University of South Carolina Libraries
BY E. B. MURRAY & CO. ] ANDERSON, S. C, THUBSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 14, 1880. _VOLUME XVI.?NO. 14. THE SHINING LIGHT. Sermon by Rev. D. E. Frierson, D. D., of Anderson, Delivered at Cokesbury Dur? ing: the Meeting of the South Carolina ' Presbytery. I - "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, &c" Mat? thew v, 10. "Ye," said Jesus,' 'are; the light of the world." Not Caiaphas or Alexander, but "ye." Peter, James and John,.humble fishermen. Ye that are learners of the Gospel aud willing to- follow me. Ye that are sufficiently interested in the kingdom of heaven to lose time from your occupation to converse upon and study the great subjects- Ye that are willing to hear the reproach of enthusi? asts ; that are not offended at the poverty : and plainness of Jesus. "Ye are the '. light of the world. Let your light so .v shine before men, &c." The lawyers and doctors of the Sanhe? drim are far more learned in Rabbinical lore aud .occupy far higher positions of influence and power. But their learning : is not the kind that men most need. The .. knowledge which makes a grand Doctor V. " and a consequential ecclesiastic; a man floating in the regions of a fanciful theol? ogy puffe th up the professor without ra? diating a genial light. It is knowledge '~~wblch does not generate love for the raceu aknowlecrge.barren of "good works." The true light of tbTe Christian is "good works." The true reflectiorr.of Jesus, Yethe light of the world," is "good works." It is the true, the permanent power of man over man. The doctrine that flowers into good - works, is living doctrine and not dead speculation. The creed that takes 1 an ignorant child by the hand; that ; whispers courage to a disconsolate widow; that reforms an inebriate ; that coins a dollar to send the Gospel to destitute re ? gions, is the light of the world. What *(.; the world needs more than book-learning is heart sympathy with its ignorance and sin. . It needs a race of men and.women who have .courage to do "good work." Bat while the world's greatest need is the light that emanates from pure, good, holy, well directed effort to do "good works," it does not need the wild fire of enthusiasts, all ablaze with partisan heat, to build up a sect or denomination, nor the light of "wandering stars" attrac? ting attention for a short season and then disappearing; but the steady light of a good, judicious.and persevering Christian life.- - - '? Again, the world does not need that kind of.religion which flourishes without doctrine. It is said sometimes, by well meaning Christians, that it is of little consequence what youf belief is provided your motive and conduct are right. That Christianity is just simple goodness, in? formed or uninformed. That one hath .a doctrine, and an 'V: other a psalm ; hut the main matter is to live right. But how, in all human good sense, can a man live right, as it is termed, without knowing whatit is to live right? Without knowing what God means r. by it? For each hath a doctrine and a psalm about that. Doos it require knowl? edge to practice medicine, to manage a store, and none, or but little to be a Christian ? Is it of but little moment to know what God tells us about living here and hereafter? But, it is said, we do not mean that. We mean that good inten? tions and good aims constitute good char-. acter, and this is all that Christianity requires. Ah! but where are you go? ing to get good objects to which they are directed ? How are you going to raise u crop of good intentions without planting the seed ? And7 what * could ? possibly make a few ignorant good intentions as valuable as many well informed good in? tentions.' Can a field of nubbins be as ' valuable as a field of welleared corn ? But of what value can ignorant good in? tentions and delightful religious feelings withouLsome knowledge to guide them? . Suppose a man, ignorant of God's right ousnesa, should go.about to establish his own righteousness, which might be in the opposite direction from, salvation, would it amount to the same thing in the end, any more than if a man, meaning to . go to Boston should mount the -rain go i ng to San Francisco ? It is impossible to ignore religious knowledge without ignoring all knowl? edge. It is impossible to be a Christian wi thout knowing the doctrines which con? stitute the Christian faith. A man may know a little of them and be saved, but it will be a little and week Christian that will be saved. If.any man build on this ~foundation (i. e. Christ) gold,silver, wood) hay. stubble,?his work shall sufijer loss, but he shall be saved, yet so as by fire. I have said enough to show that the Christian's light is not knowledge, that it is not good intentions and good feelings. It is good intentions, directed by good knowledge, sustained by good and holy perseverance generated by God's good spirit. Now, you will notice that the Great Teacher did not mean to congratulate his disciples as being the actual possessors of this light, wheu He said "Ye are the light of the world," but that such was the position which they began now to occupy, and such must be the effect of their character on the world if they be trul his followers. And such of course must be the position and character of ev? ery Christian. He must be a luminary. Yea, a tight shining in .a dark place. Ob? jects and their proportions are made vis? ible by his presence. A naughty action is rebuked by his upright deportment. A corrupt sentiment is corrected by his pure conversation. Now, I wanted to say to you, my breth? ren, and to all Christians, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your works." It is the most gentle exhortation to Christian duty in the world Just let your Christianity radiate. A --..beautiful action ought not to be hid. A Christian sentiment will find utterance if you do not repress it, and tho' it be but one small ray, still it is a ray of light that goes to make up the light of the world. Aud do not be afraid. There ncv ?r was a skepticism or an infidelity yet that could calumniate light or say of it that it was not a good thing. It is God's pure element that the evil one himself cannot malign. There never was an infidel argument yet that could stand before a pure and noble life. If you have not an argument in words, you have what is better, the ability to let the world see a Christian; a Christian in prosperi? ty and a Christian in adversity; a Chris? tian tempted, a Christian slighted and hated ; a Christian susceptible of every one of the world's pleasures, but walking nobly above them. The very fiuest and best refutation of infidelity, of universal ism and ofsin is the Christian. The Chris? tian at prayer awes the powers of dark? ness. Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. He trem? bles because he knows Jesus Christ is near by. But our text is not only a gentle exhor? tation, it is a tender command. '"Shine yourlight." It is in the imperative mood Do not be satisfied with a mere sponta? neous radiation. Intensify its light; increase its brilliancy. You are enyus ted with a precious element from heaven which you must not obscure by put&rVg it under a bushel, or hiding it in the se\ cret chambers of your private experience 4 It is the world's arid you are but the al? moner of tbe-heavenly bounty. It is not ;for you alone. It is for mankind. It is the most beautiful thing that God let down to earth. A living specimen of the heavenly excellence. God's witness in a sinful world. You must not put an es toppal upon its testimony. Christian modesty is not injured by Christian zeal. The sun does not destroy the stars. Nay they are shining in other parts of God's creation when that sun is shining in his strength upon us. And when the sun goes down below the horizon, all the modest stars "again illumine our heavens. They shone with him in fact during the day, but his superior light outshone theirs. Modesty and zeal work harmoniously to? gether. You may be both a zealous Christian and a modest one. But observe that timidity is not modesty. A Christian afraid to refuse, when invited to go to a ball or to a game of cards is a timid Christian. He is afraid to let his Chris? tianity radiate its light. He puts it un? der a bushel just when he should put it on a candlestick. Why that is just your opportunity, Christian, when the light of a Christian example would be a beauti? ful obedience to the exhortation of the Great Teacher, "Let your light so shine" But, it may be said I do not see why my > Christianity may not shine in the ball room and at the card table. I pro? pose to engage in no other than decent dancing and decent card playing. Well, but decent card playing is a very dim form ofChristianity,ifariy atall. Do you propose to submit your Christianity to an obscuration. If you begin to dimin? ish your light,'may you not extinguish it? But Jesus exhorts, Let it shine. And how are you going to shine your light if you let it down into an atmosphere which first obscures then extinguishes it. The modern ball room and card table just as certainly puts out the light of Christianity, as the choke damp in a coal pit puts out a lamp. You cannot think of Jesus Christ being in a ball room or seated at a card table. It shocks your moral sensibilities. And you cannot think of any one aiming to be like Jesus Christ carrying his Christi? anity safely into such atmospheres. What then, it is asked, are we to forego all earthly pleasures and become a race of demure and miserable beings? Any one can become demure and miserable being? Any one can become demure and will become demure who undertakes to be a Christian soldier but has not courage to fight its battles. He will be demure because he "condemeth himself in that thing which he alloweth." Those are the truly miserable people who are constantly at war with themselves en? deavoring to reconcile their consciences and'their.conduct. Christianity propos? es to us a higher order of pleasures?the pleasures of a selfvictory; of a manly courage in the moment of temptation ; of the noble independence which rises superior to the pleasures of animal ex? citement. And it happens that the pleasures of the card table and the ball room are just that class of pleasur es which you can refuse yourself without any injury to your moral,-intellectual or corporeal nature. . , , "Let your light shine before men," my brethren, whenever you are'solicited to the horse race or drinking saloon. Show yourself a strong man, the light of whose Christianity is not blown out by a puff. What rational sport can there be in wit? nessing a five minutes struggle between horses and jockeys ? "The very life and soul of the turf," says the.. Canadiern In? dependent, "is betting." Take that away and there would be a total collapse. Yet betting is a livelihocd. Thousands of lazy men in this and other countries make their bread and -broadcloth by this method of "preying upon society." The philosophy of betting is that you may get something for nothing, that you may win money without working for it; It is attempting to get money in some other way than by honest industry. The gam? bler and betting man in those places where the institution of the horse race and the cock-fight have been set up reap a rich harvest at these periodical Satur? nalia, and they reap by trickery and cunning, a harvestof money which some bndv'd honest toil has made. All Chris? tians and good men ought to withhold their countenance and encouragement from work of this kind. Let your light do sbiue, my brethren, as to expose by your pure example, the moral ugliness of betting. But it may be said there is no wrong in betting, if we lay no wager. We answer no one is wronged hut your? self and Cod. Yourself,, by jumping into the deceitful fascination of lottery, a fascination which grew into such a monstrous evil in our social economy I that Legislatures had to stamp it out by force. Some years ago the Political j Lottery at Borne was drawn every Satur? day morning. I do not know that it exists now. A great glass barrel with a crank was turned rapidly for a time to shuffle the tickets together, and. then drawn and announced to a crowd of almost breathless spectators below the balcony, until ninety tickets were sold out. The profits to the government at one time for each drawing was 60,000 scudi, nearly $60,000. And it has been stated, as a fact, that the greater the pub? lic, distress and poverty, the greater the yield of the Lottery to the public ex? chequer. Misery makes the people desperate and they venture more recklessly Iwrith the little they possess. Think- of a poor widow? ed mother venturiug her last week's earnings by putting it in the shape of a lottery ticket in the hope of getting more by chance and then turning away from the accursed affair in utter despair, having lost all. Yet betting is lottery, and lot? tery wrongs God by denying his Provi? dence and government, by seeking to escape his appointment of lawful indus? try for a living; by abetting the infa? mous doctrine of chance. O! I hope my fellow Christians will be strong euough to refuse outright all approbation and encouragement of bettiqg, card playing, horse racing and cock fighting, and so shine out their Christianity as to expose these immoral practices. You might put a gloss of decency over these things by surrounding them with the finery of a modern civilization and refinement, but you could not divest them of their iniquitous tendency. And could not the Christian women of our country exert a power over these evils by refus? ing to attend a tournament, regatta or race where betting was proposed ? Have women no responsibility as to sinful practices and amusements which depend manily upon their presence and counte? nance for their interest? Are the young women too timid to say no, when their hands are sought in entertainment or amusement which might cast a shade over their loyalty to Jesus and embarrass the cause of Chris-1 tianity? Your sex was ever true to Je-! sus of Nazareth. Endeavor to be so still in this age of diversified attractions. "Let your light shine before men" and women- in the parlor. You have your own nice and facile way of