Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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S | By Rev. Frank DeWitt Talmage, D. D. John the Baptist, in untanned akina, exceptional of birds. Alfred Tennyson, Los Angelos, Cal., Sept. 18.—In the nature and habits of the birds the preacher finds a simile of the entrance into the church of a large accession of converts. The text is Isaiah lx, 8. “Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows?” • An axiom is a self evident fact. “It Is,” the lexicographers say, *‘a proposi-, , , ^ , Uon whose truth is so obvious at first eighteenth century. Thousands upon sight that no process of reasoning or demonstration can make it plainer, walked through Europe, lifting high in his hands the crucifix, until thousands and tens of thousands of devotees were ready, in 1090, to follow this enthusi astic ascetic to Palestine as the ad vance guard of the crusaders. We know that thousands upon thousands of Cromarty miners used to hang upon the words of John Wesley in the early mornings at f* o’clock, before their day’s work began. We know that no building was large enough to hold the | | crowds who wanted to heat Moody. Great halls had to be erected in Bos- ' i ton and New York and Chicago to hold the huge audiences. The Philadelphia depot on account of its great size hud to be used in place of a church. Thou- | sands upon thousands found Christ In the revivals of the seventeenth century ! under the preaching of the Puritans. Thousands upon thousands found I Christ in the Methodist revivals of the poet Mureate of England, In a beauti ful rhythmic masterpiece once enun ciated the doctrine that multitudes can make an object despised when it should be admired. Said he: Once In a golden hour I cast to earth a seed. Up there came a flower—the people said, a weed. To and fro they went through my garden bower And, muttering discontent, cursed me and my flower. Then It grew so tall It wore a crown of light. But thieves from o’er the wall stole the seed by night. Sowed It far and wide by every town and tower, Till all the people cried, "Splendid Is the flower." Read my little fable; he that runs may read. Most can raise the flowers now, for all have got the seed. And some are pretty enough, and some are poor Indeed, And now again the people call it but a weed. demonstration can make it plainer. . . , | , , It is a golden truism coined in the Charles G. Finney hod such power over ; But though “blacl “mint house of maxims” with the rais- that a dying blasphemer said. tht . “golden spore” ed features of the Goddess of Truth ,' I)on 1 let . c * a > " ‘ inuP r P reac ^ violets” on account thousands found Christ In the first part | of the nineteenth century, when ‘black eyed Susans” or or the “blue eyed of their great wul- stamped upon its side, even as the ^ funeral sermon, or be will preach j titudes may be called a common flower English shilling bears the profile of Uli King Edward, an American silver dol lar the outstretched wings of an eagle, A Flight of l vc». as the Roman penny once bore the su- The selection of the fitrre of a flight perscription and image of Ciesar and ! of doves is significant. ^ is, above a Grecian coin the features of Alexan- other tilings, a suggestion of immense der the Great It is an aphorism, an multitudes. But few people realize the apothegm. It Is as Hippocrates once marvelous numbers and propagating rit y ^enus had this bird as her em- blem. Dean Stanley in relating bis soul into Leaven in spite of my _ a weed—the dove, in spite of her awn desires.” multitudes, has never been called a common bird. The dove always has been and always will be the symbol of purity, gentleness and love. This symbol was recognized in heathen times. Because the dove signified pu- said, “A succinct saying comprehend-1 powers of the doves of oiden times. Ing a complete statement.” It is one Biberg, the ornithologist estimated of the many terse sentences of Benja- that if a common pair of c omestiented min Franklin which are found In Poor pigeons hatched nine tlrm s a year— Richard's Almanac. No sooner do we which number of hatchings is not ex read it than we say, “That is true.” traordinary for an average pair of From the moment of reading no amount of illustration or argument can change us from our original conclu sion. It is a strong armed charioteer, swiftly guiding before our eyes the “chariot of conviction.” It is truth in a nutshell. It is a universe of analyses condensed in an epigram. The truth of an axiom can be put to a practical test. Sometimes, however, men do not. take the trouble to test it, these birds—and if these p geons laid two eggs at one time, ai d all the fledgelings which were hatcl ed should live and hatch in turn, that single pair of pigeons would produce in four years nearly fifteen thousand descendants. The fecundity of the dove is about as oriental travels writes thus about the ruins of Ascalon: “The temple erected to the Syrian Venus is destroyed, but the sacred doves—sacred by innumer able legends of the spot and celebrated