Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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X 5 THE WEEKLY LEDGER: GAFFNEY, S. t\, SEPTEMBER fl, 1895, THE IiOCIv OF REFUGE REV. DR. TALMAGE’S SERMON ON CHRIST, THE CHIEFTAIN. i feeinarkiihlo Word ralnting of the Great Preacher In Picturing the Attributed of the Sa\li»ur — The Hope of All Chrin- tlans. New York, Sopt. 1.—For his sermon for this forenoon Rov. Dr. Talmago se lects a topic which must prove full of inspiration to Christians everywhere. The title of Ids discourse is, “The Chief tain,” and the text, “The chiefest among ten thousand,” Canticles v, 10. The most conspicuous character of history steps out upon the platform. The finger which, diamonded with light, pointed down to him from the Bethlehem sky was only a ratification of the finger of prophecy, the finger of genealogy, the finger of chronology, the finger of events—all five fingers point ing in one direction. Christ is the over topping figure of all time. Ho is the "vox humuna” in all music, the graco- fulest line in all sculpture, the most exquisite mingling of lights and shades In all painting, the acme of all climaxes, the dome of all cathedraled grandeur and the peroration of all language. The Greek alphabet is made up of 24 letters, and when Christ compared him self to the first letter and the last let ter, the Alpha and the Omega, ho ap propriated to himself all the splendors that you can spell out either with those two letters or all the letters between them, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. ” tu the Chief. What does that Scripture mean which says of Christ, ‘‘Ho that cometh from above is above all?” It means after you have piled up all Alpine and Himalayan altitudes, the glory of Christ would have to spread its wings and descend a thousand leagues to touch those summits. Pelion, a high moun tain of Thessaly; Ossa, a high mountain, and Olympus, a high mountain; but mythology tolls us when the giants Warred against the gods they piled up these three mountains, and from the top of them proposed to scale the heav ens; but the height was not great enough, and there was a complete fail ure. And after all the giants—Isaiah and Paul, prophetic and apostolic giants; Raphael and Michael Angelo, artistic giants; cherubim and seraphim and archangel, celestial giants—have failed to climb to the top of Christ’s glory they might all well unite in the w r ords of Paul, and cry out: “Above all!” “Above all!” But Solomon in my text prefers to call Christ “the Chieftain,” and so today I hail him. First, Christ must bo chief in our preaching. There are so many books «n homiletics scattered through the country that all laymen, as well as all clergymen, have made up their minds what sermons ought to be. That sermon is the most effectual which most point edly puts forth Christ as the pardon of all sin and the correction of all evil— individual, social, political, national. There is no reason why wo should ring the endless changes on a few phrases. There are those who think that if an exhortation or a discourse have frequent mention of justification, sanctification, covenant of works and covenant of grace, therefore it must be profoundly evangelical, while they are suspicious of a discourse which presents the same truth, but under different phraseology. Now, I say there is nothing L. all the opulent realm of Anglo-Saxon ism, of all the word treasures that wo inherited from the Latin and the Greek and the Indo-European, but wo have a right to marshal it in religious discussion. Christ sets the example. Hift illustra tions were from the grass, the flowers, the barnyard fowl, the crystals of salt, as well ns from the seas and the stars; and wo do not propose in our Sunday school teaching and in our pulpit ad dress to be put on the limits. IU'xou rceH of Words. I know that there is a great deal said in our day against words, as though they were nothing. They may bo mis used, but they have an imperial power. They aro the bridge between soul and soul, between Almighty God and the human race. What did God write upon the tables of stone? Words. What did Christ utter on Mount Olivet? Words. Out of what did Christ strike the spark for the illumination of the universe! Out of words. “Let there bo light,” and light was. Of course thought is the cargo and words aro only the ship, but how fast would your cargo get on with out the ship? What you need, my friends, in all your w r ork, in your Sab bath school class, in your reformatory institutions, and what wo all need, is to enlarge our vocabulary w'hen w’o come to speak about God and Christ and heaven. We ride a few old words to death, win n there is such illimitable resource. Hiakespearo employed 15,000 different words for dramatic purposes; Milton employed 8,000 different words for poetic purposes; Rufus Choate em ployed over 11,000 different words for legal purposes, but the most of us have 1< is than a thousand words that we can manage, and that makes u$ so stupid. When we come to set forAh the love of Christ, wo are