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March 0, 1912] THE]
Editorial 1
It will be well if church treasurers and others
who have funds to remit to the Executive Committee
for any of the causes of the Church will
note that the last day of the present fiscal year,
March 31st, falls on a Sunday. It will be needful,
therefore, to send in all funds in ample
time to be received and credited on March 30th.
The Christian Advocate, of Nashville, gives
an interesting article on the chaplaincies in the
Confederate armies. Without having the min
utes of two or three Conferences, it finds that
as many as 208 ministers of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, were chaplains, besides 31
other ministers of that Church who went as
missionaries to the Confederate armies, and not
including 141 who served in other capacities,
either as common soldiers or commissioned officers.
A more complete record would probably
show much larger figures. It is doubtful if there
was ever a conflict in which so many of the most
devoted ministers took part, both in the field
and in their calling.
America's forgiving spirit is sometimes very
marked. An instance is just now occurring, in
connection with the Dickens centennial. How
common it is to read and hear not only laudations
of Charles Dickens, which are all well and
good and which are abundantly justified, but
in addition such extravagant expressions as, "He
was one of us,'* "America claims him for her
own," and the like. Dickens' personal dislike
for America and American institutions and ways
was one of the most pronounced features of his
career. In his later life he seemed to have recovered
in part from the prejudice which showed
long after his first visit to this country, but he
never completely recovered. Still, America generously
admired him and?forgives him.
President Taft's action in revoking the order
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs is meeting
with universal and severe and just criticism.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs had issued
an order that sectarian garb and insignia should
not be used by teachers in the Federal schools.
This order Mr. Taft suspended in such form as
to make it practically a revoking. He says in
his letter to the Secretary of the Interior: "As
the order would not in any event take effect until
the beginning of the next school year, I direct
that it be revoked, etc., until such time as will
permit a full hearing," etc. That is, as a sop
to the Romanists, the candidate for their support
in the coming presidential nomination, sets
aside the altogether reasonable and wise direction
of the under officer. After the nominating
convention a cnange may De made.
In the practical work of the "Men and Religion
Movement" which is now holding its campaigns
in the various cities, under the leadership
of "teams of experts," the comment grows more
and more pronounced that the vast majority of
those who attend the meetings and subject themselves
to the "experts" are the "old guard"
of the churches, the ministers and laymen who
are already and always interested and active,
and who have long been engaged in the very work
which is being unfolded to them. The men whom
the Movement should reach are rarely there.
From Philadelphia, Nashville, St. Louis, and
other places this testimony comes, very plain
and very emphatic, and from sources which have
been more than sympathetic towards the movement
in anticipation of its coming.
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE S
Votes and
Some weeks ago we published a letter from
Mr. Henry Moore, of Texarkana, Ark., in which
he offered to be one of fifty to give $1,000 and
one of fifty to give $500 to the Semi-Centennial
Building Fund. Mr. Moore writes that several
have accepted the proposition. Others have expressed
an interest, but are not in a position to
pay the amount this church year. It has been
suggested that the Executive Committee accept
pledges from such persons, to be paid at some
future time. Mr. Moore and those who have
united with him no doubt would gladly accept
these promises as fulfilling the condition of their
offer. We most earnestly commend Mr. Moore's
proposal to our people, especially to men and
women whom God has blessed with business prosperity,
and who would invest a portion of their
resources where it would be perpetual in its ministration
to the enlargement of our Master's
kingdom. This week we publish a proposal from
one of our esteemed ministers, Rev. B. C. Bell
of McComb, Miss., to the effect that our ministers
shall contribute one per cent of their salaries
to a similar fund to be devoted to the same department
of work to which Mr. Moore has so
generously subscribed.
Dr. W. W. Pharr of Mooresville, N. C., for
fifty years pastor of the Center Presbyterian
church in the Presbytery of Concord, passed to
i. * - * -
his rewara on reoruary zi, at tne age of eighty
years. He was one of the best known members
of the Synod of North Carolina and was one of
the best beloved ministers in the entire South.
The church which he served for half a century
was a center of wide influence and its pastor
throughout his ministry manifested a keen interest
in everything that pertained to the welfare
of his people. His influence was without
ostentation but was strong and enduring and
its effects will be felt on generations yet unborn.
His children who survive are Mrs. Marshall
Brown, Messrs. F. C. and W. D. Pharr of Charlotte,
and Mrs. W. L. Moore, of Mobile, Ala.
