Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1874-08-29


VIII WoAT THERLD PAYS. Some
times men of the world com plain
that the church is wasting money in
the various benevolent causes, with
out much profit. The old question,
asked eighteen hundred years ago,
'Why is this waste p is often asked
in our times. Men want to know
why so much is expended on foreign
missions, why so much is given to
plant the gospel in pagan lands, and
they tell us we are squandering the
money we thus use.
But such persons forget how much
is being expended in lust and sin,
in folly and extravaganza.
What do Intoxicating drinks cost
the people of this country ? The
figures are absolutely startling.-
And these immense amounts are
given not for any good but to i'm
poversh society, to debauch the
community, and ruin souls. The
men who think it unwise to pay
money to send the gospel to the
heathen; who are blind to all the
glorious changes which have been
wrought in the pagan world, do not
seem to notice what vast sums are
paid to make drunkards, to fill our
prisons, to ruin our young men, and
swell the mighty army of widows
and orphans.
How much is paid in this country
for tobacco The vile and filthy
weed is smoked, chewed, snuffed,
and used in a dozen disgusting ways
to the damage of brain. lungs, heart
and stomach. And how much men
pay for this useless, loathsome mar
cOtic. Men who condemn missions
don't think of the cost of tobacco.
They pay for that, not thinking that
it costs more for the vile weed than
for missions.
Then how much is paid for light
literature q? Men who cannot-or
who say they cannot-affOrd a relig-
ious paper for their family use, will
spend on the story papers and the
meanest Of the daily papers, ten
times as much as a religious paper
would cost them. They do not say
they cannot afford these worthless
papers, but buy them every day.
But they are SO poor they cannot af-
ford to take religious paper for
their children. How much theatres
cost! Yet who complains of that
tax for degrading form of pleas
ure We have seen it stated that
at the eleven prominent theatres in
London the average daily attend
ance is twenty-five Thousand one
hundred. The old Drury Lane
Theatre has a daily audience of four
thousand. COvent Garden Theatre
has d like number. At the eleven
theatres of London with the daily
the amount received
must not be far from thirteen mil
lions. from pit, gallery, and box. If
it is half that sum, how Stupendous
the figures seem when compared
with the meagre sums paid to evan
gelze the world and bring lost man
to Christ.
1t requires more than two thOus-
and five hundred men and women
to run the theatres of London
This outnumbers all the foreign
on the earth. That
one city alone has more ministers of
vanity and sin, acting every night
than we have missionaries among
the heather to execute the great
And yet who COM
plains of that waste How bigOted
we are called when we protest
against theatres as useless expendi.
lures.
When will Christians learn to be
as liberal in the cause of Christ, as free
with their money as rum drinkers,
tObacco-chewers, and theatre -goers
are with their money. When will
we learn to do as much for Christ
as men of the world do for their
poor, polluted pleasures.-Ch Christian
Era.