The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, May 09, 1905, Image 7
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Ey Rev.
Frank DeWitt Talmntfe, D. D.
Eos Angoles nil., May 7—In this
•eruion (ho preacher, while appreciat
ing at their true value the higher
flights of oratory and the famous tri
umphs of great sjM'iikors, shows how
even the humblest may l*e eflfeetive in
the eloquence of Christian conversa
tion and example. 'Hie text is John
vii, 4t», “Never man spake like this
man.”
What is true oratory? Mere conjura
tion, bewitchery, enchantment, mysti
cism, mesmerism or animal magnet
ism, a mere transitory magic spell
with which a groat public speaker Is
able to bypnotir-e an audience* for an
evening or for a night alono? Is it a
few poetic garlands made up of pretty
wax flowers which never grew In a
garden, which never caught tl*e in
cense laden bioadi of the soil which
cannot stand the Hgl* of the day and
which, like tli« moon fhrwers, melt
away as soon as The morning sun has
touched their painted Cheeks? Is it a
mere galvanic shock which c;m make
a human corpse tremble for a little
while and. even lift a hand or shake a
head and yet a current which cun nev
er bring the dead ho<ty back to life?
it a mere magneil* needle which
will momentarily mov* an iron heart,
as many magnetic needles can make
nails and screws stand upon their
heads for a few seenntte and the* fall
back cold, motion lens httws auei nails
as soon as their DfUng toaoh *s taken
away? Oh, in* truo oratoiy is more
than that.
True oratory is uoo *f the most jk)
tent gifts, if not tlie meet jiotcBt gift,
with which <jod hft*e«vl#w«imao. Ills
mighty for good (a- mighty for erfl. It
Is a social factor which crealiofj and
molds and upbuild* or It is a social
factor which ttaderahMe and ilestroy?.
and wrecks, if H wnw.* jionslhle for
me to believe In the doetrino of tin;
transmigration of souk, then I woukl
believe in this doctriae la r«#en*nce
to oratory. With mera words u skill
ful orator can hare hk s|»irtt incar
nated in the minds *ttd the hearts of
his hearers. With metx* werds not
only can the tnm (water conafml his
fellow countrymen to think ns he
thinks, but to do ira hi; wonM have
them do and as lie himself wants to
do.
The gift of true or airy is soeoud In
power to no other human gift. An
overstatement Is this? I think not.
Andrew Fletcher, the grant Bnctish
dramatist and i*>et, onoi* sidd, *T be
lieve if a man were permitted to make
all the ballads of a country in; need
not care who shotdd make Its laws.”
A true orator has all the‘power of
the sweet singer of the Aekks. He has
more than that. In ids own realm he
has the power of ixunoind touch. He
has the influence of the flushing eye.
of'the quivering lip, of the power which
comes from a soul on tiro, which reach
es forth and as a whirlwind drives op
position before him or consumes tlK*m
as in a mighty conflagration. If tlio
pen be mightier than the sword, thu.'i
the orator’s scepter is greater than
that of the warrior’s or the writer’s.
The Remostb mean tongue compelled
men’s ears to hear what his pen could
not compel his auditor's eyes to read.
Great is tho eloquent tongue of silver
speech!
Ueecher*N ScrvleeN um Orator.
Great if not the greatest of all gifts
with which God has endowed man is
oratory. Who but one like Henry
Ward Beecher could have conquered
England during the dark days of 180:1?
Then the British factories bad their
cottou supply ciWoff by northern ships
blockading tho southern ports. British
capitalists were calling out, “The
Amerleau war must stop or British
employees must starve and the British
merchants will have uo goods to sell."
Not only that, but the peerage or the
landowners almost to a man hated our
republican form of government. They
believed the American congress was a
perpetual menace to British interests.
Beecher accomplished with his tongue
what an Invading army of bOu.OoO
men could not have accomplished with
bayonets. Alone he faced audience aft
er audience, bitter In their hatred to
ward him and Ids people. He faced
enemies. He left friends. He faced
his country’s censors. He left behind
him his country's upplauders. Henry
Ward Beecher won this victory for his
country by the tongue, and the tongue
alone.
