University of South Carolina Libraries
vjfMB IHI'H. BEMasaaaa TfiO' STILL FCREVEP, HE SPEAKS. Washington. P. [SpecialJ. The following vigorous and truli helpful sermon was prepared l.y ihe late llev. l)r. Talinage | ru>r to his illness which terminated in his demise, and under these >ad circumstance, ttd. sermon will be read with more than usual interest. IIi- text was: "A <1 they ad with one c-dieebt begun to make excuses."?Lu?e xlv. 19. After ilie invitations to a levee are eent out the regrets come in. One man apologises tor non-attendance on one ground, another on another ground. The most of the regrets are founded on prior engagements. >'o in iny text a great banquet ivas spread, the invitations were circulated. and now the regrets come in. The one gives an agricultural reason, the other a 'stock dealers reason. tlm other a domestic reason. AM poor reasons. The fact was. tiny ?!ii not want to go. "And they a" v, itii ore consent began to make excuse." So now God spreads a creat banquet. It i; the go<Dd feast, and the table readies across til.? hemisphere-. and tiie invitations 50 our. and multitude- conic and sit down and drink out of the chiliecs 0; God's love, whiie other multitudes decline coming. the one giving this apology, and the other giving that apology, "and they all with one consent hegin to make excuse." I propose. >;o far as (iod may lido me. t? examine the apn'ogics which rr.cn make for not entering the Christian life. f . Apoiocy liie iir.-i. i .1111 IIMI !? < 111.!., i? anything valuable in the Christian religion. h is i>;c;u!cd liiat there are so many imposition:; in this day; so many things thai seem to !:? real are sham. A gilded ont<IJe may have a hollow inside. There is so vouch quackery i:t pltyr.ics, in ethics, in politics, that men route to the habit of incredulity. an! after awhile they allow that incredulity to collide villi o; r holy religion. Bat. my iriends 1 think religion has made a pretty good record in the woe!How nia"v wounds it has salved! How man; nii.a < o:' fire it has lifted in the midnight v. i'uontess! How many s'm.oorn >tract dc-erts it hath turned into tlm garden* of the Lord! Ilow i: hath ?ii; d the chopped sea! What r >-y light i' .n< it sent streaming through the ..v.,:. wi.,. ?! rill v; IU7 ^iwwn ivu?i. ..... . k, cool w.'ter it hath pothered for thirsty Hagar and l?hmaei! What manni whitethai) ocr;.ui:i< r send it hath dropped all around the camp o; hardy bested r>i'grim?! What pio-ni f. if hath, sent out. like holy watcher-; t j keep ti e lamj s burning around deathbeds, through ihe darkness that lowers into the fepuleher! What flashes of lccurreri ion soornl Besides that, t'ois religion lias made *o many heroes. It brought Summenield. the Methodist, across the Atlantic ocean with lib eilver trnmpti to blow the acceptable year 01 the Lc-d until ii seemed as if all our American cities would take the kingdom of heaven by violence. It sent Jehudi Ashman into Africa alone, in a continent of naked barbarians, to lift the standard of civilization and Christianity. It made John Milton .among poe's. Raphael among painters. Christopher Wren among architects. Thorwaldsen among sculptors. Handel ainoug musicians. Dupont among military commanders, and to give new wings to the imagination and better balance to the judgment and more determination to the will and greater usefulness to the life and grander nobility 10 lac soul there is nothing in all the earth like our Christian religion. Nothing in religion? Why. then, all those Christians were deceived when in their dying moment they thought thev eaw the castas 01 tnc oicssea. ana your child, that with unutterable agony you put away into the grave. you will never sec him attain or hear his sweet voire nor feel the throb 01 his young heart. There is nothing in mligion? Sickness wil} eo-ae upon you. Ttoll and turn on your pillow: no relief. The medicine may he bitter, the night tnav l-e dark, the rain may bo sharp: n rede!'. Christ :icv?r comes to th? sick-roam. Let the ;ai:i ;.a'o: let the feve- ht:i"i: c trse it a id die. There is nothing iri vdigion? After awhifb death wilj comc. Yr: will rear the rawing of'the rale ior.