Newspaper Page Text
THE PULPIT.
an ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON B\
PROFESSOR HUGH BLACK.
Theme: Shame of Detection.
Brooklyn,N. Y.—The baccalaureate
sermon of the Packer Collegiate In¬
stitute was delivered by Professor
Hugh Black, M. A,, of Union Theo¬
logical Seminary. The service was
held in the chapel of the institute,
and was presided over by Professor
Black. Mr. Black, as the Scripture
lesson, read the fiftieth Psalm. Pro¬
fessor Black spoke on "The Shame of
Detection,” selecting as his theme
Jeremiah 2:26: "As the thief is
ashamed when he is found out, so is
the house of Israel ashamed." In
the course of his sermon, Professor
Black said:
The prophet is accusing the nation
of apostasy, of unfaithfulness to her
true spouse. To awaken repentance
lie points to the base ingratitude
which could forget the early days of
their history when God espoused
them, in love and favor brought them
up out of the land of Egypt, led them
through the wilderness and brought,
them into'a plentiful country. He
points next to the willful and wicked
obstinacy which made them forsake
God and choose the lower worship
and the lower moral practice of
heathenism. And here he points to
the folly of it. Besides its ingrati
■ tude and its wickedness, it is also un¬
speakably foolish, an insensate stu¬
pidity at which the heavens might
well be astonished, not only that a
nation should change its God who had
taken them by the arms and in end¬
less love and pity taught them to
walk, hut that it should change Him
for such other gods—that Israel
should have given Jehovah such piti¬
ful rivals. This is the folly at which
the heavens may be amazed, tiiat My
people “have forsaken Me, the foun¬
tain of living waters, and hewed them
out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can
hold no water.” To a monotheist who
had grasped the principle of the One
God, and who had experience of spir¬
itual communion, polytheism with its
lords many and gods many must have
seemed a system almost beneath con¬
tempt. Intellectually, it introduced
confusion instead of order; morally,
it meant that life would he lived on
a much lower plane; religiously, it
was the degradation of the pure spir¬
itual worship to which the prophets
pointed the people.
This is why the prophets always
speak of the shame of idolatry. It
seemed incredible that men in then
senses should prefer what appeared
to them to be brutism superstition.
Both intellectually and morally it was
a disgrace. Especially the prophets
of the exile and after it, who had
come into close connection with
heathen idolatry, had this sense of
superiority, and withered the stupid¬
ity of polytheism with their most
mordant, irony. It was a shame, at
which they blushed, to think of Jews
descending tosuchpuerileworship and
practices. It was folly for the heathen
who knew no better; it was shame
for Israelites to grovel before a stock
or stone. The prophets confidently
predicted that experience would prove
the folly and vanity of idolatry.
"They shall be turned back,” says the
prophet of the exile; “they shall be
greatly ashamed that trust in graven
images, that say to the molten im¬
ages, Ye are our gods.” The proph¬
ets with their spiritual insight al¬
ready saw the disgrace and vanity of
such worship; but the people who
were seduced by the lower and more
sensuous rites of idolatry would have
to learn their folly by bitter experi¬
ence. When the pinch came, when
the needs of life drove them like
sheep, when in the face of the great
necessities, they would find out how
futile had been their faith. “As the
thief is ashamed when he is found
out, so the house of Israel will he
ashamed; they, their kings, their
princes, and their priests and their
prophets, saying to a stock, Thou
art my father; and to stone, Thou
hast brought me forth; but in the
time of their trouble they will say,
Arise and save us. But where are
thy gods that thou hast made thee?
Let them arise if they can save thee
in the time of thy trouble.”
Ah. in the time of trouble they
would find out their folly; and the
vanity of their trust in idols would be
found out! They should feel already
the disgrace; but, though they are in¬
sensible to that now, they will yet be
convicted and the hot blush of shame
will cover them with confusion of
face. They are not ashamed of the
ingratitude and wickedness and folly
of their conduct, but their sin will
find them, out, and then surely the
conviction of their foloishuess and
guilt will abash them, and then at
last they will know the sense of
degradation and self-contempt which
should be theirs now. "As the thief
is ashamed when he is found out, so
the house of Israel will be ashamed.”
The same dullness of mind and
darkening of heart and obtuseness of
conscience can be paralleled among
ourselves, Is it not true that in
social, ethics the unpardonable sin is
to be found out? In many cases it
is not the thing itself that men fear
and condemn and are ashamed of,
hut anything like exposure of it.
