Newspapers / The Christian Sun (Elon … / Aug. 9, 1900, edition 1 / Page 1
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BY ATRINSON & LAWRENCE. IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY. $2.00 PER YEAR. ESTABLISHED 1844. ELON COLLEGE, 5. 0., THURSDAY, AUGUST 9,1900. VOLUME LIII: NUMBER 31 Tl^ Ct^istiar* $Ur\ PUBLISHED WEEKLY. I'hc OITlcial Organ of the Southern Chris tian Convention. CARDINAL PRINCIPLES. 1. The Lord Jesus is the only Head of the church. :!. The name Christian, to the exclusion >if all party and sectarian names. 3. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures of , he Old and New Testaments, sufficient rule ■ f faith and practice. 4. Christian character, or vital piety, the only test of fellowship or membership. 5. The right of private judgment, and ihe liberty of conscience, the privilege and duty of all. North Carolina has The just passed through North/ one of the most Carolina exciting political Election, campaigns in its history. The prin cipal point at issue was that of amending the btate constitution in such wise as to eleminate the ignorant negro vote. The con test was an exciting one and the campaign was urged with great energy and persistency by both sides-*—“for suffrage amendment” and “against suffrage amend ment.” As was generally pre dicted, the amendment carried by a large majority and the State and legislative Democratic tick ets were elected. So far as we have heard the election passed oft’ quietly and with little rowdy ism. Meanwhile it piay be stat ed that the State is safe. There is no dan^fer. It would have been safe if the results of the election had been otherwise than as. they are. Neither political party can run the State to wreck or ruin for a'continuous series of years at this day and lime There is too touch good citizen ship and genuine patriotism in the State for either political par ty to run the State to satis fy its own selfisn greed or parti san ends. That political par that would stay in the as cendancy and hold the reins of government must gain and keep the good will of the sovereigns of the State. As a great states man once said, “Vou can fool ail the people some time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the peo ple all the time.,’ We repeat that that political party that Would be in the ascendancy and govern the State must be able while in office to give a good account of itself and must win and keep the confidence of the people. Ctesar has a way of making you render unto him the things that are his. We are better citizens than we are politicians. We will lay aside our politics now and go at the more seriohs business ol making bread and attending to our farms, shops and factories. There will be no race war, no nocial upheaval. No hurt, harm or injury will come to the peaceable, l^w abid ing citizen. Neither legislation nor politics can bring us in telligence, weath and honor. These have to be worked for. They come, if at all, by hard licks and faithful toil. Mean while our colored friends need need have no alarm. They are free citizens rn a great and free county. As such their rights and privileges will be, as they have been, respected and main tained both in the community and before the law. Let us be grateful that the election is over with its around passions and excited feelings and that, we can settle down t.» our affairs of home, school, church and citizenship. You cannot tell what Chinese a Chinaman will do Traites. next. He wearies your patience and exhausts your powers of endur ance. For treachery and tricks he has no superior, few equals. He is unreliable, not to be trust ed. He is today about where he was a thousand years ago and rather likes to boast of that deplorable fact. He is so un pardombly bigoted that it is difficult to get at him or come to the point with him. Either Gat ling guns or the Christian relig ion has a> tremendous task to perform in bringing round the “heathen Chinee.” We have been hoping and believing the latter would be effectual and produce the desired result—that of giving the Chinese some sta bility of character, enlighten ment ot mind, tenderness of heart and development of moral and spiritual condition. It really seems now as if the former—shot and shell—will have to be re sorted to in behalf of humanity, safety, order and progress. For some reason or other the Qhinese led us all to believe that all the foreign legation in Pekin had been most horribly tortured and murdered. They are now about to make us believe that that same legation is safe and unhurt. A Chinese “trick.” What the game was is difficult to say. “They” say that the le gation was held as “hostages.” That is no evidence of its verac ity though. There is rejoicing though, that the foreign legation in Pekin still lives, however, and it is devoutly to be hoped that it will soon be released by the combined armies of the Powers now hurrying to Pekin. A foreign missionary now in this country said recently in a public address, as reported gen erally by the press: “A few years ago there went up a great cry for ‘missionelly Bibles’ in the Flowery Kingdom. The Bible Society was extreme ly gratified. The demand was unprecedented and thousands ot dollars were