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% >W‘ rW 1 7- ' A By Rev. FRANK DE V/ITT TALMAGE, D.D., j Pastor of Jefferson Park Presby* teri&n Church, Chicago i Ijos Anpeles, Cal., Feb. 21.—In tins sermon the preacher sounds the Lent- j en call to all classes—the social devo tee, the business man, the humble worker and the homekeeper, the rich and the poor alike—as a summons to tK^ annual duties of the season of spir itual preparation. The text Is Joel i, 14, “Sanctify ye a fast; call a solemn assemblage.” The Presbyterian church has enrolled among its leaders many intellectual theologians. Entitled to a prominent place among them by his learning, phil osophic acumen and sanctified common sense is Dr. Francis L. Patton, former ly president of Princeton university and now president of Princeton Theo logical seminary. Many of his weighty utterances have impressed me, but none more than one he made on the value and usefulness of the Episcopalian church. His words In substance were: “I be lieve the Episcopalian church is one of the most effective churches In exist ence today. I believe In Its ritual; I be lieve In Its teachings. If I were not a Presbyterian, I would certainly be an Episcopalian. But, though I love and honor the Episcopalian church, I also believe that the most absurd of mon strosities Is a Presbyterian In his form ' of worship trying to ape an Episcopa lian. While we are Presbyterians let us remain Presbyterians. When we want to become Episcopalians In our form of worship, in responsive read ings and in all that the Episcopalian service implies, let us become Episco palians. But do not let us try to change the Presbyterian pulpit Into a chancel or the grand old simple service of the Presbyterian church into a concert by a surpliced choir and into the liturgy of the Episcopalian church.” The Sprlnsr Past. Amen, say I, to the sound advice of Dr. Patton. The simple doxology, the two or three congregational hymns, the chapter read from the Bible, the earnest prayers and the doctrinal as well as practical sermon can never be . :e, T -^elled as a service for the grand old church which the names of John Cal vin and John Knox and Thomas Chal mers and Thomas Guthrie and Lowell Mason and William Taylor and John Hall have made immortal. But, though I would not have the Presbyterian church adopt a ritual, I still insist that the Episcopalian church has not an ex clusive title to all the good things she may hold dear. Especially do I affirm that she has not a sole right to her spring fast, which starts with Ash Wednesday and closes with Easter’s S . Way back in Joel we read the ! land, “Sanctify ye a fast; call a in assemblage.” If that divine comm/and is still in force for us as for God’s ancient people, is there a better time for.its observance than the period preceding our commemoration of the passion It was at that the before the! beginning of his ministry and thereAfasting for forty days, pre pared for ti\e ordeal of his temptation It will be well for Presbyterians as for Episcopalians to meditate on that ex perience of oiw Lord and draw near to him in our hefcrts. We must have self abnegation foir sin before we can truly have closer union with God. Therefore the purpose on this sermon is to show why the Episcopalian Lent should be come a Presbyterian Lent, also why the “spring fast, *’ which is the time of the “lengthening' of days,” should be observed all ovel- the world by all Christians, no majtter to what individ ual churches they '.may belong. WnrninK of Spiritual DmiKer. The Episcopalian> ( Lent, in the first place, calls pations now large cities, it cries,^ “Peace, be still!” to the social whirlpool, which is grad ually sucking down <js many strug gling victims as Peter \k as once being drawn into the depths of the Galilean lake. It to the women of the “social abyss,” “You brive something higher to live for than a nightly round of receptions and partiesi and a never ending succession of aftjemoon teas.” It says to the young meli of the “so cial abyss,” who, under nfie power of stimulants, are trying to work In the store by day and to danc e almost ev ery night until 1 or 2 o' clock in the morning, "Young man, yc u had better stop and consider to what purpose you are devoting the best ene -gies of your life.” It warns the social devotee of the spiritual danger of hid course, as a noted New Y'ork capitalist warned him of the financial danger! when some time ago he said: “The young men ThL will not