The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, August 03, 1886, Image 1
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VOL. 2. ABBEVILLE. S. 0., TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 188(3. NO. 48.
SUPPLYING THE WORD.
FAMILIES WITHOUT THE BIBLE
ARE GIVEN THE WORD OF HOD.
The Sixty-Third Animal Session of the
Abbeville Bible Society--Good Sermon,
Fine Address and Interesting
Memorial Exercises.
Minntes of the Abbeville District Bible
Society.
The sixty-third annual meeting of the
Abbeville District Bible Society convened
in the Methodist church at Abbeville
C. H. at 11 o'clock a. in., on thu
rtf .liilv 1 fii-Ui PrnKidimt \V_ \f
Griei* 1).D. in the chair.
Opened with prayer bv Rev. S. A.
"Weber, of the M. Iv Church South. The
roll of the membership for the Inst three
years was called, the majority of whom
failed t > answer.
The minutes of last meeting were read
and approved. The Kcv. \V. G. Neville
of the Presbyterian church principal and |
Kev. \V. 1). Kirkland of the Methodist j
church alternate, preachers, having removed
beyond the limits of the county
declined to fill the appointment of annual
preacher, and Kev. S. A. Weber
consented to deliver the sermon, but
subsequently he asked the Directors to
allow iiim to give way to the llev. G. H.
Wiley D.D., the Superintendent of the
Bible Cause for North and South Carolina,
who was with us for the first time
since his appointment.
Or. Wiley's sermon was Vased on the
. 3Uth verse of the 18th Psalm, "The Word
of the Lord is tried and immediately
afterwards he gave to the Society an exceedingly
interesting account of the operations
of the Parent Society,?the
American liible Society in the United
States.
A hat collection was taken up immediately
after the sermon, amounting to
$11.10.
J. C. Klugh, Esq. delivered the an- i
nual address, upon the work and benefits
of the American Hibie Society.
it ii i v
U[>Ull till? iaIU iwi i L'lM. u ill i/i inuiu u?m ship
forty-three paid their tines of $1
each. A large number of the old members
have not jet paid. One new member
was enrolled.
The following branch societies reported
:
Long Cane and Cedar Springs. Delegate
:?J. L. Pressly, .J. B. Mus a, 1). W.
Jay, John Lyon, and Leltoy 1'urdy.
Contributions, $0.80.
Troy. Delegates :?J. 1). Xeel, J. K.
"Wideman, W. T. Bradley. Contribution,
$11
Greenville Church. Delegates :?
Andrew .Stevenson, \V. T. Cowan and
J. L. McCord. Contribution, $5
Lebanon Church. Delegates :?A. .J.
"Woodhurst and Sam'l Kvans. Contribution,
$9.
Due West. Delegates :?llev. W. L.
Pressly D.D., J. L. Miller. Wm. Hood,
It. S. Galloway, J. P. Kennedy and il.
10. Bonn :r. Contribution, $29.(?5.
The following branch societies made
no report, Lowndesville, Ninety-Six,
Greenwood and Cokesbury.
The following contributions were received
through Dr. J. 0. Lindsay. Mt.
Carmel Presbyterian Church $1 ; Willi
ngton Church $2 ; Hopewell Church
$1.10
Judge J. ?. Cothran, chairman of the
committee appointed to prepare and report
a suitable minute to the memory
of the Hon. Armistead Burt, made his
report which is hereto appended. Capt.
J. T Parks, chairman of the committee
appointed to prepare and reporf a suitable
minute to the memory of ('apt. W.
V.. McUee, made his report, hereto appended.
It was resolved that the reports of the
said committees be adopted, and that a
iinrri? in our mimito linnk }> > inui'riliml in
the memory of ench of the subjects of
the said reports.
Further resolved, that the newspapers
be requested to publish the reports.
The Corresponding Secretary made
the following report : That in obedience
to the resolutions of the Society at its
last annual uieeting he had invited the
Superintendent of the / merican Dibit*
Society to attend this annual meeting of
the Society, that he had responded favorably
and he is now present in person.
That he had written to the Parent Society
in regard to the life membership of
J)r. H. T. Sloan, and had received the
following letter in reply :
New Yokk, July 0, 18BG.
31r. L. W. Wkite. Cor. tSec'y,
Dkau Sm :
Your favor of the 1st. was received
this morning. I find that the Rev. H T.
