The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934, October 11, 1907, Image 8
I The Pui/o/t a • ... *—.. %'■ ■n ; y^\^ A SERMON ’ CV" tAe re\4- % h r |tUV/:/lENDERy>jJ' , %3®^ Subject: Heroism. Brooklyn, N. Y.—Preaching at the Irving Square Presbyterian Church, Hamburg avenue and Weirfield street, on the above them, the Rev. Ira Wemmell Henderson, pastor, took as his text, Daniel, 3:18. He said: The courage of these men was sublime. Their heroism was remark able. The story of their strength of character is not an ordinary one. They might easily have played the king false by bowing down to his idols while still serving their God in their hearts. In all likelihood Nebu chadnezzar would have been satisfied had they simply bent the knee to his gods. And how could a mere man, even though he were a king, divine the devotions of their inmost hearts? Here was a place where most men would have considered discretion the better part of valor. Here was a chance for compromise in externals for the sake of saving one’s life. Here was the supreme test of their characters. They might have made excuses for themselves to their own minds and to God, and have wor shiped the golden image. They did neither. They were true Jews. They served the God of Israel, who had said unto His people by the mouth of Moses the deliverer and law-giver, ‘‘Thou shalt not botv down unto them nor serve them.” Therefore, they stood erect when the sound of “all kinds of made the multitude fall down. And standing, they are monuments to moral herolßtn. Heroism has great value in life and Is varied. Without it we could not, make much, if any progress. A man may be as a prophet in his percep tion and comprehension of divine truth, but if lie lack heroism his pow ers are largely unavailable to society. •Conviction needs courage to become a living force. It is one thing to have a vision, and another to declare it. It is one thing to have knowledge, and another to expound it. It is one thing to have a valid and substantiat ed opinion, and another to state it. It is one thing to detect s!*am and sin, and quite another to unmask them. The world is full of men who could -do evil to the death in many a. place -did they only dare. But it is so mani festly one thing to know the truth and another to stand up for it and to proclaim it. The value of heroism cannot be de nied. With it Moses faced the terrors and the torments of the desert and the threatenings of the wandering people of God. With it Isaiah and the prophets assailed mighty sin in the name of Almighty God. With it Columbus sailed the wide, uncharted seas, and discovered America to a ready world. With it Luther hurled defiance to the machinations of Ro man ecclesiasticism and marked an epoch in the majestic march of man hood toward our present liberty of thought. With it the heroes of Val ley Forge kept the faith for civil lib erty and under the impulse of its spirit the slave was freed. Without It Jesus would never have become our Saviour. Valuable as heroism is, it is not Ip- =» varied. For heroism is individ ual and social, physical and moral, lustrous and humble. The men of Lexington and Santi ago. of Trafalgar and of Waterloo, the heroes of Hebrew history and of the Crusades, the hosts who followed Napoleon or Wellington or Washing ton or Stonewall Jackson or any of the famous captains of armies, an cient or modern, ar£ examples of what we may term physical social heroism. Many were the instances of humble, individual moral courage dis played by soldiers serving under all these military geniuses. And yet, in the last analysis, their heroism was that of brute strength let loose and dependent, as much as upon anything, upon the flags, and the fanfare, and the smell and sight of blood, and the crowd moving together to the battle for its inspiration and its sustenta tion. It is not my purpose to insin uate that even under these conditions It is an easy thing to fare forth to try conclusions with fate. But in comparison with the pluck needed to do many another deed it is easy. There is, too, an individualistic, lustrous heroism which is even less trying and exacting. He is a hero, I care not who he may be, who will lead a willing army on to a fight where victory is sure, or who will poiut the way to a moral victory to men who are with him and who sight the same truth that he sees. For many a man has lacked the heroism to lead even though the skies were full of portents of success. It is so much easier to relinquish the respon sibility of leadership to another. Officers are marked men. ' We must admit a great measure of physical heroism in the action of the man who will test his strength •against the wild animal that would ■take his life. It takes nerve as well as mfiscle to meet a bully who richly and deserves a thrashing, and matte him eat the dust. But in the category of heroic virtues these are the least. At this time I would call your at tention to the heroisms which we have and need in our daily life, the heroisms of the humble, moral host who constitute the mainstay of this land and who are the backbone of America, the men and women and children who in an inconspicuous, but none the less efficient, fashion, give themselves as living sacrifices upon the altar of devotion to God and home and country. I would have you again remember if you have been so uh gracious as to forget the offerings of i that countless host of simple, homely i people who dally live for the common good and the public weal. I would call to your attention the leaders of our day who, in the face of sin and of opposition and of militant and im perious self-satisfaction, are effecting the salvation of America and teaching her people how to help themselves. For we have much heroism of this sort in