The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1904-06-07
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who haQ come 10 4 NlllStolti vi ClIi-
cial place. il was a great Thing to
secure high Office. but it was SER
;cus thing 70 face the responsible
tiles OF high Office.
The same appeal was ior those who
had come TO kingdom OF knowledge
1t was a great timing to enjoy the &C.
vantages Of mental culture; it was d
serious matter TO face the RESPONSE
bilitieS OF education.
And he could not pass by the
thought. how this appeal was for
those who had come 10 kingdom
OF grace. 1t was a great thing to be
a Christian: it was matter OF sub
lime import to face the responsIbliI-
ties OF being a Christian.
The speaker then took up dis
cussion OF how this appeal was en-
phasized by the claims OF Such a
time as this"
In the time OF peril and crisis the
appeal came to Esther. Transfer the
sentence out OF its ancient setting and
fix it IN the framework OF present
conditions. Pre-eminently character
istic 0: this time. he said. was its IN
tense activity. We were trying to
crowd the life OF a century of ag
gone by into single day. Again
and again the question must come to
every thoughtful mind: Whittier are
we rushing? What will be the end
OF all this fever-heat OF activity?
Equally characteristic Of the time,
he said we're its marvellous achieve
nents. Mighty were the posSlblli-
ties of good in all this, but grave were
the possibilities OF peril.
But the most serious characteristic of
this time were the grave problems it
was called upon to face. the most
vital that ever troubled the minds OF
men. and each OF which was OF Suffl-
cient magnitude 10 make its proper
solution the work OF a lifetime.
Back OF all other problems which
he mentioned were those involved in
what might be called the strictly re-
ligious issues OF the time. He was
not a pess:mist. The truth was mighty
and would at last prevail But there
was a present trend of thought which
must fill the devout mind with grave
reflections The very atmosphere
was full of hesitancy and doubt
There was scornful rejection Of fun
damental religious truth. a contempt
uous disbelief in everything scalpel
could not cut. The current of edu-
Gated thought was running strongly
against the old established faith.
There was time when men felt that
they had souls to be saved; now they
did not know whether they had souls,
or if they had they did not concern
themselves about their salvation. A
soothing universalisn was in the air,
in our thoughts. and in many OF our
pulpits. And with bold presumption
the axe was laid at the very loot OF
the tree. These were some of the
characteristics of the age which made
it time OF supreme crisis. It seemed
as if we were on the eve OF great
movements. The signs of the times
seem to indicate that the history OF
the world has come to point when
it was drawing back and gathering
energy for one Of these great forward
movements which have marked Its
history. TriRe with the great pro-
blems that face us and the hand on
the dial might be turned back and the
boasted civilization OF this Goth cen
tury would become a by-word of con-
tempt for generations to come. Face
them squarely and deal with them
righteously, and this opening TWEEN,
tieth century would mark the epoch
of a grand forward movement
1t was easy to see how "such a
time as this" had tremendous claims
upon men who had been favored with
power of any kind. The masses
were in large measure what the ten