There is a keen enough sensibility to
disgrace, which but not for the thing itself
is the disgrace. Men will do
things with an easy conscience for
which they' would be ashemed—if
they were found out. Our moral
standard of judgment is so much just
that of the community. Our con¬
science is largely a social conscience
merely; not individual and personal
and vital, but imposed upon us by
society, a code of manners and rules
which we must not transgress. It is
no exaggeration to say that we live
more by this code, by the customs and
restraints of society, than by the holy
law of God as a light to our feet and a
lamp to our path. Much of this is
good, and represents the accumulated
gains of the past, a certain standard
of living below which men are not ex¬
pected to fall, a moral and even a
Christian atmosphere which affects ns
all and which is responsible for much
of the good that is in us. One only
needs to live for a little in a pagan
community to realize how much we
owe to the general Christian standard
of our country, such as it is. At the
same time we must see how insecure
this is as a guard and guide to life.
A man might have a corrupt heart
and be filled with all evil passions,
but it stands to reason that society
cannot take him to task for that, un¬
less it gets something on which it can
lay a finger. And apart even from
such deeper moral depths of charac¬
ter, there may he actual transgres¬
sions, but, until they are discovered
and proved, society must treat them
as if they did not exist. A man might
be a thief, not only in desire and
heart, hut in reality, but until he is
found out, he rubs shoulders with
honest men everywhere as one of
themselves. Society is not ashamed
of him, and he need not be ashamed
of himself.
The shame of being found out may,
of course, induce this better feeling,
and be the beginning of a nobler and
more stable moral life. It is one of
the blessed functions of punishment
to offer us this point of departure as
the house of Israel through the shame
of idolatry reached a loathing of it
that ultimately made it impossible in
Israel. Welcome the retribution
which brings us self-knowledge; wel¬
come the detection which makes us
ashamed and makes us distrust our¬
selves at last; welcome the punish¬
ment which gives repentance of sin;
welcome the exposure which finds us
■out because it makes us at last find
out ourselves! All true knowledge is
self-kncwledge. All true exposure is
self-exposure. The true judgment is
self-judgment. The true condemna¬
tion is when a man captures and tries
and condemns himself. Real repent¬
ance means shame, the shame of self
that he should have permitted him¬
self to fall so far below himself, and
have dimmed the radiance of his own
Soul. Long after others have for¬
gotten, it may still be hard for a man
to forgive himself. Long after others
have forgotten, he may still remem¬
ber. To this sensitive soul, to this
vitalized conscience there may be even
wounds hidden to all sight but his
own sight—and God’s. As the thief
is ashamed when he is caught, the
house of Israel is ashamed, at last,
not because of the mere exposure, but
because of the ingratitude and wick¬
edness and folly that made an ex¬
posure possible and necessary. We
need to have the law written on our
hearts, to conform to that and not to
a set of outward social rules; we need
to walk not by the consent of men
but by the will of God; we need to
see the beauty of Christ’s holiness,
and then our sin will find us out,
though no mortal man has found it
out.
“As the thief is ashamed when he
is found out, so the house of Israel
will be ashamed.” Shall be—must
be! We are only playing with the
facts and forces of moral life if we
imagine it can be otherwise. Real
and ultimate escape from this self¬
exposure is impossible. There is no
secrecy in all the world. “Murder
will out” is the old saying, or old
superstition, if you will. The blood
cries from the ground. It will out in
some form or other, though not al¬
ways by the ordinary detective’s art.
Retribution is a fact of life, whether
it comes as moralists and artists of
all ages have depicted or not. Moral
life writes itself indelibly on nerves
and tissues, colors the blood. It
records itself on character. Any day
may be the judgment day, the day of
revealing, declaring patently what is
and what has been. The geologist
by a casual cut of the earth can tell
the story of the earth’s happenings
by the strata that are laid bare, de¬
posit on deposit. The story of our
life is not a tale that is told and then
done with. It leaves its mark on the
soul. It only needs true self-knowl¬
edge to let us see it all. It only needs
awakened memory to bring it all
back. It only needs the fierce light
to beat on it to show it up as it was
and is. “There is nothing covered
that shall not be revealed and hid
that shall not be made known. There¬
fore whatsoever ye have spoken in
darkness shall be heard in the light,
and that which ye have spoken in the
ear in closets shall be proclaimed
upon the housetops.” Ashamed when
he is found out! If to be undetected
is the only defense, it is to gamble
against a certainty. Found out we
shall be, as we stand naked in the
revealing and self-revealing light.
