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About The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 20, 1907)
II The Pulro/t f A SERMON ‘ qY tAe revL. ’iRAV /teNDEl^ofT^lpiP- Theme: A Nation’s Warning. Brooklyn, N. Y.—Preaching at the Irving Square Presbyterian Church Hamburg avenue andWeirfield street’ on the above theme, the Rev. Ira Wemmell Henderson, pastor, took as his text Daniel 5:5: “in the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace; and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.” He said: This is a weird story. The inci dent is gruesome. The circumstances give pause for thought. The picture is terrific. Belshazzar, the wicked king, in the midst of revelry and vice, surrounded by his retinue and the parasites of a degraded court, flaunt ing his villainy in the very face of the living God, finds that God is not mocked, much less is He dead. The animated hand points the tight end of a long rope. It emphasizes a clear warning of Jehovah. And it terrifies the king. Belshazzar had cause to fear. It is no wonder that his knees knocked and that his limbs shook, that he had a fit, so as to say, of the ague. Well he might. For Nebuchadnezzar the king, his father before him, had had an exhibition of the power and the presence of God within the world. He had harbored wickedness in his heart and within his dominions and God had humbled him. Belshazzar therefore might have learned from ancestral experience what would be likely to be the sure result of his many and perverse sins. Simple rea soning might have led him to refrain to try the patience of Jehovah to his own undoing. But he would not be taught. He would not even be warned. And the same night Bel shazzar the king of the Chaldeans was slain. This weird tale is as useful as it Is gruesome and as illustrative as it is terrific. It is admonitory. It should be exemplary. It certainly af fords food for sober and continued thought. It epitomizes a lesson that so many men and nations in the past have failed or refused to grasp. The lesson that a man cannot fool with laws of morality and righteousness and with the principles enunciated by Almighty God and be safe or* live for long. How often it has happened in his tory that men and nations have wait ed until the noose has tightened. How many have flaunted their wilfulness in the face of Jehovah with a seem ing calm superiority to the inevitable. How many have refused to heed even after the hand has, as it were, written over against the wall of their own lives. Louis presumed to defy God and man and to exalt his whims above the right. And his fatuousness pre pared the way for freedom’s France. George the Third moved to thwart the plans of Providence in the new world. But the political idiocy of George the Third simply hastened the ascendancy of George Washington. America tried to demonstrate the holiness of an unholy slavery and to compromise principle. But God wrote large upon the page of our national history His ultimatum concerning the rights of man with the red blood of the flower of our manhood. The lesson of Belshazzar is apropos. It is pertinent. And it is nowhere more needed than within the confines of most Christian and civilized Amer ica. To mention no others, it is of practical value in our commercial and governmental and ecclesiastical af fairs. For commerce has been made the creature of the w'hims and fan cies of unscruplous financiers. The Government has been, and is now be ing, made the opportunity for thieves and malefactors of every conceivable political stripe. The church has been dormant. In many quarters she has been, so it would seem, dead. We have been remiss in much. We have bean fast and loose in more. We have deified wealth and permitted godless ness to strut with little let or hind rance upon the king’s highway. God knows we have been warned. Let us trust that we shall heed the hand. Let us not emulate Belshazzar. No man may deny that we have drifted fast toward the rocks of na tional dishonor and disgrace in our commercial affairs. The financial ant. commercial situation is a disgrace to a free people, not to say of a Chris tian nation. And bad as is the story that comes directly to o,ur ears it is not half of what may be told and but an adumbration of the catastrophe that will follow as surely as that Cod lives if we do not mend our ways. The spectacle of a panic in the midst of the most legitimate prosperity that the world has ever known is in itself a far greater condemnation of our methods and our career than any' sermon. Words cannot picture the sinfulness of the situation so well r.s can the fact with which we are face to face. Any sane man can perceive the outcome. None but a fool or a knave would deny the sin. Shall we shut our eyes to the writing hand? Fast as we have drifted toward commercial and financial disaster we have none the less swiftly progrr-sei in many quarters, and even now are moving, toward political degeneracy. The administration of our cities is a by-word and a joke among the na tions of the world. As we contem plate them ourselves we seem almost to take delight to say that they are as badlv managed as they are. Cer tainly many of us openly despair of reformation and pronounce popular self-government upon that point to be and utter and a shameful failure. The efforts of those who sit behind the scenes and pull the wires in our national affairs are to accomplish the discrediting and overthrow of any man or measure that is squared to the unflinching application of the rule of righteousness regardless of the consequences or the cost. We may well thank God that here and there, especially in the South and