introducing subjects of convocation. That same facility and acute discrimination could be employed in introducing subjects of moral and religious import; of discour? aging in terms of disapprobation upon k doubtful dressing, doubtful manners, doubtful hours, doubtful parties and en? tertainments. Let your motherly and matronly wisdom shine out in instructive conversations before the maidens and girls. Encourage them by your sage conversation to be resolute. Build up character in them, stable character that will throw off all flippancy, coquetting and superfluity of naughtiness. Who but Christian mothers are to illuminate the parlor with Christian morals ? Who but they are to shape the taste sof the gtrhVand maidens into solid Christian manners. Christianity has no quarrel with civiliza? tion, Greek, Roman and American. It has no quarrel with long hair or theplaitting of it, none with gold rings or bracelets except as bold and flashing. But it has a quarrel with the flashing apparel that Beeks to be seen and admired; with the high and naughty importance which makes itself heard through the house; anything and everything which in dress or manners exceeds settled and prevalent taste; anything and everything which takes woman from her natural position of power and influence and which culti? vates a virile ambition. Mothers can control all this by letting their light shine in the parlor. 01 matronly and wise women you must not, with such eloquent tongues as you possess, be silent upon the great subject of reli? gion. Your power for good is very great. I am not inviting you to organize societies for reading and prayer. These may be well enough, provided you do not allow your individual-and personal responsibility to escape you under the plea that you are praying. I am asking you to let the light of a wise conversa? tion shine before your daughters and the daughters of other families. You must know what they read. You must be strong enough to reject paltry stuff from your house. "Evil commuhi munication corrupt good manners." Ye are Christian women and as such "ye are the light of the world." The weight and character of men and women of the next generation must be very much according to your moulding. If you have taught them only how to compound a pie or to wear a flounce they will confine their intellects to pies and: flounces when you are gone to your account. Interest the girls in good works, in charities, in profitable reading, in timely, seasonable, discreet sociability. Teach them to dress plainly for the house of God, to attend daylight meetings chiefly, to converse with sobriety and as much as possible upon useful topics. Much of witticism, of fun of jocularity is natural to the young and not to be frowned down, but much of it needs the gentle pressure of a mother's hand. Let your light shine before meu, my brethren, in your daily intercourse with the world. Not by dragging up the subject of religion into all companies or at any time. All things have their occasions and opportu? nities. A little watchfulness, a little anxiety on the great subject will find its chance. "And a word fitly spoken how good is it." There sits a lawyer at his -desk. He is a Christian man. A friend or client calls and takes his seat, suits, trials, deeds, estates, persons and parties pass under review and are fully discussed. Christ and his cause are never once mentioned. There site a doctor in his office; he too is a Christian. Call to see him. With liveliest and even enthusiasm he will enlighten you on the human physical economy, on the latest theories about contagious or miasmatic disease and with most touching pathos be will detail the circumstances of some extraordinary case of human suffering. The interview closes pleasantly, politely, without an allusion to the great subject. So of the merchant and the man of busi? ness. Is it right? Is it right that every? thing else should interest your thoughts and feelings but the subjects which relate to the kingdom of heaven ? Is it right that Christian men should close their eye3 upon every opportunity for opening their lips to their fellow men upon the most momentous themes that can come before the human mind ? Is it right that o man who professes to believe on Jesus Christ for eternal life should make his religious experiences a profound secret, and make his religion the matter of a secret society? Is it right when God has made you his mouthpiece and 'has asked you to be bis witness bearer before this present evil world that you should .accept the position and refuse to act under the commission ? Is it right that the friends of God should stand witness to his name being re-, proached and his cause defamed without opening their lips in its defence? In the name of that High Majesty who has ap? pointed his Gospel to be preached, I ask what is the meaning of this universal consent? Is it timidity? Is it human contempt? Is it conspiracy? Is there no light and no love left to cminale from human hearts? What means this awful silence upon earth? This coldness of the extremities that drives a pulsating Christianity back to the very citadel of life for warmth and refuge? What means this new atmosphere of choke damp on the streets, the thoroughfares and quays of human activity where all the lights of Christianity go out? and where no man dares defend God and religion? The question echoes back, what means it? My brethren, I leave Christ's exhorta? tion with you, Let your light, &c. Light the lamps of Christian courage, fidelity faith and prayer. Let each light up a lamp.in his own house. Let each build anew the altars that are fallen down. Let each man set up a light on a candle? stick in his office and in his store, the little earthly beacon and remembrance of yonder glorious world of light to which you are invited to aspire. You have not turned your back upon heaven and the everlasting glory. You still hope to meet the Lord in the air. You still cling by a secret hope to the garments of the Great Deliverer. Come theu and get a liyu coal from God's altar. 0! come again to a sin forgiving God. Come and renew the struggle for life everlasting. Come with me and fight the good fight of faith, laying hold of eternal life? But The fearful soul tha*t tires and faints, And walks the way of good no more Is but esteemed almost a saint, And makes his own destruction sure. ?In Philadelphia the party commit? tees of both sides have paid tho taxes for their respective laggards, and the fullest vote ever cast will be polled in Novem? ber. The two parties have paid taxes for from fifty to sixty thousand voters more than one-third of the whole vote of the city. The Republicans claim from 80,000 to 85,000, and the Democrats from 70,000 to 75,000. The aggregate poll will not be less than 150,000. and may exceed that number. ?Gen. Grant said lately: "Tho great? est bore of my life is that everybody wants me to eat, and they don't think they show any hospitality unless an hour audahalf is spent at the table. Now, when you come to eat four meals a day, at that rate you would lose six hour3 of I what is often valuable time." ? The colporteurs of tho American Bible Society distributed 10,253 Bibles in Texas during the last four months. JUDGE BLACK ON GARFIELD, ?.