great sorrow over the fall ot man, fold ed their glittering wings ; and the great orchestras of the skies whose business it was to make happy the home ot God ceased j their music, “and there was si lence in heaven about the space of half an hour.’' Rev. 8 : i. The poor sheep had indeed deserted the fold, and Eden mourned her loss, but the watch ful eye of the gieat Shepherd was eviyfon the wanderer’s track. The ninety and nine are truly sate, but, angels, what ot the wanderer? I see the great lov ing heart of the tender Shepherd as he makes ready to leave the shining portals ot eternal glory. He says, “Father, my sheep know my voice and are known ot me. 1 must go and bring the wanderer back. And as he bids good-bve to Michael and Gabriel and all the mighty hosts of heaven, there arises a shout of triumphal glory that almost rends the skies, saying, “Bless ing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God tor ever, and ever, Amen.’ Rev. 7:12. When we next behold the blessed Christ we see him wrap ped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. He takes life in its very poorest beginning that he may sympathize with hu manity in its very poorest condi tions and circumstances. Then we behold him “going about do ing good.” His purpose on earth was to teach men the way of life, and there is no better way for us to do the same thing than by “going about”, as he did,“doing good.” The most convincing argument we can possibly give in favor of our religion is by liv ing a Christian life. Men will believe and accept our works when they would spurn our words. “Ye are my disciples”, the Master says, “it ye do what soever I command you.” A man’s religion consists in the life he lives rather than the words he utters. We next hear the Master say, “I am the way.” Men have sought out and tried many other ways, but none other way except Christ’s way satisfies the soul. The infidel has a way, hut it is dark and lonely—dark because it has not the light of God’s Word nor the Holy Spirit to lighten it, and lonely because Christ does not accompany there. The atheist, agnostic, and skeptic all have a way, but it is the way of the fool, “For the fool hath said.in his heart, There is no God.” Ps. 14 : 1. The heathen has a way, but it is the way of sorrow and misery. And the Mohammedans and Buddhists have a way, but it is a way strewn with blood ! O friends, there is no way except the way of the blessed Christ, and he hath marked this out with his own precious blood that the poor wandering sinner may see and return. Man sometimes becomes de spondent and thinks because he is but a drop in the great ocean of life, life is not worth living. Ah, friend, it is the little single individual drops of life here that make up the great sea of the world’s living existence. Each little drop contributes its own portion, and thus God is honored by the making of a world. Man’s life is like the great ocean steamer that plows its way through the mighty deep. It makes a great show for the time being, but the waters soon close over its pathway, and there is left no trace of the race it has run. Thus we soon pass off the great stage of action and are for gotten, while others take our places. But, friends, if we have played well our part in the great drama of life, and have perform ed the task God hath appointed unto us, we shall not have lived in vain. No man liveth to himself. However destitute, and misera ble and wretched man may feel here below ; even though friends may forsake and money and pos sessions take wings and fly away, yet there is One whose tender, loving, compassionate heart ever beats with sympathy and love for the sinner, and whose watchful, pitying eye is ever on the wan derer’s wayward track. Come home, come home, poor wander ing sinner ! A feast is spread in thy Father’s house for thee! “Come, for all things are now ready.” Luke 14: 17 i\IUl me pclliiuie Wiuua up with the beautiful statement that ; “There is joy in heaven over a j sinner’s repentance.” I believe that with all my heart. And why ; should there not be ? Man strayed j out ot the lovely fold of God and became lost in the wilderness of ! sin. Christ the Good Shepherd i followed him and rescued him from the death that never dies, j and should there not be rejoicing I in the home of God? Verily, I believe that not only do the Fath | er and Son and all the happy holy angels rejoice over a sin ner’s repentance, but that the 1 saints and all the redeemed in j glory rejoice as well. Ring out, ;ye bells of heaven, a wanderer |hath been brought back to the fold of God ! Let music make melodious the realms ot the skies till angel and archangel and all the redeemed of God shall hear the glad news, Man once lost hath now been found, and Eden hath been redeemed. »■
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
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July 21, 1898, edition 1
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