West, the citizenship of America is so keen to hear the breaking waves and to steer the ship of our national existence off impending shores. For we must change our course, or wo will perish as the grass. Similarly the church has been re miss. The prevalent and profound antagonism toward and distrust of the church upon the part of too large a proportion of the working men and careful thinkers of this land is a warning that we would do well to heed. We Lave exchanged leadership for applause and conviction for ease. We have become flabby. Multitudes of men regard us as the protectors and special pleaders, for a considera tion, of the privileged classes. We are regarded as too prominently the preservers of the status quo, the brake upon a healthy progress. And if is not strange. For the church has not, nation wide, locked arms with a great moral reform openly and ag gressively in forty years. We have spent our fighting strength upon heresy trials and game that is not worth our energy. In New York it would seem, judging by the returns, that the sure way to defeat a candi date is to secure for him the open and avowed support of the ministry of the church. We have attacked in dividuals when down and organiza tions that it cost nothing to assail. We have objected to saloons within 150 feet of the churches and been silent while they squatted thick and greedily in the midst of the haunts of poverty. We have neglected the social evil and the men in the pews and membership of our own organiza tion who have owned and rented houses of ill fame. We have as saulted the moral character of the saloonkeeper and consigned him and his business to eternal torment, while we have ever maintained by our suffrage our criminal silent partner ship in his trade. The meanwhile praying God to drive him from our midst. And even in this day with the inspiring and glorious example of the Southland right before us we may find ministers in the city of New York who will excuse the saloon, and a church that is afraid to grapple with the enemy in a struggle to the death. We have been fooled so long political ly that most of the politicians regard the church element as a sort of a cheerful political joke. All of this is the handwriting on the wall. It*is the warning of the times. In no unreal sense it is the voice of God to us. Woe betide us if we fail to be warned. Not otherwise is it in individual life. What a careless host there is of men who disregard the clear ad monitions of Jehovah and who spend their lives in riotous living, who vio late every statute upon the moral code, who permit in their public .lives sins they would revolt to have exist in their private affairs, who live prjvately as they neither have the courage nor the desire to live openly, who sell their minds and souls as they do their votes for a considera tion, who think that they may sow as they please and reap what they like, who deny the sovereignty of God and stifle the consciousness of a judg ment. Upon the walls of their lives the hand writes daily. To their ears continually comes the warning call of God. Into the stilly recesses of their souls the still, small voice speaks, But like Belshazzar they are heedless. They mock the God who cannot be mocked. It is good that God warns. It is well that we should hear and profit and reform. For if we do not, indi vidually as nationally, we shall be overwhelmed. It could not be other wise. It ought not to be different. It is for us to watch out lest it be said of us that in the day of warning we were slain. Ye Are Saved Through Faith. To confess, to weep, to pray, to re solve —all these are of no avail un less we believe. It is by believing that we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is by believing the “exceeding great and precious promises” that they are realized in our experiences. In order to receive any benefit from the work of Jesus we must believe that He is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” To the blind men who sought His help, Jesus said: “Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eves, saying, According to your faith be it unio you. And their eyes were opened.” To the ruler of the syna gogue Jesus said, “Fear not; believe only.” .. We must remember, however, that "a nominal faith in Christ, which accepts Him mereiy as the Saviour of the world, can never bring healing to the soul. The faith which is unto salvation is not a more intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith, cannot receive bless ing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in Him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces Him as a personal Saviour, which ap propriates His merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion; sav ing faith is a transaction, by which those who receive Christ join them selves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. Believe, and live in obedience to the will of God, —Review and Herald. Giving him credit has started many a man on the road to the almshouse. BIG WARSHIPS UNDER WAY Mammoth Fleet Leaves Hampton Roads for Pacific Waters. TEDDY IN THE LEAD Sixteen Giant Fighters Haul in Anchors and Begin History-Making Cruise. Pageant Imposing. The backbone of the American navy, sixteen first class battleships, under I command of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, set sail from Hampton Roads Monday for the Pacific ocean, 14,000 I miles cruise, which has set all the world to talking. Parading in review before the pres ident of the United States and sa luting as they went, the stately white ! vessels drew r ashore from the rendez vous of Hampton Roads and steamed out of the famous old Virginia