- ?i "TIio Issues all With Vs and tho Accidents Not Against Us"?How Garliold Thinks Treachery to His Country Fidelity to His Faction. The following letter from Hon. J. S. Black, of Pennsylvania, sent in reply to an invitation to attend the great Demo? cratic mass meeting of Tuesday evening, but not received in time to be read that evening, will command the attention of thinking men of all shades of political opinion: York, Brockte, Pa., Sept. 22. Gentlemen?I cannot attend the meeting of the Democratic-Republicans at the city of New York on the 23d inst. But I can assure you of my concurrence in its object, and if time and space per- J mitted I could give you a reason for the faith that is within me. I trust we are approaching the end of our long struggle against tbe oppression and fraud of the anti-constitutional party. They have sought the destruction of our Government by every possible means in their reach. By our Government I mean the whole system or fundamental law under which we live, including the grant? ed power of the Federal Union, the re? served rights of the States and the per? sonal liberty of the citizens. These tnree are all vital points of our political or? ganization, and the life of the nation de? pends as much upon one as another. If you want to kill a man it makes no dif? ference whether you knock out his brains, stab him through the heart or tear open bis bowels?either way he is done for. Certainly an American who forcibly tramples on civil liberty or by violence extinguishes the rights of the States is no less a traitor to his country than one who resists the just authority of the Fed? eral Government. I need not remind you with what man? ifold treachery our opponents got pos? session of the power which they have so frightfully abused. At tbe beginning of the war they solemnly pledged them? selves to use the forces put into their hands for the sole purpose of defending the Federal Government and maintain? ing the supremacy of the Constitution and laws, with all the rights of the States and the people unimpaired; and they promised that when this was accom? plished the war should instantly cease. In consideration of this special pledge, superadded to their oaths, the men ana the money were put into their hands which completely subdued the armed op? position of the South to the Union. But when the conflict was over they an? nounced that the victory instead of de? fending the Government had revolution? ized and overthrown it; that the whole doctrine of State rights was exploded and personal liberty was consequently a thing of the past; that the military was above the civil authority, and through that in? strumentality they (and central oli? garchy) might kidnap, imprison and kill citizens for political offenses without judge or jury. The right of suffrage had ceased to exist except when it was exer? cised by their permission and in a way which suited their purposes. Destroying all the election laws of half the States in the Union,-they filled the State offices with notorious thieves and crowded Con Sress with redemptionless rogues, who id not pretend to any title except what they got by force and fraud, and in all the States they claimed the right to be represented at State elections by the bay? onets of their standing army. Would you have me enumerate the corruption* generated by this famous system ? Count the stars if you can ; try to number the sands on tbe seashore. Their idea of a strong government was fully developed. Six years after the war fraud and force had made it so much stronger than liberty, justice and law, that tbe Constitution had but seven 1 friends in the Senate and less than a third of the members in the Lower House. But the principles of free and honest government were not destined to be crushed out forever. The moral in? fluence of the Democracy was itself a power which abashed of the anti-consti? tutional leaders and benumbed their fac? ulty of evil doing. Thousands of true men, who, in the moments of error or alarm, had wandered from the track of their principles, "hastened to retrace their steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, honor and safety." Truth and justice gradually regained their natural ascendancy in the popular heart. First, the Federal House of Rep? resentatives was redeemed; then the Senate, and in 1876 an overwhelming majority of the people attested their de? votion to free principles by voting for a Democratic President. This looked like a successful vindication of free govern? ment, but was not. The anti-constitu? tional party has an advantage which more than counterbalances the strength of the people. It can cheat at elections, it can falsify the count, it can forge re? turns. "There's the respect that makes calamity of so long a life." We are about to repeat the experiment. We may be swindled again, but there is not- any doubt that our honett majority is greater than it was before. The issues are all with us find the accidents are not against us. Our candidate is not only unexceptionable, but admirable, and has the unbounded confidence of the whole country in his talents, integrity and patriotism. The impulses of persistent friendship and the duties of fair political opposition alike require me to speak of General Gar field. Intellectually he is first among the politicians of his party?not the sharpest or strongest, but the most gifted and best cultivated. His private life is stainless, and in everything unconnected with pol? itics his behavior is regulated by princi? ples of the soundest morality. But in .public affairs he does not act upon bis convictions; when he passes into tho domain of politics his conscience loses its grip ; and for his party he is willing to do any wrong which will promote their interests, or play any card how false soever which will win them power. This surrender of his moral and mental integ? rity is the condition upon which he bolus bis high place in the affections of the party he belongs to. Treachery to his country is fidelity to his faction. If at any time in the last fifteen years he had given way to his own sense of right, sup? ported the Constitution and laws in a spirit of pure justice, refused to defile himself with election fraud0, withheld countenance from executive corruption or denounced the forcible instalment of thieves in State office8, he would have converted himself into a Democrat and been expelled from the communion of the anti-constitutional party. This moral prostitution to bad political purposes is far from being uncommon. Men naturally good have yielded to it in all times and in all countries where there is a party unprincipled enough to de? mand it and strong enough to reward it. But General Garfield's public career fur? nishes more striking examples of it than the history of any individual I have known. Let me give you a case: After the war?at a time of perfect peace?in the State of Indiana, where no war had ever been, certain military officers, being