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THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
REV. DR. NEWELL DWIGHT HILL.IS.
Theme: The Enrichment of Life.
Brooklyn, N. Y.—For the last time
until the fall the Rev Dr. Newell
Dwight Hillis, pastor of Plymouth
Church, preached Sunday morning.
His subject wa 3 “The Enrichment ot
Life, »» The text was from John 9:
15: “I have come that you may have
life, and that you may have it more
abundantly.”
The time was when scientists be¬
lieved that life was spontaneous. It
is forty years since Huxley published
his article on the Bathvbius. The
scientist held that there was a gela
tinous substance in the bottom of
deep sea along the heat line of the
equator. This sheet of living matter
enveloping the earth held the proto
plasm that was the germ of all living
things that creep or walk or fly. The
union of the earth and the deep sea
water and the tropic heat brought
forth the substance that mothered all
life. The theory was so novel that
the Challenger was fitted out for deep
sea dredging. But the expedition
brought the keenest disappointment
to the scientist. The investigators
found white sand at the bottom of
the tropic seas, and the Bathybius be
came as mythical as the Trojan horse,
Then scientists set themselves about
the task of producing life by chemical
means. To make sure there were no'
pre-existing germs they boiled the
water, roasted the earth, and cleaned
the air and then sealed all three up
in jars, which they kept at blood
heat, in the hoite of developing spon¬
taneously living germs of an order no
matter how low. For twenty years
the experiments .were continued, with
the result that all scientists agree
that life comes only from pre-exist¬
ing life. If you want the living shock
of corn, you must begin with the liv¬
ing seed thrust into the ground. If
you want the fig or the grape, you
must find the root or cutting. The
babe’s life comes from the mother
who lives before it. Even character
•comes from contact. Goodness is an
importation and salvation an exotic.
No man can will himself into gentle¬
ness. A-profane man in his child’s
presence can set a watch upon his
tongue, but planting a lid on Vesu
vius does not put out the subterra
nean fires. The man may restrain
his hatred of the enemy, hut he can
not will himself into loving the false
friend who stabbed him in the back,
The selfish man compels himself to
give, but God alone can stir the gen-*
erosity that makes giving a supreme
joy. Jairus’ daughter cannot bid
herself, to live; Christ standing above
her gives life for death. If you have
the living plant, the vital spark in
the root will take up the dead soil
and lend it life. And if you have the
living Christ, in the heart the soul
that is dead in selfishness or dishonor
or falsehood can live unto sympathy,
justice and love. Christ came to give
life. There is no spontaneous good¬
ness. We lift our eyes unto the life
giver, the joy producer—unto the
Saviour of the soul.
Now, what all the world's a seek¬
ing is life—more life. Growth? It
is a question of vital force. Health?
It is the overflowing, outbreaking vi¬
tality of the body. Death? It ap¬
proaches when there is not life
enough to take up the bread and
meat and turn it into rich red blood.
A little life means little work can be
done. A little mind means that a
few books will suffice. A small na¬
ture means that it needs only two or
three friends. A great, royal, divine,
universal soul, pulsating, glowing
and throbbing with life, means a vi¬
talized intellect. This is an intellec¬
tual law. We speak of some young
people as having hungry minds. The
young scholar devours facts, conver¬
sation, the statements of hooks, and
friends. He vitalizes everything he
touches. The events go into his in¬
tellect in the morning as raw mate¬
rial, rags and wood pulp. The
knowledge comes out of his intellect
at night in the form of literature. He
has a vitalized mind. He possesses
life, creative. If he 5s a poet, give
him the great authors, the great sing¬
ers, and he will extract their mes¬
sages. Witness the way Schiller di¬
gested the books of Goethe. Witness
Millet’s mastery of the old teachers.
Witness Mozart's swift progress in
music. No imitators these men.
Every page is stamped with individ¬
uality. What is the secret of their
success? Plainly, fulness of life.
Without this abundant life all strug¬
gle is failure. This one youth has no
gift with the brush; he may break
his heart, hut he will die a paint
grinder. Another toils over his
rhymes, but the Inspiration will not
•come. The advocate stumbles on.
seeking after the necessary word, if
haply he may find the Idea. And
each in turn ends the struggle in de¬
spair. What does he need? Life.
