Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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■i.™ ‘0 Scrrnon K By Rev. Frank De Witt Talrnatfe, D. D. lios AnKelea. Cal., Oct. 9.—In this sermon the preacher unsparingly ex poses the folly and wickedness of pride, whether it he founded on am estry, pos sessions, social position and influence or upon personal vanity. The teyt is Proverbs xxlx, 23, “A man’s pride shall bring him low.” The Paphlagonlan pigeons were said to have had two hearts. Physiologists have good reason to doubt that state ment, but etymologists know that there are some words that seem to have two hearts. Uttered in one sense their meaning is good and pure, but uttered In another sense their meaning Is evil and corrupt. Like the chameleon, they are able to change their outer colorings to suit their environments. In a bad sense these words have the craven au ricles of a culprit or a bad intentioned man. Their skins are as black as the blackness of the eternal night that they inhabit. In a good sense their hearts beat steady and true. They are the pumps which drive only good and pure blood through their different ar teries ns the purest of water tumbles over the miller’s wheel because that water comes from the clearest of mountain streams. The word “pride” in this age may sometimes be used In a good sense. In Bible times It always had a debased meaning. Searching through a con cordance I cannot find one place where that word “pride” was not used as the •ymbol of “sin” and condemned as the cause of sin. God denounces It all through the Old Testament. God hurls at It his execrations all through the New. Arrogance and pride compose the quicksands whicli have destroyed many an Immortal soul in the past. They are the insidious means whereby Satan is tripping up and manacling his helpless victims at the present time. Therefore this sinful pride, which is found nestling in many hearts as a fa tal cancer, must be cut out or some of os will be forever lost. Pride of Lineasre. First, consider the silliest of all kinds <rf pride, that of aristocratic lineage. The spoiled Infant in its canopied bed, acrearaing for the attention of its nurse. Is not more of a nuisance than are these people who strut through the world claiming the homage of their fellows because of their having been bom in an aristocratic home. It cries, '"Bow low to me, not because I have brain or have accomplished anything, not because I am of any earthly use to anybody, but because my father or grandfather or great-grandfather has accomplished something to make his name famous or because my great grandmother had in her veins the blood of the European aristocracy.” Listen to the babblings of one who would continually shake before our eyes a single branch of his ancestral tree which happened to bear a few fragrant blossoms, while on that same genealogical tree are hundreds of oth er branches which have borne nothing but worm eaten fruit, and which branches have been gnarled and twist ed for generations and for centuries. Have you ever stopped to consider how many different ancestors you have bad? My parents were two In number. I had one father and one mother. But, Stepping buck another generation, I find I had four grandparents and eight great-grandparents and sixteen great- great-grandparents and thirty-two great-great-great-grandparents. And so back and back they go, doubling with each generation. A few hundred years back I find my ancestors were not counted by the tens, but by the thou- eandii, Now, my friends, what right has a man with family pride to follow up one branch of a genealogical tree that lands him In a king’s throne room or In an earl’s palace and ignore the hundreds of other ancestral lines, any one of which would land him in a peasant's hut or perhaps even at the «nd of a hangman’s noose? For, though some of us may not have had ancestors who were hanged, all of us have had plenty of them who ought to have been hanged if they bad been treated as they deserved. Thus, when we esti mate how many different ancestors we all have had, both good and bad, there is a great deal of broad common sense in the answer which Theodore Boosevelt gave to one of his boys who had boasted in school about his family. The president said: “There are only two classes of boys in this world, my •on. Big boys and small boys alike are either good boys or bad boys. It does not make very much difference from what family you spring, if you are a good boy the world will respect you end If a bad boy the world will punish fou and despise you.” Hla Coat of Arina. Then there is another fact that al- iWays amuses me in reference to the false assumptions of family pride. Al most without exception the great fam ilies of the earth are proud of their descent from some one man who In ■his youth was a nobody, the son of a ■hodcarrier, a stonemason or a labor er in the ditch. Where did the proud Astor family come from? From a pal ace? Oh, no. It sprang into promi nence from a poor German emigrant who had to cross the Atlantic prac tically in the steerage. Where did the famous