Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ ‘•-. * r . >« “ ^ -^jT • THE WEEKLY LEDGER; GAFFNEY, S. C., DECEMBER 5, 1895. CONGRESS SALUTED. REV. DR. TALMAGE PREACHES A SER MON UPON A TIMELY THEME. ■6 Ahow. Wow Wo liavo lleen lUcrd by God In the Past—Karthly Comfort and the Rent That Shall Como to Thn*e That Believe. Washington, Dec. 1.—As tomorrow kbe cougressof the United States assem bles and many of tho members were present at the delivery of this sermon, Dr. Talmage took a most appropriate theme, showing that in all their work they might realize that God has always been on the side of this nation. Text, II Kings vi, 17, “And tho Lord opened the eyes of rtio young man, and he saw, ' »ud, behold, tho mountain was full of horses and chariots and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” The American congress is assembling. Arriving or already arrived are tho rep resentatives of all sections of this be loved land. Let us welcome them with prayers and benedictions. A nobler group of men never entered Washington than those who will tomorrow take their places in the senate chamber and the house of representatives. Whether they come alone or leave their families at the homestead far away, may the blessing of tho Eternal God be upon them ! We invite them to our churches, and together they in political spheres and we in religious circles will give the aoming mouths to consideration of the best interests of this country which God has blessed so much in tho past that I propose to show yon and show them, so far as I may now roach their ear or to morrow their eyo through tho printing press, that God will be with them to help them as in the text he filled the mountains with help for Elisha. Tho Upper Force*. As it cost England many regiments and $2,000,000 a year to keep safely a troublesome captive at St. Helena, so the king of Syria sends out a whole army to capture ono minister of religion—per haps 50,000 men to take Elisha. Dur ing the night tho array of Syrians came around tho village of Dothan, where the prophet was staying. At early daybreak the manservant of Elisha rushed iu and •aid: ‘‘What shall we do? There is a whole army come to destroy youl Wo must die! Wo must dio!” But Elisha was not scared a bit, for he looked up and saw the mouutaius all around full of supernatural forces, and he knew that if there were 50,000 Syrians against him there were 100,000 angels for him, and in answer to tho prophet’s prayer in behalf of his affrighted manservant the young man saw it too. Horses of fire harnessed to chariots of fire, and drivers of fire pulling reins of firo on bits of fire, and warriors of firo with brandish ed swords (if lire, and the brilliance of that morning sunrise was eclipsed by tho galloping splendors of the celestial cavalcade. ‘‘And tho Lord opened the eyes of tho young man, and he saw, and behold tho mountain was full of horses ■nd chariots of firo round about Elisha. ” I speak of the upper forces of the text that are to fight on our side as a nation. If all the low levels arc filled with arm ed threats, I have to tell you that the mountains of our hope aud courago and , faith are full of tho horses and chariots of divine rescue. You will notice that tho divine equi page is always represented as a chariot of firo. Ezekiel aud Isaiah aud John, when they come to describe the divine equipage, always represent it as a wheeled, a harnessed, an upholstered conflagration. It is not a chariot like kings and conquerors of earth mount, but an organized and compressed fire. That means purity, justice, chastise ment, deliverance through burning es capes. Chariot of rescue? Yes, but a chariot of fire. All our national disin- thrallments have been through scorching agonies and red disasters. Through trib ulation the individual rises. Through tribulation nations rise. Chariots of rescue, but chariots of fire. But how do I know that this divine equipage is on the side of our institutions? I kuow it by the history of tho last 119 years. The American Revolution started from the pea of John Hancock in Independ ence hall iu 171C. The colonies, with out ships, without ammunition, without guns, without traiued warriors, without money, without prestige. On the othei side, the mightiest nation of the earth, the largest armies, the grandest navies and tho most distinguished commanders, and resources incxhaustble, and nearly all nations ready to