More life for the intellect, as writer;
more life for the imagination as art¬
ist; more life and passion as reform¬
er and orator, more life as a saint.
StuaTge^urfor^purtVand^eace’ For^aH tSt P
is a gift and uninue
sunremaev is an endowment from
God The unseen haXforward Father ordains thAr the
Sp parents to chfldren gifts
to the Remember that
■Christ has come to give life and to j
commencement
days our illustrations should cornel
from the realm of education. Here !
■and now we recall Matthew Arnold’s
with definition of culture — been a familiarity done, j |
the best that has or
thought or said. And to this- senti
ment “There let is us add his in the other universe, word: j j
a power
not ourselves, that makes for right- }
eousness.” What is culture for the
ft
i scholar? There Is something in the
! books of great men—in the sage who
j thinks for us, the poet who signs for
; us, the orator who pleads for us, the
hero who dies for us and that wisdom
beyond ourselves comes in. floods the
scholar’s soul and transforms him.
And there is a physical power in the
world, not ourselves, and that we in¬
voke for progress. Man’s arm lifts
100 pounds, but there is a power in
the steam, not ourselves, that lifts
100 tons of molten steel. Man’s leg
runs four miles an hour, but there is
a power in the flywheel of his engine
that will help him to run across this
continent in four days without losing
breath or bringing tire. Man’s voice
is no stronger than it was in the days
when Caesar made 10,000 soldiers
hear his command; but now a power
not in himself hut in electricity
makes for eloquence and speech
across a thousand miles of space,
i And how shall we explain the trans
| I formation pasSionful David of impetuous and this Peter, cold, craf- and
j j ty, this ambitious, gentle Paul? cruel There rabbi, is Saul, a power into
j in the Saul, universe that not David, righteous- or Peter,
; nor makes for
j ness. give life, Christ and descended give it upon them abund- to
| to more
J antly. How do you explain the Ital
i j ian Renaissance? There was a pow
er in the world that made for beauty
and sweetness, that descended upon
i the young scholar. How do you ac
count for the German Reformation?
There was a power in the universe
that made for faith, and character,
and self-surrender. And that power
I descended on Martin Luther. Whence
| came the Puritan Reformation in
England? The explanation was not
in John Eliot, or Sir Harry Vane, or
John Pym. There was a power in
the world that made for the sense of
personal worth, inspiring each man
to give an account of himself to God,
challenging him to stand upon his
own feet and assert his manhood,
urging the sense of brotherhood, and
that unseen power flooded the souls
of the Pilgrim Fathers and the Eng :
lish heroes, and changed the face of
tim whole world. Well may the men
1 of great era of outbreaking ge
every
nius exclaim: “We lift our eyes unto
the hills from whence cometh our,
help. »» “Our help cometh from the I
Lord, who made ’ heaven and earth, ” [ j
Let us now praise famous men of!
old, who have redeemed the people. \
But let us remember that God clothed
the knight with His shining armor,
that God pressed that blade with the
| two edge into the hero’s hand; that
■ God lent the soldiers their paens of
i victory that they sing beside the
[ camp fires; that Christ came to lead
l ftis followers forth to their holy war,
giving them life, yea, life abundantly.
This^principle also explains the se
eret of growth that begins with life,
j The old idea was that salvation was
! by intellectual culture. Christ’s idea
j is salvation by life through the new
j j heart, “Blessed Bald he wisdom, intellectualism »» Christ says, says
“Blessed is character.” Here is a
little child. In his selfishness he
seizes his sister’s little toy and breaks
it. Time and growth will, increase
the amount of his selfishness and
make him strike his own wife and
break the heart of his little child, for
growth increases the size, does not
change the sort. Here is the youth
who is sowing wild oats. Little by
little he is draining off all the vital
forces. The false friend says, "Don’t
be discouraged; he will outgrow
this.” But every farmer is in terror
when he finds the wild oats growing
amidst the tame. The wild oats
drink up the rain, steal the richness
from the soil, starve the tame oats.