there even as late as Eusebius—still fill with their cooings the luxuriant gardens which grow in the sandy hol lows within the ruined walls.” Xvrtared by a Dove. In the beautiful mythological legend Semiramis, the queen, was said in her and at death to have been changed into a dove. We find, however, in Christian nomenclature the dove Is also the symbol of purity and gentle ness and divine love. In the Bible the dove lias the most hallowed of asso ciations. It was as a dove that the Holy Spirit appeared at the baptism great as the reproductive powe's of the youth to have been nurtured bj a do\ e English sparrow or the Australian rabbit. The most graphic description ever written of the innumerable multi- but give credence to statements ap- t U( ies of the doves was penned by parently contradicting it, instead of Alexander Wilson, the na* rallst. applying the test of experience. Some Statements made by this Stottish- years ago the French savants wore American traveler were indorsed by asked to explain how it was that a John Audubon. Among the ornltho- pail of water containing a dead fish logical authorities there can be no bet- of Josus. It was two doves that the ;weighed more than one of the same t cr indorsement than this: "Mr. Wil- Blessed Virgin presented at the temple size containing a live fish. Disserta- BO n wrote that down in'Kentucky, in as an oblation for her purification aft- tion after dissertation was written a pince which migrating doves used to er the divine birth. What says the upon the subject. At last one com- v j g jt annually, their multitudes were psalmist in reference to the man’s re- mon sensed scientist, whose brain had B0 great that they literally destroyed demption from sin and his cleansing not been educated to the verge of im- w h 0 i e forest regions. In this tract through the blood of Jesus Christ? t^eoility. saw that the question was a u i )OU t which he wrote the branches “Though ye have lain among the pots, misleading one. “A dead fish and a 0 f every tree were filled with dove yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove living fish ought to weigh the same,” nc sts wherever a nest could be built, covered with sliver and the feathers said he. “This truth is axiomatic." j n ma ny trees over one hundred nests with yellow gold.” Oh, my friends, He put a live fish into a pail of water p ail i ( c t . n constructed. Above the trees in the beautiful vision of the doves, and weighed it. He killed the fish and the multitudes of the pigeons’ wings the poor, the gentle, the loving, the put the dead body back into the same were so grea t that their flapping wings water and weighed it again. The 80 unded like the boomlngs of a torna- ■water containing the dead fish and jo g 0 great was the noise of their that containing the live fish of course flapping wings that the horses of the weighed the same. All the ingenuity f an ners in that region often became expended in writing the dissertations unmanageable and could not be had been wasted. The writers had driven. Near Frankfort, Ky., Alexan- been trying to find reasons for a phe- der Wilson saw a flock of migrating nofnenon that did not exist. doves. The naturalist estimated that Church'll Power Xot Wuninff. tills single flock was two hundred and also with the swift velocity of the Hundreds of men are simply doing forty miles long and had an enrollment dove. It will not come with the lead- the same thing in trying to find the 0 f a t least 2,L’oO,000,272 birds.” en feet of a man who, having been reasons for the phenomenon stated by Isaiah describing the consecrated born in a Christian home, takes ten, shallow' observers, that the church of worshipers flocking to the millennial fifteen, twenty, perhaps thirty years, Jesus Christ is losing its power over c i iur ch could not have chosen a more to make up his mind to be a Christian, men. Long lists of reasons for this expressive figure. “These that fly ns It will not come with the slow proe- waning influence are cited, whereas a c i 0U d and as doves to their win- esses some churches have, whereby the writers have only to open their dows.” The readers of his time would their sessions or vestries or boards of -eyes to discover that the church of rea ii ZC by it what countless throngs of Jesus Christ is not losing its power men lie saw in prophetic vision hasten- over men. The church of God was ^ } uLo t i ie kingdom of.God. Migrat- never so powerful as it Ls today. More ing doves of old were so many in uum- Jesus Christ will come to the front strong men and strong women are i >ers that Alexander Wilson said their ™nk of Christian service and worship bowing before its altars than ever raov ing wings often formed a curtain before. More are the church’s teach- able to sbnt out the light of the sun Innocent doves, fluttering to tlic'r win dows, cannot you boo the syrnl •; of a future glorified and consecrated as semblage crowding about the sacred altars of Jesus Christ? This migration of the redeemed and spotless multitudes of human beings to Christ’s churches shall