succeed lit business are those who night after night may be found in the ballrooms i ,nd the dance halla and at the city cluljhouses drink ing a little, playing cardu a little and eating expensive dinners.. They are sometimes called the drtones of so ciety. This is a misnomer., Like some small insects that sport frtr a day in the sumrc sr sunshine, they jare minute destructives. Their lives in/ the econo my of social life make one( of the pet ty agencies of degeneratloni” Was not the capitalist glght? Are not the ballroom and the 'dance hall and the clubhouse a continujal menace to success in business? Caia a young map go to a progressive eujehre party und play cards untl 11 o'clock and sit down to a midnight banquet and then be In the right physical ^ n( i mental trim to sell goods in the state the next ig >ur commemoration or tue arid resurrection of our Lord? at (this season of the year, too, ■ Mjastcr withdrew to the desert ief beginning eAfastlng for ' t Rio ordeal o lopalxau' Lent, in the first a halt to the social dissi- • being practiced in all the morning? is not the social shrine also a very poor foundation upon which to build the altar of Jesus Christ? Is not most of its intluence spiritually deplet ing? Some time ago I read a wonder ful book entitled “The Call of the Wild.” The central figure of that story was a magnificent dog, a cross between a St. Bernard and a Great Dane. He was stolen from his California home und sent far north into the Klondike regions, where he was compelled to drag the minors’ sleds over the Alaskan snows. Jack London, the writer, with a master hand traces him from a great, big, loving house dog down and down until he Is a dog thief among dog thieves. He traces his degeneracy down and down until at last the hayings of the wolves cal! him into the darkness of the northern forests, and “the call of the wild” is answered by “the srspouse of the wild.” Obey the Divine Command. Is not society’s call too often “the call of the wild?” In the social world when you give u banquet do you uot for the most part ask only those in your own social set? Do you obey the divine command, “When thou makest a dinner or a supper call not thy friends nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen uor thy rich neighbors, lest they also bid thee again and a recom pense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot rec ompense thee, but thou shalt be recom pensed at the resurrection of the Just” Is not society’s call often “the call of the wild” because It Is a call to selfish ness, the call of only doing good to them who do good to you? Is It not often the call merely of wealth to asso ciate with wealth and social caste with social caste? Oh, ye worshipers at the social shrines, better heed today the Lenten call! Better snuff out the many lights of the ballrooms and the ban quet halls! Know ye not that during the “spring fast” the lowly Nazarene Is knocking at the door of your hearts trying to get in? ‘Tis true we cannot reach Christ’s for tieth day, Yet to go part of that religious way Is better than no deed. Neither ought other men’s abuse of Lent Spoil the good use, lest by that argument We forfeit all our creed. The Lenten Call. The Episcopalian Lent, in the next place, is a protest against business ab sorption. It says to the merchant, the | manufacturer and the professional man: “You have a right to work. In deed, you must work and work hard if you are to support your family and meet the financial necessities which are yours. But, O man, you have no right to make the acquisition of money the chief object of your life any more than you have a right to live to eat. I ‘By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.’ But that sweat should not make thee indifferent to God or to the higher purposes of life, for which thou wert created.” But the great danger of money mak ing is that tiie acquisition of wealth may become a passion. The calls of the money market become so great and | urgent that an average business man ; does not feel that he has time to stop j and think about bis relations to God. Amid the whirl of business activities he feels a great deal as did Oliver Wen- i dell Holmes during his trip through : England. He said be went so fast he had time “to talk with lots of people, but he had time to have a true conver sation with non* 1 .” By that the poet j Holmes meant that he had time to drop here a word and there a word, but he I went through Europe so quickly he | had no time to exchange heart to heart | thoughts with great thinkers, as he did with Max Muller when he lay in his house sick for nearly a week. But, i though the business world would de mand all of a man’s energies, the Lenten season comes into a busy mer chant's life and says, “O man, you | should never be too busy to take time j to think of your responsibilities to God!” So the Episcopalian Lent sends its best men straight into the very heart of Wall street. In old Trinity church in the busiest part of the day | during the Lenten season we hear the i Christian preacher’s voice calling, as do the Mohammedan priests from the minarets of the eastern mosques: “O business men, come to prayers! Come ; to prayers! O ye business men, come to prayers, come to prayers, come to prayers!” A Tien For Higher Lif»>. The Lenten season pleads with busi- j ness men for the higher life, as I once ! heard Robert Speer plead with n great audience of men for the higher life. ' “Men,” said he, “I have always been ambitious. By that I mean I have al ways wanted to make the most out of ! my life. If I had thought 1 could have made more out of my life by en tering the United States army I cer tainly would have done so. Had I ; thought I would have made more out ; of my life by entering business I should have consecrated my energies to money making. But I did think I could make most out of my life by be ing an evangelist of God. Therefore, men, I beg and plead with you, no mat ter who you are, to live for the higher life. If yo i are a merchant, be a Christian merchant; if a lawyer, be a Christian lawyer; if n manufacturer, be n Christian manufacturer.” Thus the Lenten season says: “Live for the higher life. ' Make your eounte’’, O man, a Christian counter. Make your mechanic’s bench a Christian bench. Make your office a Christian.office. Be like Paul, a Christian tentmaker. At the same time he was a Christian preacher.” O business men, wher ever you may be and whatever you may be doing, “sanctify ye a fast; call a solemn assemblage!” Come to pray ers! Come to the Lenten prayers! A Spiritual Honaecleanlnff. The Episcopalian Lent, in the next place, is a time for spiritual house- cleaning. As the “spring fast” lmm» uinieiy succeeds tfie time when the business man takes an account of stock, we find the spring fast comes just before the days when the house wives are turning the houses upside down in their semiannual attacks upon •jhe dust and the moths. It is the time which we husbands dread, but it is the bousecleaning time, which every pru dent wife declares is essential for the physical health of her family. It Is ab- solutefy necessary to keep physical dirt out of a house, yet in spite of all pre cautions it will keep creeping in every where. Although the workmen in the Philadelphia mint are as careful as they can be, the dirt and the fine parti cles of gold will sift through the floor cracks. So great are these siftings that every year the floor Is taken up and the dirt is separated from the gold, and thousands of dollars’ worth of gold are thus collected for the United States treasury. In spite of all our precau tions the minute, Innumerable stains of sin will creep Into the heart. There fore each year It Is very desirable to obey the call to the Lenten spring fast. Once a year Is certainly not too often to take a spiritual accounting and to conduct a serious self examination. The call to a fast should reach the ear of every Christian. What does that mean? Shall our wives and mothers and sis ters go to the grocer and the butcher and the baker and say, “We do not want any more meat or vegetables or bread for the next forty days?” Does it mean that all the members of a home shall go without physical nutrition, as Dr. Tanner fasted for forty days and Leonard Thress fasted for fifty days and Rev. C. H. Dalrymple fasted for thirty-nine days and Milton Rathburn fasted for thirty-six days and Estella F. Kuenzel fasted for forty-one days? Oh, no. The habit of fasting, inspired by boastful folly and the desire of see ing how long we can live without tast ing food, is Just as sinful as the oppo site extreme of gluttony, to see how much one can eat without utterly de stroying the smooth workings of the di gestive organs. Spiritual housecleaning does not mean the complete abstinence from physical food. It docs mean emphatic ally the reconsecration and the rededi- cation of the domestic fireside to Jesus Christ through self abnegation. It means