And if they do this when the false
oats are young, time and growth sim¬
ply multiply the havoc. Time can do
nothing for a youth who is sowing
wild oats save g&ther-^he harvest, Time of
pain, disaster and heartbreak.
can turn a spark into a conflagration,
growth can turn a little leak into a
large one that will ruin the dike and
submerge the land. Given a disease,
time does not cure it, but only en¬
larges and spreads the poisoned tis
sue # . Given a selfish child, growth
turns him into a monster. Given an
avaricious child, time and growth
produce a raiser. Given a tricky and
cunning child, years end with a Ben¬
edict Arnold or an Aaron Burr, or a
Judas and a Apostate Julian. What
the wild thorn needs is the rich life
of a double rose grafted within. Tho
orchardist can use the wild root, but
he cuts from a tested peach or plum
a cutting that turns the sour sap into
sugar. It is new life we need. Jesus
was right when He showed the se¬
cret, the new heart, that brings vic¬
tory and peace.
Disheartened and discouraged, the
way is not to flee from God, but to
flee to Him. We live and move and
have our being in God, as our world
floats in amethyst and ether, borrow¬
ing all its colors from the light that
surrounds it. We have our life from
Christ as the tree has its life in the
rich juices of the soil, wherein the
tree is rooted—the stimulating at¬
mosphere with which the boughs are
surrounded, that and lends The all-embracing warmth and j
sunshine |
beauty to the sweet blossoms apd tha
ripe fruit.
tiosion tears budomc Plague.
Boston, Mass.—As a precaution to
av’oid the introduction into this port
of bubonic plague, two hundred steer- ;
age passengers aboard the White Star j
Iiner Romanic we l e detained for an!
examination at the quarantine sta
tl0n -
_ |
Castro Fines French Cable Company.
Caracus, Venezuela. The civil
court of first instance has handed !
down a decision declaring the I
French Cable company guilty of com
plicity in the Matos revolution against i
President Castro and condemning it :
to pay damages to the amount of I
nearly $5 •0 000. In addition the !
company must pay a further amount
to be assessed later by experts.
Sht
Sunbatj-cDcfioof
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM¬
MENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 0.
Subject: Saul and Jonathan Slain in
Battle, 1 Sam. 31—Golden Text,
Amos 4:12—Commit Verse C—
Read 1 Sam. 27; 2 Sam. 1.
TIME.—1056 B. C. PLACE.—
Gilboa.
EXPOSITION.—1. The Death of
Saul and His Sons, 1-<J. With this
lesson we come to tho end of Saul’s
career, so promising in its beginning,
so gloomy in its ending. It is sadly
and solemnly instructive, as showing
how much a man may have and yet
his life prove ay utter failure aften
all. He was a goodly young man—
“there was not among the children of
Israel a goodlier person than he” (1
Sam. 9:2). His father was a
“mighty man of valor” (1 Sam.
9:1). He was humble (1 Sam.
10 : 22 ), and considerate of others
(ch. 9:5). But we find him.later in
life a monster of pride, arrogance
and self-will (ch. 18:7-11; 19:10;
20:30-33; 22:9-19). Here we have
a lesson of how little real worth there
is in merely natural virtue and how
easily it is transformed into devilish
sin. But there was promise in the
life of Saul for other reasons. God’s
grace was manifested to him (ch.
10:7-9), the Spirit of God came upon
him (ch. 10 : 10 ; 11 : 6 ), he undertook
valiant battle against the enemies of
the Lord, and won a great victory
(ch. 11). So we see that a man may
know something of the power of the
Spirit, can war to a certain extent in
the energy of the Spirit, and win vic¬
tories for God, and yet after all, be¬
come an apostate and his earthly life
close in hopeless gloom (Matt. 7:22,
23). Saul seems to have been a strik
j n g illustration of such an one. His
decline was step by step (ch. 13:8-
14 ; c f. 14:18-20). His His loss loss of of the the
kingdom was foretold at this first
step away from God. He takes a long
step further downward by positive
disobedience (ch. 15:19-23). With
this false step his rejection from the
kingdom is declared in no uncertain
terms. Finally, failing to get any
answer from the Lord about the bat¬
tle with the Philistines, he turns to
the devil (ch. 28:6, 7), and this
crowning act of apostasy‘leads to the
awful judgment and ruin of cur les¬
son (1 Ch. lf®13, 14). No matter
how often or how completely Israel
routs the Philistines, the Philistines
are always sure to gather strength
and renew the attack (v. 1). The
Philistines had been effectually sub¬
dued in the days of Samuel (ch.