Vanderbilt family come from? Four generations back Cornelius Van derbilt was a barefoot boy running about the Staten Island hills. He made his first money ns a common ferryman, rowing passengers over the waters be tween his islnutl home and New York’s great metropolis. When an English in i-toviMt was dining in the palatial home of the founder of the great Thaw family of the western part of Pennsyl vania he began io boast of his great family connections. Then he turned to -the richest and most honored man y Pittsburg and said, “From what aris tocratic head did your family spring. Mr. Thaw?" Willi that William Thaw answered: “My ancestors, for the most part, were plain, honest folks. My own coat of arms, however, is a shoe maker's last, for my father was the best cobbler of his time in all this re gion." Where did the great Adams family, or the Beechers, or the Van Cortlands, or the Van Itensselaers, or the Hamil- tons, or the Goulds, or the Armours, or the Swifts, or the Lelters, or the Otises spring from? Either in the last generation or a few generations back you can find their ancestors keeping a butcher shop or working as clerks or digging as fanners or so poor that they had to borrow money to get their start In life in their chosen career. Now, my aristocratic friends, If the most honored names In all history are for the greater part names first heard of in the annals of the poor and the first bearers of which were born In poverty and obscurity, why should you hold your heads so high? Because your fa ther or grandfather happened to do something that made his name fa mous is that any reason why you should consider yourself above your fellow men when you have accomplish ed absolutely nothing for mankind? The pride of birth is among the silliest and the most baseless of all kinds of pride, for, though some of us may have the blood of a great man flowing In our veins, all of us without excep tion have the blood of hundreds of ob scure ancestors mingling in our ar teries, from whom we are just as much descended as we are from him who was king among the kings. *• I would infinitely prefer to be the founder of a race than the degenerate offspring of a noble sire who bravely worked his way from nothing to the pinnacle of fame. This practical world of every day life does not ask who was your fa ther, who was your grandmother, but who are you? But, though we would denounce the pretentious pride of birth, we would go further than this. We would de nounce the arrogant pride of many men and women who seem to have ac complished something in life. If we are honest we must admit that such successes as we have achieved have been due in no small degree to fortui tous combinations of circumstances of which we have taken advantage and not exclusively to our own merits. We have no right to take all the credit to ourselves or to despise others who have not had the opportunities which have helped us in the race. Many of them have been hindered by poverty or lack of educational facilities or ill health, and we show disgraceful In gratitude to Providence if we give our selves airs of superiority. ('trcuinntnnovM Make Men. Circumstances make men just the same as men make circumstances. When I was lately thinking upon this theme my eye involuntarily wandered down a country road to a big white barn where a livery is kept and horses sent north than he was clubbed until his spirit was broken. What theul He whined and whimpered like a frightened puppy. So some men, noble men, brave men In their youth, become failures as middle aged men. Why? Been use they are battered and pounded by struggle after struggle and defeat after defeat. They are halted In their progress through life by obstacles prac tically Impossible to overcome until at last their courage and nerve and light ing manhood practically ooze away. O man, be not puffed up in your own conceit on account of your seeming triumphs in life! You and I in a sense have both succeeded not because we are smarter than all meu, but because God has given to us chances of suc cess which he has withheld from men who were Just as smart and Just as dil igent and brave and as conscientious as ever we have been. Arrogant pride is maklug necklaces of diamonds to reflect her own shriv eled and emaciated form. She carries around with her a looking glass be cause she thinks her blood Is “blue” In stead of red, her face more beautiful and her eyes more Intelligent than all other physiognomies. She never tires of watching her own countenance. Her smile is sweetest when she is praising her own sweet self. But, though arro gant pridfe admires her own looks and her own brain more than those of the people around her, she has often no right to gather the lilies of innocence to wear as a bouquet on her corsage. In her heart there may be the germs of evil t*nd a cruelty as fierce as that which Impelled the women of France In the revolution to surround the guil lotine and gloat over the execution of victims as guiltless as themselves. I find that, as a rule, she thinks that her own garments are the clinging robes of an angel, pure and