not only come with the purity of the dove, but deacons place the applicant for church membership on probation. But these new accessions to the churches of us quickly as the name of a Saul was changed Into a 1’aul. The new mem- ings respected by statesmen and in an( i changed midnoon into the twilight bers whom Isaiah saw in vision fled to the homes and daily lives of our citi zens than ever before. I have not time to go into argument to prove this assertion. I would not today do so if I had the time. Why? Because it is a self evident fact that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most vital and essential influence in the world today. It is a self evident state ment. All intelligent people who have looked boldly and Impartially at the facts are ready to concede that the assertion is true. But though the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is growing more and more powerful day by day, yet we believe that still greater triumphs are beiore it in the tuture. The victories already won are small compared with those which are yet to be won, when nations shall be born in a day. Joslab Strong recently wrote a book entitled “The Next Great Awakening.” I am not going to find my theme in the lat est hook of the famous author of “Our Country.” 1 am going tc look through the inspired spectacles of a prophet who lived nearly 8,000 years ago. Isaiah took the picture of the doves flying to their home cotes in great clouds as the symbol of the church of the future gathering in ita members. So I shall try to show' that the “com ing aw'nkenlng of the c’ urch” is not only going to he a worldwide evangel istic movement, but also that the conquest of the world for Christ may be near—yes, very near—at hand. Goiipel Triumphs. In the first place, let me say that such a movement ns this, foreseen by the prophet and prefigured under the j symbol of a flight of doves, is in ac-1 cord with t>e record of history. Again and again there have been revivals which have brought into the church vast numbers at one time. Since the day of Pentecost, when 6,000 were con verted under the preaching of the apos tle Peter, there have been such great movements. How many were won to the truth by the teaching of Luther? What vast multitudes were gathered under the preaching of a Wesley, a Whitefleld, a Finney and a Moody and of a Torrey ami a Chapman, a Munhall and a Harrison of the present day. We know that Peter the Hermit, clad, like of evening. The church of God is now’ i great in membership, but, church mem- bers, do you not look forward in holy ecstasy to the time when the thou sands who are worshiping Christ now shall be changed into the millions? Do you not long for the millennial day when Christ’s disciples shall flock through the church’s doors in innumer- able multitudes “as the doves fly to their windows?” Men of Llvlnar Faith. The figure is expressive not only of numbers, but of spiritual qualities. The church of the future is not to have a padded roll. It is not to be composed of a lot of members who, as the five foolish virgins of Christ’s parable, lounged around and slept and had no oil for their spiritual lamps. It is not to be composed of men and women who occupy their chun.u pews only on Sunday and then when the benedic tion of the sermon is given turn and shut their pew doors and say: “Good- by, religion. I must go home now. You just stay here for a week, and next Sunday morning I will come back and sec you and pat you on the back for i an hour again while the choir sings I and the pastor prays.” But In that church which Isaiah saw in prophecy not only shall there be multitudes of worshipers, but ail these multitudes shall be consecrated worshipers. These many worshipers shall be men of liv ing faith, to whom the presence of God is an abiding reality, Influencing them wherever they go and in every moment of their lives. As Dr. Josiah Strong wrote in his opening chapter: “The su preme need of the world is a real God; not a great perhaps, but the great I am; not a God of yesterday or tomor row, but of today; not an absentee God, but one who is precisely here; not a Sunday God, but an everyday God." Such shall be the spiritual quality of the multitudes of worshipers seen by Isaiah In the symbol of the flying doves. The symbol of the dove Is also sig nificant on account of the habits and disposition of the bird. It Is used as a simile for geptlencss and affection. The dove always will he recognized from among ail feathered tribes us the most Christ’s altar as quickly as the doves fly to their windows. Not only is the dove’s wing power fully hurtled for quick flight, but that flight can be kept up for almost Incred ible distances. We And these wonder ful flights recorded by the different columbine societies in different parts of the world. In 1805 thirty pigeons, which are only the domesticated names of the wild doves, were thrown into the air at Liverpool and started for Ghent. The distance between these two places on a straight line Is over 800 miles. The first bird which arrived home made that