back them up iu the fight. Nothing, as against immensity. A Divine IntrrpoHition. The cause of tho American colonies, which started at zero,dropped still lower through tho quarreling of the generals, and through tho jealousies at small suc cesses, aud through the winters which surpassed all predecessors in depth of snow aud horrors of cougealment. Elisha surrounded by the whole Syrian army did not soem to be worse off than did the thirteen colonies encompassed and overshadowed by foreign assault. What decided the contest iu our favor? The upper forces tho upper armies. The Green and White mountains of New England, the Highlands along the Hud son, the mountains of Virginia, all the Appalachian ranges were full of re-en forcements which the young man Wash ington saw by faith, and his men en dured the frozen feet, aud the gangrened wounds, and the exhausting hunger, and the long march became ‘‘the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and ho saw, aud, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. ” Washington himself was a miracle. What Joshua was in sacred history the first American president was In secular history. A thousand other men excelled him in different things, but he excelled them all in rouuduess and completeness of character. The World neve*’ saw his like, and piububiy never will see his like again, because there probably never will be another i exigency lie was let down a divine rpobitiou. He was from God d.iect. I do not knowhow many can read the history of those times without admitting tho contest was decided by the upper forces. Then in 18G1, when our civil war epenert, mr:iy at tho north and at tho south pronounced it i u!ic:.;.l ruieidc. It was not comago rga.'mt cowardice, it wan not wealth against poverty, it ' was not largo states against small states. It was heroism ngaiu.-t heroinn, it was tho resources of many generations against tho resources of generations, it was tho prayer of tho north against tho prayer of tho sentli, it was one half of tl.o nation in aimed wrath meeting the other half of tho nation iu armed indignation. What could como but ex- teimination? At the opening of tho war the com mander iu chief of the United States forces was a man who had been great iu battle, but old ago had come, with many infirmities, aud ho had a right to quiet ude. Ho could not mount a horse, and ho rode on tho battlefield in a car riage, asking tho driver not to jolt it too much. During tho most of tho four years of the con test, on tho southern side, was a man in midlifo, who had in his veins tho blood of many generations of warriors, himself ono of tho heroes of Chuinbusco andCerro Gordo, Contreras and Cliapultepec. As tho years passed on and the scroll of carnage unrolled there came out from both sides a hero ism, and a strength, and a determina tion that tho world had never seen mar shaled. Aud what but extermination could como when Philip Sheridan and Stonewall Jackson met, and Nathaniel Lyon and Sidney Johnston rodo iu from north aud south, mid Grant and Lee, tho two thunderbolts of battle, clashed? Yet, wo are a nation, and yet wo are at peace. Earthly courago did not decide the conflict. The upper forces of tho text—they tell us them was a battle fought above the clouds on Lookout mountain, bat there was something higher than that. A Friend of tho Natloa. Agani, the horses and chariots of God carno to the rescue of this nation iu 1870, at the close of a presidential elec tion famous for ferocity. A darker cloud yet settled down upon this nation. The result of the election was in dispute, and revolution, not between two or three sections, but revolution in every town aud village and city of thoUnited States seemed imminent. Tho prospect was that New York would throttle New York, and Now Orleans would grip New Orleans, aud Boston, Boston, and Sa vannah, Savannah, aud Washington, Washington. Some said Mr. Tilden was elected, others said Mr. Hayes was elected, aud how near we came to uni versal massacre some of us guessed, but God only knew. I ascribe our escape not to tho honesty and righteousness of infuriated politicians, but I ascribe it to the upper forces of tho text. Chariot? of mercy rolled iu, and though tho wheels were not heard and the flash was not seen, yet all through the mountains of the north, and the south, and tho east, and tho west, though tho hoofs did not clatter, the cavalry of God galloped by. I