Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1864-11-30
A Sermon for the Times.

A Sermon for the Times. ..~r
The Rev. Mr.. Howe, rector of St. Phil
lip,s church, Charleston, delivered ser
mon some time since, from the text Of End
Kings, 5:26. "Is it time to receive
money /? &c. &c." The Charleston Mercury
says of it athe shortcomings of the people
are noticed by it in good taste and truly
Christian spirit. The reverend. gentleman
has avoided . very common error, often
sbounding, We regret to say, especially in
the religious newspapers of the day, of no.
ticing what they consider social evils with
80 much bitterness as to excite resentment.
Instead of doing good they do harm.
Z We append an extract from the discourse,
which We commend earnestly to every class
of our readers. Speaking. Of the euemy's
landing and establishing themselves on
Morris Island, Mr.. q. says: .sa. -
Good, trust, will come out of the les
son, as has been the case in SO many other
instances. We hope that every avenue Of
approach to our homes will now be fortl-
fed. We have once more concentrated all
our thought upon the work which God has
assigned to rs. What our own military
leaders could not do has been done by the
enemy. The voice Of his guns, sounding
throughout the. State and making itself
heard among the mountains, has been more
potent than the proclamation of our COVER
nor and the calls of our generals; and labor
will now doubtless be had in abundance !;
so that hereafter we may perhaps see that
this very attack, which has come upon US
SO suddenly, by recalling us to ourselves,
and to new exertions, was the occasion of
putting us more completely on our guard,
and enabling us to be better prepared for
the grand attack, which is doubtless in store
for US. Whether, if we have another in-
terval of quiet, and seeming inactivity, We
shall become engrossed again in money.ma.
king, remains to be seen. Most likely, if
the opportunity occurs, we shall; but in
that event, may our military leaders remain
aloof from the contsgion, and may every
Christian patriot watch and pray without
ceasing. A word more only, before I con-
clude, and iu another direction. have
said that whatever bad tendency to divert
our minds from the great business before US,
subtracted from our vigilance, and so from
our powers of application, and that in this
connection the text might be asked of u.s.
In this respect also, it seems to me-and l
have no doubt does 50. to every mind ca
pable of entertaining a serious thought
the inquiry of Elisha might be applied to
amusements and merrymakings, and to all
occasions where thoughtlessness and levity
are wont to reign in our present juncture of
affairs. Riotousness and clamorous mirth
and wild debauoh have marked the fall of
many city and the crumbling of empires.
How expressive the record of Daniel-"Bel-
shazzar, the king, made great feast to a
thousand of his lords and drank wine be-
fore the thousand. In that night was Bel
shazzar, the king of the Chaldeans, slain,
and Darius, the Median, took the king
DOM" But not to dwell on the greater
kinds of dissipation, and which, especially
at time like the present, stand self.re-
buked, it.would surely seem as if in regard
to the pleasures of the ball room, also, all
would agree that this, at least, is not a
"time to Dance" when hardly day passes
over our heads which is not marked by a
sauguinary encounter in some part of our
Confederacy-when the bones of our fathers
and husbands and lovers and brothers, lie
bleaching on many battlefield, from Vir-
ginia to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the
banks of the Mississippi. I know that by
the laws Of reaction many seek, in this way,
to alleviate the feelings of gloom which take
possession of the heart in times like the
present; but I maintain we ought not to
endeavor to put away from ourselves the
discipline which God in His wisdom and
His justice is administering to US. War is
an awful scourge, and the Most High in.
tends by it to chassise and correct U.s.
How weak and foolish instead of bowing
before it, to close our eyes upon it, and en-
deavor by diversion of our minds to forget
it. Surely when God speaks it becomes US
to hear. The best remedy against gloom is
not to be found in the ball room, but in
works of active benevolence. Go and DO
some good act-minister to the sick and
wounded soldiers--read to him and pray
by him in the hospital, and you will have
done more to tighten yonr own hearts, than
if you had attended the dancing party,
where one might almost fancy that they,
heard the means of the wounded and the
dying, and the cry of the newly made wild
ow and orphan commingling with the sounds
of festive music. No, we ought not to put
away the cup which is now being commend
ed to our lips. Let us drink it, as God Of
fess it to us, making no attempt to disguise
or hide its bitterness.