The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1894-12-25
LECTURE

lecturer at MGGSAAS
lander, NJ. c, on Saturday
Before the Second Sun
day in November, ga.
Brothers and Sisters Of AuLGnder AHI-
Gnce:
The great political cyclone has passed
and has swept away the arrogant,
domineering machine, which at the
command of our grand old Common
W, aIth, sought to disfranchise our citi-
zens, pe~rpetuate their rule, rob US OF
u chartered privileges and erect upon
the grave of our liberty a plutocracy
which would defy all our efforts for
State and National reform. The ser
pent again entered E len and offered to
tempt, not Adam, but his sons; many
Welded to his siren voice but to be de
ceived; but, Bro. President, when the
time came for the destruction of this
modern Sodom, l thank God there
were enough true men gathered around
our affairs to not only keep the sacred
fires of liberty burning brightly, but to
saw us from destruction. That God,
who has watched over Is from our
earliest infancy, and who has made
this, u native State, a veritable land
flowing with milk and honey; a land
whose resources far exceeds the con
ception of man, and whose climate
rivals that of the fabulous Elysian
fields, has stretched forth His mighty
arm and stayed the plague which
threatened us as a people, rolled back
the dark cloud which lay just above
our political horizon and let in the vel.
come beams Of a brighter day. Its first
rays have reached US; already our
grand old mountain tops are gilded
with a bright halo of promise, and if
we are but true to God, u coun-
try and our homes, it will soon pene-
trate the darkest valleys and Tighten
every ireside.
Bro, President, do we appreciate this
last, this greatest earthly blessing9
Does the depths of our hearts spring
forth in sweet strains of melody that
SAdL2a O40 GA64CH Vi pLdASO, 41dLS0
God, from Whom all Blessings Flow4"
If not, brethren, we are ungratetul,
and ingratitude is one Of the basest of
all sins.
We are a band of brothers, thou
sands of hearts linked together by one
common bond that recognizes alone
the "Fatherhood of God and the
Brotherhood of Man" The main pill
lar u~pholding of our alter is heaven
born charity, and around that central
column is grouped in elegant ~profusion
all the virtues and graces that elevates
the moral and intellectual man and
purifes and dignifes the character.
Our mission is to upbuild, not to de-
stroy; to honor, not to debase, to purify
and elevate: to make merit and virtue,
not money and servility the measure
of our fellow man, and above all, and
overshadowing all, is the recognition
in all we say or do of that controlling
Providence, that Creative Genius, that
hallowed love, that protecting arm,
that ~all-seeing eye which alone is vested
in a supreme and Ompipotent Creator.
The future is before us; we cannot
claim one moment beyond the present.
A mysterious veil which we cannot
penetrate hides from human view it's
mysteries. The old year will soon pass
away with its disappointments, its sor-
rows, its cares, it's victories and it's
joys. Already the falling leaves are
weaving it's winding sheet, and the cold
north winds are singing its last dirge.
The ''past is in the eternal past" and
its gloomy shadows or it's happy
fruitions a never again fall athwart
u pathway. But, brothers, from
these past shadows and joys, from
these fruitions and disappointments
above a we learn the future, they
are sent to be our guide. Omnipotence
gave them to US that we might learn
the way. That they might be mile,
stones on the pathway of life to guide
and direct US to a happy fruition in the
future.
Brothers, I have heard the question
asked at each meeting, Are any of
the brethren sick or in d~istress2" And
each time, not n was SO reported.
Has not God blessed us as an AllianceG
Has He not watched over our homes
and u loved onesf With thankful
hearts we a say with truth I'VE are
all here" Brothers, while disease and
death has stalked abroad in the land,
while many of our citizens and friends
have fallen asleep around US, yet we