-e on the 'Vc-lw'd. Tim spin' will be breaking away iron the body, end it will tale flight-?v. hither, whither? There is no Cod. no ministering angels to conduct, no Christ, no heaven, no home. Nothing in religion1' Oh, you are not willing to adopt such a dismal theory! And yet the world is full of skeptics. And let mc sav there is no class of people for whom I have a warmer sympathy than for skeptics. We do not know how to treat thetn. We deride them, we caricature there. We. ins*cad of taking them by the soft hand of Christian love, clutch them whh the iron pinchers of ccclesiasticisn. Oh. if yon knew how those u*en had fallen away from Christianity and become skeptics you would not be so rough on them! Some were brought up in boracs where religion was overdone. The west wretched day in the week was Sunday. Keligion was driven into them with a triphammer. They had a surfeit of nraver meetings. They were stuffed an J choked with catechisms. They were told hv thrir parents that thev were the worst children mat ever uvea ccrar.se nicy in:e.j 10 i:oc down hill better than to read "Pilgrim's Progress" Tliev never h"?.rd their parents talk of religion but with the -errors or the mouth drawn down and the eye roTicd rr>. Others went into s'teniiei through uuiUreatrier.* < i the part o. same who professed religion. There is r. nir.ii who says: "My partner in business was c:is:?ieuoiis is: prayer meeting, r.iul /:< was oHitiiuis in a!l reiig'ou:. circle. tut he cheated me out ci SJPOt'. r.nd I don't want any of that rehgior." (hen there are Others who -jet into shoot hi?,.; by natural persistence it ?p:c-;:on.-. why or how? llow can God or one beitr in three person-:? Tine cannot undrr ten 1 it. Neither cue 1. How can Co.] be a complete sovereign r.:v! yet man a ."ice agent'.' T'.icy eenr.ot understand it. Neither :u I. They cuino; understand why a li dy (ted le.s cir. come into toe woi^d. Neither can 1. They say: "Here i; a gnat ny&tery; here is a disciple ot fashion. frivolous and godless ail her days; she lives on to be an octogenarian. I!oris a Christian mother, training her chi tlreu for God and for heaven, self-satriii ing, Chri.-tiiko. indispensable ueeni.igly t-> in.t; aorcenotc; sue gets :i cancer nnu dies."' The skeptic cays, "I can't crpiaia that." Neither can I. 1 can see how men reason themselves into skepticism. With burning feet 1 have trodden that blistering way. 1 know what ii is to have a hundred liight.-i poured into one hour. There arc men i.i the avi 1 deeert of dnr.Vt who would give then Lh tusanus of dollars if they con' : get Lack to the old religion of their fathers. Such men are not to be caricatured. but helped, and not through their heads, 1 ut through their hearts. When these men really do come into the kingdom of Cod. they will be worth far more to the cause of ".Christ than those who I never examined t'>c evidences of Christianity. Thomas Chalmers once .1 skeptic, 1 Kjhert Hall once a skeptic, Christinas Lvanr once a skeptic: but when they hid lay hold of the nc-uel chariot how they I made it speed ahead! I:, therefore, 1 address men. and women who have drifted 1 away into skepticism. 1 throw cut no scoff: 1 rather implead you by the memi or/ of thoy good old times when you knelt at your mother's kr.ee and said your evening prayer and those other days et <;.'; ie?s when she watched all rirhf and gave you. the mcdmincs at just the right i iiir.c a n] turned the i illow when it was I hot a:i<] with naiuJ lou; ago turned to I dust soothed your pain a and with that J voice yo.t rover hear attain unless y ?n : join iter i:i the Letter country. told ve-? ; iicvoi- iniiiil. and by that dying couch where she talked so slowny. catching her hreati; between the* \vord.->--ly all those memories 1 ask you to come and take the same religion. It was good enough tor hir; it is good enough for you. Aye, I make a hotter pica: i!y the wounds and the death throe of the Sou of God, who approaches you in infinite love with torn hrow and lacerated hands and whipped .back. crying. "Come unto Me. all * c iii.it labor and are heavy laden, and 1 will give yon lest!