The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-07-31
Hrp in Fine HUnn0r.
Tells Good Story on Gen. Joe Wheeer--hought he Was
Fighting for the Lost Cause When Charging Spanards.

them and to kill off the unproductive
surplus and give quiet to the govern
ment | don't believe that, but | am not
going to argue about it. John Temple
Graves and Simon Peter Richa rdson and
Joe Oil have written strong letters
about war and how it ennobleS a nation.
These men are thinkers, make the best
of bad things, but still we can fall back
and entrench upon the teachings of the
Son of Man who said: my kingdom IS
peace" Peace on earth and good win
among men. Only a few months have
passed, but there is many a heart-broken
mother now weeping for her soldier son
whose shallow grave is in a foreign land.
The tears of these mothers are worth
thousand victories. But these preach
ers perplex me. Most of them are for
the war to go on until we have taken
ALL the islands of the sea and planted
missionaries there. One of them said,
"My friend the kingdom of heaven suf-
fereth violence and the violent take it by
force" but / never heard before that it
meant guns and cannons and dynamite.
| fear that the zeal of most of these
preachers is inspired by their hatred Of
the Roman Catholic religion. L used to
have a horror of that religion myself, for
| had read FoX's book of martyrs and
imagined the Spanish inquisitiOn was
about to be revived, but time and educa-
ton have removed my prejudices and
made me Tolerant of all the churches.
Observation and experience have taught
md that there are good people in all the
churches. both Jew and Gentle. and il
I was far away from home and in dis
tress a Sister of Charity would perhaps
be my first visitor. They found my
mother when her parents died Of fever
in Charleston and they took the friend
less orphan to their hearts and cared for
her: and / have no patience with these
preachers, so called, who SANDER them or
their church.
But my good old friend Simon Peter
Richardson is nothing if not original. He
is strong man every way and our people
here like him and love him for his hon
est sincerity. He preached here several
years and was man of convictions. He
is rightly named and would have cut off
the other ear of Malchus if he had been
there. He belongs to the church militant
and / would be willing to take his chanc-
es for the church triumphant. He was
telling me once about great revival he
attended over on the Pedee river and
they took in he said: ''Nary one. nary
one. my friend but we turned seventeen
out and purged the church. The revival
was altogether sanitary"
We had a great treat at our town this
morning. Colonel William J. Bryan with
his Nebraska regiment stopped here for
an hour and they electrified everybody
with their presence. 1t is by far the best
regiment we have seen. The best looking.
the best behaved and the best equipped
and they love and idolize their Colonel.
They feel elevated and refined by his
commanding presence and wouldn't do
anything that would mortify his pride or
wound his feelings. What a grand and
noble man he is. How majestic i'm per-
son: how gentle in manners: how inspir-
ing in language and conversation. How
our hearts did burn within us as he
spoke. | tell you. my countrymen, I
would trust him with all my interest in
national affairs. He is Daniel Webster
and Henry Clay combined. May the
good Lord keep him and preserve him
and return him safe to his family and To
the nation. The silver question may
pass away and be forgotten. The tariff
may settle down, but other and greater
issues will grow out of the war and the
nation will need a Bryan at the helm of
government This is the way / feel
about it and can. not help it.
BILL ARP.