"Then shall we begin to say to the
mountains, Fall on us, and to the
hills, Cover us.”
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hi<fe myself in Thee.
Uncommon Service.
We must not forget that our call¬
ing is a high one. How often we hear \
it said in our prayer meetings that we
are to serve the Lord in little things!
It is true, and it is a great comfort
that it is true, that the giving of a
glass of water can please God, and the
sweeping of a room can glorify Him,
But woe be to us if we are conteut
with small service! Too much
thought of little things belittles.
We should "attempt great things
for God.” Cal^> said: “Give me this
mountain.” Mary broke the alabaster
box that was exceedingly precious.
The disciples left all to follow Jesus,
and counted it joy to suffer for His
sake. Let us not be easily content.
The note of heroism should be in our
giving, in our serving. Our King de¬
serves and expects kingliness. —M. D.
Babcock, D. D.
; &4R wm
Automobiles and Ronds.
A great deal has been published
in the agricultural press In regard to
the automobile monopolizing the ru¬
ral highways to the detriment of
country folk, for whom they were
originally intended and by whom
they are built and kept in repair and
in passable condition. As the self
propelled vehicles come into more
general use on the country roads It
Is evident that wo are facs to face
with a new and unlooked-for prop¬
osition in the maintenance of our
thoroughfares in the rural districts.
Every one living in the country,
through which the auto cars pass
with considerably frequency, lias no
doubt noticed the evil effects of the
rapidly moving machines on the road¬
ways used and upon the crops grow¬
ing in the fields along the roads.
There are several good reasons for
this: The pneumatic tire and the
excessive rate of speed.
Ordinarily, the pneumatic tire on
the auto has a tread, ranging from
three to five inches, and owing to its
elasticity and resulting it readily re¬
sponds to the weight of the car and
to the uneven places in the highway.
In so doing the tire is pressed close¬
ly to the surface of the track, there¬
by excluding the air, and as the car
rushes onward the partial vacum,
thus formed momentarily, causes an
inrush of air, and with it is carried
the finely powdered dust particles.
This dust is then taken up by the
wind ami blows across the fields, up¬
on the lawns and into the very homes
of the country people. Then, there
is the velocity of the car to reckon
with. This has as much to do with
the dust nuisance as the tires. Into
the trail of the fast going vehicle
great quantities of dust are driven,
due to the “suction” produced by
the abnormal speed. The same effect
is noticed in the case of high speeded
railway trains, only here it is less
disastrous to the comfort of the rural
dwellers. However, an interurban
car along the country roads is just
as had as an automobile for caus¬
ing the intolerable dust nuisance to
the farmers.
Aside to causing discomfort to the
country folk through the dust nuis¬
ance, the auto does great damage
to the rural highways, especially in
the dry seasons. Not only are con¬
siderable quantities of the road ma¬
terials removed in the way of the
dust stirred up by the rapidly mov¬
ing carriage, but lasting injury is
also worked by the skidding of the
wheels at bends in the roads as well
as throwing gravel and other road
building materials off to the side of
the road, and the result of the elas¬
tic nature of the tires and the cen¬
trifugal force of the swiftly revolv¬
ing wheels.
Automobiles are now doing more
damage to the rural roads in the dry
summer months than all the horse
drawn vehicles combined can do, in
the way of pulverizing the surfacing
materials and in aiding their remov¬
al via the wind and dust route.
The feature about this unpleasant
condition is that the farmers, who
are obliged by law to make, improve,
maintain and pay for the country
thoroughfares, are the ones to suffer
the most in the despoliation of what
rightfully belongs to them in the way
of service and utility. The auto
ists who thus #buse these public road
privileges do not contribute a single
penny towards and maintenance and
improvement of the roads.
The State laws are in general too
lax in dealing with the autoists. The
license fee of a few paltry dollars is
inefficient and the enforcement of the
speed limit clause is entirely too un¬
common in the country, to make the
present automobile statutes benefi¬
cial and far reaching. The fee for
an auto license should be at least $50
per year, and this should go to the
road building fund of the county in
which the license is obtained. At
present these fees go to the State.
Increase the fees for license and let
the local communities receive the
benefits by applying them towards
the keeping up of the public roads.
At the same time have a jail sen¬
tence for the scorcher.and racer in
autos.
