Newspaper Page Text
August 11, 1915] THE
Family 1
NOW, THE LABORER'S TASK IS O'ER.
By Rev. J. Ellieton.
This hymn was a great favorite of Queen Victoria's,
and she- frequently had it read at the
u,;i\. of her loved ones. It was first published
in 1S71.
Now, tho laborer's task is o'er,
Now, the battle day is past,
Now, upon the farther shore
Lands tho voyager at last.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
There, tho tears of earth are dried,
There, its hidden things are clear.
There, the work of life is tried
By a juster Judge than here.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
There the sinful souls that turn
To the cross their dying eyes,
All the love of Christ shall learn
At His feet in Paradise.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
There no more the powers of hell
Can prevail to mar their peace,
Christ the Lord shall guard them well,
II
in; nuu uiuu ior nieir release.
Father, In Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
Earth to earth and dust to dust,
Calmly now the words we say,
Left behind we wait in trust
For the resurrection day.
Father, in Thy gracious keeping
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping.
D. H. HILL, A PRESBYTERIAN LAYMAN.
Henry E. Shepherd.
It was an observation of the late Walter
I'ali-r in one of his stimulating and finely
touched essays that the true artist is he who
knows what to omit. Accepting this as an
accurate criterion or touchstone of excellence
in n gard to the sphere of literary creation, it
may be applied in a sense not contemplated by
tl'o author, to more than one work issued during
reeent years whose avowed purpose was the
delineation or portrayal of the Presbyterian
layman. The exclusion of all that is richest
in nobleness of ideals, ripest in results, most
appealing in life and character, forms the distinctive
mark, the unfailing badge which is
die herald and the harbinger of this tribe of
biographers. None of the goodly and historic
" iiowship whereof the Presbyterian Church in
tlie South holds record, assumes an attitude
lnoiv impressive in itself, more charged with
historic significance, far-reaching and complex
scope than the layman, teacher, author,
s> i- ntist, scholar, soldier, blending into harHi'iiiy,
whose name and memory are linked
w"h the brilliant achievements of our arms at
^liiirpsburg and South Mountain, and who on
;i notable day in the summer of 1863, plucked
? \
"'< capital of the Confederacy from the very
tf'v?xp of the enemy while our forces were remote
from the scene, and the hand of the
"pailer was at the gate of our citadel. Daniel
'hirvey Hill (1821-1889) after his resignation
' r,?m the army of the United States, became
P'ofessor of mathematics at Washington Col(now
Washington and Lee University),
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SO
leadings |
retaining the chair from 184!) until 1854, at
which time he accepted a similar position at
Davidson College, remaining associate with the
latter institution until September, 185!), when
he became superintendent of the newly founded
Military Institute at Charlotte, llis career
during the struggle for the independence
of the South, has become part of our historic
record. With the advent of nominal peace, he
devoted his multiform faculties and attainments
to the development of periodical liter*1
P
nunc, auu IU LI IU VlIlUlCHllOll OI OUI" CHIISC
through tho medium of journalism. There are
many still in the vigor of manhood, who recall
with a sense of grateful appreciation, "The
Land We Love," and "The Southern Home."
The latest years of General Hill's life found
him engaged in new spheres of education expansion
in Arkansas and in Georgia, his marvelous
energy and resourcefulness bearing him
up despite the gradual fading of his physical
power. The end came at Charlotte. September,
icuo l i_:.i a- i
juo./, anu nc wjis mm iu rest in me cemetery
at Davidson with his youthful and adored
children who had preceded him into the heavens.
The very genius of Preshyterianism, in
its purest traditional form, the doctrine of the
days that are dead, was concretely illustrated
in the life and character of D. II. Hill. He was
incapable of sympathy with the much contested
Tennysonian teaching?
"There lives more faith in honest doubt,
Believe me, than in half the creeds."
Hail the Son of man come, lie would have
found faith upon the earth, pure and unfalterllltr
111 ilwi linoid r\ 4* 1 r 1T?11 Til"-- ? -?' - ?^ ?
...H ... i l i>. u. mil. my earliest personal
contact with General Hill traces hack to
the session of 1858-}) at Davidson College. During
the first term of this scholastic year, I was
a member of the freshman class, being the
youngest student who ever entered the institution.