instructed from Washington that they were above the civil authorities, bad kidnapped and were about to kill three Citizens for no offense defined by tiny law and without the pretense of a trial by court or jury. If this could be done there was manifestly no security left for life or property. Plainly it could not be done without a fiat violation of the Con? stitution, which in express terras forbade it. But the men who then ruled us with a rod of iron insisted upon it, and we could not be certain that the Judges, State and National, might not be sub? dued by their influence. The hearing of the cause before the Supreme Court was a great crisis in the constitutional history of our country. There ?;as a place in the argument which nobody could fill so well as General Garfield, and I besought him to help us in this desperate extrem? ity to rescue American liberty from the utter destruction with which it was threatened. He responded with noble alacrity, and made a great argument in which he proved not only the continued existence but the inestimable value of the Constitution. He demonstrated that the right of trial by jury at all times and all places was indestructible, and that any officer, civil or military, would vio? late bis oath if he attempted to put the military above the civil authority. He affirmed the whole Democratic doctrine on the subject, and showed it to be incon testibly right. His sincerity was un? doubted, for, like the rest of us, he en? gaged in the cause as a labor of love, without fee or any reward except the thanks of true men. Such were his true convictions. But when we came to deal with the same sub? ject in his political capacity he surren? dered everything to his party. He voted for military despotism and a regular sys? tem of kidnapping and murder in all the States of the South. In the same act were other provisions which he certainly understood to be in direct conflict with every section of the Constitution. In all this he did not transgress, like others, in ignorance or in passion; be sinned against light and knowledge and on a cold calculation of partisan policy. It is an infinite pity that such a man should be not only false to his country but false to himself. What makes all this very much worse is his denunciation of General Hancock for saying that the military was constitu? tionally subordinate to the civil power, and that liberty was still the inheritance of the American people; for these were propositions which he himself had as? serted and knew to be true. It might be expected that the course of a man so influenced would frequently deflect from the straight path, and one reat aberration we cannot but reraem er. Mr. Tilden was elected in 1876. A false return was the only resource against him. I do not believe that General Gar field, if let alone, would commit an elec? tion fraud any more than he would steal a horse or a sheep. But when the man? agers of his party demanded his aid in a great swindle he could not refuse. Un? der that coercion he went down to Louis? iana and there found it absolutely certain that Tilden electors had been "duly ap? pointed" at a legal and full poll, so peaceably conducted that there was not even a squabble about it in the whole State. And the appointment so made was attested by ana recorded upon the certificates and, the oaths of election officers adverse to the appointees in all their feelings and wishes. There was no earthly excuse for denying this; no con? tradiction of it could be honest. To count the State for Hayes was a thing that could oe done only by impudent and unmitigated fraud. For a time I hoped that General Garfield's share in that great crime had consisted in passive acquiescence, and I am surprised by the proofs recently brought forward of his active assistance in its perpetration. His judgment as a member of the Electoral Commission was a thing to be expected, for he must long before that have con? vinced himself that a fraud was as good a way as any other of electing a President. In a political game he did not think that anybody had moral sense enough to abstain from throwing a die which he himself had loaded to win the State. This liability to be rushed into evil courses by bis party associates had brought upon him much odium which he docs not deserve in the transactions of the Credit Mobilier. The stock distri? buted by Oakes Ames was intended to influence the legislation of Congress cor? ruptly. He and the company whtyput it into his hands meant business, and that business was bribery. Undoubtedly those members who took it knowing the nature of the thing were great criminals and wholly unworthy to retain their seats. But General Garfield, though be certainly agreed to take the stock and did actually take dividends upon it, had no suspicion of its connection with the Union Pacific Railroad or of the conflict which its possession might create between his private interests and his public duty. He was as guiltless as the child unborn of any dishonest meaning about the whole business. I believe this not mere? ly because he told me so, but because it is probable in itself and corroborated by many circumstances. If he had stuck to it he would have been credited by all men as implicitly as he was by me. Fearing that his political friends might influence him to depart from it, I wrote beseeching him to stand fast upon the defense he had made me. That he did not take this advice is the bitterest regret of his life. But "the party" would not let him take it. The accusation struck at the highest heads in the House and the Senate. They had but one answer, and that was positive denial of the fact that any stock had ever been taken by them; and on that line they expected Mr. Ames to swear them through. Gen? eral Garfield, for the benefit of others and to his own great injury, united in making this false defense. Their witness failed them, and they were all convicted. After the report of the committee I wrote Mr. Blaine the letter which has been ex? tensively published, and which was an effort to'put General Garfield back upon the true ground, which he never ought to have abandoned. But it was too late. I regret sincerely that General Garfield is a candidate, or that he should he placed in any position which calls for criticism on his conduct as a public man. But I have said nothing that will be new to him, for in many forms at many times, in sundry ways, publicly and privately, I have given this same construction of his acts, and exhorted him to come out from evil and corrupt fellowship, which drags him down while it pretends to elevate him. I hope that on all the issues the friends of liberty and justice aud law and honest government will make themselves heard by the nation so clearly that at the next election the popular condemnation of the anti-constitutional faction will be over? whelming. In the meantime let us watch as well as pray that the country be not swindled again. Faithfully and hopefully yours, J. S. Black. The Hon. Augustus Schell, Chairman, and members of committee. ? A woman is stumping California for tho Democracy, and one