Sloan, D.l). is recorded hero, on our
books as a life member of this Society, j
As such, he is entitled to the B. S. Record
and one dollars worth of liibles annually,
(to be drawn within each year)
each upon application. We have over
40,000 life members scattered all over
the United States, a large mujority of
whom do not care to apply for annual
dues, and unless they do so, you see
how impracticable it would be for us to
find them and address thum. Therefore,
& standing notice has been published for
many years requesting members desiring
the Record, etc., to give in their address
annually. They have only to drop
uRt postal, stating that they desire live
' Record'" and dues in "books," either or
both, when they are pare of a response,
and we shall be tjlad so to respond to
Dr. Sloan on receipt of his address.
Yours Ttuly,
C. T. Ho wo.
A letter from I)r. Jas. Boyce was read
expressing regrets on account of his inability
to at*end the meeting of the
Society. Dr. Boyce's excuse was sustained.
The Treasurer and Librarian made
the following report which was referred
to an auditing coiniinuec consisting 01
J. F. Lyon and J. 1). Xeel :
To cnsh balance on hand July 1885... J 45 68
" from hat collection 1:100
" " Societies nud churches 45 00
' " Little Mountain through
Rev. II. C. Fennel... 2 40
To cash from sale of books 19 20
$203 08
By cash sent American Bible
Society and exn^nses .. .$120 HO
lly cash paid freight on books 5 10
" sent American Bible
Society and expenses.... 7010 $20236
3 32
Balance credit in New York $01-18
To Books ou hand July 29, 18SG. $ 56 07
To bill of books Oct. 1885 93 97
$150 04
By books donated and sold. $ 7G 34
By books on hand July 28,
1886 73 70 $150 01
Judge McGowan offered a resolution
of thanks to l)r. C. II. Wiley for his
able and instructive sermon. And to J.
C. Klugh. Ksq? for his entertaining address.
Adonted.
The Auditing Committer reported the
report of the Treasurer and Librarian
correct and properly vouched. Adopted.
Itev. S. A. Weber was elected the
principal preacher for meceting in 1887
with J. L. Wilson, l).l).. his alternate.
Prof. George C. Hodges was elected
the principal, with Prof. .F. 11. Miller,
hts alternate, to deliver the annual address.
It was resolved that this Society remit
to the Parent Society sixty dollars
to purchase two life memberships. And
that we now proceed to elect the members
to receive them.
Under this resolution Judge Samuel'
McGowan and Prof.Jv4?. Kennedy, were
designated. Upon motion of Prof. Hood
il wus directd that the letter from the
General Agent of the Parent Society regarding
life members be published.
(hi motion of Dr. Sloan it was resolved
that this Society is greatly gratified
in having the Superintendent of the
Parent Society, Dr. C. 11. Wiley with us,
and that We request his attendance with
us at our future meetings.
On motion of Prof. Hood it vas iesolved
that, the surplus funds on hand
be c xpended in the purchase of books
by the Librarian and Treasurer, with
the advice of the corresponding and
recording Secretary.
The following officers were elected
for the ensuing year :
Rev. AV. M. Grier, D.D., President.R.
II. Wardlaw, J. S. Cothran, S. McGowan,
Rev. il. T. Sloan, 1).I)., and
Rev. J. O. Lindsay, D.D., Vice-Presidents.
Directors?Gen. P. II. Brandley, Rev.
\V. K. Pearson, Jaiues Boyce, D.D., T.
T. Cunninghain, Jos. L. Press ley, G.
McD. Miller, John T. Parks. \X. K.
Rlake, J. P. Kennedy, J. D. Xeel, Rev. \
W. 11. Hanckel, Rev. R. F. Bradley,
Rev. \Y. T. Matthews, T. C. Lipscomb,
and Charles Kvans, vice W". G. Neville
removed out of this County.
'I'li.i ....... i j
a iiu uicv.uiib, ?? ii."> nun u y JI1UJ UJ
by ltov. C. II. Wiley, i).l).
\Y. M. GUI EH,
L. W. Priiiun, President.
Recording Secretary.
Tlie Sermon.
I)r. Wiley's sermon was upon the text
taken t'roin Psalm 18:30 : "The Word of
the Lord is tried."
He said that there were three great
and distinct periods which he would
mention, in which the Bible had been
tried.