My next association with him was in
the relation of cadet at Charlotte 1859-60;
also followed his standard during two campaigns
of the war drama, so soon to descend
upon us like an avenging cloud. I may affirm
without rendering myself obnoxious to the
charge of hyperbole, that our Presbyterian
layman was the most versatile genius who appeared
in the forefront of the battle for the
autonomy of the South. The range and variety
of his acquirement and his achievement
recall that marvel of Elizabethan days, Sir
Walter Raleigh. His mathematical skill was
unsurpassed, his English style was manly, vigorous,
lucid; his knowledge of Scripture, comprehensively
and minutely critical; his acquaintance
with our literature, broad, discerning,
and tempered by sanity of judgment. His
"Sermon on The Mount," 1858, and "The
Crucifixion," 1859, despite their rare excellence
of conception and execution, have faded from
the memory of the contemporary world. They
are unknown to the Presbyterian clergy of our
time, and are hardly to be found in the libraries
of the institutions associated with his
name as their most brilliant and historic lightNot
even a modest tablet looking down from
n cn?1 nr^n/1 a i*? ^ 1 ?
.. U.,U...v.. . ill I ur: til 1/HVllISOll OT
at Lexington, recalls his memory, or intimates
to the coming race, that this Presbyterian layman,
rich in gifts of grace, as well as endowments
of intellect, on two occasions held the
overwhelming armies of the aliens at bay, and.
plucked the South from the very grasp of despair.
Yet in the face of this deplorable in
U T H. (543) 5
difference and apathy, it may be confidently
proclaimed,
"Whatever record leap to light,
lie never shall be shamed."
Baltimore, Md.
POVERTY AND PT.F.NTY
Vast indeed is the gulf between the House
of Have and the House of Want in America
even in the times which are termed most prosperous.
Last year tlie land of the fields of gold
poured out a wheat crop of nine hundred million
bushels, a greater crop by 137,000,000
bushels than ever before. It is a total calculated
to make the average person stand aghast.
Twenty-seven million tons of golden wheat; five
hundred pounds and more for every man,
woman and child in America! From the same
sun-bathed lands came mammoth crops of corn
and oats and Ihe other irrains and nroducts
which make the food of tlie world. When these
crops are harvested and stored in granary and
storehouses, there are food supplies for all
the world. The triumphant outpouring of the
divine miracle of growth is great enough for
all.
And yet?in spite of this lavish bounty from
nature's cornucopia, ten million Americans
during the coming year will never get far from
the starvation line, and many will cross it.
T.;?+Ia ? ?:n *? * - i '
uutic uuuuicu nm cry xor ureau, ana tneir cries
will go unanswered- Grown men and women
will struggle courageously against poverty and
its terrors; but with all their efforts they will
fail to secure even enough of the necessaries of
life to assure physical strength.
Riotous abundance for some?famine for
others.?Ex.
PROGRESS.
Recently the American Congress has passed
measures which could not even have been considered
ten years ago. It has passed a bill
originated by Congressman Brenmer, of New
Jersey?"Smiling Bob," we call him?who,
while dying from cancer, labored upon the
measure upon which he had set his heart.
It provides for the establishment of a Bureau
of Industrial Safety in the Labor Denartment.
and its purpose is to prevent the fearful loss
of life and limb and health in industry.
Congressman Breumer died before his bill
could be enacted into law; but his work was
well done, and his measure has been passed
with few changes from its original draft. It
will do more than any law ever passed to prevent
the waste of humanity in industry; and it
is a triumph of the new Christianity.
Congress passed a resolution appointing
twelve delegates to the International Congress
Against Alcoholism. The expenses were paid
from the public treasury?thus putting the nation
officially on record as opposing alcoholism
as the cause of disease and decay, degeneracy
and death. In spite of bitter opposition, when
the vote was taken not a single member dared
lift his voice and vote against the resolution.
?Ex.
THE SALOON A BANK OF DEPOSIT.
"You deposit your money there?and lose it.
Your time?and lose it.
Your character?and lose it.
Your health?and lose it.
Your strength?and lose it.
Your self-control?and lose it.
Your home comfort?and lose it.
Your wife's happiness?and lose it.
Your children's happiness?and lose it.
Your own SOUL?and lose it.
The investor never seems to realize the
danger, until ruination is upon him."