distance in twelve hours and twenty minutes. If this homing pigeon flew in a direct line he traveled at an average speed of twen ty-five miles per hour for twelve long hours. Once a pigeon was let loose in London and traveled to Antwerp, 180 miles distant, in five hours. He made an average of about thirty-six miles per hour. In 1844 the dove’s speed was tested, when seventy birds flew from St. Sebastian, Spain, to Venice. On a straight line they traveled a distance of over 600 miles. Homing pigeons have flown from Arizona to New York. The enduring swiftness of the dove is such that it can overfly mountains and even defy seas. Come to Chrlat Now. The swiftness of the dove’s flight is one of the greatest inspirations to me of all of Isaiah’s vision. Why the swiftness? Because I know that we can come to Christ now. Oh, my broth er, it takes a swift wing for you In an instant of time to cross over all that far country of sin which separates you from God’s dovecot. The distance from Arizona to New York or from St. Sebastian, Spain, to Venice, where doves have flown, is not as far. Tell me, O man, did you not start forth on your Journey ot sin ten, twenty, forty years ago? Why, let me recount the years. You have not seen a commun ion table since your mother died. You have not made one earnest prayer for ten years. If I was today to count over the list of your intimate friends I would find them without exception to be men and women who have not been in the past and are. not now living C’hrlKtlau lives. Oh, my brother, my poor sin sick brother, you have a long distance to come back to God. But you can come by divine grace. You can come now. You can come as quick ly as the new converts of the church which Isaiah saw in vision came to the mercy sent. Y'ou can come with a superlative swiftness. You can come with the lightning velocity of a flying dove. But why talk about Isaiah’s church of the future? Why caption this ser mon with the title, "The Coming Awak ening?” When Isaiah saw this migrat ing dove and used It as an emblem was he alluding only to a future church? I think not. I think as the Hebrew prophet was standing there on the mountain of Inspiration looking off on what was to come he kept saying to j himself, “Why is it not possible for j this vision of God’s church to be mate- rlallzed now?” Is not God willing to; bring this beatific condition to present man If the members of the children of God will today co-operate with the Holy Spirit? Yes, he can, he will, was the prophet’s thought. I know this is the thought today running through many a Christian’s mind. God can and God will make the prophetic vision of Isaiah come true now if we, the church members, will only truly yield ourselves and consecrate our minds and heart# to Chest’s will. O man, 0 woman, the greatest enemy of Jesus Christ today is not the Infldcl and scoffer outside of the church. It is the man and the woman inside the church who dc* not co-operate with Jesus in his purpose to save the world for Christ through the agency of his church. If we yield ourselves to his will even the smallest and the most insignificant can become mighty for God, for, us Joshua hath said: “One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God he It is that flght- eth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed, therefore, unto your selves that ye love the Lord your God.’ St. Mark’* of Venice. The symbol of the dove which Isaiah uses to describe the church could not be better illustrated than by the spec tacle in the great square of Venice, which is Hanked on the one side by the famous Cathedral of St. Mark. With but few exceptions I have seen all the great cathedrals of the world. I have seen some ns white ns that of St. Pe ter’s, whose walls, even though they may bo hundreds of years old, Reein to be as white us the whitest of alabas ter. I have seen some dark as an Afri can’s skin, others red as an Indian’s. I have seen some cathedrals which Im pressed me by their gigantic size. The higher I climbed on the roof of Mil an’s greatest structure the more my awe and bewilderment. I have seen some that were perfect poems In stone. But, take it all in all, though it cost not nearly ns much as some others, the most impressive cathedral I ever saw was St. Mark’s of Venice. Like unto natural scenery, St. Mark’s is the Yellowstone park, not the Yb- semite or the Gothard pass, among the cathedrals. It impressed me not with its size so much as its exquisite color ings, Its roof, its walls, its arcades all blended as the colors of a rainbow frozen in stone. The tops of its lofty columns were not hideous with grimy gargoyles. They were chiseled into flower gardens, which grew at your feet or with their leaves hung down from above. These different flower gardens were so perfectly chiseled that it seemed as if the winds, sweeping up from the Venetian canals were gently swaying them as the rosebushes bend ed under the touch of a summer breeze in your father’s garden. Over the front doorway were the four massive bronze horses which Na poleon carried away