going to (take the ten- derest phraseology wherever we find it, and if it has never l*eeu ui*.:! ’u that direction before all the more shall . T e use it. When wo come to speak of the glory of Christ the conqueror, we are going to draw our similes from trium phal arch and oratorio and everything grand and stupendous. The French navy have 18 flags by which they give signal, but tho-e 18 flags they can put into (10,- 000 different combinations. And I have to tell you that these standards of tho cross may lie lifted into combinations infinite and varieties evcrUutiug. And let mo say to the young men w'ho oomo from tie tie logical seminaries into our services, and are alter awhile going to rnranh Jesus (jhrtst, ou will have the raTRT*t RlMrfy tnrtT finnwimfl raroirtfB. You only have to present Christ in your own way. Brighter than the light, fresher than tho fountains, deeper than the seas, aro all these go.-pel themes. Song has no melody, flowers no sweetness, sunset sky no color compared with these glo rious themes. These harvests of grace spring up quicker than wo can sickle them. Kindling pulpits with their fire, and producing revolutions with their power, lighting up dying beds with their glory, they are tho sweetest thought for tho poet, and they aro tho most thrilling illustration for the orator, and they offer tho most intense scene for tho artist, and they are to tho em bassador of tho sky all enthusiasm. Complete pardon for direst guilt. Sweet est comfort for ghastliest agony. Bright est hope for grimmest death. Grandest resurrection for darkest sepulcher. Oh, what a gospel to preach! Christ the Chief. His birth, his suffering, his miraclctj, his parables, his sweat, his tears, his bl%jd, his atonement, his in tercession—wfurt-^glorious themes! Do wo exercise faith? Oiripf its object. Do wo have love? It fastens on Jesus-. Have we a fondness for tho church? It is because Christ died for it. Have we a hope of heaven? It is because Jesus went there, tho herald and the forerun ner. The royal robe of Demetrius was so costly, so beautiful, that after ho had put it off no one ever dared to put it on, but this robo of Christ, richer than that, tho poorest and the weakest, and tho worst may wear, “Where sin abounded, grace may much more abound. ” “Oh, my sins, my sins!” said Martin Luther to Staupitz, “my sins, my sins!” Tho fact is that the brawny German student had found a Latin Bible that made him quake, and noth ing else ever did make him quake, and when ho found how, through Christ, ho was pardoned and saved he wrote to a friend, saying: “Como over and join us great and awful sinners saved by the grace of God. You seem to bo only a slender sinner, and you don’t much extol the mercy of God, but wo that have beeu such very awful sinners praise his grace the more now that wo have been redeemed. ” Can it bo that you are so desperately egotistical that you foci yourself it first rate spiritual trim, and that from cheroot of the hair to tho tip of tho toe you aro scarless and im maculate? What you need is a looking glass, and here it is in tho Bible. Poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked from tho crown of the head to the sole of tho foot, full of wounds and putrefying sores. No health in us. And then take tho fact that Christ gath ered up all the notes against us and paid them and then offered us tho receipt! And how much wo need him in our sor rows! Wo aro independent of circum stances if we have his grace. Why, lie made Paul sing in tho dungeon, and un der that grace »St. John from desolate Patmos hoard tho blast of the apocalyp tic trumpets. After all other candles have been snuffed out, this is tho light that gets brighter and brighter unto tho 1 perfect day, and after, under tho hard hoofs of calamity, all tho pools of worldly enjoyment have been trampled into deep mire at tho foot of tho eternal rook tho Christian, from cups of granite lily rimmed, puts out the thirst of his soul. Tbo Alleviation of Death. Again, I remark that Christ is chief in dying alleviations. I have not any sympathy with tho morbidity abroad about our demise. Tho emperor of Con stantinople arranged that ou tho day of his coronation tho stonemason should come and consult him about the tomb stone that after awhile lie would need. ! And there are men who are monomani- acal on tho subject of departure from this life by death, and the more they think of it the less they are prepared to go. This is an unmauliness not worthy of you, not worthy of me. Suladin, the greatest conqueror of his day, while dying, ordered that tho tunic ho had ou him bo carried after his deatli on his spear at the head of his army, and that then tho soldier, ever and anon, should sb p and say: “Be hold all that is left of Suladin, tho em peror and conqueror! Of all the states ho conquered, of all tho wealth ho ac cumulated, nothing did ho retain but this shroud. ” I have no sympathy with such behavior, cr such absurd demon stration, or with much that wo hear uttered in regard to departure from this life to the next. There is a