capes and were lost to view on the south western horizon, filmy, telltale col umns of black smoke being the last visible vestige of the departing fleet At ten knots’ speed they went, turn ing their backs on the coast which so long has been their home, and head ed for the eastern end of the West Indies. After threading their w r ay among the reefs of those islands, the fleet will bring up at Trinidad on Christmas eve, the first stage of the journey at an end. On a mission as pacific as the name of the waters it will soon be plough ing, the fleet was sent away prepared in every detail for any duty. President Roosevelt, accompanied by a party of guests, came down from Washington on the naval yacht May flower. His arrival In the roadstead was signalized by a roar of salutes. When the resulting veil of powder had lifted from the ships, the Mayflower proceeded to anchor in the very cen ter of the throbbing fleet. There followed a brief reception on board, the president having a farewell message for the four rear admirals and the sixteen commanding officers who are taking the ships through the Straits of Magellan to San Franciso. At the conclusion of the meeting on the Mayflower's deck, President Roose velt shook each officer cordially by the hand, as they went over the side he bad them official adieu. Then for a journey of nearly a mile, the president, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, led the long line of battleships out into Chesa peake bay. They followed his flag to Thimble shoal light, just five miles inside the capes, where the Mayflower turned aside and dropped her anchors for the final review. As a naval pageant, the review and departure of the fleet was the moßt notable In American history, present ing to the people who witnessed it a spectacle they will never forget, and to the world at large the realization of the trimmest, snuggest, most homo geneous, most thoroughly equipped, most mobile and self-reliant assem blage of first class battleships ever gathered in one command. There was not a ship in the line old enough to have smelled the powder or taken the shot of Manila or San tiago, stories written scarcely ten, years ago in the history of nations. All were modern of design and armament, examples of the aggressive sea-going navy which the president has declared to be so essential to the peace of the country. Attaches of foreign legations and embassies at Washington and many correspondents who have seen war ser vice on foreign journals freely declar ed that the naval display was the most impressive they had ever seen. The facility with which the big ves sels were handled, the manner in j which they were maneuvered into sin- j g!e column formation and the perfect alignment which was maintained to j the southward turn from the cape call ed for the warmest admiration. The thrill of the beautiful marine picture was felt until the last wind-blown spiral was lost on the horizon. EX-SENATOR WAS BEST SHOT. Exciting Duel Fought in Public Streets at Laurel, Miss. A deliberately planned and sensa tional duel occurred in the main street of Laurel, Miss., Monday, in which Ed ward Bragg was killed and B. W. Scar borough, former state senator, was wounded. The two had a quarrel over a business matter. PROBE RESOLUTIONS Reported in the Senate, Calling for Rigid Inquiry Into Cortelyou’s Treas ury Transactions. Senator Aldrich Thursday reported to the senate the following resolutions from the committee on finance as the result of the committee meeting call ed to embody the Culberson and Clay financial resolutions into oue set. “Resolved, That the secretary of the treasury be, and he is hereby di rected, to transmit to the senate the following information: "First, a statement giving names and location, classified by states, of all United States depositaries, and the amount of public money on deposit daily In each from October 1, 1907, to December 3, 1907, with amount and character of securities therefor; and an explanation of Important changes made in either amount or location of said deposits. “Second, a statement showing in de tail the condition of the national banks on August 22, 1907, and December 3, 1907, and the amount of national bank notes outstanding from time to time during such periods. “Third, an abstract of the proposals received by the secretary of the treas ury for the purchase of the Panama bonds and 3 per centum certificates of indebtedness, authorized by the treas ury circular of November 18, 1907; the amount of such bonds and certificates issued, to whom awarded and the rea sons for their issues. “Fourth, a detailed statement of any Information he may have as to the amount of clearing house certificates issued by the clearing house associa tions of the principal cities from Oc tober 25 to December 3, 1907; the character of such certificates and the purposes for which they were used. “Fifth, any information in his pos session as to the movement of curren cy between different sections of the country during the period from Octo ber 1, 1907. and December 3, 1907, com pared with previous years, and es pecially of shipments by the treasury and otherwise from New York and Washington to points south and west. “Sixth, a statement showing the amount of gold imports and exports from October 1, 1907, to December 3, 1907.