to Paris after his conquest In Italy, but which the over throw of the Bonaparte dynasty re stored to their places. With arched neck and sinewy limb like creatures of life they seemed just ready for a bat tlefield charge or a run over the hills after the hounds or a gentle caress by mistress or chlvalric knight. There, within those walls, the chancel and au ditorium blend In such perfect har mony that when I stood before the al tar’s picture of the dying Christ I felt for the first time In a European cathe dral that I was in the presence of God and in the place of prayer. God’a Feathered Loved One*. But, though I saw many places In the Venice cathedral that entranced me, after all, my greatest lesson learn ed there was outside the cathedral walls, and not within. I learned that lesson there not from the cold stones of a building, but from the warm hearts of living doves. There, from behind the towers and from within the recesses down from the roof and the four great broqze horses, from pillars and vestibules, the doves gather around you by the hundreds. They came as fearlessly to my side as my little chil dren might come. They perched on my shoulder, on my hat. They fluttered over my head. They crowded by the hundreds at my feet to eat of the food I had ready for them. As they flutter ed about me I said to myself, “Would that God’s sinful children might here gather about these church doors as I see my God’s little feathered loved ones.” When I spoke these words in voluntarily l started. I said to myself, “Why will not God’s sinful children thus come to God’s sanctuaries?” Did not Isaiah In vision see them coming? Shall they not come? Will they not come now if the Christian church mem bers feed them with the “bread of life," as I am feeding these birds with little crumbs? Yes, they will. They will, if we Christian church members only live right and offer to the outside suffering world the right kind of di vine sustenance. Will not you and I, O church members, by our examples and welcome and gospel food, make Isai ah’s vision a possibility now? Will not you and I. as followers of Christ, beck on the sinners to him, and they will come ns doves come to their windows. [Copyright, 1904, by Louis Klopsch.] A Season of Danger. You’re wise if you have an Insurance [Policy safe and sure. If you have not, you ruu a good deal of risk. The excessive heat, storms and cyclones, and the dangers of travel at this season, all make life a little more uncertain ami property unsafe. I SUCCEED the late F. G. Stacy as agent for all the companies in Fire, Life, Tornado and Accident Insurance represented by him, and shall be pleased to serve you in any line. 13. C. Ross. Fine Timber Land Six hundred acres of fine timber land, composed of white and spruce pine, poplar, oak, chestnut, maple and birch. This is a very fine piece of property and will average 2,000 feet of timber to the acre, is on a good public road and is fairly level, being on a water course. This excellent body of timber is located in North Caro lina. Southern Field Real Estate Exchange, Ss*p£trt£iiitmr$£, $5*. O. J. H. Carlisle Jr., Secy, and Treas. 8-30-3mo LAND FOR SALE 213 Acres of Well Improved Land lying on waters of Buffalo Creek, in Cleveland County, N. C., three (3) miles west of Grovei, two (2) miles of Earls and four (4) of Blacksburg. Contains thirty (30) acres bottom and ninety (90J acres upland in cultivation. Two good dwellings, barns and cabin on premises; good spring near each house. This land will he sold as one tract, or divided into two lots. Terms to suit purchaser. For further infor mation apply to 8-23-1 mo C. JS.. Blacksburg, j: South Carolina. Wagons! Wagon Bodies! Every farmer uses a wagon. He either uses one of his own or borrows his neighbors. There is no need for any farmer to borrow a wagon when he can own one. The Thornhill Wagon is a light running vehicle and the price is absolute ly the lowest at which a first-class wagon can be sold. We have sold hundreds of them and have guaranteed them and have not had to spend so much as $5.00 for repairs. Call and see us when in need of anything in the hardware line. We will treat you right. Smith Hardware Company. r- ui tj X Rural Mail Boxes. o Go to R. M. Wilkins Hardware Co. for your F'ngine and Steam Fittings; Gandy, Rubber rj and Leather Belting, Cane Mills and Evapora- S Ts Vt tors; Wagons and Buggies; Barb Wire, Wire and Cut Nails. Don’t fail to see us before you buy your hardware—We want your business. 04 R* M* Wilkins Hardware Co* Buggies, Harness and Wagons For the next sixty (60) days we will offer bargains in Buggies, Harness and Wagons. Come to see us, and get our prices before buying :: :: :: :: Lipscomb, Qoudelock & Co. Aug. 23,1 mo. This Bank Pays Four Per Cent. On All Depits. Gaffney Savings Bank. \ Capital Stock Paid In Thirty Thousand Dollars. D. C. Ross, Prest. J. Q. Little, J. A. Carroll, B. L. Hamks, J. G. Wardlaw. Vice-P. Directors. J. N. Lipscomb, R. M. Wilkins, W. C. Carpenter, D. C. Ross. Maynard Smyth, Cashier. William Jefferies, J. G. Wardlaw, O. E. Wilkins,