common sensical idea ou this subject that you need to consider—there are only two styles of departure. A thousand feet , underground, by light of torch, toiling in a miner’s shaft, a ledge of rock may fall upon us, and we may die a miner’s death. Far out at sea, falling from tho slippery ratlines and broken on tho hal liards, wo may die a sailor’s death. On mission of mercy in hospital, amid ' broken bones and reeking leprosies and raging fevers, wo may die a philan thropist's death. On the field of battle, serving God and our country, slugs through tho heart, the gun carriage may roll over us, and wo may die a pa triot’s deatli. But, after all, there aro only two styles of d< partur<—the death of the righteous and the death of the i wicked—and wo all want to die tho former. I God grant that vhou that hour comes you may Imj at home. You want tho hand of your kindred in your hand. ; You want your children to surround ! you. You want tho light ou your pillow ! from eyes that have long reflected your love. You want your room still. You *lu not want any curious strangers standing .rvound watehing you. You want your i.Mnlred from afar to hear your last prayi v. 1 think that is tho wish of all of ns. iJ:it is that all? Can earthly friends hold us up w hen the bil lows of death como np to the girdle? Can human voii-n charm open heaven’s gate/ Can human hand pilot us through tho narrows of death into heaven’s liar* bor/ ( an any earthly friendship shield us from (lie arrows of death and in the hour when satan shall practice upon us I his Internal archery? No, no. no, no! AJob, poor rot!, if tfirtt In all! Bette? dio in the wilderness far from tree shadow and from fountain, alone, vul tures circling through tho air waiting for our body, unknown to men, and to have no burial, if only Christ could say through the solitudes, “I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee.” From that pillow of stone a ladder would soar heavenward, angels coming and going, and across the solitude and the barrenness would come tho sweet notes of heavenly minstrelsy. Dying Words. Gordon Hall, far from home, dying in door of a heathen temple, said, “Glory to thee, O God!” What did dy ing Wilberforce say to his wife? “Come and sit beside me, and lot us talk of heaven. I never knew what happiness was until I found Christ. ” What did dying Hannah More say? “To go to heaven, think what that is! To go to Christ,-who died that I might live! Oh, glorious grave! Oh, what a glorious thing it is to die! Oh, tho love of Christ, tho love of Christ!” What did Mr. Toplady, the great hymn maker, say in his last hour? “Who can measure the depths of tho third heaven? Oh, tho sunshino that fills my soul! I shall soon bo gone, for surely no one can live in this world after such glories as God has manifested to my soul. ” What did tho dying Janoway say? “T can as easily dio as close my eyes or turn my head in sleep. Before a few’ hours have passed I shall stand on Mount Zion with tho one hundred and forty and four thousand, and with tho just men made perfect, and we shall ascribe riches, and honor, and glory, and majesty, and dominion unto God and tho Lamb.” Dr. Taylor, con demned to burn at the stake, on his way thither broke away from the guardsmen, and went bounding and leaping and jumping toward tho fire, glad to go to Jesus, and to dio for him. Sir Charles Hare, in his last moments, had such rapturous vision that lie cried, “Upward, upward, upward!” And so great was tho peace of one of Christ’s disciples that he put his finger upon tho pulse in his wrist and counted it and observed it; and so great was his placid ity that after awhile ho said, “Stopped!” and his life had ended here to begin in heaven. But grander than that was the testimony of tho worn out first missionary, when, in the Mumer- tine dungeon, ho cried, “ I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand; I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for mo a crown of righteous ness which the Lord, tho righteous Judge, will give mo in that day, and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing!” Do you not see that Christ is chief in dying allevia tions? Toward the last hour of our earthly residence we are speeding. When I see the sunset, I say, “Ono day less to live.” When I see tho spring blossoms scattered, I say, “Another season gone forever.” When I close the Bible on' Sabbath night, I say, “Another Sabbath departed.” When I bury a friend, I say, “Another earthly attraction gone forever.” What nimble feet tho years have! The roebucks and tho lightnings run not so fast. From decade to decade, from sky to sky, they go at a bound. There is a place for us, whether marked or not, where you and I will sleep the last sleep, and the men are now living who will, with solemn tread, carry us to our resting place. Aye, it is known in heaven w hether our departure will bo a coronation or a banishment. Brighter i than a banqueting hall through which the light feet of tho dancers go up and down to the sound of trumpeters will ho the sepulcher through