*' Other persons apologize for not entering the Christian life because of the incorrigibility of their temperament. Xow, we admit it is harder for some people to become Christians than for others, but the grace of Cod never came to a mountain that it could not climb or to an abyss that it could not fathom or io a bondage that i. could no. ureal:. The wildest horse tint ever trod Arabian sands has been broken to bit and trace. The i::adues? torrent tumbling fr^ra mountain shelving lias been hirne- -ed to :'ie niiil wheel and the factory band, sett t g a thousand shuti.es all a-ruzzand a-c-iatter. Auil the wildest, the haughtiest, the most ungovernable man ever created by the grace of God may be subdued and sent out on ministry of indue.--, as God sends an August thunderstorm to water the wild flowers down in the grass. 1'eter. with nature tempestuous as the sea that he once tried to walk, at one look from Christ went out c.nd wept bitterly. Itich harvests of giaec may he grown on the smnnvt of the jogged st-cp. and flocks of Ci vistian graces may find pasturage in fields o: bramble and rack. Though your > .>;> > .lion may be all : a-bria'.ic with frcttnicr. >. ti.oagh yen have a temuer .;%;.?.a;.i -.1 .1 ..... ih your nr. ike i..? iise that the kor-e leech. "Civ*!" limr.: 1 damnable imparl' iv> } ;; <? wrapped you :u nil :.1\\ tied can ?I> :vj that (Ic< '! ? :t ycur . ??!'. an'? 1 >vcr the chaos till* <Iju lie can say. "!ah t!..aa re Tm* best piece ? w a s.cii.iloetor is it a lici^hbo.hoail w;-;r there are all poor v'cvioiv. tho i:ts' j?a;;a 'or an enterprising meridian' to open hi store is ::i a p.a.v where the In; gain makers <io not understand their l.a.-iLe?s. ami the best place for you who '.van; 10 beeorae the illustrious and tonip.ete Christian, the hf?r place fi r you is to ca re right down among us who are so im ompeteii' ami so imoirislent romc tines. Show via how. Live v.s an example. Exuviations from poisonous frees in our neighbor's garden will nuke a very poor ba'.in for our wounds. Sickness will cone, and we wiii lie pushed out. toward the Ked Sea which divides this world from the nest, and r.ct ! <'l,i-i.; ianu hilt t.ie lilt* ii)ruii.<?ti*vwiii.,> v?j v??* ...... rod of faith, will wave back the waters as a commander wheels hi? host. The judgment will conic, with its thunder shod solemnities. Oh, then we will not stop and ray, "There was a mean Christian; ihero was an impure Christian." In that day a; now. "li thou b? wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thcu ecorncst thou alone shall bear it." Why, my brother, the inconsistency c." Christians, so far from bring an argume it to keen you awav from Cod. ought to be an ara'linent to drive you to Ilim. So time to fee re!ig:ou; be e! Yo:: hate no time not to t; religion*. Ton i lighi as nail have n clerics in your store, no books in your library, n > compass on your ship, no rilie in the baffle, , no hat oil vour head. no coal lor \otr hark. no shoes for your feet. J'etier travel on toward eternity barcr.'.i lcd and barefooted and houseless and homeless and friendless than to go iiuojg'b ii:- without religion. Did religion make Jlaleigii any Ie<* o. a statesman or Havel >ik ri:y icsr ot a soidier or Crinncll any less of a merchant or West any lo-s of a painter? Why. niy friends, religion i> lb* be*t sc<uriiy in every bargain: it i- the sweet.. . c? ?v,n- <,jL ig t"e bmiitot <.-1 IK.IV ". ?o, :;m jn very coronet. No nine to be religion-.? Why. you v>iil have to take tone to be '-Ic-];. to "be troubled, to die. Our world, is only the wharf from which we are to embark for heaven. Xo time to secure the friendship of Ob list? Xo lime to buy a lamp and trim it lor that wall, tltroug.i the dark netJ which otherwise will !xr illumined only i:v lite whitcncs; of the toiub?tones? Xo ttiue to educate the eye for heavenly splendors or the hand for chcra! harps or the car for cvena.ting tocso or the soul lor honor, glory end .immortality-.' One w ould think we had time for nothing else. Other percon; apologize for no. entering the Christian life because it i- {into enough yet. liial ii very like tho-o poisons who send ivgrr.s and >ay. "1 wilt come in perhaps ;.t 1] or It! o'clock: 1 -.iii not oe tin re at the opening tk lninouet. but 1 will i * there at .he clo-e.'' .No. yet! Not yell Now. 1 do not g.ve mj delc.nl view ?f ;i i.