that we shall have prayers at the cradle. It means that we shall have prayers in the bedroom and pray ers in the parlor and prayers In the sit ting room and prayers In the kitchen and have the dining room spread with a gospel banquet of the “bread of life.” , If next week you were to entertain the king of England or the emperor of Ger- | many, you would turn your home up side down to make it attractive for the j advent of his majesty. Shall we not in j the same way, by spiritual houseclean- ing, prepare for the entertainment of our Heavenly King by easting out of doors all sinful thoughts and desires which find lodgment in our hearts? Preparutlona For Chrlat. The Lenten season in the home means simply the spiritual preparation for Christ to visit the home. When Mar tin Farquhar Tapper, the famous Eng lish poet, came to visit us in Brooklyn we gave to him the very best room in the house. We gathered together the most famous literary men of the city to meet him. At that party Horace Greeley came, and William Cullen Bryant came and read his “Thanatop- sis,” and George William Curtis came, and I think John G. Whittier came. I well remember my mother giving to me Tupper’s popular book, “Proverbial Philosophy,” and saying: “Bead that book. You should know who Martin Farquhar Tupper is before he comes, and then you can honor him as he should be. honored.” In like manner the Lenten season In the home is an appropriate time for the spiritual prep aration for Christ’s coming to the home. The children should be told all about him and be prepared to welcome the Saviour as a friend. The cook and the chambermaid should be told all about him, so that they may know how Christ loved Martha, the busy cook, as well as the gentle Mary who sat at his feet. Home friends should be told all about him. so that they also may come iu and honor the divine guest. As we in the Brooklyn home read and reread the writings of the English poet in or der to know what his thoughts might be, so to prepare for the advent of Christ in the home we should read and reread the words which he spoke unto his disciples of old. We should prepare to greet Christ not as a stranger, but us a long loved and anxiously awaited friend. Fop Better Choreli Life. The Lenten season is an annual plea for the spiritualization of the church. Ministers of the different Protestant churches are more and more getting into the custom of going into a “re treat” at least once a year, where by fasting and prayer they may spiritual ly prepare themselves for their ec clesiastical ministrations. At least once a • year as church members we should go into a spiritual “retreat.” In that “retreat” we "hould call upon our Heavenly Fathei that the Holy Spirit may bless us in our relation ship with our midweek prayer meet ings and Sunday schools and Christian Endeavor societies and bless us in our relationship to his great church at large. After Jesus Christ drove the money changers out of the temple, were the attempts to secularize the bouse of God into a place for mere educational and literary and musical and social and financial enjoyment forever aban doned? Do not some of us, conscious ly and unconsciously, fall Into the er ror of coming to church merely on ac count of the oratorical gifts of the preacher? Did .»ot thousands upon thousands of worshipers sit at the feet of a Beecher, a Cummlng, a Rowland Hill sad a John Wesley, not because they were worshiping God, but rather because they were worshiping a bril liant man? Do not thousands upon thousands of people go to the great cathedrals of Europe In order to hear the music, just as those same musical lovers would sit at the feet of a Liszt, | n Paderewski or a l)amrosoh v We know that the,finest living ran- I *ical composer of Italy leads the Vati- ' can choir and the finest organist of all ! London is master of St. Paul’s famous | organ and that Plymouth church was not more noted for the fact that it had one of the greatest of preachers than that It had one of the greatest of mu sicians, who was able to make its or gan pipes weep and sob as well as sound a mighty hosanna. Are not some of our churches on account of their wealth being more and more secular ized into mere social clubs? Do not many professional men go to church uot lor the spiritual good they may get out of those churches, but that they may be able to come in touch with those who worship in those congrega tions? Is it not becoming more and more the custom for the members of