tell you God is tho friend of this nation. In the awful excitement at the massacre of Lincoln, when there was a prospect that greater slaughter would open upon this nation, God hushed the tempest. In the awful excitement at the time of Garfield’s assassination God put his foot on tho neck of the cyclone. To prove God is on the side of this na tion I argue from tho last eight or nine great national harvests, and from the national heubli of tho last quarter of a century, epidemics very exceptional, and from the great revivals of rcl giun, and from the spreading of tho church of God, aud from the continent blossom ing with asylums and reformatory insti tutions, and from an Edenizat ion which promises that this whole laud is to be a paradise, where God shall walk. I am encouraged more than I can tell you as I see tho regiments wheeling down the sky, aud my jeremiads turn into doxologies, and that which was the Good Friday of the nation’s crucifixion becomes the Easter morn of its resurrec tion. Of course God works through hu man instrumentalities, aud this nation al betterment is to come among other things through n scrutinized ballot box. By tho law of registration it is almost impossible now to have illegal voting. There was a time—you aud I remember it very well—when droves of vagabonds wandered up aud down on election day, aud from poll to poll, and voted here, and voted there, and voted everywhere, aud there was no challenge, or if there were, it amounted to nothing, because nothing could so suddenly be proved npou <ho vagabonds. Now, in every well organized neighborhood, every voter is watched with severest scrutiny. If I am in a region where I am allowed a vote, I must tell tho registrar my name, and how old I am, and how long I have re sided in the state, and bow long I have resided m the ward or tho township, aud if I misrepresent, 50 witnesses will rise and shut mu out from the ballot box. Is not that a great advance? And then notico tho law that prohibits a man voting if ho has bet on the election. A step farther needs to be taken and that man forbidden a vote who has offered or taken a bribe, whether it be in tho shape of a free drink, or cash paid down, the suspicious cases obliged to put their hand on the Bible aud swear tbeir vote in if they vote at all. So, through the sacred chest of onr nation’s suffrage, re demption will come. God will save this nation through an aroused moral sentiment. There has never been so much discussion of morals and immorals. Men, whether or not they acknowledge whut is right, have to think what is right. We have men who have had their hands iu tho public treas ury the most of their lifetime, stealing all they could lay their hands on, dis coursing eloquently about dishonesty in public servants, and men with two or three families of their own preaching eloquently about the beauties of the sev en:!] ccmxnandmcr.t. The question cf £c- bricty and drunkenness is thrust iu tho face of this nation as never before aud takes a part iu our political contests. Tho question of national sobriety is go ing to be respectfully and deferentially heard at tho bar of every 1< gislature, aud every house of representatives, and every state senate, and an omnipotent voice will ring down the sky and across this laud and back again, saying to t!.< c rising tides of drunkenness w hu h threat en to wliolm homo and church aud ira- tion,‘‘Thus far shalt thou come, but no farther, aud here shall thy proud waves be staid.” Antlgcno** Army. 1 have not in my mind a shadow of disheartmeut as largo as tho shadow of a house fly’s wing. My faith is iu tho upper forces, tho upper armies of the text. God is not dead. Tho chariots are nqt uuwheeled. If you would only pray more and wash your eyes iu tho cool, bright water fresh from tho well of Christian reform, it would be said of you, as of this one of tho text, ‘‘The Lord opened the eyes of tho young man, and he saw, and, behold, tho mountain was full of horses aud chariots of fire round about Elisha. ” When the army of Autigonus went into battle, his soldiers wero very much discouraged, and they rushed up to tho geueral and said to him, “Don’t yon seo we have a few forces aud tiny have so many more?” Aud tho soldiers were affrighted at the smallness of their num ber aud the greatness of tho enemy. Autigonus, their commander, straight ened himself up aud said, with indigna tion aud vehemence, “How many