1 1 n ifo *irl?nn /?
nil human appearances, on the efforts of
a few poor, uneducated and unrenowned
adherents, it went forth to battle with
the combined hostile forces of Philosophy,
religion and sociology?and passed
through strengthened.
2nd. When Luther emerged from his
cloister with his Bible in his hand and
agnin defied the religious and pagan
world successfully.
3rd. What is known as the pamphleting
and newspaper period. A hundrod
years ago it was prophesied by these
profane writers that it would not he long
before the Bible would be a very rare
book, to be found only in large libraries
and collections of curious books. Upon
the contrary, the effusions of such writers
which-were in numbers sufficient
to till the church building, are scarcely
ever seen and are only known by their
I titles, and there are now 10,(XX) times as
! mar.y Bibles in circulation as there were
lthen.
j The Bible emerges from every cod
fiict and trial with enlarged power and
influence.
It demands a trial from every ono. It
courts investigation and even imposes
terrible pains and penalties on those
who refuse or neglect to study and try
its sacred prayer.
He was not here to defend the Bible.
It was able to take care of itueir. but tc
assist in putting it into the hands ol
every >>no to be searched and tried by
them. r
.< ' . .A ?V i/ii'fw&k
fiwlKilB?8? Acfi .'?S V *_.
Address by J. C. Kluurh, Esq.
The American Bible Society has been
at its work for seventy years. The idea
o<* circuiting the Holy Scriptures was
not a new one in 1H16 ; it is as old as the
history of the church. The spreau of
Christianity has in all ages carried with
it the recorded Word, and the seasons of
1 greatest growth of the church have ever
been marked as periods when wider
dissemination and closer study have
been bestowed upon God's word. Indeed
the history of Christianity and of
the Jewish faith before Christianity had
had a beginning, proves that the reading
and study of the Bible itself is essential
to the maintenance of purity in the worship
of God. Humanity cannot hope
to preserve its religion incorrunt ami at
the samo Mine forgc-t or ignore the
sources from which it derives the tenets
of its faith. The best systems of religion
that have prevailed in the heathen
world?and of some them, in .heir purity,
are beadtful and simple and grand
enough to suggest the idea of divine origin?have
degenerated into the lowest
forms of paganism when their adherents
have consented to take their doctrines
at second-hand. A live Christianity deman
(/a a lively knowledge of the foundations
on which its faith is built. And
so we see with what eagerness in the
earlier days of the church the written
account of the Lord's sojourn and teaching
among men together with the letters
of advice and warning written by llis
apostles were read and circulated. In
those days of "uncial" characters
laboriously scrawlod on parchment, it
was of course impossible to place a copy
of the Bible in every man's hand, and
yet the needs of the masses for its
teachings was felt, and to bring it in the
reach of all, to learn its precepts and
blessed tenets was a labor of love which
early found its way even in the imperial
hearts of Home. We are told that the
Emperor Constantino ordered at one
time an edition of llftv copies to be pre
pared at his own expense for use in the
churches of his capitol.
It would be instructive to follow the
history of the Kngish Bible for a thousand
years from Alfred the Great, through
the centuries when Wycklifle and Tyndolx
and ('nni?r<li\Ii> mid tlu> (Jenr-vnn
Exiles caused the light to shine in dark
places, and in giving the Bible to the
mass of English people gave to English
literature itself a beginning, it was re?*
served for the eighteenth ccnturj-, however,
to witness the inauguration of a
movement so beneficent in its character,
so far reaching in its aims, so beneficent
in its result?, as to stamp the era in
which it exists with the name of evangelical.
We live in the midst of that
era. That movement in its progress inspired
the design in English and American
hearts to extend the circulation of
the Holy Bible, and thus was originated
the work which through its two
chief agencies, tiie British and Foreign
and the American Bible Societies, with
their enlarged plan of putting the Bible
into the hand of every man in his own
language, has become one of the marvels
of our time.
With the opening year of the nineteenth
century there appeared in London
a Welsh minister who came to solicit
aid in obtaining a supply of Bibles
for his own countrymen. He turned
naturally to the benevolent organizations
of the of the metropolis, and soon
found the executive committee of the
religious tract fociety. In response to
his appeal came the reply, "If for Wales
why not for the world ?" It was a live
thought, a great thought. In its devolopement
came the organization in 1804 of
the British and Foreign Bible Society.