spent in sending them nice red morocco Testa ments. This sort of thing went on for a long time, but the num ber of native converts did not increase accordingly. The mis sionaries investigated. What do you suppose they discovered? That they used the Bibles for gunwadding? No. They made firecrackers ol ’em. Practically all the nicely printed Bibles that we were sending over there were rolled up in up in nice little rolls, a page at a time, and made into firecrack ers. The Chinese make fire crackers at home for an incred ibly low price, and the paper they were getting free was a considerable figure with them. But it taught us a Celestial les son, as I might say.” But for the sake of consitency we would have to believe that these firecrackers had their in fluence. Why? Simply be cause there have already been reported killed in certain por tions of the empire more Chris tians than was believed to be in all China'. Truly you cannot reckon with your Chinaman. It just may be that the present deplorable situation will result in good for the Chinese and progress for civilization and Christianity. Who knows? His Majesty, King Anarchy Humbert of Italy, and the was shot to death Killing J Sunday night, July of Kings. 29, 1900, at 10.45 o’clock by an anar chist named Angelo Bresci. The assassin Bresci, it is learned, used to live at Paterson, N. J., but recently went to Europe in company with three other anar chists. The death of King Hum bert was decided upon in Pater son, N. J., and was confirmed in Paris, whither the anarchists went directly from this country. Only a few brief years ago President Carnot of France was killed by an anarchist’s dagger and only a few months ago an other anarchist shot and killed the Empress of Austria. These crimes committed by anarchists are of recent date. A little more remote, but within recent years, we recall the killing of the Czar of Russia, the Hay market riot in Chicago, the dynamite explo sion in London in 1885, etc. These are all fresh in' our mem ories and form a black page in that large volume of assassina tion and crime continuously be ing added to, but never-finished, by anarchists. But we have not seen nor heard of the last of this terrible business yet. It is scarcely be gun. Italy’s king lies dead to day, the Italian people are in mourning and the world is stunned by the awfulness and heincuisness of so dastardly a crime. A few months, not many at most, and some other nation’s king or ruler will be struck down with a dagger or a bullet from an anarchist’s hand, and another nation will be in mourning and the world will be stunned again for a season at the awfulness of such a crime. And the scene shifting from nation to nation will continue. * Now why do we bredict this horrible situation with such de gree of certainty ? The predic tion is not born of a wish, an approval or a fear, as evil pre dictions usually are, nor does it come of a prophet or a prophet’s son. The prediction is offere i though because of some ac quaintance with the anarchist’s ideas of government and princi ples of philosophy. The killing of kings is a part of the anarchist’s business. As sassination and mu der are a part of his program and in com mitting such crimes he is only executing his program, a pro gram prepared for him and by him many years ago and one which he has not merely sworn to carry out, but one which he believes it is perfectly right and proper to carry out. With him the killing of kings, the destruc tion of authority, is first a princi ple which he ultimately elevates to the rank of a religion and then makes it a part of his na ture. Angelo Bresci, the slayer oi King Humbert does not regard himself a murderer, neither do his fellow anarchists throughout the world so regard him. He did not make any great effort to escape, has not denied, but read ily admitted, the killing, nor is he cringing, trembling and cow ardly begging for pity and mercy. He asks for neither, he expects neither. He went to kill a king and succeeded. And now he has no tears to sV^d, and no pity to implore, over a great undertaking successfully carried out. Instead of regard ing himselt as a murderer and being so regarded by his associ ates and by others of like belief, he is regarded as a hero, a champion of a great principle, and when he shall have been ex ecuted he will be regarded by the anarchistic world as a martyr — a real, genuine, brave martyr offering himself up on the altar of a glorious cause and an hero ic struggle tor liberty and free dom. The deplorableness of the present situation will be better understood possibly when it is said, and truly, that there arc thousands of boys and young men in the world today who wall be scrupulously and religiously taught to regard Angelo Bresci as being a martyr in as true and in as genuine a sense as the Christian world has been taught to regard Stephen of old as a martyr. What we are trying to show is that anarchy is a princi ple which has been inculcated and is being inculcated today Aba the killing of kings and the assassination of rules will not be stop^d, or even checked,by put ing anarchists to death, but can be stopped only by uprooting and destroying anarchism as an idea, and a principle. Not merely the anarchist, but anarchism is a threat, a curse and a blight to our land and country today.