The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-11-20

North Carolina MethOdiStS and BaptlstS,
while true to their honest convictions,
be friendly and their only rivalry be eX-
hibited in seeing which body can do most
for their common Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ"
The Bishop next gave a resume of
Methodism in North Carolina, beginning
with the first Methodist sermon, preach
ed by Joseph Pilmoor, in 1913. 1--WE
stand in the presence of this history to-
night" said the speaker. THE forms
Of our glOriied fathers rise up before
our mental vision. Each one is worthy
Of Il separate sketch, but their record is
on high. There they are, bending over
us, and though dead they yet speak"
The Bishop then paid touching tributes
to many of the sainted men who have
passed to their reward
The Bishop next spoke of how emigra-
ton from North Carolina has enriched
every region westward from her bOun-
daries and cited illustrious examples.
eliminate what North Carolina has
contributed to Methodism and other
churches in the South aud Southwest
and the shrinkage would be amazing.
The Bishop said: 1--WE cannot omit in
this connection the name of Zeb Vance,
in whom North Carolina was crystali2ed
its warmth Of feeling. its wit, that
sparkled brightly, but left no sting, its
humor that was rollicking without
coarseneSs, it's oratory that was ma
lures own and therefore irresistible.
You mourn him yet; your streams do not
seem to laugh as gaiy among your hills,
and your pine forests sing a sadder song
since he left you. He was of Methodist
heredity, but was u Presbyterian and
else by marriage"
Tribute was paid to the blessed com
pany of holy women who walked with
God and to the laymen who bore the
heat and burden of the day of their
service. Here they come thronging this
presence with their images, but we can
not give them more than Il glance. Go
back to your homes up yOnder with your
Lord, we blessed and holy ones! BY the
grace Of God we will meet you there
when He calls us from the fields of toll
to the rest that remains for us all.
Referring to the race problem, the
Bishop said: THE race problem in
North Carolina can be settled. This is
the prescription: Keep out whiskey
and demagoguism-the demagogue and
the demijohn-at home, and fanatical
intermeddling from abroad, and put in
more and more of the old time religion"
Concluding his admirable address, the
Bishop said:
"a glance ahead will close this ad-
dress. A glance ahead, did l sayE 1t
must be a bold man or an unwise one
who will venture to predict what n day
may bring forth in such times as ours.
The gait at which the world is moving
is very rapid. These United States Of
America have been swept into a cur
rent that is too strong to be stemmed by
merely human forces. The conditions
that confront the nation are such as the
wisest craftsmanship could not have
planned or mans wisdom foreseen. For
us as people the war with Spain puts
new face on the century that is closing.
Gods hand is in it all He has put us
at the front of the battle for humanity,
and we must stand in our lot to the end.
"XVhat new complications may arise
we know not. But one thing is certain.
God will stand by the right. His king
dom is righteousness, peace JOY in the
Holy Ghost. This kingdom will come;
it will come in the hearts of believers,
in their lives. in their homes, in the
world for whose salvation they are pray
ing and working. The truth as the
truth is in Jesus will overthrow error;
the grace that eXpels sin will have free
course: the love that is the fruit of
the Spirit will flood the world with
the water Of life. We cannot under
stand Gods ways The scheme of
His providence is too vast and too
complex for our comprehension.
There are wheels within wheels but
they all fit together and resolve in har-
mony. God hath spoken, and his proml-
SEES of redeemed humanity shall not
fail of fulfllment. All this we truly be-
Iieve, and it is discerned by the eye OF
faith on this historical anniversary.
The Methodists of North Carolina will
do their part. In the past their growth
has been steady, and their record good
one. But they need not be told that they
cannot live on the memories of the past.
They know that if they fail to serve their
own generation faithfully, the greater
will be their shame being the children OF
such progenitors. They know that op-
portunity measures responsibility. In the
amplitude of its field of operations; in its
numerical strength: and in its material
resources, North Carolina MethOdism
commends all the conditions of great
future. 1t has a territory broad and
rich: it has many churches that are
commodious and comfortable, and some
that are beautiful and grand; it has
schools that are well situated and some
of them well endowed; it has its own
newspaper organ for both of its Confer
ences within her borders. 1t lacks moth
ing in the line Of material resources, it
lacks nothing as to human agencies.
Added to all they have, only one thing
more is needcd-and that is, fresh ana
a full baptism of power from on high.
Does this sound trite or perfunctory!
God help us to feel it as well as to believe
If at this moment II a fresh and full
baptism of the Holy Ghost were to fall
upon us at this hour when the past, the
present, and the future meet and mingle
in thought, memory, and hope, who can
measure the blessing that would follow
That old time religion of Holy Ghost
power equipped with the new agencies at
your command would wrap North Car
DINA in a blaze of glory Your organ, the
North Carolina Christian Advocate
would feel the touch and throb and
4 I'll al