The leaven worked and soon found its
way across the ocean to the great English
spcaKing empire, men lairiy equipped lor
its place in the march of modern civilization.
In 1808, in Philadelphia, was
organized the first Uible Society on
American soil. Others followed in
quick succession throughout the United
.States. Out of the union of these local
organizations came the American Bible
Society. The sole object of its institution
was to encourage a wider circulation of
the Holy Scriptures without note or
t m r? n fr fIMnc lino Iwmn i\iiwi.mia<1
uv/ili I1IUII t. M UIO vujvvif UUO puiourru
with ft singleness of aim that amounts
to principle. Rigidly unsectarian, the
Society invites and receives the earnest
support of nearly every protestant donoinination.
The record of jts life
through seventy years is one of contintinuous
growth and glorious achievement.
In that time it has published 47,IXXUXJO
volumes of the Holj' Scriptures.
Those have been distributed in every
quarter of the globe. It has issued the
I Bible whole or in part in more than
eighty languages. For the past thirty
years its expenditures have averagod
over #500,000 yearly, and since its foundation
it has expended $23,000,0(XJ in its
work of publishing and circulating the
Scriptures. Us publications are sold at
the mere cost of production, and are so
cheap that every person may own a
copy of the Bible. Designed in its conception
for circulating the Scriptures
t 1\ n I ! ni t/wl Cl n f/.r ?> %/!
| ll|I WU^IIUUb H?c V llliwvi UIAIUA IIIIU VIICII
tenitorios, this Society proclaimed in its
j organic law the intention to extend its
| influence to other countries whether
j Christian, Mohammedan or Pagan. In
carrying out these principles it haa
brought out through auxiliary associations
of our land and endeavors t<i
leave no family or individual without
freest access to the fountain ol
!> God's truth. The homes of tho pool
' and tl e lonely aro the objects of iti
special attention, fnto the fastnesses
of the mountains, through the swampi
and sickly regions of the Southwest
amongst the wilds of the Western bolder,
into the heart of the African, t<
the "Heathen Chinee" of the I'ucith
Slope, amongst the fierce and warliki
tribes of native Indians, again and agaii
the Society has sent in its colporteun
marching forward in hundreds, evei
! bearing the precious Word of Cod and it!
.,P I.I. : ?
\> i (Jiriiwu m UH!"S Willi US SVVl'U1
influences all the homes an<l Ftiiu Iiok <>
our land. In the p.ist four years ii barvisited
four million homes of this country
and has carried the Bible to over half r
million families and individuals wh<
had it not before. And this great worl
shall jpo forward under its auspices, witl
the help ot good tuen and women everywhere
till no person willing to receive
and kjtow the truth shall be found with
out it.;
In foreign fields, whether Christian
Moliajhinicduu or I'agan, the Kociet)
professes to be "Simply a sower of seed
It bupliy.es no converts, it builds ur
churches, it founds no schools, it teaches
rijp industrial arts. it. maintains ik
hospitals, it publishes no comments and
treaties, it edits no newspapers."' Itswork,
is preparatory for all these. It has
established and maintains agents foi
general superintendence in Mexico, Cuba,
Brazil, Lal'lata. in the Levant, l'eru,
China, and .Japan. In the past
year it has employed nearly four hundred
persons in the work of distiibuting
the Scriptures in foreign lunds. It
gives the aid of its money and its Bibles
to missionary organizations in man)
fields. By these and other agencies it
is now aiding in circulating the
Holy Bible in France, Spain, Cieimany,
Austria. Italy, Norway,
Sweden, Russia, Siberia, and the Amoor,
Greece, Turkey, Sj'ria, Russia, India.
