The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-06-18
The Despondency Of Infldels.

The men who are laboring to destroy
Christianity do not grow happy. There
is a certain exhilaration while their
bright but injurious books bring them
copyright, and while crowds Of men are
found willing, for reasons which bring
no credit to their minds or their hearts,
TO pay dollar each and contribute also
their applause TO preacher Of bias
phemy; but as life wears on, and as
there comes to such men revelation oi
the probable effects Of their teaching
on the future of society, they grow very
despondent.
M. Renan Is reported to have said:
ave are living OH the perfume of an
empty vase. Our children will have to
live ON the shadow of shadow. Their
children, l fear, will have to live on
something less"
It would be almost cruel to ask this
brilliant writer who they arc that
emptied the vase, and who they are
that have spent their strength in taking
the substance out of all human life, so
that nothing but shadows should be
left But should we spare him that
keen question unless he frankly repent
and employ the remainder of his life in
laboring to neutralize the poison he has
so insidiously injected into society, and
which now infects him and produces a
deadly despondencyp
We have, however, comfort for him
and for all Of his class. Their grand
children will live in an age of increas-
ing Christian activity, in an age when
Christianity will be more stripped of
ecclesiasticism than now and the mind
of the Spirit in the Word OF God will
be better known, and there shall be an
increase of that faith which rounds out
reasons and compliments the barren
ness of this life by the hope Of life to
come. They will have something bet
ter than perfume and more substantial
than shadows.
Now let all men pause and consider
the pitifulness of this case. A few
gifted men have been employing their
powers in accumulating an estate for
posterity, and the best of them thus
makes statement of the assets of the
estate; in hand, "the perfume OF an
empty vase" for the next generation,
'the shadow of q shadow" for the
third generation something less" No
wonder M. Renan is respondent. The
more his descendants believe as he does
the less they will have.
The late Prot. Clifford, of England,
on his dying bed uttered some mex
pTessibly mournful thoughts which are
strikingly similar to the testimony oi
NJ. Renan. Prof. Clifford said:
ut can not be doubted that the the
istic belief is comfort and q solace tc
those who hold it, and the loss of it il
q very painful loss. 1t can not bC
doubted, at least by many of us in thii
generation, who either profess it nov
or have received it in our childhood
and have parted from it since will
such searching trouble as only cradle
faiths can cause. We have seen thu
spring sun shine out Of an empt,
Heaven to light up soullcss earth; W,
have felt with utter loneliness that thu
Great Companion is dead.
The laborers on the Christian sid
have no such gloom. We may die, bu
the Gospel will live. The more our de
scendants receive and believe and liv
this Gospel We preach, the happier the.
will be. We grow cheerful as tim
goes on and as our departure is a
hand. Men may live and men may die
but Christianity goes on forever
ReU DR.. Charles r. Deems, in Churc
Union