> life. There it no.lrr.g it ??y r.attVA. ttoihi it. it firr gr.oe U'od. that tends toward a doleful view r hum.i i iif.u j lave net illicit rvmptthr with Ail - >u - descimt.o.i o. the "Vision ?>t Xlimu.** whet h" lepra ems hamuli lile a being :. bridge ?f a hundred arches and both t.n.s of the bridge covered with - : ?t 1, a lite race onrsig or., tit* nio-t H lite:) I tl.i tg down through th* .-.est >( art .".id a.! ol litem lulling cor .. iaroarli ?.te his. up >. I: is a very dismal pic.lire. 1 ji.tve tmt much yjr.pativ with tit; Spanish prove.*!) which r.;. . "Tim sky is good rial the earth . .... w I.,-..v...... the ii J.? .? .. ..Kit ? ..... ... carta the sky." Jiut, while we as Christian iner. arc hound t > take a chveriul view n; tile, wc i;.u-t ...so conft-s thai l.fo is a groat unlertaiutv anil .Inn man who sa?s. "1 can't become r. I'V.istirn because there is time enough yes.," U running a risk infinite. Von uo net perhaps realize the f.vi that de-oe lding grade oi si;? gets scecitr ami steeper and that you are gathrriii/ t.j ;; ritsj ami velocity which alter uni.iic may not uuswer to the brakes. lie net amorg those who give their aviso":* iire to fl.c world and then give their vOi j se to God. [t does net seesn fair that while < ar pulse-, are iu toll play <>: health v.v .vrvc ourselves and serve the \?orld id thvii make God r.t Ja^i t lie present oi t 'offin. It does not seem right that we run our ship from coast to coast carrying | . sirgoe* for ourselvcr. and then, when the i 1 ship is crushed in the rocks, give to God the shivered timbers. It is a great thing for a man on his dying pillow to repent? ! better that than never at all; but how > ! i.uteh better, how much more generous, it I would have been if he had repented fifty 1 years before! My friends, you will never ; get over the.se procrastinations. We have started on a inarch from which > there is no retreat. The shadows of j eternity gather on our pathway. How ; insignificant is time compered with the vast eternity! As I was thinking of this I one day while coming down over the A'.Ic- ] ghanv Mountains at noon, ny tnnt wonderful pass wbicli you all have heard tlei scribed as the Horseshoe?a depression in ; the side of the mountain where the train j ' almost turns back again upon itself, and you see how appropriate is the name cf i the Horseshoe?and thinking on this very theme and preparing this very sermon, jt j : seemed to m" as it the great courser of ' eternity speeding along had just struck j the mountain with one hoof and gone on into illimitable space. So short is time, i so insignificant is earth, compared wirli j the vast eternity! This moment voices r>11 down the sky and all the worlds of light are ready (o rejoice at your diseuthrr.ilment. Iiti*li not into the presence of the j King ragged wit!i sin when you may have .hi robe of righteousness. Bash not year foot nieces a'-air.st the throne of a eriieified Christ. Throw not your crown cf life the battlement*. Ail the scribes of Cod are at this hour ready with voiimus j of living light to record the news of your 1 sou! emancipated. [Copyright, lS?or. L. Klopsti.l A BIG COMBINE To Cs Effected in Charlotte on April 23rd. Atlanta. Special.?The Constitution rays: "Plans arc on foot for the formation cf a gigantic trust cf all the , cotton yarn mills of ^he Southern ><-1 r.crti'-ition tnt; Peon made by committee of five, name dat a rcc:ut meeting of the Southern Yarn Spinners. who will report favors.My to t;!: furua.ii :i of til ctru.-t at a meeting co be held in Charlotte on April "v. Tisls report will favor the accept 2:1 ci a proposal made by r\ L. Underwood. cf r.l Nassau street. New Yc who agrees id issue a local of ? lO.or.ij tapiml under a company iucornorated under the la ws of N't v.* Jersey . "Mr. Underwood's proposal v.