Statu, China, Japan. Mexico, and Central
America, Brazil, Uruguay, the
Argentine Republic, Chili. Bolivia, Peru,
Africa, the West Indies and tlft; Islands of
the Northwestern Pacific. These all
receive- the Word at the Society's
hands in their several tongues and dialects,
without note or comment. In the
prosecution of its work the American
Bible Society knows no rivalry but
with the apostles of error. It gladly receives
aid from every helpful source and
as willingly lends its co-operation tc
similiar organizations. It is a labor of
love which it is engaged in and it hails
Wifk joy the success of other Bi'ble
"^Societies* whether in its chosen
fields or in those to which it is unable
as yet to t-xtend its labors. Thus il
joins hands with its great congeuor the
ilie British and Foreign Bible Society,
and these two lend willing hands to help
along nearly a hundred others of latei
or less vigorous growth. The result of
the combined eil'orts of these Societies
11... lunl >huw>u\iuii
kJt ? IV>U HIU J Uttl XUVT ailiUUlll LU *.WV/,UVA/,*AAj
volumes of the Scriptures which
have been curried to over 8U0,000,tXMJ
people, more than half the entire population
of the globe. And yet this
statement, stupendous though the figures
be, conveys the faintest idea of the
suggestions ol the actual work done, it
speaks but little of the labor and perils
which have be in met by the faithful
and zealous colporteuis uud missionaries
working this way through all lands,
through every form of ignorance and
prejudice and bigotry. It accounts in
ample manner for the millions of money
which have been contributed to the
cause. But what can figures tell of the
years of patient study, and the devotion
of the profoundest learning to the
task of translating the Word of God into
the native language of all those people
? What of the diplomacy with
Mohammedan and Pagan and even socalled
Christiau governments , to aeour;
for the Bible Societies the poor .privilege
of of olFering to their nations. thn
Word ''without note or coinmurtt r
What of the influences that have thu?
wrought, upon thu minds and hearts and
lives and character of all those individuals
and families and nations ?
But is it a great work that has beei
accomplished bj* those Societies whicl
have been thrusting' themselves upon
the world's notice for three quarters o
a century ? See. Before their Uegin
ning eighteen hundred years of christian}
had given to the world scarcely inort
than four million Bibles. Before the wa:
of the Revolution no copy of the ling
lish Bible had ever been printed ir
America, and so late as 18lil "the cheap
est Bible in this country cost about tw<
dollars in even the poorest type ant
binding. Now it is the cheapest book ii
the world." 1 hen it was a thing un
heard of to give away copies of th<
Bible generally. Now the Book is car
ried by the hundred thousands to thi
very doors of the poor in many land!
and given aw'ay without money and witl
out price. i)uring tha Civil War, th<
American Bible Society redoubled it:
ott'orts,. bestowing the benefit of its labor;
with equal zeal upon either side in tha
conflict. At least 3,000,000 volume
were given to soldiers during thi
period, and it is said that at one time ai
average of nine testaments per ininut
for every hour of daily working tim
were produced in the Bible house, li
other conflicts of arms before and sinct
its object of circulating the Bible ha
been consistently and zealously pur
i sued. In 1804 the Bible existed i
some languages, ancient aod moderr
> Since that time nearly three hundre
t vorsions have been made, for which creii
f it is largely due to Bible Societies.
It ih scareely possible to speak of thi
i work without associating it with tli
h missionary cause. The two go hand i
a hand and are mutually dependent upo
S't "-''X'-'v.v . k.&&!-J&V' &'iUkiA*%
, each other. Without the Bihle the cause
- of missions could not exist, while the
1 Bible Socieities would find their progn
ress exceedingly slow even at home, but
2 especially so in?foreign lands without
i the missionaries. The Bible cause is
< essentially a missionary cause, and the
r Bible itself a missionary. There are nu<
| inerous iustances recorded where this
t silent teacher has found its way unherr
allied into pagan communities and with
i none to voice the gospel it reveals nor
press its claims to recognition as the
i Word of the living Ciod, has s?*nt its
> simple truths straight to the heart of
; the lamest seeker after truth and led to
i the conversion of hundreds of souls to
the worship of God and to the christian
> religion.
Of our English IJible, one has said,
'*lt lives on the ear like music that can
, never he forgotten. Its felicities often
' seem to be almost things rather than
. words. It is part of the national mind,
> and thy author of national seriousness.
- The memory of the dead passes into it.
> The power of all the griefs and trials of
[ a man aie laid beneath its wouls. It is
i the iepresentative of his best moments.
; and all th.it there his been about him of
i soft and gentle and pure and penitent
| and good, speaks to him forever out of
-1 his Protestant Bible.*' It is the mirror
of our human nature in which we may
behold the heart of man swayed and
mm Kv iVif. livil !...? ......