do you reckon me to be?” And when wo see the vast armies arrayed against tho cause of sobriety it may some times bo very discouraging, but I ask you iu making up your estimate of tho forces of righteousness—I ask you how many do you reckon the Lord God Almighty to bo? He is our commander. Tho Lord of Hosts is his name I have tho best authority for saying that tho chariots of God are 20,000, and tho mountains are full of them. Have you any doubt about the need of the Christian religion to purify and mako decent American politics? At ev ery yearly or quadrennial election wo have in this country great manufactories —manufactories of lies—and they sire run day and night, and they turn out half a dozen a day, all equipped and ready for full sailiug. Largo lies and small lies. Lies private and lies public aud lies prurient. Lies cut bias end lies cut diagonal. Long limbed lies aud lies with double back action. Lies compli mentary and lies defamatory. Lies that some people believe aud lies that all the people believe, and lies that nobody be lieves. Lies with humps like camels, and scales like crocodiles, and necks as long as storks, and feet as swift as an ante lope's, and stings like adders. Lies raw and scalloped aud panned and stewed. Crawling lies aud jumping lies and soaring lies. Lies with attachment screws and rnfflers and braiders and ready wound bobbins. Lies by Christian people who never lie except during elec tions, and lies by people who always lie, but beat themselves in a presidential campaign. A Fctent Fore*. I confess I am ashamed to have a for eigner visit this country in such times. I should think he would stand dazed, his hand on his pocketbcok, and dare not go out night*. What will the hun dreds of thousands of foreigners who como here to live think of us? What a disgust they must have for the laud < f their adoption. Tho only good thing about it is many of them cannot under stand tho English language. But 1 sup pose the German aud Italian and Swed ish and French papers translate it all aud peddle out the infernal stuff to the subscribers. Nothing but Christianity will ever stop such a flood of indecency. Tho Christian religion will speak after awhile. The billingsgate and low scandal through which wo wade every year or every four years must bo rebuked by that religion which speaks from its two great mountains—from tho one mountain intoning thocommand, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, ” and from the other mount making plea for kindness and blessing rather than cursing. Yes, we are going to have a national religion. There are two kinds of national religion. Tho ono is support ed by tho state, and is a matter of hu man politics, and it has great patronage, and under it men will struggle foi prominence without reference to quali fications, and its archbishop is supported by a salary of $75,000 a year, and there are great cathedrals, with all the ma chinery of music and canonicals, aud room for a thousand people, yet an au dience of fifty people, or twenty people, or ten or two. Wo want no such leligiou as that, no such national religion, but we want this kind of national religion —the vast majority of the people con verted aud evangelized—and then they will manage the secular as well as the religious. Do you say that this is impracticable! No. The time hi coming just ns cer tainly us there is a God, and that this is his book, and that ho has tho strength and the honesty to fulfill his promises. Ono of the ancient emperors used to pride himself on performing that which his counselors said was impossible, and I have to tell you today that man’s im possibles are God’s easies. “Hath he said, aud shall he not do it? Hath he commanded, and will he not bring it tc pass?” The Christian religion is coming totake possession of every ballot box, of every schoolhouse, of evey home, of ev ery valley, of every mountain, of every acre of our national doumin. This na tion, notwithstanding all the evil influ ences that are trying to destroy it, iu going to live. Never since, according to John Mil ton, when “satun was hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal skies in hid eous ruin and combustion down,” have the powers of darkness been so deter mined to win this continent as now. What u Jewel it is—a jewel curved in relief, the cameo of this planet 1 On ••• £ » — B A % » ... - -Si 4 % WAJU OIMU OA UO IAAU UtAMAJlAt* UCUU4J 9 