Great Is the power of oratory ami
orators! But if it Is great In the pres
ent age how much greater must ii
have been in the times of the undents!
Then the modern printing press had
not yet been born, and the human mind
could only appeal to the human mind
through the inlinenee of the human
tongue. But, though the generations
preceding Christ sat at the feet of
some of the greatest orators who ever
lived, though Pericles and Lysias and
Lycurgus and .Eschlnes had won their
marvelous triumphs In old Athens,
though the mighty Uomnu orators had
lived and, like Marcus Tullius Cicero,
had hurled their verbal thunderbolts,
yet when Jesus liegan to speak every
one of his auditors intuitively felt tint
u new power of oratory had been Ikii ii.
Tho words of my text prove It. With
one accord Christ’s hearers said
“Never man spake like this man.”
The SnhlltiifMt l-'orni of Orator)'.
Why Is gospel oratory the suhlimeat
form of oratory? Why docs g »spei
epeec'i offer to man the greatest oppot-
funltles for the development of the
true and noble orator's gifts? The true
gospel orator’s me sage is the mightiest
of nil messages. Jt furnishes the speak
er with the mightiest of all themes. It
cradles hs thoughts, not like Moses up
on tin* waters of a river Nile, but by
the Shores of the great moaning seas
of the eternities. As a charioteer it
harnesses to its verbal chariots charg
ers winch have eyes all seeing, ears all
hearing, hoofs so swift that their speed
is swift as thought. It deals with iu-
(initesimals only as they are essential
parts of great inanities. It halts not
Time at the grave. It makes Time, as a
Eugene Sue's Wandering Jew, move on
end on and on and never die. Its trum
pet is the voice of tho eternities. God,
heaven, Immortality, resurrection, as
cension, heaven, hell, eternity, redemp
tion. salvation, eternal coronation, eter-
ur.l Buffering, are its mighty subjects.
Like the meanings of the mighty deep,
Its voice comes reverberating down the
halls of the past ages. Like the echoes
which are tossed from hillside to hill
side up among (he Alpine crags, its
hopes go echoing down the centuries
upon centuries and the millenniums up
on millenniums to come. Its themes are
the mightiest of all themes. No sub
ject In all tin* realm of thought is as
great as that which occupies the publie
speaker in gospel oratory.
If its theme were not the greatest of
all themes, then my caption today
could not b<* written. You must have a
great theme to produce “sublime ora
tory-” All tin* students of oratory rec
ognize this law. Why is Abraham Lin
coln’s Gettysburg address to be rank
ed among (lie greatest orations of the
ag<*s? Was be placing a few poetic gar
lands ujvin tlx- graves of the dead? No.
He was making a national plea-for for
giveness and love. Why did “Patrick
Henry, the great Virginia orator, with
a single seutenoe rouse the passions of
his hearers until lie swept them from
off their feet? Though the hangman's
noose wa* dangling over every one of
Ids auditors' heads, yet they were
ready to risk all because he was plead
ing for swe«t Lilforty's shrines. Why
did John Knox's eloquence set all Scot
land nlire? Why did Martin Luther’s
Invectives thrill all Bnrope with the di
vine love? Why did Savonarola arouse
Italy until Its Inliabtfenuts were tumul
tuous In agony .‘lnd' , strife? Why did
Cicero’s arraignment of Oatlliue and
the pblHppios that Demosthenes hurled
against tlx* king of Muccdnn create
armies and make men enthusiastic In
battle? Wore these orators declaiming
for selfish pwMtleal purposes, merely
trying to destroy rivals who were ob
structing their path? No. They were
attacking lust and licentiousness and
tyranny and crime of all sorts. It was
their mighty themes that made their
eloquence effective. You must hove a
great theme to have a great oration.
MiiKt Hove threat Theme.