> w. . w J %I*\< v? * ? a v/ no kllivc ill l* UUlh
, by inheritance, throbbing will* the impulses
and aspirations and longings of
the soul that lain would stand ever pun:
before the eyes of its Maker,?the buttle
ground of good and evil through all
the a^es. The truths of that Book have
power to make the heart quake with tear
or ache with keen remorse or melt with
the tenderness of christian charity. All
! that is good in our nature lnnv be called
forth to active life by a single line from
its pages. Some years ago three small
children, aged respectively ten. seven
and four, were compelled'to go from
Eastern LViussia to the United States to
rejoin their parents who had found a
home in the new world by the banks of
the Missouri. There was no older person
to accompany them, and they must
therefore make the journey alone. A
female relative in Berlin gave to each of
> them a small volume in which she wrote
on the first page the name, age, birth>
place and destination of the bearer, and
below in German antl French and Kngi
lish she wrote a single sentence, taken
from that Book. She told the children
if at any time they were in need of as!
sistance just to stand still ami open
, their little Books and hold them up be'
fore them. The young travelers started
" from their German^ Home, reached the
seaport, embarked on board the steamer,
i rrnsxcii thr> irrfiit AllnnHr Inmln/l ir>
' America, traveled by rail over a thousand
miles westward into the hoart of
1 Missouri and safely reached their, home
in that far oil' land. Whenever needfnl
they showed their little passports to all
with whom they came in contact, and
' every where they received every kind
ness and protection and tenderest care.
All hearts wirmed with love and every
hand stretched forth to help the little
? ones thus cast upon the kindness ol
i passing".strangers. That hook was a
t copy of the .ilew Testament, that l>ne
' which proved for them the open passport
to the human breast was the saying
of our Saviour, "Inasmuch as ye have
' done it unto one of the least of these, ye
have done it unto me."
For the heathen n.ind enslaved in
darkness, environed by a wall of ignor
ance, lost in the labyrinth of superstii
tio.i ami error which the evil one knows
so well how to weave out of the waywardness
and fears and depravity of the
heart. of man. the Bible is u rrroat li?rht
# ' # O C I
; and a guide to free him from his thmldom
and bring him to a knowledge of
4 the Way. the Truth and the Life. For
I civilized society it is a treasure liou.se
where .may be drawn object lessons in
all the-virtues that make up the Christ1
ian life, and warnings and terrible ex1
amples of all the vices that draw in their
1 train the decay of civilization, the severI
ance of '.he social tie, the destruction of
the family, the death of patriotism, the
? overthrow of government and the night
' of human despair. Given a civilizatm.
i* built upon the principles inculcated by
a general and constant reading and study
1 of God's Word,?a civilization whose
germ is in the bosoin of the' family ;
i whose bulwark is the purity of the
1 homo ; whose ethics is the observance
? of the Sabbath, the sacredness and bind
ing power of the marriage tie, and free
dom and temperance and fair dealing
- and adherence to that rule of right con
duct which the whole world has named
A Tk/% rL/\1rlnn a vi 1 i 9 tk t inn fcKncn Jiim.
'* 1 I1U UV1UI/I1 ? W VI ? latwMvavif " iiudu bVUll
? pies are reared by laymen ordained of
o God to a life of virtue and purity and
s tender, watchful and compassionate rea
gard for the well-being of all their felt
low men, whose sacrifices are a meek
s and quiet spirit and an open confession
a of that Saviour whose life thrills through
n the heart of tho centuries like the divine
e strains of heavenly music ; a civilization
e whoso polity recognizes the universal
n brotherhood of man and contains the
S hospitable entertainment of strangers
s whose politics in submission to the established
authority and loyalty to the
n government that secures to us our life
i. and liberty and all the sweet enjoymnnte
d of individual rights, whose economy is
I- public and private enterprise and the
promotion of industry and frugality ; a
in civilization which recognizes in liberal
ie oducation, in refinement of manners and
n tho gracefulness of art, in a broad and
>n deen culture, in the richness and growth
of literature and the meditations of deep
philosophy, agents and influences for
pood to the spirit of man that shall build
up the soul and bring it nearer to the
godlike state ; a civilization which laya
broad and ieep its foundations in domestic
virtue and gives the place of
honor to parents, filial and social obligations
; whose teligion is the worship
of that nil powerful, all wise, ever present.
supremely just and good and loving
Reing whom alone the intelligent mind
of man is willing to call God ; given
such a civilization, and we have that
state in which man can best realize the
| ond of his creation, a state of society
; ever pure and enduring perpetually to
the coming of that Kingdom and that
J)ay to which the good in all ages look
forward with anticipations of holy joy.