is stumping New York for tho Itopublicans. ? Fifty cents is the price of a mar? riage licenso in Tennessee. THE HIDEOUS FACE OF WAR. Some Instances of theTDcndly Work Done In Battle. In the excitement of the battle the fall of a comrade is scarcely^heeded, and half a company might be wiped out and the other half fight on without the knowl? edge of it. It is only after the murder? ous musketry have ceased their work that the hideous face of war shows itself to make men shudder and turn away. Sol? diers who have not gone over a battlefield or been one of a burial party have missed half the grimness and awfulness of war. After Gettysburg, one of the Union burial parties buried eighty Federal sol? diers in one trench. They were all from a New York regiment, and all seemingly fell dead at one volley. They were al? most in line taking up but little more room than live men. All were shot above the hips, and not one of them bad lived ten minutes after being hit. Here lay what was a full company of men, wiped out by one single volley as they advanced to the charge. Some had their muskets so tightly grasped that it took the full strength of a man to wrest them away. Others died with arms out? stretched, and others yet had their hands clasped over their head, and a never-to bo-forgotten expression on their white faces. At Fair Oaks, the Third Michigan had its first real baptism of fire. The boys had been held back on other occa? sions, and now when given opportunity they went for the enemy posted in the edge of the woods on the double-quick, and with yells and cheers. A part of the regiment had to swing across a glade, and while so doing lost fifty or sixty men in the space of sixty seconds. One com? pany lost twenty men who went down together in one spot and scarcely moved a limb after falling. Details of five men were made from each company to advance as sharpshooters, and of these fifty men who plunged into the woods as a shirmish line only six came out alive, and every one of these was wounded from one of these was wounded from one to three times. At Cold Harbor a shell exploded in an Ohio regiment advancing against a bat? tery, and sixteen men were wiped out in an instant. Of these nine were blown to fragments and the others horribly muti? lated. The battery was firing thirty or forty shells per minute, and this was the work of a single one. One discharge of grape in this same fight killed fourteen men in a Michigan regiment, and a New York regiment, which went in with 703 men in line came out with only 369. On one acre of ground the burial party found over 700 dead men. In a bit of woods where the battle lines had clashed more than 2,000 dead were found in a space no wider than a square in a city and no more than three times as long. At the battle of Savage Station, during McClellan's change of base, a solid shot fired from a Federal field-piece into tbe head of an infantry column marching by fours, killed twenty-one men and a horse before its progress was checked. The first ten men were reduced to bloody pulp, and the othe/s crushed and bruised to death. At this same battle a Confed? erate shell exploded under a Federal gun and killed four artillerymen, dismounted tbe gun, wounded two men, and the butt of it flew off at a tangent and killed a second lieutenant of infantry who was eighty rods away. At Fredericksburg, as the Union infan? try marched in solia masses up the valley beyond the town, the Confederates opened fire from bebind a stone wall. The fight? ing along this line was over ten minutes, and 5,000 Federals lay. dead within reach of each other. In many cases fallen across each other. A shell from a gun on tbe hill exploded in the midst of some New Hampshire troops and killed a ser? geant, a corporal and twelve privates and wounded six others. Before the Union troops crossed the river, and while shel? ling tbe town, a shell struck a house and exploded in a room where there were five soldiers and a citizen. All were blown to pieces, aud three citizens in a room di? rectly overhead were also killed. Perhaps the most destructive work made by a shell among troops occurred a few miles below Vicksburg. A Feder? al gunboat was fired upon by light artil? lery from the bank, posted in plain view. There were two six-pounders working close together, and each had fired a shot when the gunboat opened with a sixty four-pounder. The shell struck between the guns and exploded. The guns were thrown high in the air and came down a wreck. The eighteen men around them were killed outright, and fifteen others who had been lying under cover rushed up just as the caisson exploded. Of the fifteen eleven were killed outright, three wounded, and one escaped unhurt but so dazed that he sat down and waited to be captured by a boat which pulled ashore. Two of the wounded died the next day, leaving only two men alive of the thirty-three who had composed the battalion. Nothing was left of the gun carriages but splinters, and the guns themselves were terribly battered. The only^remains of the caisson that could be found was the hub of one wheel filled with broken spokes. Most of the dead had been blown to fragments, and bushes were covered with shreds of flesh. When the caisson exploded the head of one of the victims was blown high in the air, and fell into the water within a few yards of the gunboat.?Detroit Free Press. A Mountain-Sheep's Head Imbedded in a Pine Tree. Quite a curiosity was found a few days ago near the camp of the workmen on the new toll-road near Yankee Fork. It is a mountain-ram's head, deeply im? bedded in a pine tree, and about six feet from the ground. The right horn is on with the curls partly around the tree, the left horn, front of the skull and most of tbe outside, is covered with the growth of the wood. Tho tree is a tnriftyflpine. fifteen inches through. How that ram's head came there will al? ways remain a mystery to scientists, but men of the mountains, who are familiar with the fighting propensities of the wild buck can easily explain it. The ram, whose head is now a part of the tree, stood on the upper side of the bill, while his ene? my stood near what was then a pine sap pling. When the present relic made a rush at ram No. 2, the latter stepped to one side, and the old warrior's head, coming in contact with the tree, split it wide enough for one horn to enter, and he was left dangling at the mercy of his foe. The rest is easily guessed. Ths survivor of the fight deliberately butted his unfortunate adversary until there was nothing left of him but the skull and horns fast in the wood. Fred Meyers, one of the proprietors of the toll-road, will have that portion of the tree con? taining the ram's head sent to the Smith? sonian Institute. It will be a rare cu? riosity, and one that can not be duplica? ted. _ _ ? Tho Now York papers announce that tho epizotic influenza, which disa? bled so many horses iu the winter of 1872, has undoubtedly returned to that city, and is prevailing generally among horses, though in a mild form. Our Cows and their Value. It estimated that the number of milk cows in the United States