The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-01-07

anu settte-1t afiEHt. aLu setlie IL AoF
ever.
In this very month of January. 16i3.
two months after a great battle had
been fought between the army OF the
king and the army Of parliament.
shepherds and traSeIers between l.
and ] O'Clock at night heard the battle
repeated in the sizes the sound Of
drums. the clash OF arms. the croans OF
dying men and then the withdrawal
OF the scene into complete silence
These shepherds and travellers repeat
ed in the neighboring towns what
they heard. and large numbers Of peo-
pie. expecting that all vas a decep-
ton. went out CT The following night.
and they heard the same uproar and
tumuit in the heavcas-the two armies
I'm battle The king. hearing of this
seeming combat IN the heavens. sent
ambassadors to inquire into the mys-
terry. In the night they also heard the
conflict and came back TO the king and
took solemn oath as to this mysterious
occurrence.
Whether those shepherds and tray-
elers and ambassadors of the king
were In deiusion I cannot say. but this
I know-that the forces Of God and the
forces Of Satan are now in combat. the
heavens as well as the earth in struggle
as to who shall win this world for
blessedness or woe. and, as the armies
of God are mightier than the armies
diabolic. we know who will triumph.
and we have a right to shout the VIC
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The King OF Kings, the Lord of Hosts.
the God of Joshua and Havelock, leads
in the conflict. l have no fear about
the tremendous issue. My only fear is
that we will not be found in the ranks
and fully armed to do our part In this
campaign of the eternities.
Again, / remark that the month of
January has seer many of the most
~stupendous events in the worlds his
tory and a rocking of cradles and the
digging of graves that have affected
nations. In this month American in
dependence was declared. followed by
Lexington and Bunker Hill and Mon
mouth and Valley Forge and York
town. January saw the proclamation
that abolished American slavery.
Though at the time there were two
mighty opinions and they were exact
ly opposed-those who liked the docu-
ment and those who diSliked it-there
is but one opinion now, and if it were
put to vote in all the states of the
south, "Shall slavery be reinstated?'
there would be an overwhelming vote
of mo" The pen with which the doc
ument was signed and the inkstand
that contained the ink are relics as sa-
cred and valuable as the original Dec
laration Of Independence, with all it's
erasures and in~terlineations. The in
stitution which for seventy or eighty
years kept the nation in angry contro-
versy has disappeared, and nothing is
left to fight about. The north and the
south today are in as complete accord
as ever were flute and cornet in the
same orchestra. The north has built
it's factories on the banks of the Chat
tahoochee and the Roanoke, and the
south has sent many Of it's ablest at
torneys into our northern courthouses,
its most skillful physicians into u
sickrooms, it's wisest bankers into
SACIdISeS L IuOSl COllScCEdtCu LII
tiers into our pulpits-all this. the re-
suit of the proclamation of Jan. 1.
1868.
Birthdays of Great Men.
Furthermore. 1 notice that January
has been honored with the nativity Of
some of the greatest among the. ma
tons. Edmund Burke was born this
month, the marvel and glory Of the
legal world; Fenelon of the religious
world. Benjamin Franklin Of the philo-
| sophie world. William II. Prescott Of
the historic world, Sir John Moore Of
the military world. Robert Burns Of the
poetic world. Polycarp Of the martyr
world, Peter the Great of the kingly
world, Chrysostom of the sacred rhet-
ORIG world, Daniel Webster Of the
F., statesman world.
In this month, at Hampton court,
1904, a new translation of the Holy
Bible was ordered. There were Bibles
of all kinds abroad, some of them
TRANSACTIONS from Hebrew and Greek
by incompetent men, and the church
and the world cried out for a Bible
translated by a group of the good and
the learned. King James disliked the
Bibles abroad and appointed a commits
sion of ffty-four men. afterward re-
duced to forty-seven. Those men pre-
scented the world with a Bible that held
mighty sway among the nations for
more than $50 years, the revision of
the Bible thirty years ago being found.
ed on that revision. which began under
King James of 1904. The old transla.
ton. made more than two and a half
centuries ago. sustained the martyrs in
' the fire. illumined the homesteads of
many generations. was the book that
vas read aloud at the embarkation OF
the forefathers from Delft Haven
cheered the weary voyagers on the
Mayiower, comforted them III the
wilds of America. was the book or
which the first American congress. as
well as the last. took the oath and with
which all the presidents Of the United