this land. And we need more. It is easy in a way to fall into line and to march down to the war w’hen the summons comes and the music plays and the people cheer and we know that death will earn us death ' less, though perhaps not individual, fame. But what is the courage of the leader or the soldier in the front line of the fierce fight to that of the toiler Who, day by day, works and plans and slaves and lives that children may be reared and prepared for life and the home be kept intact? That father yonder who, from sunrise to sunset, day in and day out, in health and sickness, when sad or glad, toils for wife and family; is he not heroic? That mother, with her cleanly brood of six, the sole manager and dispenser 1 of a princeiy, gross salary of $lO a week, up with, or. before, the first: streaks of the earliest day, resting only when all are sleeping, cooking, washing, nursing, caring for them, with smiles for each and tenderness for all, staggering beneath a burden more than man has dared to bear, who shall deny her praise? That widowed mother, with a flock and a pittance; that child who alone sup ports a home; that maiden who is pure and sweet upon wages that are criminal before the living God, who shall deny the sublimity of their humble heroism? To my mind the heroism of the plain people, who have little but who serve so much.Uo whom life offers such a meager portion but who make It go so far, is a most sublime, as it is a most compelling, fact of human life. I can conceive of nothing harder, day by day, to arise to face the impenetra ble wall of hardship and of approxi mate poverty which dominates the horizon of so many liyes. I can pic ture nothing more unutterably un bearable than, day by day, to be com pelled to undergo the refined slavery that is unquestionably characteristic of so much of our modern life. To | desire to live in the face of it, to de cide to struggle against it, to hope even against hope, to live and to love, j to get a little and to give a little, to I retain and to augment the diviner j characteristics that alone differentiate humanity from the beast, to plan for posterity and to have faith in God in the midst of the relative riches that constitute the poverty of our times, is heroic. We should thank God for the heroism of those among us w r ho 1 have so little and who live so largely, ! in proportion as they have capacity and opportunity, for the common weal. We should thank God that they are faithful, that they know how to live simply, that they are moral. For if ever the men and women who are the burden-bearers in the world’s w'ork become saturated with the vices, the follies and the fallacies concerning life that infest the minds of those who constitute the topmost and the nethermost strata of society, the world will have short shrift. Another sort of heroism that we must never fail to remember and con sider and to which we owe much, is that moral heroism among the polit ical and religious leaders of the coun try that is increasingly obvious and actively at work. For that heroism is real. The forces of unrighteousness are intrenched. The army of greed at any price is already in the field. The plunderers of the public are as busy as the vultures that prey upon the dead. The camp followers who are out for petty graft are busily at work. The sleek, self-satisfied captains of political and commercial piracy at ; the front. They are all the more dangerous because they have per suaded themselves that they are sin | cere, that the benefits they have un doubtedly been instrumental in bring | ing to society excuse and justify the rapacity of which they have been and to-day are guilty. They scorn gov i ernment, they laugh at law r , they at the rising tide 'of popular disap proval. Their special pleaders are hired, their subsidized papers are already bought, many of their books are burnt. They invite the test and even dare to threaten. In pulpit and in pew, on the forum and in halls of learning, wherever there is an itching palm or a callous heart there their champions may be found. It is need less for me to expand the story by telling you of the governments, mu nicipal and state, that they may al most be said to own, the legislatures that they have bought or have tried to buy, of the defiance that they throw into the very teeth of adminis trative officers who with honesty and singleness of purpose attempt to bring them to account. We are face to face with no theory. We are confronted with the most un palatable facts, when everything is considered, with which any nation has ever had to deal. There is no use in waiting for a declaration of hostil ities. The war is already on. The enemy is in the field. Heroism is required to go up against him for “the sake of our cities and for the people of our God.” Heroism has al ready been shown. It has already cost some men dear. The dictum is to pulpit and press, to politician and statesman, to the financial and the business world, to labor and to capital, to the world at large: \\ e have erected our golden, image, it suit us, bow down ir be con sumed. And woe betide the man with the information and the heroism essary to refuse to bow. Men have re fused. They have been consumed. The threat to-day is bow down or he ruined. Touch us not lest the country die. Forsooth we shall re frain to eradicate the vermiform ap pendix of financial and commercial and political indecency and disease because of the shock to the patient. Thank God we have men of heroism at hand, men who have wisdom, who have the hand and the nerve and the experience and the wisdom to disobey our modern Nebuchadnezzars and to operate. And they will not be burnt. Their heroism will not spell their death. It will not invite disaster. It will save the patient