MAtAU’ j ing us from the wornout governments of Europe. On the other side tho Pacific ocean, dividing ns from tho supersti- i tious of Asia. On the north of us the arctic sea, which is the gymnasium in which tho explorers and navigators de velop their courage. A continent 10,500 miles long, 17,000,000 square miles, aud allof it but about ono seventh capa ble of rich cultivation. One hnmlicd millions of population on this continent of North and fcoulb America—100,000,- 000, aud room for many hundred mil lions more. All flora aud all fauna, all metals and nil precious woods, and nil grains and all fruits. Tho Appalachian range tho backbone, aud tho rivers tho ganglia carrying lifo all through and out to tho extremities, isthmus of Darien, tho narrow waist of a giant con tinent, all to bo under ono government, and all free, and all Christian, and the scene of Christ’s personal reign on earth if, according to the expectation of many good people, he shall at last set up his throne iu this world. Who shall h . vo this hemisphere, Christ or satau? Who shall liavo the shore cf her inland seas, the silver of her Nevadas, tho gold of her Colorados, tho telescopes of her ob servatories, tho brain of her universities, tho wheat of her prairies, tho rice of her savannas, tho two great ocean beaches— tho ono reaching from Baffin’s bay to Ticrra del Fucgo, and tho other from Bering strait to Capo Horn—and all j tho moral and temporal and spiritual aud everlasting intcrcstaof a population vast beyond all human computation? Who shall liavo tho hemisphere? You aud I will decide that, or help to de cide it, by conscientious vote, by earnest prayer, by maintenance of Christian in stitutions, by support of great philan thropies, by putting body, mind and soul on tho right side of all moral, re ligious and national movements. Tlie Final Need*. Ah, it will not make any difforeneo to you or to mo what becomes of this continent, so far ns carllily comfort is concerned. All wo will want of it will bo 7 feet by 3, aud that will take in tho largest, and there will be room and to spare. That is all of this country wo will need very soon—the youngest of us all. But wo have an anxiety about tho welfare and tho happiness of the genera tions that mo coming on, and it will bo a grand tiling if, when the archangel's trumpet sounds, wo Cud that onr sepulchre, liko tho one Joseph of Arima- thea provided for Christ, is in tho midst of a garden. One of tho seven wonders of the world was tho white marble watch tower of pharos of Egypt. Sostratus, the archi tect and sculptor, after building that watch tower, cut bis uamo on it. Then ho covered it with plaster, and to please the king he put the monarch’s name on the ou'.idc of tho plastering, aud the storms 1 eat and tho seas dashed in their fury, and they washed off the plaster ing, aud they washed it out, mid they washed it down, but tho name of Sos- tratua was deep cut iu the imperishable reek. So aer< the face of this nation there have ban a g-eat many names written, across our finances, across our religious,names worthy of lenteinbrance, names written on the architecture of our churches, and onr schools, and onr asy lums, and onr homes of mercy, but God is the architect of this continent, and lie was tho sculptor of all its grandeurs, and long after—through the wash of the ages aud tho tempests of centuries—all other names shall be obliterated tho divine signature and divine uamo will be brighter aud brighter as the millen niums go by, and tho world shall see that the God who made this continent has redeemed it by his grace from all its sorrows and from all its crimes. The Mighticit Afcucjr. Havo you faith in such a thing as that? Al'icr all tho chariots havo been uuwheeled, aud after all the war char gers have been crippled, the chariots which Elisha saw on tho morning of his peril will roll on iu triumph, followed by all tho armies of heaven on white horses. God could do it without us, but ho will not. Tho weakest of us, the faintest of us, the smallest brained of us, shall havo a part iu tho triumph. Wo may not havo our name, liko the name of Sostratns, cut in imperishable rock aud conspicuous for centuries, but wo shall bo remembered in a better place than that, even iu the heart of him whucamo to redeem us aud redeem tho world, and our names will he seen close to tho signature of his wound, for, as today ho throws out his arms to ns, ho