We learn with sorrow of the death, on February
27. of Rev .Tames Staev nf Nowno-n fJ<?
, J, - .v, .. ?
who has long been known as one of our most
accomplished and able ministers. lie was a native
of Georgia, and was in the sixty-seventh
year of his age. He was a graduate of Oglethorpe
College and of Columbia Theological Seminary.
He was licensed by the Presbytery of
Georgia in 1852 and ordained by the same Presbytery
in 1853. His ministry wa3 spent in the
service of churches in his native State and in
Alabama. He was installed pastor of the church
at Newnan in 1857 and continued in this pastoral
charge for forty-three years. He served
as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Atlanta for
about forty years and of the Synod of Georgia
for thirty years, and served for ten years as a
director of Columbia Seminary. As a writer
and author Dr. Stacy stood in the front rank
of the ministry. In addition to numerous contributions
to our religious journals, he published
a "Prize Essay on the Sabbath," "The Day of
Rest," "Water Baptism," "History of Midway
rti t. tt ktt ? * ^ - * -
vmurcn, - uanaoooK or rrophecy" and "History
of the Presbyterian Church in Georgia"
(not yet published). Dr. Stacy was one of the
most valued contributors to the columns of the
Presbyterian op the South. In addition to
sorrowing*for the loss of one of our most able
and consecrated ministers, we regret that our
readers will not continue to have the pleasure
and profit of his illriminating and uplifting discussions
of sacred truth.
OUTH (823) 9
Comments
NOTES IN PASSING.
BY BERT.
David says the Lord will be a
/I Refuge refuge for the oppressed. Ps. 9:9.
He makes frequent use of the word
here translated "refuge." Sometimes it appears
i ?? ..... -
uiuiiig-pmue, sometimes "nign tower," sometimes
"defence." It is literally a "hill-fort."
The use of such a word carries with it some intimation
of the sad experiences he had known
when he was hunted like a wild beast by those
who sought his life. And it also carries with it
the most delightful assurances of the perfection
of safety which all may claim who trust in God.
The strongest possible defence is a great citadel
built upon a lofty eminence; a fortress whose
foundation is in the solid rock, which has room
enough for its defenders, and all their supplies.
And this is the figure David uses. Every believer
has this defence, but not every believer
is conscious of it, and as a consequence many
of them are in trouble all their days, when they
have no need to be in any distress at all. Let
us just believe in God. Let us take refuge within
tVlA nn/>AmnQooin? *>T ?? ?* *
ai ma. ijci us give ourselves
rest from our own efforts at defence.
""When a man's ways please
ricasing God the Lord, he maketh even his
enemies to be at peace with him."
Prov. 16:7. A holy life is well protected. The
ways that please God are bound to commend
themselves to men. lie who lives for truth and
in truth; he who gives to every man his just and
proper due; he who shed3 abroad the beams of
that light that is love for all God's creatures
will always have friends. And even his enemies
will feel at so great a disadvantage in comparison
with him that they will remain quiet. It 's
quite possible for a man's views to please God
while his ways are altogether unpleasing to him.
Many a man wants the right thing who goes
about it in the wrong way. Our tones and our i
words are often in open warfare. It is not
enough to know. If we would be true servants
of God we must know how. And even this the
Holy Snirit will tp?r?h n? if ?>?.o
4 _ ? ? **. f?w ui& tuouiiauic.
Many a reformer carries active warfare everywhere
he goes, who would accomplish much more
if he carried a heart glowing with sympathy for
men. Indeed we are sometimes compelled to
wonder whether some men are not more interested
in raising a disturbance than in ushering in
the reign of righteousness. If a man wants
trouble he will always find a good supply ready
to his hand.
My spiritual state is shown not so much in
what I pray for as in what I don't pray for.
IIow generous I am depends not so much on
what I give as on what I keep.
My usefulness depends not so much upon what
I intend as on what I do.
God can use just anything, but he can not
use the man who gives him just anything.
There is such a thing as making of a strong
home base as well as an intelligent and efficient
home base, for foreign missions. The first
requisite is to "strengthen the stakes." The development
of our weaker sections and fields into
strong and productive home bases is of the first
importance. The history of the church in the
past proves it as a practical fact. The church
at large spent large sums, for instance, to maintain
the work in Texas, and now Texas gives
many thousands more each year to foreign missions
than it cost any year to maintain that field
when it was purely heme mission territory.