spotless, while the garments of her fellow human crea tines are the rags and tatters of a re pentant or an unrepentant prodigal. All Were Gentlemen. It is too often forgotten that ar rogance and pride are sins in them selves. The lofty spirit which boasts that It is free from the guilt of others and holds aloof from the repentant sin ner, whom it surveys with Scorn, Is not that pride a most heinous sin in the sight of a Just God? During the darkest days of the French revolution of 1830 a great mob of insurgents and rioters were blockading the Parisian streets. “It is useless to appeal to their reason. They have no reason,” said General Lafayette, the command er of the national guard, which ulti mately placed Louis Philippe upon the French throne. “Shoot them down like dogs.” “Let me, general, try to scatter them,” said a staff officer to his com mander. The young man took off his hat and rode up to the threatening mob. Then he cried, “All gentlemen will please to retire, for I am ordered to shoot down the rabble.” At once the mob scattered. “Not,” wrote the historian, “from fear, but because not one of those fierce rioters wanted the people of France to consider that he belonged to the scum or the offscour ings of the nation.” Because arrogant pride considers herself different from the repulsive hags of sin does that make her different? I tell thee nay. The vilest .and the most degraded forms of sin are not more condemned in God’s sight than the sin of the are rented for the day. About one of Pharisee. Christ said it. We must be lieve it. Who is this Pharisee of old modern- ! ized Into the language of the church life of today? Let me describe him as you have often seen him. Sunday morning is here. The supercilious crea ture crawls out of bed. He must go to church. It Is part of his religion to go to church. Every one says he is one of the pillars of the church. He dis likes the word “pillar” because for a long time he has thought he is the whole sanctuary, choir loft and pulpit thrown in, as well as pew. He has hard work to get up this morning because all the week, like Shy- lock, he has been demanding his pound of flesh. lie gave a hundred dollars to the church last week, but he did not miss it much. He took It off the wages of his employees. During the week, by business tricks and financial thumb screws, he got at least four different pieces of real estate $5,000 less than they were worth. He lied about the deal, but of course he only lied ac cording to recognized business custom. Last night he discharged a young girl because she was sick. He knew what made her sick. He worked her over time and worked all the physical life out of her. “Why don’t you hurry to church, old Pharisee? Don’t you hear the last bell ringing?” “Oh, yes,” says the old hypocrite, “but there Is no need of my hurrying. The ushers always keep my seat. I make a fuss about having any one else put lu my pew. Besides, it Is not dignified for me to go ahead or even to be on time. Let me come In Just before the sermon and disturb the service, and then every one will be Impressed by my entrance and the solemn devotion with which I kneel in prayer.” A Modern Phmrleee. Our Pharisee of modern times comes In late, as usual. A quiet little lady dressed in black Is seated In his pew. His face and neck get as red as If be had been taking a ten mile tramp un der the tropical sun. We are almost afraid he will burst a blood vessel In an apoplectic fit “Who Is she? For what la she there? Wasn’t her husband that old drunkard who died in delirium tremens five months ago and who died a bankrupt owing me $800?” “Tee,” eald the usher. “But her own Ufe has been sweet and pure, and as she used to know your family In her better days she asked for your pew. She has come to church because she wants to Join onr church.” “Join our church, eh! Tee,” said the old hypocrite, ‘T know why she wants to Join our church; she wants me to help her and to let her these horses a young man was work ing. Who is he? He is a young man who for years has wanted to be a law yer. But lie is the oldest son of a large family of children. Ills father was a farmer In the east. There that father’s health broke down, and lie had to come to California climate or he must die. He bought some land here. After awhile two years of drought came on, and he was ruined. Then that father was confined three years In an Inva lid’s bed. Then that oldest son had to spring into the breach. He Is there yet in the breach. The bread of his moth er, his father and the children was for years dependent upon that oldest boy and his work- The horses of the farm were merely changed during the drought Into the horses of a public llv- : ery. If you and I had been In that old est boy's place would we not have done Just the same as he did? Would we be where we are today? James A. Garfield once seemed to preach the doctrine that there are no difficulties In life too great for a man to overcome. In one of his addresses be said: “No man who Is worth saving can ever be drowned in the troubled sea of life. No matter how far it Is from shore, pitch him