The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-03-22
IORATOR WENDLING.
HIS SGREATLECTURE," is SDEATH
THE END2"
The Souls Immortality Dis
cussed From q Scientific and
Rational, Not Religious. Stand
point---A Great Subject Mag
nificently Handled - Superb
Thoughts in Superb Language.
fCharlotte Observer.l

AAACouGly nduOl0O - OupoTI
Thoughts in Superb Language
fCharlotte Observer.l
The Auditorium held fully 5000
people, Sunday afternoon, to hear the
great Vending discuss the question ol
the ages, "Is Death the End -
A preliminary service OF song and
devotion was held, after which
Secretary Mahan introduced the
speaker. He said that Mr.. Vending
had come before the people the pre-
vious night as famous man and
orator; he now had the pleasure OF
presenting him as brother in Christ,
who would speak on the great subject,
"Is Death the End ?"
As the great orator and Christian
brother arose, stiffness fell upon the
vast throng. Every eye and every
ear was directed to the speaker. By
his magnificent effort of the previous
night all intuitively knew that the
effort of the afternoon was to be no
less grand in thought, wording and
delivery.
"This is an old, old question:" the
speaker began, "that is before you
this afternoon. Thousands of years
have passed since, in the land Of Uz,
on the plains of Arabia, there came
the first recorded utterance of this,
the greatest question that ever fell
! from the lips of man: sIfa man die
shall he live again?' Fearless question
1t knocks at the door of every tomb !;
bends listening ear to every grave,
and puts an interrogation point on
every coffin lid.
"What answer do I make? l have
come to say, if man die he shall live
again. In setting out to seek an
answer to this great problem, my
prayer is for light. Let us begin the
consideration of this question by
putting aside all preconceived theories.
"1. What is man?
"o. What is death?
"sThere is a natural body and
there is a spiritual body But is there.
in deed and in truth, spiritual body?
1t will take long time to solve this
problem. Let US see if we stand on
solid ground.'
Here the speaker treated the doctrine
of Immortality through the ages +; the
belief that savage, philosopher and all
mankind have felt that there is another
life. He rapidly surveyed, in one of
his brilliant and wondrous "digres-
sions," the class of doubters, some
" honest doubters." "The trte say
ing, sthings are not what they seem,'
is literally true. The sun seems to
move around the earth, when the
truth contradicts it. The first sleep
seems to consign man toperfect oblivion.
The truth is it strengthens him to
begin life anew. The spirit can be
only spiritually discerned. We might
as we'll try to tie knot of water, or
braid cord of wind"
The speaker likened unbelief to a
great float of ice in the Arctic seas,
chilling and benumbing the civiliza-
ton of the world.
awe believe more than we know
Columbus was rebuffed from the court
Of Ferdinand and Isabella. Look at
him kneeling at the feet of Isabella
crying, L believe more than know,
and behold in that belief the dawn of
a new and great continent. Philoso-
pliers all believe more than they
know therefore We have the telescope,
the telegraph. Field stood on the
shore of the ocean and said i believe
more than | know, and the result
was whispering gallery 5000 miles
long along the bottom of the great
deep. Watt, Fulton, Socrates, Plutarch,
all believed more than they knew
The speaker then addressed himself
especially to young men, telling them
that faith is the offspring of a guiding
genius that has guided the world, and
that all success depends upon it.
"From Lucretia to Tyndall men
have believed that there is nothing but
matter. No microscope will ever
detect a soul, no scapel ever lay bear a
mind, no telescope ever discern
amongst the stars adisembodied spirit. I"
This, said the great lecturer, brings
US back to confront mighty question.
Is man a spiritual body, or is there in
man a spiritual entity? 1t is clear to
my own perception can make it so
to you?'
The reasoning which followed was
the quintessence OF metaphysical and
psychological accuracy, and as the
great lecturer wound in and out in the
labyrinth of great thought which only
great mind like his could venture
upon with perfect surety Of not losing
itself, the stiffness of the audience was
profound. 1t was criticism in ltsell
on the intellectually of the personnel
of the vast audience.
"There is nothing supernatural,
continued the speaker, "about death
1t is no monster, no skeletonized terror
1t is simply the condition of the bod,
after the spirit has left it. If there
were no deaths the world would be
full of grown-up people. No mother
would ever know again the sweet JOY
of maternity; no new faces would bt
seen; we would become weary of ths
sameness of countenance that would
greet one.
"If there be just God in the uni
verse, as we believe, man must live
again to receive simple justice. Th'
wicked man lives life of ease ant