Deacon Isler.—The Church at Wilmington, N. C., has been greatly afflicted, and much weakened, by the death of Deacon Isler, a Christian of rare development in all that graces Christian character. It is only five years since he came to Christ, and it now seems to his associates that these five years have been spent under a premonition that what he did must be done quickly. His consecration was without reserve; nothing was too hard for him to undertake; no obstacle turned him aside from the duty which lay before him. With no patience for those who would accept help they did not need, he combined the purpose and constant effort to bear in his strong arms those who did need it.
While, as he said, he “had his rathers,” and would like to work for others, yet he was willingly and joyfully in the hands of Jesus. Much comforted by his wife’s reply to his question whether she could give him up, “Yes, all I want is Jesus,” he passed gently and sweetly away; a man of rare strength, whose death is a great loss, but, being dead, he yet speaketh, and his works follow after him.
“No Charge On My Books Against You.”—The above sketch of a worthy and noble man, for which we had no room in our last number, is supplemented by an incident which must find place for brief mention.
When it became evident that disease was fastening upon him, the best physician of the city was called in and put in charge of the case. He became acquainted with the noble life of his humble patient, took the deepest interest in him, and attended him as faithfully as if he had been a wealthy and influential white man.
When one of the teachers, who had made herself responsible for the bill, called upon the doctor for it, he said: “I have no charge against you. I only wish I could have done more for so worthy a man; I shall be glad to give my professional aid to as many such beneficiaries as I can.” Straws are small things, but they indicate the set of the tide. Facts multiply which abundantly prove that mutually helpful relations are being established between the two races on the basis of recognized equal civil liberty. The ignis fatuus of social equality between them might with profit be remitted to the realm of dreams and fantasms, and wait the establishment of such between members of the same race.
The Dallas (Texas) Times relates an unparalleled instance which occurred at the last term of the Ellis Co. District Court. A negro was tried and found guilty of conspiracy to murder. His defence had been strong but unavailing. The judge overruled a motion for a new trial, as no error of law could be alleged and the evidence seemed strong. When asked what he had to say, the prisoner answered that he could say nothing which would change the sentence the court was about to pronounce upon him, but he would like to speak a few words to his own people in the court-room. Leave being given, he began in a slow, quiet way to review the case. He dissected the evidence in a most masterly way, showing its inconsistencies and contradictions; and gradually warmed up until he burst forth into a strain of impassioned eloquence which carried audience and court with him. When he finished, the judge said, “Sam, I thought you guilty; I don’t believe so now, and will set aside the judgment overruling your motion for a new trial, and give you another chance.” The attorney for the prosecution then dismissed the case. He was an uneducated, common field hand; and yet there are some who think the negro incapable of doing anything higher than hoeing cotton under a white man’s supervision.
When Gen. Howard was in Andover, Mass., the other week, visiting his son in Phillips Academy, he was introduced to a colored man, who asked him if he remembered an answer given by a colored boy at the Storr’s School, in Atlanta, some years since, to his question, “What shall I tell the people of the North?” “O, yes,” said the General. “A little boy in a white jacket said, ‘Tell them we are rising.’” “Well,” said the young man, “that boy has kept his promise. He has risen and is doing noble, manly work for his people.” He has become editor of the Journal of Progress, one of the fifty-four papers now edited by colored men in this country.