whoso rifts tho holy light of heaven streameth. God will watch you. Ho will send his angels to guard your slumbering dust, until, at Christ’s behest, they shall roll aw’ay tho stone. G'hrUt In Heaven. So, also, Christ is chief of heaven. The Bible distinctly says that Christ is tho chief theme of tho celestial ascrip tion, all tho thrones facing his throne, all the palms waved before his face, all tho crowns down at his feet. Cherubim to cherubim, seraphim to seraphim, re deemed spirit to redeemed spirit shall recite tho Saviour’s earthly sacrifice. Stand on some high hill of heaven, and in all the radiant sweep the most glorious object will bo Jesus. Myriads gazing un tho scars of his suffering, in silence first, afterward breaking forth into acolamatiou. Tho martyrs, all the purer for the flame through which they passed, will say, “This is the Jesus for whom wo died.” Thu apostles, all tho happier for the shipwreck and the scourging through which they went, will say, “This is tho Jesus whom wo preached at Corinth, and at Cappadocia, and at Antioch, and at Jerusalem.” Little children clad in white will say, “This is tho Jesus who took us in his arms and blessed us, and when the storms of tho world were too cold and loud brought us into this beautiful place.” The multitude of tho bereft will his quaint way ho said: “And I heard in j my dream, and, lo! the bells of tho city rang again for joy, and as they opened tho gates to lot in tho men I looked in after them, and, lo! tho city shone like tho sun. and there were streets of gold, and men walked ou them, harps in their hands, to ring praises with all, and after that they shut up the gates, which, when I had seen, I wished my self among them!” Cliina a Stone In Ilussin's Sling. China, in order to give security for tho loan, is going to moitgago the re ceipts of the maritime customs. They will pay tho coupon. Now, suppose Japan threatens to renew the war with China and lo blockade the ports, and so stop tho payment of customs dues. Rus sia a year ago might have taken up an attitude of indifference and declared that tho matter was nothing to her. She could not do that now. She would have to consider whether a Japanese war would not make her liable for tho coupon by stopping the payment of cus toms. If she decided that it would, ! she must almost necessarily intervene either to make China yield to Japan or ! else to prevent Japan from attacking | China. , In other words, tho guarantee makes • Russia tho arbiter of tho fate of China for the next i30 years and more and al lows her—nay, almost compels her—to say tho final word in all China’s diplo macy. “Wo cannot, as guarantors of your loan, allow you to rush into bank ruptcy. ” It is with these words that the Russian embassador ut Peking will bo able to exercise a veto ou all Chinese foreign policy. Tho guarantee of the loan will then give Russia a prerogative vote in matters of external policy. It is a notice that, on the ono hand, Russia will not allow China to ho conquered, thus destroying her security for having to make good her guarantee, and, on tho other, that China must conform to tho Russian standard of political con duct.—London Spectator. This is tho Jcsns who com forted us when our hearts broke.” Many who wandered clear off from God ana plunged into vagabondism, hut were saved by grace, will say: “This is the Jesus who pardoned us. We were lost ou the mountains, and lie brought us home. Wo were guilty, and he has made us white as snow.” Mercy boundless, grace unparalleled. And then, after each ono has recited his peculiar deliv erances and peculiar mercies, recited them as by solo, all tho voices will come together into a great chorus, which will make the arches echo and re-echo with the eternal reverberation of tri umph. Edward I was so anxious to go to tho Holy Land that when lie was about to expire lie bequeathed #1(30,000 to have his heart, after his decease, taken to the Holy Land in Asia Minor, and his request was complied with. But there are hundreds today whose hearts aro ul* \ ready in tho Holy Land of heaven, j ty’hore your treasures are, there aro your blurts also. (Quaint John Buuyun OTU^Tt a glimpse of flntt place-, and tn Nerves Aro like Fire. They are Good Servants But mal.o Poor (Masters To keep your Nerves steady, Your Hoad clear, Build up your Strength, Sharpen your Appetite, You must have Pure Rich Blood The Best Medicine to Vitalize and Enrich the Blood, is ood’s Sarsaparilla The One True Blood Purifier Prominently in the Public Eye. H/wHe Diffc cureallllrerills,bilious* nUUU b KHIb ness, headache, aco. It’s the Talk A Maple Dies of Sunstroke. In the last number of Meehan’s Monthly the editor tells of being sum moned to hold nn inquest over a dead sugar maple tree. It was supposed to have beeu destroyed by a leak in tho city gas main, near its roots, hut an ex amination convinced Mr. Meehan that tho tree had died literally from sun stroke. This maple had beeu planted on tho street about 25 years and was some four feet in girth. Tho trunk, how ever, instead of being