l)o we need to give reasons and arguments,
Mr. President, to persuade men
to lend their aid and their sympathy to
the cause of propagating that Bible on
whose precepts such a civilization is
builded ? The best and greatest minds
of our country and of Christendom have
! esteemed it not the less a duty, indeed,
but one of the highest privileges vouchsafed
to man to be permitted to engage
in this work so free from every suspicion
of selfishness or hope of material,
gain. To the American citizen who loves
l his country and desires to see our insti
tutions perpetuated, and the blessings
! of a free, enlightened, (Sod-fearing civi!
ilizatinn secured to generations yet uui
born, a study of late developments in
| our history do?*s indeed suggest peculiar
: inducements to redoubled efforts in
| spreading forward this cause. It is a
fact that compels serious thought, that
in the past thirty years ten milions of
foreigners have sought homes in the
United States ; add to these their immediate
oil-spring, numbering not less than
live milions more. Fifteen "millions of
people, foreign in character, ideas and
sympathies thus incorporated into our
national life." Add to these the six or
seven milions of negroes who have in
the same period been received as factors
in the political life of our country. Over
one third ol the entire population of our
country at the present time to be assimilated
in one genera'ion and made like
unto ourselvts in opinion, in character,
in sympathies of government, of society,
of morals, of religion, of law, of God.
In this Held the work of the American
Bible Society has been a boon to our
country. Hundreds of thousands of Bibles
liave been furnished by it to these newly
arrived iinigrants, and the Book has gone
with them to their western homes and
become the chart and guide of their new
i;r? ..i.. > ? ?
II1U 111 U1V.-II .It ? IJ IUUIII1 IIUIUCK. tv IIKI
wonder that Illinois law, as reoently
proclaimed from the Bench of that State
is strong enough to deal with the annihilist
outhreakers ! What wonder that
the new formed society of the Western
States can stand the shock of social upheavals
! The:.r institutions are strong
and vigorous and elastic with the allpersuasive,
life-giving principles of the
Bible. Dreamers in politics and socialogy
in forecasting the future of our
country are accustomed to say that the
genius of our people will save us from
political and social ruin. It may he and
probably is true, hut that that genius is
a live, political, evangelical Christianity,
and the Bible is her chief handmaid.
Mr. President, travelers among the
Alps tell us in glowing language of the
magnificence of the dawn ami sunrise as
viewed from those towering, snow-covered
summits. So we to-day stand here
at the apex as it were of our nineteenth
century civili: a ion and view the shadows
of spiritual darkness steal away
atlown the hillsides and inlo the valleys
of this fair earth soon to disappear before
the advancing sun of righteoushess,
and as we look forward to the coming
brightness of that perfect day we, in
unison with all the workers in this great
Bible cause, breathe with renewed hope
and a deeper, inore solemn meaning that
prayer which in all ages has gone up as
the soul's highest aspiration from anxious,
waiting hearts, and shall ascend
with increasing frequency and fervor
from the over increasing millions of
hearts that throb with christian love till
.1 mighty, joyous shout of triumph and
i-.-Aliz ition shall resound throughout
mo world :
Thy Kingdom come !
VjV
In 3Iemoriani.
It was not my privilege to attend the
last meeting of the Abbeville District
Bible Society, being engaged at that
time in holding a term of Court in an>other
part of the State, hence the delay
in presenting this tribute to the memory
of the late Armistead Burt.
Mr Rnrf urKnon nrucn liflA ?tl> ? ?
on those occasions was seldom wanting,
was born in Edgefield District on the
16th day of November 1802, and departed
this life on the 30th day. of October,
1883. This is not lime, nor the occasien
for an extended sketch of his
long and eventful life.
By reason of habits of temperanceamounting
almost to abstemiousness^ 'M
preserving a strong physical constitu- "r?
tion, he was spared to attain by morethan
half a score of years the alio ted
period of man's existence on the earth, *
and even in hi? case may it be trul^r
said of this eXeess of years, yet is their- ^
strengin laoor ana sorrow.
It was surely a spectacle worthy of 'd
our highest admiration to see him uir ?
the days when the reapers of the house ''r$|
shall trehible and the strong men shall ??
bow themselves," fighting with heroic^ M
courage the battles of life. Reduced. .
(Continued on last page*) y||