the church boards of trustees to judge of the success or the failure of the church by the criterion of money—by the way that church in its collections is able to take in as well as give out wealth? Heed tbe Snminona. Oh, yes, my frienda, the church mem bers should heed the Lenten summons. They should heed the spiritual call, which soars above the discordant ones of the busy marts even as the clear note of the thrush may be heard above the bedlam of the woods sounding the reveille of the morning. They should hear the Lenten call which says to the clergyman, “Oh, ordained undershep herd of the Christian pulpit, down on your kneci and pray!” Lent calls to the elders and deacons and Sunday school officers, “Down on your knees and pray!” It calls to the lay members, whether bediamonded and in silks or in humble homespun, “Down on your knees in prayer!” Oh, that we might all heed the spiritual Lenten call and make Christ’s church a veritable “house of prayer.” Thus, my friends, the spring fast calls to the men in the social world and to the men iu the business world and to the men in the home and to the men in the church to come to prayers. It calls at this time because on tbe coming of Ash Wednesday we shall celebrate the beginning of one of the most triumphant and yet saddest times of all Christ's earthly existence. The Jordanic baptism was’ just over. Christ was about to begin his divine mission. We know not how far the human na ture he assumed may have obscured for the time the divine attributes he possessed. It may be that in those for ty days of solitary thought and prayer he realized more clearly than in his former years the sublimity of his work and of his sacrifice. He saw what his work was to be. He saw how he must carry the burden of man’s sins and die for man and be resurrected before’ be could retur s Father’s throne. May this coming spring fast of the Lenten season be to you also a time of spiritual awakening. May it be a time when you will not only realize that God has a glorious earthly work for you to do, but a time when you can realize that after work is done you shall live on and on and with Christ and never die. May you during the next coming forty days be much in prayer, much in earnest beseechment. May you also feel and know that the way you are to be best fitted for that earthly work is by tbe depth of your repentance as well as by the height of your glorious and triumphant faith. May God bless this Lenten season to us all! • [Copyright. 1904, by Louis Klopsch.] BEGINS WORK with the first dose, cleansing the blood of all the poisonous acids that produce RHEUMATISM, driving out all the dangerous germs that infest the body—that is the way cures are effected by Other medicines treat symptoms; Rhtumacidt removts tbt cause, and, therefore, its CURES ARE PERMANENT. Helps the digestion, tones up the system. Sample bottle free on application to Bobbitt Chemical Co., Pro prietors, 316 West Lombard St., Baltimore, Md. Closing Out Sale -OF- WINTER GOODS! In the face of 16 cents cotton, We are daily receiving our beauti ful spring goods— Percales, Prints, Toil DuNords, Chambrays, Mercerized and Silk Waistings in lovely designs. Insertions, Embroideries to match in short lengths, bought at a bargain. Will give you the advantage of our purchase. In order to make room for spring goods will sell Ladies’and Chil dren’s Unoin Suits at prices that will look cheap when next season comes. Buy good Underwear for the School Children and save many colds and sore throats. Good Shoes, Stockings and Rubbers save many doctor bills and these are to be had here cheap. Now is the time to buy goods. They are advancing daily in the markets, and you hear every body talking high prices except at our store. Here we have anticipated the advance and bought early. Come quick and get the pick. Respecif t'dy. ,L G. I^ipscomt> & Co. We Have Clipped Off the Profits. As the winter season advances, and it will soon be time for Spring Goods, we have decided to clip off the profits in some of our lines in order to close out the goods. You all know what “Cut i rices’’ means at CLARY’S. Here are a few of the many bargains we offer: Men’s Shoes. LIVE BARGAINS AT COST. % $3.50 “Richmond Standard” (lined) at 53.00. 53.50 Kiser Quality, 53.25. 53 50 Kiser King, 53.25. Celebrated Brotherhood Shoes, 53-°°- 5l-5o Pat ent Colts, 52.75. Good line Shoes at 98c. Odds ami ends at cost. Ladies’ Shoes. 53.00 “Ratcliff” at 53-oo “Runaway Girl” (Bluchers) at 52.75. 