This contention is true. \\'here, then,
can you find greater themes for true
eloquence than in.gospel oratory? Is
there a sounding line which can .go to
the bottom of a deeper sea? Is there
any power on earth which more surely
can transform wrong to right, make
the strong core for the weak, make Tyr
anny take her i)on heel off tlie neck of
prostrate Helplessness, (ban thejFowor
of Jesus? Where cmi yon And an im
mortal |F<wacea for tin* gsave's horror
and for tho cure of sin save in the
crucifixion and tlx* resurrection and
the atonement of Jesus-Christ? Tin*
themes of go-pel oratory are not only
wide enough and great enough to pm
a man in right bmch with God and
heaven, but they are so great that if
we once accent them and practice
them they will give us perfect homes,
perfect neighbors, perfect nations and
a perfect world. They Tire so great
that If we only practice them “love,
Joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temper
ance," shall everywhere l»e supreme in
the human heart. Gould we have a
surer cure for all tho evils of the world
to come than la offered in the themes
of gospel oratory?
To make right might and to redress
the wrongs of a limited class have been
the causes which have Inspired wonder
ful orations during the past years.
Watch the lightnings of Invective that
have leaped out of the eyes of the ora
tors during the dark days of the aboli
tion movement. Amid that mighty hur
ricane of oratory we can see William
Lloyd Garrison, with clinched-fists, de
fying tin* Boston mobs. Wo can hear
his biting words, amid a perfect pande
monium of wrath, crying: “You will
hear me! In spile of yourselves you
will hear me!” You can see Wendell
Phillips standing amid a shower of
brickbats waiting for a lull in the storm
to drive into tin* hearts of his hearers
another sentence to prove to them why
the black men should lie free. We can
hear glorious John Bright pleading for
the rights of the black men from the
other side of the sea. And If Injustice
against the black men offered such u
□dghty theme for the eloquent tongue
shall not modern injustice against the
Biavp ofler Just as great a
theme roi*go«po| eloquence? Oh, yes,
gospel orators have the mightiest of
themes for eloquent speech! Tho gos
pel of Christ will right all wrongs.
It will emancipate « sinner from all
sins. It would make all men conquer
ors In this world ns well as In the
world to come. Man, would you be
truly eloquent? Then by the power of
the Holy Spirit have your tongue plead
for the universal acceptance of the
gospel In Impassioned oratory.
The Cure For Ula.
Gospel oratory gives the subliinest of
ail themes. It does more than that. It
offers the greatc t of all authorities by
which those themes are discussed. It
comes to man and places In his band
the Bible and says: "Mail, here Is tbe
word of God. These are not my state
ments. These are promt-»es made b\
our divine Father. If you will accept
God’s word and do as thU book directs,
your life will be blessed” Now, It Is
m «*nsy matter to discuss a wrong. It
is often very easy for a physician to
diagnose a cancer. But the cure—aye,
that is the rub! Easy to attack a
moral wrong. Vos. But it is another
matter to lind a right solution for that
wrong. This the Bible offers. it
comes not as a theorist. It comes to
the gospel orator's hearers ns did Jesus
Christ, it comes as one speaking with
a divine authority. No men In the
world have greater Influence over their
hearers than those who are backed
with the positive authority of the
Bible.
When a man speaks with authority
be becomes imperative in bis demands.
Why Is Helen Hunt Jackson’s master
piece “Hamona” one of the most elo
quent books ever penned? She plead
ed for justice to the American Indian
with tlx* idea that the law of the laud
would uphold her in her plea. She was
not pleading for the red man as a
utopian, a theorist or u social dreamer.
She was pleading for the red man at
the bar of American law. When she
represents jxxir Alessando as being
driven from farm to farm she was not
picturing a scoundrel, but a man de
fra tided of American rights. When
she finally describes this poor, inno
cent Indian as shot down by a drunken
white loafer and then pictures that
drunken loafer as being allowed to go
free, she was not appealing to human
prejudices for favoritism toward the
rod man. She was saying: “What is
tho law? What Is the American law?
The law of America upholds me in my
claims.”
