The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1898-05-10
BILL ARP MAKES ANOTHER WAR TALK,
WORD ABOUT THE PREACHERS


When They Advise Hearers to Fight
There is Trouble Ahcad-An Ola
Darkcy who is NOT Going 10 War
Without the White Folks.
When Napoleon was in Egypt and q
great battle was impending, he made
a speech to his army and said: Sol
dicrs, forty centuries are looking down
upon you from the heights of those
| pyramids" Just so Jup ter used to sit
enthrOned upon the top of Mt. Olympus
and overlook the doings Of the children
| OF men. These are rather lofty
| thoughts for common man to con
template, but some times wish that
cou'd take a tlight to the clouds and
poise myself and let the earth roll un.
der me, SO that | could look down upon
the nations and see what they all were
doing. The world has been getting
| smaller ever since | was u boy. 1t mas
| been shrinking, shrinking from year
to year, for IT used to take three years
to go around it, but now less than
three months makes the great circuit.
Still we are not content, for though
the land Is wired pretty well, the sea
Is not and vessel may be lost or q fleet
destroyed away out in md.Occan and
we could not hear of it for week.
This little war OF ours is growing
bigger and spreading wide" in its proc
abilities. We thought that Cuba was
TO be the battle ground for our army
and Cuban waters for our navy, but the
Philippine Islands are thousands Of
miles away and thee naries not far from
Africa. 1t Low a war of invasion and
the end is not in sight But it is too late
now 70 entreat for peace or arbitration,
and so we must all fall into line and do
our share. When the preachers put on
their war paint | reckon it is no harm
Tor the laymen and the sinners TO fight.
We remember that in the last war the
preachers, both North and South, were
more bel!igerent than any other class.
They didcnt do much much fighting,
but they went along and encouraged
the boys, prayed for them and nursed
the sick and che wounded and showed
their faith by their works, but rome
of them were awfully mistaken about
were III great designs.
God moves in n my stcriUus way.
His Wonders To perform,
Blind unbeliuf is sure to err
And scan Ills work in vain;
God is His own Interpreter
And lie will make it plain
The preachers are just human like
other people and subject to- like pas
sions and prejudices. remember that
Just before Georgia seeded our Rome
preachers could hardly maintain their
Christian serenity in the pulpit or out
Of it, and one OF them, an eloquent and
gifted man whom the whole cOmmuni-
ty respected and revercnccd, took for
his text the twentieth verse Of the
ii chapter Of Joel: Il will remove far
from you the Northern army and will
drive him into q land barren and desc
late, with his face toward the east sea
and his hinder part toward the utmost
sea, and his stink shall come up and
his i'll SAVIOR shall come up, for he hath
magniiied TO do great things. Fear
not, Oh land DC glad and rejoice, for
The Lord will do great things
tell you he made it fit our case like
prophetic prediction, and we could
see the Yankees tlying from our valiant
troops and driven TO their utmost
borders and scattered from the Pacific
ocean to Plymouth Rock, and perishing
to death all along the line for lack OF pro
visions, and nobody left to bury them.
At the same time Henry Ward Bcccher
was breathing out threatcnings and
slaughter from his Brooklyn pulpit and
declaring that the Almighty's hand
was on their side and within few
months would wreak his vengeance
upon the Shareholder and set the bond
men free. And the editors knew moth
ing at last. tell you, my brcathron,
that preachers and editors are just hui
man like the res. Of us, and the world
will never have "a fair chance 90 get
even with them until every man has Il
pulpit and Il newspaper Of his own.
But the war is on us and we must
fight it. Our C0ngrcssmcn have said
it is right and just and they ought to
know, but was Illuminating about
blood and tears ard agOny-ab nut
widows and orphans, and Rachel
mourning for her children because they
were not. That good old Georgia
mother in Israel whose son is an officer
on the Olympia In far.cn waters has
ceased to smile. For years his letters
have been her comfort. For years
the he has supported her from his pay
and is now educating and maintaing
an orphan niece, and they love him
dearly. But it may be that the con.
| ilict has come and gone and he is even
now sleepinging in the deep waters,
and they know it not. Who can meas
nre the glory OF war with IL grief like
| theirs, and this is only one case. The e
are or will be thousands like it if this
war goes on.
But we must fight In the language
OF Patrick Henry, 81 repeat it, sir, we
must fight" Patriotism is a God given
emotion in the human breast. True,
sincere, thoughtful lov9 Of home and
country not that kind which is pre-.
tense and which DR.. johnson said was
| the last refuge Of u scOundrcl. Poll
| tics and greed aud religious fanatac.
ism are often confounded with it, and
woman is always the chief mourner
/ both in victory and defeat when war
| atlicts country. Nations make war
| in haste and repent at leisure. The
| saddcst picture ever painted was that
OF mother with q babe at hcr breast
| hunting over battlefield for the body
OF her husband.
The child Of misery baptized in
tears" But enough OF this. Pm
afraid | am becoming confirmed
pessimist. | will go out in the garden
with some OF the lttlo offspring and
pick awberrcs. These little chaps
always comfort me. don't see what
we grow up for nohow, for the Scrip.
lures say unless ye become as one Of
these little ones ye shall not enter the
kingdom OF heaven. What faith, what
trust, what confidence they have in us.
"Grandma said a little offspring,
"Dident God make every body ?''
Yes said my wife. "Wcll, dident
Jesus help Him some ?" II reckon so"
| soj6 shn Tho hnv r,, m, n ot ol a fo