The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1889-05-09

Mount, When that party is formed ii
will sweep across this land like tornado
Z was going to say, but when | think it is
} not to be devastation but resustication.
, change the figure and say, such party as
that will sweep across this land like spice
gales from heaven.
Have you any doubt about the need OF
the Christian religion to purify and make
decent American politics At every
yearly or quadrenniaI election we have il
factories of lies, and they are run day and
night, and they turn out half dozen a day
all equipped and ready for full sailing
Large lies and small lies. Lies private
and lies public and lies purient. Lies cut
bias and lies cut diagonal. Long lmbed
lies. and lies with double. back action. Lies
complimentary and lies defamatory. Lies
that some people believe, and lies that all
the people believe, and lies that nobody
believes. Lies with humps like camels
and scales like crocodiles and necks as long
as stork' s and feet as swift as an antelope s
and stings like adders. Lies raw and
scOlloped and panned and stewed. Crawl
ing lies and Jumping lies and soaring lies.
Lies with attachment screws and rufiers
and braiders and ready wound bobbers.
Lies by Christian people who never lie ex-
cept during elections, and lies by people
who always lie, but beat themselves in a
presidential campaign.
| / confess | am ashamed to have a for
eigner visit this country in such times. l
should think he would stand daZed, his
| hand on his pocket book, and dare not go
out nights. What will the hundreds of
thousands of foreigners who come here to
live think of usY What a disgust they
must have for the land of their adoption
The only good thing about it is, many of
them cannot understand the English lam
guage. But suppose the German and
Italian and Swedish and French papers
translate it all and pe1dle out the Internal
stuff to their subscribers.
Nothing but Christianity will ever stop
such flood of indecency. The Christian
religion will speak aft er while. The bill
lingsgate and low scandal through which
we wade every year or every four years
must be rebuked by that religion which
speaks from its two great mountains, from
the one mountain intoning the com mand,
Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.n and from the other mount
making plea for kindness and love and
blessing rather than cursiDg. Yes, we
are going to have national religion.
There are two kinds of national religion.
The one is supported by the State and is a
matter of human politics, and it has great
patronage. and under it men will struggle
for prominence without reference to quail
ifications, and its archbishop is supported
by salary of Ss75 900 year, and there are
great cathedrals. with all the machinery
of music and canonicals, and room for a
thousand people, yet an audience of fifty
people, or twenty people, or ten, or two.
We want no such religion as that, no
such national religion but we want this
kind of national religion-the vast major
ity Of the people converted and evangel-
Used. and then they will manage the secu
lar as well as the religious.
Do you say that this is impracticable i?
No. The time is coming jus as certainly
as there is Goo and that this is his book
and that he has tie strength and the hon.
esty to fulfill his promises. One of the
ancient emperors used to pride himself on
performing that which his councillors said
was impossible, and have to tell you to-
day that mans impossibles are Gods
easies. Hath he said and shall he not do
it Hath he commanded, and will he not
bring it!to.pass?'' The Christ ian religion is
coming to take poss ession of every ballot
box, of every school-house, of every home,
of every valley, Of every mountain, of every
acre of our national domain, This nation,
outstanding all the evil influences
that are trying to destroy it. is going to
| live.
Never since, according to John Milton,
| when Satan was hurled headlong flaming
from the ethereal skies in hideous ruin and
combustion down." have the powers of
darkness been so determined to win this
continent as they are now. What jewe
it is-a jewel carved in relief, the cameo of
this planet On one side of US the Atlan-
tic ocean, dividing us from the worn out
governments of Europe. On the other side
the Pacific ocean, dividing us from the
superstitions of Asia. On the north of
us the ARCTIC sea, which is the gymnasium
in which the explorers and navigators de-
yelop their courage. A continent 10000
miles long, II ,O00, 900 square miles, and all
of it but about one-seventh capable of
rich cultivation. One hundred millions
of population on this continent of North
and South America-one hundred millions
and room for many hundred millions more.
All flora and fauna, all metals and all pre-
| cioqs woods and all grains and all fruits.
| The Appalachian range the backbone, and
the rivers the ganglia carrying life all
through and out to the extremities. 18th.
mus of Darien, the narrow waist of giant
| continent, all to be under one government,
and all free, and all Christian, and the
scene of Christ personal reign on earth
| If, according to the expectation of many
| good people, he shall az last set up his
throne in this world. Who shall have this
hemisphere, Christ or Satan Who shall
have the shore of her inland seas, the sill
yer of. her Nevadas, the gold of her Col
orados, the telescopes of her obseryato-
ries, the brain of her univers tiles, the
wheat of her prairies. the rice of her sa-
vanas, the two great ocean beaches-the
one reaching from Baflin's bay to Terra
del Fuego, and the other from Bebring
straits to Cape Horn-and all the moral
and temporal and spiritual and everlast-
ing interests of population vast beyond
all human computation? Who shall have
the hemisphere? You and | will decide
that, or help to decide it, by consolen-
tious vote, by earnest prayer by Dainten-
ance of Christian institutions, by support
of great philanthrop .es, by putting body,
mind and sou on the right side of moral,
religious and national movements,
All it will not be long before it will
not make any difference to you or to me
what becomes of this continent SO far as
earthly comfort is concerned. All we will
| Eos Ax,%