As Helen Hunt Jackson pleaded for
the rights of the Indian under till*
American law tho Christian orator
pleads for the emancipation of man
from sin n»der the law of the Bible.
He does-not »ay, “Vhopo this may be.”
He does say: “I know this can be and
shall be through the blood of Jesus
Christ. Tilt* divine statutes declare it.”
When a goepel orator stands upon tho
promises of G<#1 found in the Bible he
speaks with •ertainty; he speaks with
absolute eonvWtkm; above all, he
speaks as no other advocate unsup
ported •an spunk. No other man in
pleading for slmph justice has such
emphatic divine authority behind him
as is found in the word of God when
pleading for repen’.anee and righteous
ness.
Sevpurrt’n Orent iMen.
The gospel orat- i is mighty when he
pleads for one whom he would save
from eternal death. He naturally has
all the tire, all the enthusiasm, all the
pent up passion of a lawyer pleading
at the bar nf Justice trying to save the
neck of a client who Is Ixilng tried for
murder In the first degree. Aye, lie
has more tlwui that. He has all tho in
tense e:u-B*s.-t»o*s that was felt'by Wil
liam Seward In 184B when he pleaded
for the lito of William Ereeman, an
Idlotle blank pnuper'who had killed the
entire Van Nest family of Auburn, N.
Y. It was during the agitation of the
aboiltioniHt nvoventeut. Tlie white men
of the north m well as the south were
against him. His own friends at the
bar were against him. Yet there Wil
liam II. Seward pleaded and kept
pleading. Wlieu ut last his client was
bung by tlx* neck unftl lie was dead
by postmortem examination It was
found out that William Freeman was
In troth an idiot and IrrexiFungible for
the crime wbHi be had committed and
that William 11. Seward, the young at
torney,' wiifi right In his defense of
him.
Gannot you fix.*! the earnestness of a
Seward pleading? I can. I cannot think
of a lawyer defending a client who is
lieing triod for liis life unless that law
yer is In an agony of suspense until
the acquittal comes in the two words,
"Not guilty,” spoken by the foreman of
the Jury, “Do you make your client’s
interests yoiir interests?" I once asked
a lawyer friend. “Yes." he answered.
"So much do 1 make tlierr interests my
interests- that if they are being tried
for life I am disturbed In my sleep and
dream about them. Every moment of
my waking thoughts is with them. I
often get up in the middle of the night
during a trial and write, so anxious uni
’ I to save them.” "Ah.” then I said to
myself, “no wonder you are a great
speaker when you plead for a life in
this way. No wonder your whole soul
goes forth Into a mighty pica for your
clients when you are as one pleading
for your own life.”- No wonder the g k-
pel orator’s plea »s a mighty plea. Ev
cry word lie utters, every gesture be
makes, every thought that Is born in
bis brain, lias the mighty purpose of
saving some man from eternal death.
Mightily as a Christian lawyer does
be plead for the salvation of men.
But the Christian orator has a higher
and even -i greater inspiration than the
saving of sinful men and women -from
eternal death. He stands In a unique
position. He Is not only pleading for
the salvation of men, but also for what
is pleasing to God. And of all inspira
tions to “subllmest oratory” there Is no
inspiration like unto that.
The Christian orator, the advocate of
the divine will and pleasure: Let me
illustrate tny thought by a simple ver
bal picture. You are not the only son
of your mother. She has another boy,
younger than you. But, whereas you
are in one sense the good boy, he has
been the bad. He drinks; he swears;
he lies; he does everything he ought
not to do. Again and again your moth
er came to his rescue. Your father left
her a little money. She has spent It all
trying to save him. One night he rnine
home from a drunken spree. When'
she spoke to him It made him mad. In
a rage he knocked her down and kick
od her in tla* breast. As n result of
that kick a cancer has formed. Fin* D
going to di«\ Yon are heartsick. “Oh.
mother, mother!” you say. “If I could
only make you well and happy again!"
As you kneel by her bedside she runs
her Uiig**i's through your hair Juat as
she did when you were a boy and
answers: “Harry, you can make me
happy. Will you? Then I want you
to go after your brother Joe and get
him to e ime home again for my sake.''