7:13). There was a' great victory
under Jonathan (ch. 14). David wins
a great victory (ch. 17:52), hut in our
lesson the Philistines renew the war.
“And the men of Israel fieri.” Here
we see a change from the days ot
Samuel and Saul’s early days. Then
the enepaies of the Lord fled (ch.
7:10; 11:11), There is a raturn to
the days of Hophni and Phinebas (ch.
4:10). The' explanation is simple.
Saul had disobeyed the Lord; and the
Lord had forsaken Saul (ch. 18:12;
28:15-19). However mightily the
Lord might have helped us in times
past, if we disobey Him and He for¬
sake us, our power .will be gone and
defeat and shame certain. It seems
very sad to think of the noble hearted
Jonathan as involved in the over
throw of his father. But parents al¬
ways involve their children in the
consequences of their transgressicilE.
The question arises whether Jonathan
for all his generous friendship for
David and all his faith (ch. 14:6)
was faultless in the matter. He knew
that his father, wals rejected and
David chosen of the Lord (ch. 23:17).
Ought he not to have broken with
Saul and gone to David “without the
camp hearing his reproach?” Heb.
13:13). He came to David as Nico
demus to Jesus, under the cover of
secre'ey (ch. 23:16). So he lost hi 3
place of service, as the secret disciple,
however loyal he may be at heart,
always does (2 Cor. 6:15-18). What
an inglorious ending to what might
have been a glorious life (v. 4).
II. The Triumph of the Philistines,
7-10. This is what came of asking a
visible king instead of Cod (ch.
12:12). It was all very joyful at first
(ch. 11:14, 15), but the arm of flesh
soon failed them. It will always be
thus. Those who look to man rather
than God for help, will always end by
being cursed (Jer. 17:5, 6 ). God 1 it
them have their king that thdy might
learn their folly by hitter experience.
“They cut off his head, and stripped
off his armor, and they fastened his
body to the wall of Beth-shan.” From
i Chron. 10:10 we learn further that
they “fastened his head in the house
of Dagon. >» Indignity was added to
indignity. The world rejoices in noth¬
ing so much as in the downfall of
one who has been a servant of God
(cf. Ju. 16:21-25).
III. The Gratitude and Valor of
the Men of Jabesh-gilead, 11-13.
Saul had rescued the men of Jabesh
gilead from terrible suffering and
shame (ch. 11 : 1 - 11 ), and they had
not forgotten it There is this one
V eL01 Vl f ? A ls
ami "t** brought 1 -"*^^ its reward even
lT } his downfall but that reward was
s B a P y honor from man. ihat was
aR he sought t hat was ail he got
(Matt. 6-2). But the most touching
anc * -asting triDute to the memory of
Saul was that of David, whom he had
Pursued with such relentless hate (2
Sam. 1:17-27). David has nothing
but good to say of his fallen foe.
* ANTHOINES’ MACHINE WORKS
We have put in the latest
J T improved
Turning & Block Machine
and are fitted up to get out
r round, square and octagon
ST*v liSSEw m m Balusters, Porch Spindles,
•>. Base and Corner Blocks.
- Wo also have a first-class
s Wood Lathe for all kinds of
u V
A? hand turning.
1C '9o We are prepared to get out all
> via : kinds of Dressed Lumber for
• * i
i>. buildings. Rough and Dress¬
1 ed Lumber, Flooring, Ceiling
w and Shingles on hand at all
I times.
iv? . 7
M r .\ Don’t forget that we are still in
I mm'W- * the Repair Business of Engines,
6V to m Boilers and other Machinery.
ANTHOINE S MACHINE WORKS.
Fort Valley, Ga.
■HS
Everything to Build With.
We have recently purchased the Harris Manufacturing
Company’s lumber plant and stock and will devote our
exclusive attention to the builders supply busines in tho
future.