*as sv.b!U!.c' ;! to'the Southo:n Yarn Spiunes at a meeting held at Chnilctte. N. C.. on April i last. It was agreed by Mr. Underwood to pay to all of the ; va;n mil! owners for the property a price to bo agreed upon by a commit- ( tec1 t?o be aolr-ted by the nrlll owners with l.is approval, but It is stipulated in his letter that such price shall not be in excess of 220 per cent, of the > fair cash tost of replacing the property payment to be made in one-half pi el erred an done-half common stock. ; Payment will be made in cash for all stocks of cotton, cotton in process of manufacture and goods on hand. "Upon the signification cf CO per cent, of the yarn mill owners of too South that they will accept this pro- ! poral, Mr. Underwood says he will have the contract prepared and sub ' miitecl to ttiem ror execution. "The committee appointed for the consideration of Mr. Underwood's pro- i pcsal has announced that it is pre- ; pared to recommend th? proposal for serious consideration. A letter to this effect has been s^nt to yarn spinners in the South and with it was enclosed a copy of Mr. Underwood's letter sub. milting his proposal. A lottsr has been also sent out by the committee calling attention to the proposal and asking all the yarn spinners of the t-outh to report upon it at a meeting to be held in Charlotte on April 'li. Cholera in Manila. Manila. Cy Cable.?The cholera sit.... tvtiw.S f Vi Cijnio l?lf the conditions in the provinces aro becoming aiarming. The totai of chol- j era cas.es in Manila up to date is 243. while there have been 192 deaths j front the disease. In the province i there has been 418 cases and 318 : deaths. The United States army transport Grant, while on her way to Ssmar Island, put into Legaspi. in : southern Luzon, having on board a teamster who had the cholera. The Grant asked for assistance, but war. ' placed in quarantine for five days. As , her supplies of water, food and coal were limited, she decided to jeturn to Manila. The teamster died of the disease. Four Americans have been attacked with cholera in Manila and on;? of them lias died. Tel. graphic Briefs. The Seranton (Pa.) street car; rt nice and boycott which have been going on for six months have been ended. "Will" Reynolds, a negro desperado. < at Tuscurni.ia. Ala., killed three men and wounded four ethers before he was r! Mled with bullets and his tody burned. A general strike of cloakmukcrs is likely ir. New York. Tii^ toipedo boat Decatur went to sea for its trial trip. . Th 1 Jitter Day Saints' General Conference opened at Latnoni, Iowa hut week. There was no change in the strike of the brewers at Boston, Mass. The sealing steamer Neptune; reached Si. John's, X. F., with 115,1)0'." \ pelts? aboard. Liquor may be delivered C. O. R. in Kansas without violating the Prohibi-, tion law. under a Supreme Court dc-' ,< ision made Saturday. 'n the British Parliament late la3t night A. J. Balfour said there was no foundation for the rumors that peace had bee nconcluded in South AMca it is reported that 10 more tat tallions of English nad Scotch troops j will be sent to Irelaul to suppress iht j United League. Suspend Objects in Didair. Here is a very surprising trick, and It is calculated to create much astonishment. Before the company assembles place a fine b'.aek silk thread from one side of the room to the other, about six feet from the floor. Do not have too much light First wave a handkerchief through the air and drop it gently on the line, continuing to make mysterious passes. Borrow a ran and tan ine KanaKercmei until it falls to the ground. You next suspend a light cane in the same manner. After performing the last triek be sure to break the thread, so that tie company will not detect your hidden power. Net 3o Unfortunate. No harm was done, it is reported, to the submarine heat Fulton Ly its accidental trip to the bottom, but the Incident is unfortunate, because of the undue importance which will be attached to it by people who know little more about such craft than that their history hitherto has been composed chiefly of fatalities. Yet what happened to the Fulton might have happened to any boat of her size and material, wen though it was not intended for under-water navigation. Instead of illustrating the peril to which the Fulton's passengers will he subjected, it simply showed that the Fulton, when tilled with water in circumstances which could not occur with her trained crew on board, will go to tke bottom and stay there. An ordinary torpedo boat would have done the samo u1ui&. uuu i:uliiiuj> wao j/iuivu , cept that the Fulton will not float ! when ftill 01" water, a fact which wa3 | perfectly well known before. It re- j mains true, however, that submarine i navigation is dangerous business at best, and that the object of the invent- ! ors is to minimize the danger, there ; being little chance of removing it aito- | gethev. Ill* Fhom-tle tTnUeriit.