overboard and he will at least be able to swim ashore.” I am not sure that statement of Gar field’s Is always true. I believe that there may come a time when a young man, like a young colt, can be beaten too much and his spirit will be gone. I believe that a young man may have too many obstacles to overcome until at last he will lose his energy and he will cease to struggle any more. In gny case, It becomes us all to consider how much of our success is due to the advantages we have enjoyed and nev er to assome superiority over those who might have succeeded as w*ell as or better than we have done If their op portunities and equipment had been equal to ours. Men Sometimes Make Clrcninstances. Men make circumstances? Not al ways. Borne time ago when seated in a railroad train I read a newspaper article In reference to one of the noto rious pugilists of the country. This article went something like this: “Mr. So-and-so will never amount to any thing again in the roped arena. Why? Because he has been twice whipped. A man is like a dog; when be has been beaten enough to find that some one else is his master his nerve is forever gone.” “How true in life is that!” I said to myself. Then I pictured that noble dog of Jack London’e In his “Call of the Wild.” He was a big, lov able, brave dog, but no sooner was be ihildrcn outer the society of my fam ily. I will not <1o It. Now, Mr. Usher, *op boro, this is going too far. This is too good a ohurch for the rabble. We can start missions for the poor. I do not want a lot of people with scandals besmirching their names using us for a social hospital. I am willing to pay my pew rent and help out the pastor's j salary and help support a few foreign and home missions, but I am not will ing to be dragged Into the social mud with a lot of ordinary clerks and pov erty stricken women and general ‘dead beats.’ If you cannot keep this church entirely for the exclusive class, the so cial ’upper tendom,’why, I will get out.” God help me if I have made this scene too personal! Some of you know who represents the modern Pharisee clothed in the filthy garments of arrogant pride. That person, O man or woman, In God’s sight is your self satisfied, evil self. You are even now maklug the hypocritical prayer of him who of old said, “Lord, I thank thee that I am not as other men." But, lastly, I believe that pride Is often the result of bigotry and Igno rance. It is possible to become so ab sorbed In a particular work and In some one church as to overlook the fact that other men In other churches are winning souls and planting seed in other fields which will yield a harvest as great as our own, though other sickles may be used to reap It and oth er methods be adopted to produce It. Phllllpa Brooks' Advice. How do you know that your own church Is the best church and the only true church? Have you ever studied the ways and the means other minis ters are using In our sister churches? It would be a good thing for you to worship in some other church for a little while before you are so quick to condemn their ways of doing things. “Other sheep have I which are not of this fold,” said Christ. One of the best truths I ever read from the pen of that great, big hearted and noble Chris tian, the most beloved New Englander of his day, Phillips Brooks, was from a letter he wrote to a ministerial friend in America. The letter went some thing like this: “Dear brother, you ought to come over to Europe at least once a year to find out how the big world Is, how many people theye are In It trying to do right and how small the Episcopalian church seems looked at from this side of the Atlantic.” You can surmise what Phillips Brooks meant. He meant Instead of there be ing only one church filled with glori ously good people there were many dif ferent Protestant churches filled with Just as good people as Phillips Brooks had In hi# own parish. How do you know that your way of bringing up your children Is the only right way? Have you developed your family so marvelously that they are brighter than all other children, more intellectual, more spiritual? Perhaps instead of your children being blamed for doing wrong you ought to be blam ed. Your way of discipline may be wrong. Broaden your life. Study the ways of other Christina parents and you may be able to improve your own ways. How do you know that your own in- i terpretatiou of the Scripture Is right? Perhaps if you would only empty your self of self and as a student come and sit at Christ’s feet you might learn so much from him who was meek and lowly of heart that you would have a less exalted estimate of yourself and of your own wisdom and piety. I per sonally would never have any use for a physician who thinks he knows so much that iu the crisis of a disease he would not ask another physician to come to the bedside of the sick for con sultation. Neither has Christ any use for one of his disciples who knows so much that he Is not willing to come to sit at hls feet and leant of him. Are you ready today to empty yourself of self and be as an empty vessel to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Oh, the