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By J. Q^tkinbon.
Established 1844.
’ IN ESSENTIALS—UNITY. IN NON-ESSENTIALS—LIBERTY. IN ALL THINGS—CHARITY.
ELON COLLEGE, N. C., MARCH 21, 1906.
$1.50 The Year.
Volume LVIII. STo. 11.
ADDRESS
The Christian Sun,
El-ON^Coi-LKUE, N. C.
(.The Official Organ of the Southern
Christian Convention.
CARDINAL PRINCIPLES
1. The Lord Jesus is the only Head
of the Church.
2. The name Christian, to the exclu
sion of all party and sectarian names.
8. The Holy Bible, or the Scriptures
of the Old and New Testaments, spffi
cient rule of faith and practice.
4. Christian character, or vital piety,
the only test of fellowship or church
membership.
B. The right of private judgment, and
the liberty of conscience, the privilege
and duty of all.,
EDITORIAL COMMENT.
A Remarkable Rich Man.
Andrew Carnegie, the man who
knows how to give millions, as well
as lie formerly knew how to make
them, remaius, in many regards the
strangest character of our time. He
is preaching a new sort ot gospel—
for a rich man. The poor and needy
have talked for ages as Carnegie
now' talks, but,so far as we know,no
rich man has ever talked and acted
as he does. He is reputed to have
said long since that it was a dis
grace for a man to die rich—or
words to that effect. Whether he
said this or not, he acts as if he both
said and believes it. Pie gives with
an open hand, and there seems no
end to his benefactions. So far as
we kuow history does not record
Carnegie’s equal as a giver. We
doubt if he himself knows how
many millions he has given aw?ay.
Libraries are his favorites and he
has simply strown the towns and
cities of this vast Republic with
wholesome, helpful, useful libraries.
But what Carnegie says, as well
as what he does, is of interest. Here
is a statement froq* bjtp oaWed
across the Atlantic: “Beyond a com
petence for age, which need not he
great and may be very small, wealth
lessens rather than increases human
happiness. Millionaires who laugh
are rure.” That comes from high
authority and one who evidently
speaks from experience. It reminds
one of tbat Scripture in the Book of
Proverbs: “Give me neither poverty
nor. riches; feed me with ^food con
venient for me; lest I be full, and
deny Thee, and say, ‘Who is the
Lord?’”
5
Born to Rule.
King Edward VII., on the Eng
lish throne rules the greatest empire
under the suu—mightiest in re
sources, population and area, and
therein is one of the strangest an
omolies of history. This King, they
tell us has less power than our Pres
ident interferes less in their political
issues and governs less in their civil
conduct. Yet under his sovereignty
about one-fourth oi the total popu
lation of the globe live and thrive
| in tolerable peace and contentment.
The King oi day never reposes from
, shilling on his domains,, stretching
as they do “through all the, circuit
t of the suns.”
Think of itl With Great Britain
land Ireland as a nucleus, the other
belongings, dependencies and terri
tories, circulate, as it were, like
lesser planets about a greater.
This United Kingdom measures
only 121,000 square miles, but the
Empire over which she rules meas
ures 11,908,378 square miles—
more than one- fifth of all the land
on the globe and exceeding that of
the great Russian Empire by over
2,000,000 square miles. The entire
population of the British Empire
and all her belongings is 400,000,
000, about one-fourth of the entire
population of the earth.
I temember running aecross the
rather uncanny and revolting state
ment iu some history years ago that
if English subjects were to turn
canibal and capture and cook their
rulers in the British Isles into a
none too rich soup, there would not
be one table-spoon full of the gruel
tor the ruled, so few in comparison
were the rulers. Indeed and in
truth our English cousins across the
sea show the most marvelous talent
tor governing men and develop
ing nations ever witnessed on earth.
She Stoops to Conquer.
Catholics are jubilant over Prin
cess Ena’s renunciation of Protest
antism and her embracing the Ro
man Catholic faith. Eva, properly
Victoria Eugenie, is an English
priucess and as such belonged to
the Church of England, but she is
soon to wed King Alfonso of Spain,
who is a Catholic. It chances to be
just now that Spain is as
strongly Catholic as England
is Protestant, there being a law in
England, enacted iu 1700 that no
Catholic should ever again ascend
the English throne.To rule in Spain
you must be Catholic. So priucess
Eva flings away the remote possi
bility of ever ascending the English
throne, either herself or her deeend
ents,'arid'embraces the opportunity
of becoming immediately the Queen
of Spain.