is over 13,000, 000, requiring the annual product of 52, 000,000 acres of land for feed, giving employment to 650,000 men, and requir in the labor of 866,000 horses. Estimat? ing the cows at $30 each, the horses ?80, and land at $30 per acre, together with $200,000,000 for agricultural aud dairy implements, and the total amount in? vested in tho industry is $7,219,280,000. This is considerably more than the amount invested in banking and the commercial and manufacturing interests of the country, which is $1,800,064,586. The cattle and horses will require two tons of hay annually or its equiva? lent. If it is estimated that 5,000,000 cows are fed with grain for winter dairy? ing, and that if the horses eat daily six quarts of oats or corn during the year, thev will consume 28,383,300 tons of hay 84,380,000 bushels of oat meal, 1, 250,000 tons of bran, 30,000,000 bushels of corn, and 300,000,000 bushels of oats, of a total value of $384,459,400. To this should be added the labor of 650,000 men at $20 per month, $156,000,000, making the auuual value of $504,450,400, or au average of $38.80 per cow. Accepting 12 cents per gallon as a basis for comput? ing the value of the milk product and 446 gallons the average yield per annum (this being the average in sixteen States in I860,) the 13,000,000 cows produce an? nually 5,793,000,000 gallons of milk, worth $695,760,000. Analysis shows that 3k pounds of milk contain the some kind and amount of nutrition as 1 pound of boneless beef. The total weight, of the milk product is 50,732,600 000 rounds, equal to 14,495,000,000 pounds of boneless beef. About 60 per cent, of a fat steer is boneless meat, so that it will require 20,650,000 steers of 1,400 pounds weight to produce the same amount of nutrition astbe annual milk product. Such fat steers would sell at $4.50 per cwt., or $63 each?a total of $1,300,950,000; deducting for hide and tallow, $260,190,000, leaves the meat value $1,040,760,000. This gives the food value of the milk product in the United States annually. Willard, in his "Practical Dairy Husbandry," says that milk at 24 cents per gallon is equiv? alent in value to boneless beef at 9 cents per pound. It is false economy, there? fore, that substituted meat for milk as an article of food. The same authority (Willard) states that 50 percent, of the milk is used in making cheese and but? ter, 41 per cent, is consumed in a liquid state. The Department of Agriculture 1877, estimates there are 1,000,000,000 pounds of butter and 300,000,000 pounds ofchee.se made annually in the United States. At 27 pounds of milk for 1 pound of butter, and 9$ for 1 pound of cheese, the total amount of milk used would be 29,950,000,000; add 41 per cent, of the product for consumption the total production is 50,752,325,000 pounds, within a small fraction of 1 per cent, of the estimate made. The caseine in the milk used for making butter, if utilized for cheese, would produce annually 1,890,000,000 pounds, and besides there is annually run off in the skimmed milk, buttermilk, aud whey 200,000,000 pounds of milk sugar, which, if saved, would have a market value greater than the entire annual sugar crop of Cuba. The Case iu a Nutshell. The Hon. Lyman Trumbull, Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois, was speaking at Du Quoin, in that State, one day last week. In the midst of his re? marks a colored man rose up and asked permission to make and inquiry. "Certaiuly, sir," said Trumbull. "I shall be glad to give you any information in my power." "Will you tell me, then," said the col? ored man, "whether in your judgment the Democratic candidates for President of the United States and Governor of Illinois deserved to be elected in 1864?" "Frankly," replied Trumbull, "I do not think they did." "Then, sir," pursued the colored man, "will you tell me what tho Democratic party has done since to make its candi? dates deserve election in 1880?" persisted the polite son of Ham. "Well among other things," said Trumbull, "the Democratic party in 1880 has nominated for President the man who saved the Union at Gettysburg, and for Governor of Illinois the man who wrote and reported to the Senate the constitu? tional amendment that made you a citi? zen and a voter I" This colloquy forms the most vivid pic? ture of the reversed relations of the two great parties that we have yet seen. It contains the kernel of the political phil? osophy of the period. Again the old adage about politics and strange bed fellows comes to mind. We presume our political colored brother was satisfied.? Washington Sunday Capital. A New and Useful Invention.? Rev. J. Bachman H&skel, now of Staun ton, Virginia, though a native and form? erly a resident of Charleston, South Car? olina, has employed his leisure hours in bringing to light an invention which seems calculated not only to benefit the public but to remunerate the inventor handsomely. It is a new principle by which the temperature of food may be preserved lor a long time either above or below thatof the surrounding atmosphere. The patent was taken out July 20, 1880, by Messrs. Munn & Co. It is susceptible of various applications, among which the following is the most important. "The Workingman's Friend, or Cook? ing Can" is a dinner pail which has the following remarkable powers: A work? man's wife, while he is eating his break? fast at 6 a. in., puts his dinner into the "can" and at 12 or 1 p. ra., the workman finds a warm meal and hot coffee. In the same manner ice cream, being placed in the can, will be preserved in a frozen state for six to eight hours. The following experiments were tried and attested: 1st. Stewed oysters and coffee were put into the can at 3 p. m. and left in a room little above freezing point. At 10.30 p m., (seven and a half hours afterwards) the can was opened in the presence of twelve gentlemen, who partook of the contents and found the oysters and coffee registered 150 degrees F. 2d. A can was filled with ice cream at 4 a. m., and being taken with an ex? cursion party to Weir's Cave, on a hot Summer's day, was opened at 1.30 p. m., after having been exposed to the suu part of the time, and the ice cream was still frozen. If the directions are fol? lowed, this vessel is warranted to keep food and coffee warm for six hours, even if loft meanwhile in an ice house; also to keep ice cream frozen six hours, even if left in the sun. Bogus Certificates.?It is no vile drugged stuff, pretending to be mad wonderful foreign roots, barks, &c, *?uo puffed up by long bogus certificates of pretended miraculous cures, but a simple, pure, effective medicine, made of well known, valuable remedies, that furnishes its own certificates by its cures. We refer to Hop Bitters, the purest and best of medicines. See another column.? Republican. A Brilliant But Aucieut Republican Game. Washington, September 27. Tho attention of tho Democratic Com? mittee may perhaps advantageously ;b< directed, now that Indiana is considered safe, to South Carolina, where ample evidenco may be found of the develop? ment of a plot to steal the State for Gar field. The prime mover