imbittered and imbitterlng, sinful pride of life! How bard It Is for some of you to give up! After Sam Houston for years had been one of our nation’s most prominent men he came in his old age to represent Texas In the United States senate. No sooner did he come to Washington than be went to a famous Baptist church there, of which Rev. Dr. Samson was pastor. For eight long years he attended this church. At last he came forward and gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Just before hls first communion Dr. Samson asked Senator Houston into bis private room. “What is It you wish me to do?” asked the old warrior, fixing hls keen eye upon Dr. Samson’s face. “General,” was the reply, “you know the alienation between you and Sena tor So-and-so. You will meet him next Sunday morning at the Lord’s supper. It seems to me that you ought not to meet there unless. In Christ’s name you are ready to forgive and be forgiven. Will you thus, meet Senator So-and-so? Will you destroy sinful pride, go and forgive for Christ’s sake?” This sena tor had been bitterly unjust to the great liberator of Texas. Dr. Samson said: “At first the fire began to glow In General Houston’s eye. Hls brows knit. Hls teeth clinched. Hls whole frame shook with the struggle between aronsed conscience and the old bitter ness of feeling that he had for years cherished. But at last the man of al most ungovernable passions was chang ed from a Hon into a lamb, and in a subdued voice and with tears In hls eyes he said, ‘Mr. Samson, for Christ’s sake I wUl do It’ ” O man, like Sam Houston, will you yield up your pride for Christ? WUl you be as a little chill at hls feet? Wfll you say, “Master, I am nothing, but thou art all in all?” May God grant that the bane of sinful pride shall here and now forever be cast out of every one of our hearts. “A man’s pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble In spirit” [Copyrlsht, 1804, by Louis Klopach.] W E fed very grateful to the dtizens of Cherokee County for favoring us with their trade during the years 1902, 1903 and 1904; also we have every reason to believe that they are all well pleased with the Pianos, Organs and Sewing Machines that they bought from us, as they are beginning now to see that quality figures more than a few dollars in the purchase of an article that is to be used for a long period of time, if not for a lifetime. To those who have not yet bought Pianos, Organs and Sewing Machines from us, we invite you to come and see our goods and get our prices, which will be very low during the next 30 days. We are are at all times able and willing to make every promise true and every guarantee good. So come and see our many different styles of Organs and New Home Sewing Machines at our store on Limestone St. Abbott Bros. * t 4 4 4 WHY KEEP HONEY around your house when TEe Gaffney Sav ings Bank pays Four Per Cent*, interest on all deposits from One Dollar up. Office in THE NATIONAL BANK OF GAFFNEY OPEN TILL 5 P. M. EVERY DAY TVii AVreclc! The recent terrible railroad wreck in Tennessee in which sixty-five people were killed, five of whom were our own people, and scores of others badly injured, all in an instant, should be A Warning to Everybody to Insure against accident and death. Cold weather is coming on when fires must be had; and you should Insure Now against any loss by the flames. I represent only the best companies in Fire, Life, Accident and Tornado Insurance. Let me write yonr policies now. T>. CX Ross, Agent I have just returned from Baltimore and New York whither I had gone to purchase my Fall - Stock. I am now receiving NEW GOODS DAILY I have the biggest line of Men’s, Youths’ and Children’s Clothing it has ever been my pleasure to show my customers and friends and at the right kind of prices, too. Big lot of “Parker” Hats for Men. All styles and sizes in Men’s, Youths’ and Children’s Hats and Caps from —— 13oe up UP-TO-DATE LINE OF DRY GOODS, NOTIONS AND FURNISHINGS I have a large and well-selected stock of Shoes and can fit any and everybody in price, size and style. Watch this space for bargains in Clothing, Hats, Trunks, and all kinds of Traveling Bags, Dry Goods, Notions, Shoes and Groceries. FRESH LOT OF FERTILIZERS FOR GRAIN. J. I. SARRATT taaffi / 'i*/*1*/''l 9 1 9 BBE0BBBBB00BS Sounds Like a Lie, Don’t It? WHEN WE SAY We sell first-class 1 and 2-horse wagons at prices ranging from $3 to $5 less than the prices of any other first-class wagons on the market. THE THORNHILL WAGON is made of the best Vir ginia Hickory and- Whiteoak. Smith Hardware Co. The Gaffney Cify Land and Improvemenf Go. Offers for sale Building Lots In this flourishing town, Gaffney; also Farms ne by and In reach of the Schools of Limestone Springs and of this place. In lots of » to 100 acres on liberal time rates; also Agricultural Lands to rent for Farm purposes For full particulars apply to _ J. V. SARRATT, Agent. N. B.—All persons are forbidden to enter on, walk or ride through or over the lands of this company, cutting and removing timber or Ashing, bunting, under penalty of law. -‘.a