^ Says the creed ot anarchism, “ We recognize no right of any individual or of, any body of men to interfere with us, and we will have neither state nor laws. We are prepared to fight for liberty without restraint or control. Our ideal is anarchy. It is a holy cause, and to it we have devoted our lives.” What may we expect trom such a creed but murder and association ? King Humbert was assassin ated not because he had com mitted any open and overt act of oppression and tyranny, * for he had not; but Humbert was killed because he was a king, a member of the ruling class, and killed by a man not trom any private grievance or personal hatred, but because of the princ iple of anarchism which has be come a part of the man’s nature and religion. While the di ad king was l.y-j ing in his shroud and not yet.I buried, hundreds of anarchists! in this and in other countries met in their assemblies to exult: over the killing of a king who! had never done them hurt, and to sing praises and to yell hur rahs, for the assassin and mur derer. We believe in free speech and a free press so long as such press and sucn speech accord with law and good government. Hut when that speech and press be come so vicious, corrupt and per nicious as to be used only to in culcate principles ot destruction, murder and assassiuation ; to preach only the gospel of hatred to all law, order and govern ment ; to train men to despise authority and to destroy rulers of all classes, then that speech should be hushed and that press abolished. It is not an anar chist here and there that strikes dread and teiror to our hearts when a king is killed. It is the principle of anarchism which is being inculcated into and poison Ihe lives of so many men and women today that should cause us alarm and put us to action. SPIRITUAL ZEAL IN THE SUNDAY SCHOOL. r BY REV. J. W. HARRltELL. The word zeal is a strong term, meaning passionate ardor in a chosen pursuit. There is noth ing that is more' in demand in this wide-awake, progressive age. The world is moving at a rapid rate. The old stage coach has been supplemented by the lightening express and the slow and tedious ways of doing things have been relegated to the past by the quick and progressive methods of today. The business man goes' ' •» business with a passionate a-dor or earnestness that is characteristic of the age. He nlust do this or be a com plete failure. He must be wide awake and fully acquainted with the best methods of business. The seeker of fortune has a zeal that cannot be chilled ; with un tiring energy he pursues the one object of his life and idol of his heart. All other things are lost sight of in the great battle of life. His god is the mighty dollar and before him he pours forth all of his powers of mind, soul and body. Among no class do we find a more passionate ardor than among the politicians of the land. They olten run mad with enthusiasm and thereby obtain the desired end. They' press with great zeal the work they undertake and thus many times succeed when failure seems in evitable. It is true that the zeal referred to is worldly and often misdi rected and inflamed by' wicked designs, but nevertheless it shows what a passionate ardor in any work will do towards making it a glorious success. It would be a blessed thing for the church and her workit she were filled witb.more-zeal. We ought to enter upon the greatest work comi fitted to man with a passion that could not be chilled. Our eyes should be so centered on our blessed Lord and our hearts so filled with his word that we would know no failure and count upon no discouragement. Do we know that there is no failure to the one who keeps his eyes constantly on Jesus? and that there is no abating of zeal in’ His work? Fire is always burn ing upon the altar of the heart and hastening him on in the work of his Lord and Master. True spiritual zeal is not a passionate ’ardor awakened by outside circumstances, such as denominational pride, rivalry or such like, but is born in the soul. It comes from within instead of from without, and is of God and not of the world. Then spiritual zeal is a pa inn ate ardor in God’s work a . .ik ened by the Holy Ghost and is fanned into a mighty flame by Him and cannot be extinguished while He dwells within arid guards the portals of the soul. The Holy Ghost dwelling within the heart is the secret of spiritual zeal. He keeps out all wrong purposes that might drive us to our duty and gently and loving ly const/ains us to take up the work ot our precious Lord. He appeols to our love for Christ and his cause in the earth and draws us into that work from a profound sense of love which knows no selfishness. The Sunday school is a migh ty organization within the pales of the church. It fills an impor tant place in her work and af fords great possibilities. It is the supply room for the church, the place where material is pre pared, and the source of her best reinforcements. How necessary that she Shall give to the church men and women who are spirit ually prepared for the great work that has been committed to man. If the Sunday school shall neglect to