The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1883-04-04


afternoons together, their faces glowing
with interest and enthusiasm, and their
songs are heard allgthrOugh the eXer-
cises, and at the close they go away
feeling they have been on the Mount of
Tran6guratiOn-that is live school,
and it Is characteristic of a liv5ehurch.
We gather into our schools the children
of the refined and the cultured and the
educated; but, alasl for the great null
titude of the children of the abandoned
aud the lost. A few Of fthem are gathered
into our rSabbath-schOols;b but what about
the seventy thousand destitute children
of New York and the score of thousands
of destltude children of Brooklyn around
whom are thrown no benign and heaven
ly, and Christian influencesp 1t Is a
tremendous question what is to become
of the destitute children of these cities
We must either act on them or they will
act on us. We will either Chriitanize
them or they will heathenize us. 1t is q
question not more for the Christian than
for the philanthrOpical and the states
man. Oh, If we could have all these
suffering little ones gathered together
what scene of hunger, and wretched-
ness, and Tags. and sin, and trouble, and
darknessl If we could see those little
feet on the broad road to death,
which through Christian charity ought
to be passing the narrow path
of life; If we could hear those voices in
blasphemy, which ought to be singing
the praises Of God; IL we could see those
little hearts, which at that age ought
not to be sOiled with one Unelean
thought, becoming the sewers for every
abOminatiOn; If. we could see those suf-
fering little ones sacrificed on the altar
of every iniQuitOus passion, and baptiz-
ed with fire from the lava Of the pit, we
would recOil, crying out: "AVaunt, thou
dream of helll They are not always
going to be children. They are coming
up to be the men and women of this
country. That spark of iniQuity that
might now be put out with one drop of
the water of life, will become the con-
flagratiOn of every green thing God ever
planted in the soul. That which ought
to have become the temple Of the Holy
Ghost will become SCARED and blister
ed ruin, every light quenched, every al
tar In the dust. That petty thief who
slips into your store and takes yard of
cloth from your counter will become the
highwayman OF the forest, or the burg
lar at midnight picking the lock of your
money safe, and blowing up your store
to hide the villainy. A great army, with
staggering step and bloOdshOt eyes and
drunken boot, they are coming on, gath
ering recruits from every grOgshOp and
den Of infamy in the land, to take the
ballot box and hurrah at the elections
The hard knuckled fist of ruffianism will
have more power than the gentle hand
of intelligence and sObriety. Men blOa-
ted, and with the signature of sin burn
ed in from the top Of the forehead to the
bottom OF the chin, will look honest men
out Of cOuntenance. Moral cOrpseS that
ought to be buried hundred feet deep
to keep them from poisoning the air,
will rot In the face of the sun at noon
day. Industry in her plain frOck will
be unappreciated, while thousands of
men will wander around in idleness
with their hands on their hips, saying:
''The world owes US a living" oh,
what a tremendous power there Is in in
iquity when uneducated and unrestrain-
ed and unblanchedl 1t goes on concen-
trating and deepening and widening
and gathering momentum, until 1t
swings ahead with a very triumph of
desOlatiOn, drowning like surges, scOr-
ching like flames, crushing like rocks.
What are you going to dOwith this aban-
dOned population Of the streetsp Will
you gather them in your churchesp 1t
Is not the will OF your heavenly father
that one of these little ones should per-
ish. If you have ten respectable child
dren in your class, gather in ten that
aIe not respectable. IL in your Bible
class there are twenty young men who
have come from Christian homes and ell
egant surroundings, let them go out and
gather in twenty young men who are
lost to God and to society. This outside
population, unless educated and BE-
strained, will work terror in the ages to
come. Years ago at New Orleans, when
the cholera was raging fearfully,
steamboat put out just before nightfall
crowded with passengers who were try
ing to escape from the pestilence. At
ter the boat had been out awhile the en-
gineer fell with the cholera. The cap
tain, in CONSERVATION, went down
among the passengers, and asked: 'Is
there any one here who knows anything
about engineering% A swarthy man
said the captain, II would be very glad
If you would take charge of this boat"
The man went to the engine, the boat
went faster and faster, until after while
| the captRiR and some passengers were
alarmed, and they went to see what was
the matter, and they found that this
was a maniac engineer, and that he was
seated on the safety-ValVe, and as they
came to him he said: 81 am commits
stoned of satan to drive this steamer to
hellP' and he flOurished his pistol and
would not come down. But after while
| through some stratagem he was brought
| from his position and the lives of the
passengers were saved. o, my friends,
that steamer had no such pe-il as our
| institutions are threatened with, il the
| ignorant and unrestrained children of
this land shall come up In their ignor-
ance and crime to engineer our civil and
religious institutions and drive them on
| the rocks. Educate this abandoned pop
ulatiOn or they will overthrow the in
| stitutions of this land. Gather them
| into your Sabbath-schOols. Go forth,
teachers, In the name of Jesus Christ,
and on the coming Sabbaths may there
be found gathered scores and hundreds
of these wanderers, and the grace Of
God will come down upon them, and
the holy spirit will bring them all into
the truth.
Another characteristic Of live church
Is one with appropriate architecture. In
the far West, amid destitute population
log church Is very appropriate, the
people living in log houses. But in
communities where people live in com
Portable abodes a church uncommodiOus
OF lacking in beauty Is moral nuisance
Because Christ was born in a manger Il
no reason why we should worship Hin
in barn. Let the churches of Jesus
i ia n. 30 ,lw,o 10 -, 10 hwrf