There is no account of any change
of heart and spiritual condition.
That does not seem to figure in the
matter. To become a Spanish queen
it was necessary to become a Ro
man Catholic, so there you are.
Although driven to this course
for purpose of State and ambition,
Catholics are jubilant and clain
quite a victory over Protestantism.
May the angels defend us!
And theu to make the seeming
the more realisti'i, when the prin
cess was received into the Catholic
Church the other day with great
pomp, splendor and ceremony, she
wrote the Pope: “At the moment of
entering the Apostolic Roman Cath
olic Church I desire humbly to
thauk your holiness for all your
faithful goodness to me. I also wish
to offer myself with all my heart as
your roost devoted and loyal daugh
ter. Asking again your prayers and
apostolic blessing. Victoria Euge
nie.” One is left to wonder what
the princess has done with her con
science iu the meanwhile.
If thou tarry at home thou wilt
meet but few ckauges.
More diligence at thy calling
will avail thee much.
REV. JAMES O’KELLY.
A Sketch of His Life, With
Some Facts Regarding the
Early Christian Church,
South.
(by w. e. mcclexny, a. b.
SUFFOLK, VA.
CHAPTER XU.
From the date of their organiza
tion at “Old Lebanon” in Surry
County, Virginia the Christians met
each year in a deliberative capacity,
and at first these Meetings were
called “G-eaeral Meetings”,
and later, “Union Meetings It
seems that the whole body of
Christians South met in these meet
ings prior to the year 1810. This
year there arose a controversy over
baptism, some believing in sprink
ling as the only mode bud others in
immersion. Finally they could not
all agree and there was a split
which led to the organization of
the North Carolua aod Virginia
Conference. A majority of the mem
bars of this body seemed to favor
sprinkling, ami those in Eastern
Virginia seemed to favor immer
sion. Tne first regular conference
among them was held at Holy Neck,
Nansemnvl County, Virginia on
May 1818. Tne second meeting of
the Virginia Conference was held
at Cypress Chapel in the same
county on the 25th, 2Gth and 27th
of May 18, 1819. Rev. Mills Barret
was the presiding officer and Rev.
Nelson Millar was the secretary.At
this meeting it was decided that the
body should be known in the
future as the “Eastern Virginia
Conference.” We are not informed,
at this time as to whether or not
the Rev. JamesO’ Kelly was pres
ent at these meetings, but it is not
impossible that he was, although
he was very old.
In passing we will notice some
of the people who composed this
conference. Among the ministers we
find Revs. Burwell Barret, Joshua
Li versa y, John Livesay, Mills
Barret, James Warren, Francis
Williamson, Nathaniel P. Tatem
and Nelson Millar. Among the
laymen we find Thomas Holloway
Steven Smith, Herod Butt, and
John Copeland. We may naturally
suppose that these were the , repre
sentative members of the I>ody at
that time, and many of their
descendants are prominent today in
the Christian pulpit and pew.
We do not know whether Mr.
O’Kelly proposed the United States
Conference about the year 1820, in
order that there might be more
general cooperation of the differ
ent brauches of the body. O.ie or
two of these meeting were held,
but they were not generally attend
ed aud finally the efforts to perpet
uate the meetings of this body
failed
As to the date of the organiza
tion of the Southern conferences and
what part if any Mr. O’Kelly took
in this we do not know. It is not
likely that be was present at their
organization. *
A contemporary historian of the
time has tl*U to say in regard to the
work of Mr. O’Kelly; “His whole
life after die secession shows him
t > be a man without a plan, a re
former without a fixed object or a
definite plan”. Perhaps this is put
ting it stronger than the facts in
the case will warrant, yet there was
a vein of truth in the statement. A
later writer has said this: ‘For the
first half century of the life of the
Christian church there was lacking
a leader erf executive ability in her
ranks. While Mr. O’Kelly and his
associates were eloquent preachers,
and godly men yet they needed
men of great administrative ability,
comprehensive view, and progress
ive spirits who could see at a glance
the whole field of operation, all the
denominational work and its need*,
and then attract all to them by the
magic of their personal mignetism
and superior gifts. The early fathers
needed more system, better organ
ization, and more general cooperation
a greater realization of their
strength, and to know how to
utilize all their powers for the
success of the emse. James O’Kelly
was a reformer, a great reformer,
but he was a reformer, after the
Whitfield model. He had influence
with the people which Mr. .Asbury,
his opponent, lacked, but he greatly
lacked the administrative talent and
business capacity of Bishop Asbury
Mr. O’ Kelly was not a good
organizer, even after he had
' made converts he did not seem to
have ability to organize them into
churches. This Mr- Asbury always
did, and both ways had their effects.