prepare her ma terial spiritually, she will be largely a failure and give to the church unworkable material. All of the workers in the Sun day school should be drawn to their work from a deep sense of love for Christ and his cause in the earth, not for the honor, dis tinction or praise which may naturally come to them, if they do their work well. Neither should they be driven to it by circumstances, such as denomi national pride, rivalry and a de sire to excel. Because these unwholesome motives and reas ons for activity have actuated many to take up the work, we lind a lack of real spiritual zeal n the Sundav school. There is □ ot that passion for the cause of Christ and the salvation of souls .hat there should be on the part 3f the workers. Many times we ook after and give earnest at ention to all the work, except ;he spiritual part, which should 3e first and claim the greatest attention. We all know that the Sunday school cannot be truly alive and progressive in the Master’s work, anless it be truly filled with spir itual zeal and enthusiasm. This is the most vital factor. It could do without all others better than this passionate ardor in the work which is born of the Holy Ghos It is the work that is done in the spirit that tells for Christ. The superintendent should be a man who is spiritually alive and filled with a passionate love tor the work. If his whole soul is in the work it will help to keep the school alive and instil in the hearts of the people a real spiritual interest that may burst into a passionate ardor for the work. Great is the responsibil ity that rests upon the superin tendent at this point. He can so neglect the spiritual interests of the Sunday school that it will have little save name. Then let the superintendents keep their eyes open and their hearts lifted up to God for His blessings upon their schools. Let them look after the spiritual interests of their schools it they have to neg lect the others to a certain ex tent. In the work of the Sunday school, the teachers stand next to .the superintendent and in some respects their ..work is of greater importance than his. They must teach the word.Of God, make its meaning clear and definite to their classes. This is a work for which every one is not qualified. Many who are qualified intellectually are not spiritually qualified to handle the Word of Life. The well trained intellect may understand the history, biography and litera ture of the Bible, 'but cannot grasp its spiritual trutns wmcn lie like the most precious oar far beneath the surface. Only those who have had their eyes opened by Christ can see clearly the precious gems of the Bible and point them out to others. This is the work of the Sunday school teachers. They have a respoo sible position but one that affords great blessings, if they are quali fied for it and properly enter upon their work. The Sunday school teacher should have a real spiritual pas sion for his special work of in structing the young in divine thiugs. A great opportunity is offered to him and he should be able to use it for the edification of his class. He should be able to gather up the practical truths of each lesson and make the proper applications of them to daily life. The truth should be pressed home to the heart under the light ot the Spirit. He can only be able to do this by living close to God and receiving from Him a constant Spiritual supply. With all of the officers and teachers of the Sunday school filled with true spiritual zeal, you could not expect to see any thing but a live, wide-awake, progressive school. There would be real life in every movement and the deepest spirit ual interest in every part of the work. There could come to no church a greater blessing than such a school. When the Sun day school is truly alive it will be of untold worth to the church. From the Sunday school there will flow into the church some of the richness, sweetness and blessedness which she has re ceived from God through the constant study of His word un der the light of of the Spirit. Let us hope that all non-scrip tgral zeal shall be speedily elim inated from our Sunday schools and that they may be filled with that zeal which is born of the Holy Ghost and kept burning by His dwelling in the,heart. If we begin and carry on the Sun day school work in the Spirit there can be nothing but success to crown our efforts. THE HEART’S CRY A.NI> THE FATHER’S ANSWER. BY MRS. FANNIE MARTINO. When the heart cries for mer cy, the Father responds to us in our distress and desperate ex tremity. ‘-And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isa. 65 : 24. When we plead tor forgiveness, He says through the blood of Je sus, “Though your sins' bqp as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isa. 1 : 16-18 ; 55 : 6, 7. When doubts assail us and we fear that we will not be forgiven on account of our sinfulness and unworthiness, Jesus, the Savior, holds out his nail-pierced hands, saying: “He that cometh unto Me I will in no wise £ast out.” John 6: 37. In the dark hour of trial and temptation, when it is like the bitterness of death to overcome, God is still speaking to us, say ing: “Fear thou not , for I am with thee ; be not dismayed, for I am thy God — I will help thee.” Isa. 41: 10. When in human weakness our strength is failing, God the Fa ther, stoops to lift us up (Oh, to what depths He must stoop to reach us in our lowly condition I) tenderly saying, as He does so : “I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand and will help thee.” Isa. 41 : 13. In our weakness and utter in ability to stand alone when no earthly help can avail us aught, to whom shall we turn, but to Him unto whom “all power is giv en in neaven and ■in... .earth..”