from uglier ills and worse torments. The sort of heroism that can live humbly in the contemplation of such evil with trust in God and confidence In the heroism of the leaders that are called is the sort that has made America a power. The heroism that remains steadfast and faithful in the face of regnant wrong is the heroism that illuminates her history. She has much of it. She needs more of it. It should be rewarded. It should have our support. We should have It. For it is the heroism of the Christ. STATE FAIR NOTES. Honorable William Jennings Bryan will make an address at the Georgia state fair, Atlanta, Saturday, October 19th. He will be introduced by Gov ernor Hoke Smith. This will be one of the big days at the fair. All the secret orders in Georgia have been invited to take part in Fraternal day exercises at the fair, Thursday, October 17th. Nearly all railroads in Georgia will give reduced rates from October 10th to 26th. Oamden, Cobb, Cherokee, Carroll, Hall, Habersham, Rabun, DeKalb, Twiggs, Bulloch, and Worth counties have applied for space for farm exhib its at the state fair. The far-famed Passion Play shown in moving pictures, will be seen at the fair. This play, representing the life of Christ, is presented once every ten years at Oberamergau in * Europe, and draws people from all the world. Baby Incubators with real live in incubator is the best mother in the world for tiny, weak babies as the temperature is always the same, and a doctor and trained nurse are always on hand. The fair management has engaged Ranch 101, the great wild west show, to come direct from the Jamestown exposition to Atlanta. This show has been the leading attraction at James town ever since the exposition opened. It is the largest aggregation of genu ine Indians and cowboys traveling. The Indians are Sioux and some of them were in the Custer battle. One old duck carries two bullets which he received in that fight. This show will be a free attraction at the fair. INVESTIGATING CENTRAL’S BOOKS- Accountant is Employed by Trustees of Income Bondholders. Authentic information has been re ceived in Savannah that an account ant has been named to thoroughly in vestigate the accounts of tho Central Railway and Ocean Steamship compa nies. The accountant was appointed by the trustees of the income bondhold ers who recently placed their holdings in the hands of the Central Trust com pany of New York. THREAT OF JUDGE EFFECTIVE. Chattanooga Business Man Forced to Tes tify Before Grand Jury. W. Ivl. Lasley, president of the Southern Clay company, and one of the leading business men of Chattanooga, was earned before Judge Mcßeynolds, in the criminal court Thursday, and given the option of going to jail for contempt or of going before the grand jury and testifying in the investiga tion of numerous charges of bribery and graft made against prominent business men and city officials. Las ley took the latter course. CUBAN COLONY APPEALS TO ROOT. Those in Mexico City Anxious to Know Exactly Where They Are At. A committee of forty Cubans, rep resenting the Cuban colony in Mexico City, presented a petition to Secretary Root, asking him to make a statement on the status of Cuba and appealing to him to dispel the distrust that will be felt by Latin-America should the United States adopt one policy for Cuba and another for the stronger na i tioas. VERY LOW RATES TO NORFOLK, VA., AND RETURN Account Jamestown Ter=CentenniaJ Exposition VIA Southern Railway Season, 6o day and 15 day tickets on sale daily commen cing April 19th, to and including November 30th, 1907. Stop Overs will be allowed on Season, Sixty-day and ftfteen-day tickets, same as on Summer Tourist Tickets. For full and complete information call on Ticket Agents Southern Railway, or write: For rates, routes and schedules or any infor mation, address, C. R. PETIT, Trav. Pass. Agent Macon. Ca. J6HN B. WATKINS, VETERNARY SURGEON, Office at flack Goodwin’s stables below county jail. Office hours: 1.30 to 2.30 p. m., Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All calls promptly attended to. Office Phone 44; Residence Phone 131, Jackson, Ga. FOR SALE-LOTS IN LOCUST GROVE, GA. 1 Acre, $l5O. Dicken Street 165 ft lront, 500 leet trom Southern Railway depot. I*4 Acres, SSOO. Clevelrnd Street 100 ft front, facing Railway Crossing. 400 feet from Southern Railway depot. JOHN S. GLEATON, 408-9 Peters Bldg, Atlant a j§ FIRST AND LAST If P SHOD BMW SUES V r Mean $ $ made to all who 1 buy or wear them. In styled ease and durability, ‘ ‘ Shield Brand Shoes ” 1 toe the mark of perfection. SOLD BY RELIABLE MERCHANTS ONLY j . M. C. KISER CO., Manufacturers. J ATLANTA, CA. Jjg Atlanta, Oct . lOtk to26ih inclusive t ||j if “The Sport of Kings” t| iIL Each day there will be five intensely thrilling running races. Thr-i e~- 111 hiMtion of -peed end courage of horse flesh will bring together many of ill fthe most noied running horses of America. iSi I $lO, GOO in Prizes — lS County Exhibits jPil Wednesday. Oct. lfith. will be FARMERS' UNION DAY. This will be a Vm anner day—magnificent displays of every conceivable piece of agricultural lachinery ; prize-winning iive stock, poultry and farm products’ will be at pB The Midway cj Grand and gorgeous side shows: bewildering, entertaining and instructive L/llia shibiting the queer people of the Orient and Occident, the reproduction of a ’ USII jld mine in "iteration; these, and many more, will create unlimited mer- V l *’ ment for old and young alike. Reduced Rates on all Railroads >r further infernmtion,address s \. \ FRANK WELDON, Scc'y & Gen’l Mgr. [ \ \jl ATLANTA. GEORGIA «S NEAT PRINTING Creates a good impression among your corres pondents and helps to give your business pres tige . We do neat pri n ting at reasonable prices.