-inditic"The gravity which is supposed to attend all court proceedings was seri-, ously disturbed in a New York court- i room cnc day last week." said a young i lawyer who had just returned from a ' business trip to that city. "I was present at the trial of a case before one of the municipal judges?a case in which I was interested because It had to do with automobiles. One of the witnesses was a German, and gave his testimony through an interpreter. In the course of the examination he said he had driven an automobile to CedarhllKC? U U 1 Ol. " 'What's that?' a3ked the judge. " 'To Cedarhurst,' replied the intcpreter. "His honor looked puzzled. " 'What did he want to see the heurse fov? he asked." Crizzly cubs' born in captivity arc almost impossible to raise. Of twentythree born at Cincinnati, only one lived. Cabinet Ministers in Mexico receive 310.000 3 year. 14 /ion ton son STRAIGHT FRONT mk improve the appearance of Viall women, stout or slim, tal ^medium. Ask your dealer at V ROYAL WORCESTER ^^CORSET CO., wof iqaaa?mwsbm iifbvi a?anrimmnfii art I "NEW RIVAL" FACTORY L cutshoot all ether black powdei better and loaded by exact machi ~*ru\ waddlrjyj. Trv I ALL * REPUTABLQ DE ItoB?htwwmmmmmmmm wmrnmni ?. IALABA g THE ONLY DURABl I T? I W* 0 $ =?Aay>/$k? ia > I ; Th'< Portar?"0a? layer of paper It bad eaooch; ( p* you have t'i-eo here. Baby may rccovor. bu? ! A cauot thrire.'* J ALABASTINE COMPAI Uv^uvnuuw*i A Geographical Vorelfj. The point where Utah, Colorado, An* g zona and New Mexico touch each othet ' is called the four corners. This fact la not a strange one, but when we come to find that is the only place where four states or territories point, we find that this spot is in some ways a unique one. Not only is this the only place in the United States where such a Junction occurs.but it is the only one of its hind in the world. This statement seems a broad one. but a short study of the map3 of an atlas will show that it Jr. correct, and, more than that, that at no other place in the United States do more than two 3tate corners touch each other. Mere Opinion. It's a good rule that works your way all the time. A good woman's children rise up and call her blessed after they are, married oC and can't get back home! . more than once every four or five years. The way of the transgressor mpy be hard, but that of his victim is generally a little worse. Some of the people who talk so; much are merely trying to keep the world from finding^t that they have little to say?Philadelphia Record. * -r , 'v There are G159 establishments ia the United States with 18,647 acres where flowers and ornamental plants are cultivated. Berlin has 63 public monuments and is making ready ior some more. That is the best part of beauty which a picture cannot express.?Bacon. \ Half -Sick . | " I first used Ayer's Sarsaparilla i j in the fall of 1848. Since then 1 f t liovo token It everv serine m a | blood - purifying-and "nerve- ! 1 strengthening medicine." S. T. Jcncs, Wichita, Kans. If you feel run down, > are easily tired, if your | ' nerves are weak and your j blood is thin, then begin j to take the good old stand- [ ard family medicine, Ayer's Sarsaparilla. \ It's a regular nerve lifter, a perfect blood builder, n.xn^u. Aiungun. |; Aik your doctor what be thinks of Acer's I . Sartaparllla. He know* all about tbU grand Bold family medlelna Follow hlj adrlceaad ? ? 111 Kn | So 16 A McALLEN'S BUSINESS COLLEGE, M? Successful School. Ko raslsrla. Catalogue free. CKTMb^ ISET^^^ X)ut them. a & ESTER nanm SHOTGUN SHELLS r shells, because they are macb j nery with the standard brands of jj them and you will be convinced. ? ALBSS KEEP THEM J -- ? ??n???im? CTI M IT J .wP l inu; LE WALL COATING ? Kalsomines are temporary, # :ot, rub off and scale. J SMALL POX I md other disease germs are a r.urrured and diseases dissem- # inated by wall paper. J ALABASTINE f should be used in renovating ? and disinfecting ail walls. # MY, Grand Rapids, Mich. J *