-. Matt. 28 : 18. When famishing_for the “Bread of Life” and fainting for the “Living waters,” hear the voice of Jesus saying : “He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” Isa. 49 : 10. When our weary and tainting hearts cry out for the rest which the world cannot give, Jesus says: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt, : 28. In such a moment it is'so comforting to know that His word has been tried thousands of times and that it has been found true, that his promises are sure. When the soul yearns tor com panionship with Jesus, hear His j blessed assurance: “Lo, I am I with you alway.” Matt. 28: 20. When the whole nature yearns with an intense longing for the I love of God, He says: “I have | loved thee with an everlasting love ” Jer. 31:9. “AstheFath ! er hath loved me, so have I : loved you.” John 15:9. ! When hungering and thirsting alter the fullness of God, how precious is that promise that “they which hunger and thirst j after righteousness shall be fill ed.” JVI.itt. 5: 6, Eph. 1:23,3:10, Col. 2: 9. THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FUNW. BY PROF. W. C. WICKER. The Committee on Schools and Colleges of-the Southern Christian Convention in their report on the Twentieth Century Fund asked the pastors to hold a twentieth century fund rally at least one day betore October 1, 1900, and to secure, if possi ble, other speakers than the pas tor. The Convention adopted this report and thereby ,rf; de it the duty of every pastyf- om ply witlrthis request.^ 1 - mber of the pastors are of v <ng to hold these Rally ! during September. Wjf ;t all . the churches make4 fort to ar range their sejf| ^ ,■ during this month in tk ^ ierest of the Twentieth c ^ 'y Fund. It woul/ y h advantage to the work, . ,'ih pastors would appoint a committee on the Twentieth Century Fund. This committee should be composed of the best workers in the church, and consist of a member for every fifty members of the church. They should talte the church roll and divide the mem bership and see every member of the church persqnally and solid cash or subscriptions on this fund and report to the pastor monthly. Each church is requested to contribute twelve and one-half times as much as the Elon Col lege Fund. Pastors will greatly aid the work and help to create greater interest if they will write to The Sun giving the progress of the work in their fields. The most progressive pastors are heartily in sympathy with the movement and are either collecting this fund or else plan ning to do so. The receipt books sent out to pastors are to serve as subscrip tion books as well as receipt books and a careful record should be kept on the stubs to show all money collected. Pas tors should keep these books un til the subscriptions are all col- 'r lected on May i, 1900. > • Pastors are able to do more than any one else to make this movement succeed. The greatest need of the church in all the enterprises is the cultivation of a spirit of lib eral giving. As this fund is to be collected trom the free-will thank offerings of the people, it gives the pastor a great oppor tunity to teach truths of the Scriptures in reference to Chris tian giving. Some people think that an inj creased demand on the people for Christian giving tends to make the people less liberal, but the-record of the past and the practice of the present contradict this idea. /VsneDoro ana w averjy nave done nobly in responding so promptly to the Twentieth Cen tury Fund. I am anxious to hear from the leading church< s and ministers in the denomina tfotr arrd~to- leno-w—th at~ttiey ttrer— as prompt^ as liberal, and as loyal as were the Asheboro and the VVaverly churches. I am sure that those churches under the pastoral charge of Elon College graduates and those churches that are enjoying a high spiritual life will respond readily, liberally and gladly to this call tor Christian culture. Some lessons there are in this lite which the earnest man yearns to know, but which, once learn ed, the wish is that they were unlearned. A physician in South Carolina was asked, not a generation ago, by a learned counsellor at law, to teach him how to cease the use of tobacco. His request was granted, and he ever afterwards detested the the taste of the weed. In a few ! weeks he requested that same 1 physician to teach him how to use tobacco again. That was an unusual case but the incident , has an undercurrent of reality, I reminding one of other lessons learned in life, of which men be come dissatisfied. — Southern Christian Advocate,
The Christian Sun (Elon College, N.C.)
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Aug. 9, 1900, edition 1
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