in it is Judge Bond, of Baltimore, of tho Fourth Judi? cial District of tho United States Circuit Court. The district includes Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. According to the law as expressed in Sections 2,011 to 2,01f> inclusive, the Circuit Judge is authorized upon application of two citizons of any city or town of 20,000 inhabitants, or ten citizens in any County or Parish to open court not less than ton days before an election for tho appointment for each voting precinct of Supervisors of elec? tions. Judge Bond has been in South Carolina for at least two weeks, but ha* not yet opened Court, although applica? tions were probably sent to him to give him an excuse for going. Ho is a most intenso and uncompromising partisan. Indeed, tho partisanship manifested by him while on tho bench of the Bal? timore Court, very nearly cost him rejection by tho Senate when nomi? nated for Circuit Judge. The confirma? tion hung lire for months, and had it not been for tho kind offices in his behalf of Senator Butler he could not havo been confirmed. Nevertheless, whilo owing his place to Democratic indulgence ho* has relaxed nono of his partisau vigor and in the opinion of lawyers who esteem* him personally has thereby detracted measurably from the dignity that should surround so exalted a position. On no occasion has he lost an opportunity of giving personal supervision and an aid to everything within his circuit of a par? tisan character, which ho could further with any show of authority through his courts. Section 2,015 of the statutes has the generous and sonsiblo provision that tbe preceding sections shall bo con struded to authorize each Circuit Judge to designate one oi more District Judges within his circuit to discharge tho du? ties arising under tho title. Tho section, was framed with the best intentions, and is manifestly just, lor it presupposes that Circut Judges have more important work on hand than the personal supervision of minor election appointments. Sucb a construction has been generally accepted by Circuit Judges, but not by Judge Bond. He is too much of a politician to trust the District Judges with work in which impartial appointments as con? templated by the law are to be made, and so has always taken that task upon him? self. In this instance it was his duty to open court immediately upon his ar? rival in South Carolina. He has not done it yet, and there is no indication that it is his intention to do so at present, for the probable reason that he has wires to pull elsewhere. And section 2,013 provides that when opened tho court therefrom and thereafter and up to and including the day following tho day of election shall be always open for tho transaction of business under the title. The charge of the court could bo assigned over to tho District Judge if desirable, but Judo Bond will not care to do that for obvious reasons, for a longer period than absolutely necessary. So uutil all plans are ripe for tho perfection of the scheme, which must bo an important ono to have taken him to South Carolina at least a month earlier than his judicial ser? vices were required, it may bo put down as cortain that he and toe Republican managers have their heads together for no good purpose. The subject was men? tioned incidentally to-day to Senator McPhearson, of the Republican Congres? sional Committee, whoso chief drawback as a manager is his toll-tale face. It completely non-plussed him, having ing supposed tbe secret well kept, and he stammered through a reply of indif? ferent purport, with every indication, facial and otherwise, of surprise and embarrassment.?Dispatch to the N. Y. World. The Tower of London.?The Tower of London is locked up every night at eleven o'clock. As the clock strikes that hour the yoeman porter, clothed in a long, red cloak, bearing a huge bunch of keys and accompanied by a warder carrying a lantern, stands at the front of the main guard house and calls out, "Es? cort Keys." The sergeant of the guard and five or six men then turn out and follow him to the outer gate, each cen try challenging as they pass with "Who goes there?" the answer being "Keys." The gate being carefully locked and barred, the procession returns, the sentries, ex? acting the same explanation and receiv? ing the same answer as befora. Arrived once more at the front of the main guard house, the sentry gives a loud stamp with his foot, and asks, "Who goes there?" "Keys." "Whosekeys?" "Queen Victoria's keys?" "Advance Queen Victoria's keys and all's well." The yeo? man porter then calls out, "God bless Queen Victoria." To which the guard responds, "Amen." The officer on duty gives the word, "Present arms," and kisses the hilt of his sword, and the yeoman porter then marches across tho parade and deposits the keys in the lieu? tenant's lodgings. Life at Leadville.?I kuow a mau here whose Eastern home has every mod? ern luxury. He has made $40,000 in the camp, and is worth well toward half a million. He lives in a two-roomed cabin. The furniture consists of three chairs, two rude bunks, one stove and a large table. ..There is a pile of ore in one cor? ner, a pile of wood iu another, and a heap of blankets, gunny-sacks and old clothes in the third. The rear room con? taining a small but verv select assortment of kitchen utensils and household supplies placed within easy reaching distance of the stove. This gentleman and his partner do their own cooking and house? hold work, but the way in which they do it would make an Eastern housekeeper faint.?Lcadcille letter. ?Hon. Wm. H. English, who, besides being the Democratic nominee for the Vice-Presidency, is chairman of the In? diana Democratic State Central Commit? tee, last week wrote to the Hon. John C. New, chairman of the Bepublicau State Committee, to propose that they should issue a joint circular, to be sent to all townships and election precincts, re? questing that the local inspector in every case shall appoint a judge and cletk of the opposite party to his own. This proposition of Mr. English, which has bee;, accepted by Mr. New and reduced into the shape of a former agreement, is said by both these distinguished gentle? men to be made not only in the interest of pure elections, but also to the end that all suspicion or appearance of fraud may be removed. It is sincerely to be hoped that this agreement may secure all the ends that are sought by it, so as to protect the Indiana election from the in? jurious charges laid against the couduct of elections in some other States. ?Six members of the Readjuster Club of Lpuchburg, Va., have resigned their membership '"for reasons best known to themselves." From every section of Virginia comes reports of similar with? drawals from the Readjuster party, and the indications are that when tbe battle is joined iu November the real contest will bo between the regular Democratic and Republican parties, with the Read? justee far in the rear. Exposure of the covert coalition which was attempted by tbe managers, both Republican and Readjuster, appears to have excited the rank and file of each to indignant re? volt."