53.00 “Home Journal,” 52 50. “Southern Girl’’ (lace), 89c and 79c. Some broken lines at cost. Few more pairs “Maid Marion” and “Gate City” Shoes at 98c. Good line CHILDREN'S Shoes to be sold cheap before the cold season is over. Frnnot* , « l.n»t S*roiiKliold. A report of uncertain origin which obtained currency a few days ago at tributed to the United States the in tention of purchasing and to France the Intention of selling the small group of islands off the coast *f Newfound land known as St. Pierre and Miquelon. Our Paris correspondent was able to send us the assurance that tbe report was absolutely devoid of foundation. The islands have a certain material value for France. But from the purely commercial point of view their value to our neighbors cannot be very great. Their total area is only ninety-three square miles, and according to the last census the population was only 6,852, of whom only -1.700 are permanent resi dents. the balance being made up of a floating population of officials, gen darmes and fishermen. Practically no vegetation exists on tue barren, rocky surface of the islands. This little group of rocky islands, set in the northern sea, is the sole remain ing relic of the once great empire which France possessed on the North Ameri can continent—London Post. Corsets and Dress Goods. We have a splendid line of Corsets which we want to introduce to the ladies of Gaffney. To do this we will make a reduction on them for a short while: One line in white, blue and pink at 74c; one lot white at 69c; line 54c ones at 49c; 5i <x> Corsets at 90c, guaranteed for 30 days. Big cut in the Dress Goods line. All 10c Fleeced Goods now going for 8j£c yd. All heavy Dress Goods marked down to close out at once. Nice line Lace Curtains at 98c. Grocery Department. This department is always complete with a big stock of the best brands of Groceries, Canned Gocds, Fruits, Cigars, Tobacco, &c. A visit to our store will convince you that \VF) MEAN BUSINESS. LIMESTONE STREET. Sam W. Clary. North Gaffney Mfg. Co. Silver and Wounds. Dr. Reboul has made use with excel lent results of a sheet of silver leaf lu dressing wounds and ulcerations. The silver sticks closely to the surface of the wounded or diseased tissue and a small quantity of cotton soaked in col lodion Is sufficient to keep it in place. When the wound is fresh it heals quickly without inflammation or sup- •puration. A perfect cicatrization of ulcerated cancer of the skin has been attained by this means. The antiseptic properties of silver are not popularly known’. Some years ago Dr. Rollin of Lyons, In cultivating microbes in a bouillon which be bad placed In a silver cup, found that the microbes perished and at the end of a few hours completely disappeared, and the fact was all the more remarkable as the same microbes multiplied when placed in another vessel. Pursuing bis investigations, Dr. Rollin analyzed the bouillon which was contained In the sliver vessel and found therein a very small trace of silver, which infinitely small quantity had rendered the bouil lon antiseptic. North British and Mercantile Insurance Company. Oar friends will be interested in learning that our losses in the Baltimore conflagration, amounting to about $1,000,000 00, will be paid in cash without discount immediately upon adjustment. Our instructions from London are to draw for the funds neces sary to meet these claims and thus avoid disturbing our Ameri can securities. Yours truly, New Yoik, Feb. 10, ’04. ‘ E. G. RICHARDS, Mgr. This Company lost and paid $2,330,000.00 in Chicago fire Oct., 1871; $742,067.56 in Boston fire, Nov. 1872; $860,000.00; St. John firs, June 1877. THE TRADERS’ INSURANCE CO.’S LOSS in the Baltimore fire is $170,000.00. Cash in Bank today, $264,000.00. Policy holders’ surplus, $1,679,462.61. Chicago, Feb. 9th, ’04. S. A. ROTHERMEL, Sec’y. THE WESTERN ASSURANCE CO. As you are doubtless interested in knowing how the Company fared in the Baltimore fire. I am pleased to say that our losses are $350,000, and that our adjusters who are now in Baltimore, have been instructed to adjust and to pay all losses by draft on home office. Very truly yours, GEO. A. DEXTER, Mgr. Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 19, ’04. The above company is represented at Jones J. Darby’s agency, who solicits your bu4iness. 1 /^ A 1WJ Made on Real Estate in City of Gaffney and County of Cherokee. Abstracts furnished. Ac ATTORNEYS AT LAW. SUr Theatre Building. J,-. V i ■ ^