says, “Behold, I have graven thee on tho palms of my hand.” By the mightiest of all agencies, the potency of prayer, I beg yon seek our national wel fare. Some time ago there were 4,000,000 letters in tho dead letter postoflico in this city—letters that lost their way— but not ono prayer ever directed to the heart of God miscarried. The way is all clear for the ascent of your supplica tions heavenward in behalf of this na tion. Before the postal communication was so easy, and long ago on a rock 100 feet high on the coast of England there was a barrel fusioned to a post, aud in great letters on the side of the rock, so it could be seen fur out at sea, were the words "Postofflce,” and when ships came by a bout put out to take and fetch letters. And so sacred were those de posits of affection in that barrel that no lock was ever put upon that barrel, al though it contained messages for Amer ica and Europe aud Asia and Africa aud all the islands of the sea. Many a storm tossed sailor, homesick, got mes sages of kindness by that rock, aud many a homestead hoard good news from a boy long gono. Would that all the heights of our national prosperity were in interchange of sympathies— prayers going up meeting blessings com- ; ing down, postal celestial, not by a storm struck rock on a wintry coast, but by the Rock of Ages. l*uiKU»g** Elegance of language may not be in tho power of allof us, but simplicity and struigtbforwarduess are. Write much ; as you would speak. Speak as you think, if with yonr inferiors, speak no cuaieci than usual; if with your superiors, no finer. Be whut yon 8e.y, and within the rules of pinduuoe say whut you are.— Alford. Recommends Itself R. R. LIPSCOMB, '’Hood’s Sarsaparilla adapts It elf to the tick and wall alike. To the tick it Is a sure cure and to the well tho best safeguard agalcst sickness. My children Were weak and puny. Two of them had ca tarrh. Hood’s Sarsaparilla cured them after other remedies failed. I, myself, had been dys peptic for twenty years and sought relief in vain. I resorted to Hood’s Sarsaparilla and bam been built up in health. It aured my stomach trouble and my weight has increased from 112 to 140 pounds. Try it ye sufferers from Maine to Califor nia and from the North to tae Gulf. Hood's Sarsaparilla will do you good.” D. P. Smith, Justice of Peace, Mountain Creek, North Carolina. $1; six for $5. LIDille easytotuice, SS JUU r lllo eaay In eiluct. 23 cent*. It’s the Talk Based on facts that your dollar will buy more Insurance and Real Estate Aft., Merchandise Broker AaA Dealer ia The Celebrated N*. 9 Weheler & Wilson Sewing riachlntt. NVcdles and attachments for all different makes of machines. office in Lipscomb Hotel build- ing. A Wise Investment. A policy of Insurance in such 90m- panies as the .'Etna, Home, Hartford, American Fire and Pennsylvania it protect your home and business from loss and damage by fire is a wise ia- vestment. I shall be glad to furnish such pro tection at any time. Cull before in suring. I". C>. HTPiVeY. Groceries DR. J. F. GARRETT, Dentist, at Webster’s than at any other ! G a ff nev store in town. My stock of Fine Candies is up-to-date. Yours for business. W. M. Webster, Jr. July iq, itas- s. c. Office over J R. Tolleson’s new store. I it office from 1st to 24th of eack month ; J. G. GALLOWAY & SON, OixlTno^y, G., ‘.S y l , ./ y ‘"“y > '"■ T t.v J Offerinf .aw (■ t V.J.-‘V- Special 1’ L On Stoves, Heaters, Ranges, Grates, Etc., and bin now on exhibition the largest and most varied lin ever carried by any house in the State, ranging mr some twenty-five different prices, and we will be gM to have you see them before yon buy. WE ARE just in receipt of letters from several foundries ad vancing prices considerably, so we think yon vnld lb well to buy before our present stock is exhausted. Cut Prices At J. I. Sarratts. I \M now ulTi ring my entire stock at prices that will sell to anyoi* want ing goods Gents i»»\\ «-ut shoes 80c, Ladies’ GOc, Childs I0« nnd up. Men’s suits, new good-: $2.f>0 and up..Pants 40c and up, C*f- fcelillis for .'M Sugar llicc. Tr», I.nrd, Meiit. Flour, and Tobacc* at BOTTOM I’Mt'ES, < nlif'n in Hams 8c. Dove hra d 9c. Mnnaiita tools, such ns Shovels, ."pinhs. Mullocks. Picks, drc., .Draperthan aiy one in town. A lew Simw iinis h-fl ui New ^ 01 k t oaf. Geuk'a •uum Ifijjc and up. Suspemh r- f»c and up. (live me a cull when In taVB. Be-pi « , i fully J -a — ,J| 1.