cylindrical, was shaped like a triangular prism, a pecul iarity owing to the fact that on three sides of it the inner-bark and wood had been killed, while tho outer bark con tinued to cover up tho injury, so that tho only living wood was at the angles of tho trunk. Practically, no more than one-third of tho surface of tho trunk was alive, and when tho exceedingly warm weather of last month came tho limited number of ducts wero not suffi cient to supply tho moisture needed to meet the rapid transpiration from so largo a surface of foliage; consequently the leaves wilted and tho tree died. Whenever the trunk of a tree takes ou this angular form it should he examined under tho bark, and if the flatter por tions aro found dead tho hark and the decaying part of tho wood should be wholly cut away and tho denuded part painted to check tho rotting. In time healthy wood may grow’ over such a scar, and tho life of tho tree may thus bo eventually saved. Based on facts that your dollar will buy more Groceries at Webster’s than at any oth'eF store in town. My stock of Fine Candies is up-to-date. Yours for business. W. M. Webster, Jr. R. S. LIPSCOMB, Idsimdci and Real tstite Agt., Merchandise Broker And Dealer in The Celebrated No. g Weheler & Wilson Sewing flachines. Needles and attachments for all different makes of machines. MW"Office over R. A. Jones’ store. A Wise Investment. A policy of insurance in such com panies as the jEtna, Home, Hartford, American Pire and Pennsylvania to protect your home and business from loss and damage by fire is a wise in vestment. I shall be glad to furnish such pro tection at any time. Call before in suring. O. ^'TJS.CrY. PROOF Corn Whiskey. July 19, 1895. -)o(- 1 VrUir-nHSish IW. proof Corn ^ Whiskey in quantfai^®®^^gallon* and 3 quarts at #1.40 per^ 11 1’tofc^nd upwards. Address, J. P. DELLINGER, Dellingers, N. C. AUv For THuef Dollars! ly !£vvi| Sjoe ’gir^ ^AccotNT * ll?jurANCCPolicy for / Ul''?- b ooO ^ Jor 1W5. QQ o TO c/) Marylaiid’n Wlilppini; 1'ost. Hinco tho legislature of Maryland es tablished the whipping post in that state for wife beaters, four husbands have been lashed for brutally assaulting their wives. One of those whipped was colored, and the other three were white. The act was passed at the session of ; 1882. Tho first man whipped was Charles Foote, colored, who was con victed of wife beating Nov. 20, 1882. Ho was sentenced on the 1st of tho fol lowing December to receive 13 lashes and to bo imprisoned GO days. The number of lashes was reduced to seven, which was the number inflicted. It was not until June, 1885, that the whipping post was again used. Tho sec ond man received 20 lashes and tho third 15 lashes. Tho last time the whip ping post was used was Oct. 9, 1890, when a man received 13 lashes for as saulting his wife. Since then there have been a number of cases in which wives were assaulted by their husbands, but there have beeu no convictions un- d< r the statute prescribing tho whipping post, as a punishmut for tho offense.— Philadelphia Press. Dcatlii. From Simko Illtei*. The subject of the prevention of death from snake bite is one which lues for many years past engaged the attention of the government of India. Tho annual reports are interesting, hut far from pleasant reading. In 1891 the mortal ity under this head was no fewer than 21,389; in 1892 it had fallen to 19,- 025; in 1893 it rose again to 21,213. In other words, in 1892, out of every 11,(330 persons in India, one died of snakebite; in 1893, 1 out of 10,424. Tho fluctuations aro probably acci dental, but tbe state of affairs is real and deplorable enough. Of tho total num ber of deaths, almost exactly one-half occurred in Be.gal, (10,797?; next come tho northwestern provinces and Oudh (4,847), Madras, (1,498), and Bombay (1,192)—all showing an in crease on the preceding year’s figures— while the one province absolutely free is the little province of Knrg, tho small- est in India, but still witli a population of 173,000.—Chambers’ Journal. Hoston's Census. Wo hazard the guess that the pojrala- tion of Boston by tho new i-ensns will not vary many thousands either way from a round half a million. This will not he quite up to the calculation based on the geometrical ratio of increase, but it will closely accord with the fact* — Bmttnn Heraffk Turnip Seed! Fine Assortment!!! W. B. DuPRE, Phone 21, INiglit Oall -47—2 Iting-a- IARKOLL, CARPENTER IIMPHRIES. FURNITURE, STOVES, BUGGIES, WAGONS, COFFINS, BURIAL ROBES, &C. PURNITURE IN ALL STYLES AND r prices which laugh at competitors. We pay special attention to the Undertaking Business. We have also received a large quantity of Cedarine which will make your old furniture look as well as new, at 25c per bottle. If interested at all. call and let us convince you of our cheap prices. CARROLL, CARPENTER k HUMPHRIES. Landreth’s"* Celebrated Turnip Seed, All varieties, fresh and genuine, and only reliable seed just received. Also, 1 am offering my entire stock at prices to suit the times. Come and get goods as low as the low est. J. D. GOUDELOCK.