With a cry you leap to your feet.
You shake the dying woman’s hand off
your forehead. “What—gp for that
drunken brute, whose cruel heel has
given you your death wound? Never,
mother—never! I wi.I siohhu In jail—
nye, or in the infernal regions—first.”
Then your mother begins to plead. She i
says; “Harry, you have suffered on u<
count of Joe, but have not I suffered?
Have not 1 given my life for him?
And, oh, Harry, I cannot die happy un
less we save your brother Joe.” Once
there was a time when you wanted to
Save your brother Joe for his own sake.
Now there comes a greater inspiration
into your life. You want to save bim
lx*eause you can make your mother
happy, who is dying on account of Joe’s
sins, is not this the figure of God’s
love? The Christian orator is inspired
with a desire to save sinful man from
eternal death for himself. But more
than that—aye, far more than that—
he Is Inspired with the transcendent
hope of pleading for man to turn from
sin and be saved In order to satisfy
the desire of a divine Father for the
return of his prodigals. He does it
now for Christ’s sake—for Christ’s
sake. “For God so loved the world
that he gave bis only begotten Son, that
whosoever belleveth on him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.” Oh.
tho mighty inspiration which makes a
gospel orator not only plead to save
men for themselves, but to save men
for the sake of tfio divine Father's
forgiving love!
The Power of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, while tbe sublime oratory of
tho gospel speaker may be awakened
by many different inspirations, its
mightiest factor is due to the power or
the Holy Spirit himself. When Jesus
( hrist stood up before tho Jewish peo
ple to «i>eak, Ids hearers intuitively felt
there whs a strange, a superhuman and
a divine power about him. When the
true Christian orator arises to speak,
then also this strange influence is felt.
The same divine Influence that Christ
hail over an audience you and I may
have in degree if we will only let the
Holy Spirit work In us and through us,
for Christ distinctly says that the very
works he did we may do If we-will
only let the Holy Spirit live In us.
“A Christ bin orator," some one says—
“what does that mean? If I truly give
myself up to the Holy Spirit, can I be
come a great speaker ami address great
audiences? Why, I have not tho voice.
I have not ihe physical strength. In
one sense I have not the education. I
could not stand before a multitude of
people if i tried.” No. not that. I do
not believe God will ever call you to be
a Spurgeon, a Guthrie, a Beecher or a
Mason. Not that. I do not believe, week
in and week out, you will be called up
on to fill an auditorium with a formal
sermon. But you can be a great orator
for Christ nevertheless. Did you ever
stop to think that public speaking isouly
public conversation on a big scale?
Tbe other day I was talking to an
old man who used to he a student of
the groat Dr. Eliphalet Nott of Union
college. One day in the oratorial
class a student arose to speak. He
began to let .out his voice In rotund
style. He dramatically lifted his arms
and twitched his eyebrows when Dr.
Nott stoppt*d him and said: “My son,
that is not oratory. If you have some
thing to say, just tell It? to us as you
would If there were only three of us
Alone In a room. Public speaking is
only public eon versa! ion on a big
scale.” Don’t you grasp the truth? By
the law of Christian oratory you may
never be called upon to address a large
audience at once, but you can address
two or three hearers for Christ at, the
breakfast tab'e. You can address a
neighbor for i hrist in the street car
going down to business. You can
speak for Christ In the prayer meeting
and in the Sunday school. You can be
come an exponent of the subllmest ot-
atory of Hie world, the gospel oratory,
by which the Holy Spirit works in
you and through you in conversation.
Will you consecrate i»n eloquent tongue
to the divine Master?
“Jnst tell it,” says Dr. Nott. If you
have anything to say for Christ by the
Holy Spirit power, will you not just:
tell It? My father once told me that the
first great orator he ever heard was
Theodore Frellngliuyseu of New Jer
soy. He was an Intellectual giant—sen
ator, chancellor of the University of
New York. Whig candidate for the vice
presidency in 1844 and president of
Uutgers college. His fame was nation
al and international. My father said:
“Of course l expected to see and to
hear a perfect whirlwind of oratory,
but great was my surprise when Theo
dore Frelinghuysen quietly arose in
that New Jersey courtroom. He placed
his foot upon the rung of the chair.