Our very complete stock includes
Brick, Lime, Sand, Cement, Fiber Wall Plaster, Paris
Plaster, Laths, Framing—rough or sized to order;
Weatherboardirig—several grades; Sheeting, Shingles,
Prepared Roofing, Kiln Dried Flooring and Ceiling, the
kind that don’t crack open—several grades; Doors—
plain, and fancy glass front doors; Sash and Blinds—
in usual sizes;- Window Cords, Weights and Pulleys;
Mantels, Columns, Corner'and Balusters, Plinth Brackets, Mouldings,
Wainscoting, Blocks; Turned and
Sawed Work Made to Order; Door and' Window
Frames; Sherwin-Williams Paint, Oils and Varnishes;
Guaranteed Roof Paint.
IN FACT
Everything to Build CUitb
Bring us a list of the material that you want, or a plan of
the house you anticipate building, and let us convince you
that our prices are right.
Fort Valley Lumber Company.
SAM LOO,
FIRSKLASS LAUNDRY
FORT VALLEY, GA. !
4 PRICE LIST. •
Shirts, plain.............. '10c
Shirts, plain or puffed with
collar............ J21-2c
Suits cleaned .. ...... 5o & $ y
Pants pressed........ 25c
Collars............... 2 1-2
Capes, collar or fancy 5c
Cuffs each per pair 5c
Chemise........... 10c i
Drawers........... 5c
Undershirts....... r ) c
Socks, per pair ... 5c
Handkerchiefs..... 2 1-2
Handkerchiefs, silk 5c
Shirts, night, plain. 10c
Coats............ ... 15 to 25c
Vests............ ... 15 to 20c
Pants............ ... 25 to 85c
Towels........... 2 1-2 to 5c
Table cloths...... ... 10 to 25
Sheets........... ......7 1-2
Pillow cases, plain .......5c
Napkins.......... ......2 l-2c
Bed spreads..... ..15 to 25c
Blankets......... ..25 to 50c
Lace Curtains.... ... 20 to 25c
Ladies’ shirt waist ... 15 to 25c
Skirts........... .. 2 ( i to 85c
Spiritual Religion.
Tf our religion Is to be real and
'ruIv spiritual, it must he rooted and
rounded in brotherly love. “He that
pateth his brother cannot know God,”
nor can he know man. The precious
quality of love will open
the eyes of our spirits to the abiding
beauty of every human soul, to the
temptations resisted as well as to
those which have conquered, to the
aspiration after something higher
struggling like a plant in a dark dun¬
geon towards the light, to the glorious
possibilities hidden in the being of j !
every child of God. That clear per
option of the good concealed within !
our brothers and sisters will help us ! j
catch some bright glimpses of our
father in Heaven. It is human
: eifishness, which hides the true na¬
ture of God’s children, however de¬ .
graded they may. have become by j
iheir own fault of the fault of others, j
from our sight; it is the same deep, j
deadly perception shadow which darkens Through our |
own of God. ;
brotherly love filial affection to God j
is horn in human hearts, and when j
that sacred emotion has once filled i
our whole being, spiritual religion i l *
known and loved.—Arthur W. Fox.
W. H. HAFER,
DENTIST,
Fort Valley, Georgia
Office over First National Bank.
C. Z. McArthur,
Dentist
FORT VALLEY, GA.
Office over Slappey’s Drug Store.
A. C. RILEY,
- ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
WRIG1IT BUILDING,
Fort Valley, Ga.
Practice in all the courts. Money
loaned. Titles abstracted.
Tire & Cife Insurance
H. D. Skellie
Office Phone No. 54.
FORT VALLEY, GA.
C. L. SHEPARD,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
Fort Valley, Ga.
Office Over First National Bank.
TONSORIAL ARTIST
For anything in the tonsorial line
don’t fail to call on
Experienced tention Next to all. WILLIAMS Door workmen Everything to Post and Office. courteous up-to-date. J
Federal Employes Warned.
An ante-election warning agains
political assessments was issued c
Washington, D. C., to employes of tii
Treasury Department by Acting Set
retary Beekman Winthrop.
Smallpox Closes Norway Schools.
All the schools in Christiania, Nc
way, have been closed owing to a s
rioaa outbreak of smallpox.
The diilerencs doLiagogue between a stafeasB
a has Y ot the job. is that the statj 8 Ml