In many cases where fields are
alongside the roads, farmers have
had the value of their hay and other
crops reduced through the effect of
the dust raised by the continual
passing of speeding autocars. Hav¬
ing no means of redress, these farm¬
ers must humbly submit to this
treatment and swallow their anger,
until such time as we shall have suit¬
able laws to satisfactorily control
this modern evil.—Indiana Farmer.
GOVERNMENT EXPERT AT AUGUSTA.
Will Recommend Course of Future
Work on River.
Augusta, Ga.—Colonel Dan C. King
man, civil engineer in charge of the
government river and harbor work
throughout the Savannah district,
arrived in Augusta.
He makes no definite statement for
publication, except that Augusta Is
‘‘indeed hard hit by the flood. ■
* ANTHOINES’ MACHINE WORKS *
jr We have put in the latest
$'j improved
V . 1 Turning & Block Machine
and are fitted up to set out
round, square and octagon
V.. 1 ; Balusters, Porch Spindles,
|-< 1 V u Base and Corner Blocks.
.vi* «r & We also have a first-class
'
ft' - ;■ .. ..’j Wood Lathe for all kinds of
hand turning.
P We kinds are of prepared Dressed to Lumber get out for all
VI r.
fee buildings. Rough and Dress¬
n ed Lumber, Flooring, Ceiling
N [j 1) and Shingles on hand at all
.5 times.
■
| Don’t forget that we are still in
r | the Repair Business of Engines,
a Boilers and other Machinery.
ANTHOINE’S MACHINE WORKS,
Fort Valley, Ga.
____ifiUL
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 the
future.
Our very complete stock includes
Brick, Lime, Sand, Cement, Fiber Wall Plaster, Paris
Plaster, Laths, Framing—rough or sized to order;
Weatherboarding—several grades; Sheeting, Shingles,
Prepared Rooting, 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, Balusters, Brackets, Mouldings,
Wainscoting, Corner and Plinth 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 Cilith
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 9 I
FIRST-CLASS LAUNDRY
FORT VALLEY, GA. j
PRICE LIST.
Shirts, plain.............. 10c
Shirts, plain or puffed with
collar............ . 12 l-2c
Suits cleaned....... 50 & $1
Pants pressed........ . ..25c
Collars................ 2 1-2
Capes, collar or fancy 5c
Cuffs each per pair, 5c
Chemise........... 10c
Drawers........... 5c
Undershirts....... 5c
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 35c
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 ( j to 35c
A Song in the Heart.
JVe can sing away our cares easier
than we can reason them away. The I
birds are the earliest to sing in the
morning; the birds are more without
care than anything else I know of.
Sing in the evening. Singing is the
last thing that robins do. When they
have done their daily work, when
they have flown their last flight and
picked up their last morsel of food
and cleared their bills on a napkin of
a bough, then on the top twig they
sing one song of praise. I know they
sleep sweeter for it.
ing Oh, and that morning, we'might and sing let every touch even- j j
song j
song all the way through! Oh, that
we could put song under our burden! j
Oh, that we could extract the sensq
of sorrow by song! Then, sad things j
would not poison so much.
When troubles come, go at them I
with song, When griefs arise, sing |
them down. Lift the voice of praise j
against ing; that cares. will lift Praise above God by trials sing- of j
you
every sort. Attempt it. They sing
in Heaven, and among God’s people
on earth, song is thj appropriate lan¬
guage of Christian feeling.—Henry
i Ward Be.echer.
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,
WRIGHT BUILDING,
Fort Valley, Ga,
Practice in all the courts. Money
loaned. Titles abstracted.
Tire $ 0 ft Insurance
J\. D. Skellie.
Office Phone No. 54.
FORT VALLEY, GA.
C. L. SHEPARD,
ATTORNEY-AT-LAW,
Fort Valley, Ga.
Office Over First National Bank.
TONSOR1AL ARTiST
For anything in the tonsorial line
don’t fail to call on
WILLIAMS
Next Door to Post Office.
Experienced workmen and courteous at¬
tention to alL Every tli ing up-to-date.
HOPEFUL WOMAN.
Woman is naturally more hopeful
than man.”
“Yes, there’s my wife, for instance;
years past every time she has
had occasion to buy fish she has ask¬
ed the dealer if they were fresh,
hoping, I suppose, that some day he’ll
say ‘no.’ ”—Chicago News.
Affixing a pure food label does not
constitute any guarantee, for the
Washington Star, as to what tke oook
>nav do with the contents.