Then he commenced to talk to the Jury
in a simple, earnest way, ns you or 1
might talk In a private parlor. But he
won his case. It was the finest piece of
quiet oratory to which I ever listened.
He had something to say, and he said
It.” Yes. you may not be a speaker to
6,000 auditors, but you can have un au
dience of two, three, five, ten. twelve
hearers. You can have as great an au
dience for Christ as Theodore Freling
huysen had In that New Jersey jury
box for his client. If you have any
thing to say for Christ, will you say It?
Will you speak It for Christ by tho
power of the Holy Spirit working In
you and through you In sublime gos
pel oratory?
[Copyright inoc, by Klopsch.]
Perfect
Soda
Water
\
Daintiness marks the making and serving
of our Soda Water; satisfaction and refresh
ment follows the drinking. Fairly good Soda
is not hard to find, but absolutely perfect Soda
is a rarity.
We serve perfect Soda because we have the
fountain, the experience, the skill, and do not
hesitate to spend money to make our Soda
best. We look after the cleanliness as care
fully as though we had to do all the drinking
ourselves.
To Drink Our Soda Water
and Eat Our Ice Cream
is to Co Out Glad. : :
Cherokee Drug Company,
Limestone and Frederick Streets.
H -GOTO-
| Smith [ Hardware Company
-‘FOR -
i Disc Harrows! Disc Harrows!! 1
£ 3
y- A car load just received. Our prices are right. ^
1 Our Harness Department M
m 1
Is in full blast—good stock. Can mi-ke or repair ^
^ anything in the Harness line which is run by Mr. ^
^ Hinson, who is very efficient and worthy of ^
^ patronage. : :
|Smith Hardware Co.|
GAFFNEY, S. C. 3
Big Sale A "
The Sale Conducted by G. W. Groves & Co.
• Has been a success fully up to our expectations,
and we sincerely thank the people of Cherokee
County for the liberal patronage extended us dur
ing the last fifteen days. We will continue selling at
Big Sale Prices For Spot Cash
for we think it better for us and our patrons that
we make prices as low as possible and move goods
quickly.
We have new goods coming in and will give prices
next week. Good goods at low prices. Come to
see us before buying. : : : : :
J. R. Tolleson & Company.
I Extend a Cordial Invitation
To The Ladies of Gaffney and Cherokee County
To call and examine my line of Dress and Waist Goods. I have
a beautiful line of Scotch mixtures, Shark Skin Brilliantines, Etc.,
at 40 to 75 cents per yard.
Black Broad cloth, fine quality, at $1.25 per yard.
Waist Goods in latest styles at 10c yard and up.
Big lot A. F. C. Ginghams, Percales, Common Cloth,
dale Sheeting, Etc., to be sold cheap.
Just received 50 dozen Malaga Hats for Men, Youths and
Children at 10c and up.
See us for anything in Clothing from the wee tot’s Suit to the
most expensive tailor-made Suits for Men.
MlnlFit(‘rlfil I'l-fFicrfFiNlnii.
It now appears tbr;t to be Oslerlzed
Is only one of tbe ordinary experiences
of life which come with other tilings
pleasant and unpleasant. A minister
discussing the tendency of churches t *
call young men summed It up this way
during tin* past week:
At twenty, Idolized; at forty, ostra-
H»ed; at sixty. Oslerlzed; ut eighty,
canonized.
Lons-
^3 My Prices Are Right Too 8^
I still handle everything needed on the farm. If in need of
farming implements this is the place to get them.
I handle Hay, Corn, Oats, Flour, Meat, in fact everything in
supplies.
Bliss’ Triumph Potatoes for planting.
All grades Fertilizers for all crops. St
various lines.
I o- t
crops. See me for anything in my
, Respectfully,
J. I. © A-R.R A. TT