One became a tower of strength the
other remained weak”
His extremely radical and liber
al ideas, as is the ease in every
revolutionary movement, led
him and his associates
too far in their search for
truth and liberty. Iu their earqest
t ne^s for freed me from ecclesiastical
power they seemed even to fear
organized effort; and the result was
a certain degree of looseness and
seeming aimlessness characterized
their efforts. They did not seem to
■ realize that without organized effort
no large body can ever hope for any
marked degree of success.
Then, again, it seems that he and
his associates were inure intent on
proclaming the truths of the Bible
which was their only creed tiiau
thev were iu organizing lueir cou
verts into churim.., and ou this ac
count many joined other denom
inations and i to tao Cnns
tians. They had no peculiar doc
trines of their ow u to advocate. They
stood upon the evangelic d platf orm
laid in fhe form .tioa of the Episco
pal Church of England aud the
Methodist Episcopal Church from
which organization they split. To
controvert the opinions and doctrine
of other denominations was not a
part of their business They strove
to bring into cooperation the good
of every sect and party, and to
build up an organization which
should embrace in its fold all who
stood upon the common platform
which was occupied bv all evangel
cal denominations around them.
Consequently their early labors
were largely lost tor the want of
prudential regulations, for the want
of system and order in their
operations. As it were they fallow
cd the land and sow.;! tne seed
but others gathered the harvest.
For a full half century did this
scattering wasting process go on.
True, their efforts were not without
effect in bringing about a better
religious condition, as many were
carried to otlie fields, and we now
see the unselfishness of their
labors.
So bitter were they against a
dictatorial government, and so
much did they fear ecclesiastical ty- .
ranny,and so bent were they on the
greatest possible liberty for the. or
ganic ition, and so complete did the/
regard their Creed the Bible that
there was no effort made to reduce
their principles to a writte* form
until the year 18(56. At this time
the Rev. J. X. Manning saw that
it was time for the world and the
church both alike to have thse, and
so un’er his leadership this task
was accomplished. Before t()is timt
the associates of Mr. O’KeTTy had
been grossly misrepresented by op
ponents, ami sentiments and doct
rines were chargd upon them which
thev never held nor thought (
teaching, and most of the time the ,
was no efficient means of refutiu
the slander, consequently in almo;
every place designing persons cither
classed (he Christians as Unitarians,
Disciples, or Campbellites, when
the truth was every where known
among them that they never sym
pathized with nor held the views Of
either one or t e other of these
sects. In the Christian Church
South the truth of the Divinity of
Christ our Head lias never been de
nied, or have they ever practised
water baptism for the remission of
sins. Yet those things were every
where charged against the young
church, it was so put down by the
church historians of the time. Ow
ing to these facts the voting chirrch
did not hiive the sympathy for
many years of the evangelical de*
nominatiotis whose orthodoxy had
never been yiu-stioned. As they
had no church organ the means of
refuting these charges were poor
and the unacquainted public was
misled by the craftiness of some
who perhaps had more prejudice in
their hearts th u they di 1 of God’s
love.
The Southern Christian Conven
tion adjourned to meet in its next
session Tuesday before the first
Sunday in May 1906 at a itch place
as the Executive C>n:n:ttje may
designate. The Committee has de
cided on Burlington, N. C., as will
he observed from t he official notice
given elsewhere in this issue.
Discontent, sir, maketh the rich
man poor.
Wouldst thou c >m'.land others?
Then first co mmand thyself.
Thou wilt come to the cross-roads
but keep straight on.
Live truly, and thy life shall ba
A great and noble creed.
Modern History owes as much
to our ancesters as we owe to our
environments.
“Give to the world the best yon
have, and the best hall come back
to you.”