* Senator Aldrich in presenting the resolution announced that it received the unanimous vote of the commit tee. WARSHIPS PREPARED TO SAIL. Big Fleet is Given Signal of “Ready” for Movement to Pacific Final word of “Ready!” was flashed from every vessel In the battleship fleet at Hampton Roads Thursday. In its last analysis this signal meant that the sixteen most powerful armor ciads of the American navy were ready to start Monday morning on their projected cruise to the western seas. If the ships were destined for imme diate conflict, little more could be done to make them ready for the fray. The ordnance officers have probably accomplished the most difficult duties in preparing for the crutee. They have had to see to the storage of more than 2,000,000 pounds of ammunition in the carefully protected magazines and the lnstalaltlon of the new and secret fire control system Armor-piercing projec tiles filled with explosive D., said to be the most powerful and effective of all the secret formulas in the posses sion of the navy experts, have been placed aboard the ships. One of the greatest problems which confronted the ordnance experts had to do with the storage of the heavy charges of gun cotton taken along to load the of harbor mines which each battleship carries. The solution has been found in the distribution of the deadly explosive in small portions throughout the officers’ quarters. Little wooden boxes, eighteen inches long and six inches in depth and breadth, con taining several bottles of gun cotton have been placed about five feet apart in the wardroom and Jteerage dining rooms, and even the officers’ state rooms have been invaded. The effort has been to keep the delicate explo sive as far as possible from the mag azines and from the shack of the big guns. > SENATOR MALLORY VERY ILL. Serious Condition Brought About as Re sult of General Breakdown. United States Senator Stephen R. Mallory of Florida is seriously ill In Pensacola, his illness being the result of a general breakdown which occurred several weeks since. FISH GUNNING FOR HARRIMAN* Promises to Do Things to Big Rail road Boss if He Gets Control* A MORAL OBLIGATION Strenuous Contest for Upper Hand in Con trol of Illinois Central Will Soon Reach the Climax. “If I obtain a majority of proxies to be voted at the annual meeting ofl the Illinois Central Railroad company, I shall depose Edward H. Harriman as a director,” declared Stuyvesant Fish in an affidavit filed before the s» perlor court in Chicago Friday. Mr. Fish reiterated the statement that Harriman is seeking control of the Illinois Central in the interest of the Union Pacific. Mr. Fish, In his affidavit, which is a reply to that filed Thursday In ths name of Mr. Harriman and other di rectors of the Illinois Central, declared that he has been a benefactor of J. T. Harahan, now president of the Illi nois Central. He asserts that he saved Harahan from dismissal several years ago when Harriman and George A. Peabody declared that Harahan had outlived his usefulness to the com pany. Mr. Fish sets forth that there was perfect harmony in the railroad com pany until the winter of 904-05, when Harriman and Peabody sought estab lishment of an executive committee to which discretionary powers were to be delegated. He declares in the affidavit that he incurred additional enmity when he refused to become a party to a report whitewashing the of ficials of the Mutual Life Insurance company. The assertion Is also made that Har riman and Peabody broke faith with Fish In 1906, when they agreed that a man independent of any faction was to be elected to the directorate to All the vacancy caused by the death of William Morton Grlnnell. Harriman, he says, attempted to secure the elec tion of Henry W. DeForrest, an ab torney of Mr. Harriman’s, who was also a director of the Southern Pa vifle, which is dominated by the Un ion Pacific. Mr. Fish doclares in his affidavit that since 1877 it has been the custom of the railroad to loan its idle funda to officers of or directors of the rail road or to firms of which they are members, or to corporations of which they are officers. Mr. Fish insists in his affidavit that Harriman and Peabody were among those who took advantage of the cus tom of the company in loaning these funds. He declares that all of his loan* were recorded on the books of the Company and that the collateral was good and sufficient. Referring to the loan of $57,000 to the Trust company of the Republic, Mr. Fish asserts that it was good, but that in the panic of 1903 the collateral depreciated. Of the total amount $38,000 has been paid and that the company will lose noth ing. Mr. Fish charges that the accusa tions of mismanagement made against him are untrue. He admits being a director of the Missouri Pacific rail road, which is to him a competitor of the Illinois Central, but says that the charges that he desires domination over the affairs of the Illinois Central for the benefit of the Missouri Pacific are false and slanderous. In the affidavit made by Mr. Fish the following is included: “It is true that if I obtain a major ity of the proxies I propose to put Harriman off the board of directors of the Illinois Central. I have pledged myself to do this, and I deem it my duty to do so, both In the interests of myself as a holder of 2,462 shares of stock, in the interest of the patrons of tile road, of the people of Illinois and of the United States, and to whom the removal of such an individual a 3 Harriman is shown to be by the Inter state commerce commission report, No. D 42, would be a welcome sign of re turning morality in the management of the great corporations of the coun try.’’ ANTI-TOXIN WAS DEATH-DEALING. Man in Good Health Succumbed Immedi ately After an Injection. Ely Weitzel, aged 34 years, fell dead in a doctor s office at Norristown, Pa., after he had been given an Injection of anti-toxin. A five-year-old daughter of Mr. Weitzel Is 111 with diptheria, and as a preventative it was decided to administer the drug to the father.
