The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-04-18

age no more characterized by wonders of dis.
aster than by wonders of blessing Blessing
of longevity; the average Of human life rap
idly increasing Forty. years now worth four
hundred years once Now can travel from
Manitoba to New York in three days and
three nights. In other times it would have
taken three months In other words, three
days and three nights now are worth three
months of other days The average of human
life practically greater now than when Noah
lived his $50 years and Methusaleh lived his
969 years. Blessings of intelligence; The
Salmon p, Chases and the Abraham Lincolns
and the Henry Wilson's of the coming time
will not be required to learn to read by pine
knot lights, or seated on shoemaker's
bench, nor will the Fergusons have
to study astronomy while Watching the cat
tie. knowledge rolls its tides along every
poor mans door, and his children may go
down and battle in them. If the philosophers
of the last century were called up TO recite
in class with our boys at the Polytechnic,
or our girls at the Packer, those old philoso-
piers would be sent down to the foot Of the
class because they failed to answer the ques-
tions Free libraries in all the important
towns and cities of the land. Historical alcoves
and poetical shelves and magazine tables for all
that desire to walk through them or sit down
at them. Blessings Of quick information;
Newspapers falling all around us thick as
leaves in September equinoctial. News
three days old rancid and stale. We SEQ the
whole world twice day-through the news
paper at the breakfast table, and through
the newspaper at the tea table, with an sex
tran here and there between.
Blessing Of Gospel proclamation: "Do you
not know that nearly all the missionary
societies have been born in this century?
and nearly all the Bible societies and nearly
all the great phiIanthropic movementss
A secretary of one of the denominations
said to me the other day in Dakota;
you were wrong when you said our
denomination averaged q new church every
day of the year: they established nine In
one week, so you are far within the truth"
A clergyman of our own denomination said:
81 have just been out establishing five mis-
sion stations" tell you Christianity is on
the march while infidelity is dwindling into
imbecility. While infidelity is thus dwtn-
| ding and dropping down into inn
becility and indecency, the wheel OK
Christianity is making about thou
sand revolutions in a minute. All the
copies Of Shakespeare and Tennyson and Dis
raeli and of any ten of the most popular writ
ers of the day, less in number than the copies
| Of the Bible going out from our printing
| presses. few years ago, in six weeks, more
than two million copies Of the New Testat'
nent purchased, not given away, but pur-
chased because the world will have it.
ton to-day in Great Britain and in the United
States than ever before. Stop that falsehood
going through the newspapers-I have seen it
In twenty-that the Judges Of the Supreme
Court of the United States are all infidels ex-
cept one. By personal acquaintance ]
Know three of them to be old-fashioned
evangelical Christians sitting at the
Holy Sacrament Of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and / suppose that the majority Of
them are stanch believers in our Christian
religion. And then hear the dying words of
Judge Black, man who had been Attorney
| General of the United States, and who had
been Secretary of the United States, no
stronger lawyer of the century than
Judge. Black-dying, his aged wife kneel-
that sublime and tender prayer 80
Lord God, from whom derived my existence,
in whom have always trusted, take my spirit
to Thyself and let Thy richest blessing come
down upon my Mary" The most popular
book to-day is the Bible and the mightiest
institution is the church, and the greatest
name among the nations, and more honored
| than any other is the name of Jesus.
Wonders of self sacrifice: A clergyman
told me in the Northwest that for six years
he was missionary at the extreme North,
living 400 miles from a postofice and some
times he slept out of doors in the winter, the
thermometer sixty and sixty-fve degrees
below Zero, wrapped in rabbit skins
BILE? You do not mean sixty and sixty-five
degrees below zero?" He said II do, and
was happy" All for Christ Where is there
any other being that will rally such enthus-
iasm? Mothers sewing their fingers off to
educate their boys for the Gospel ministry
For nine years no luxury on the table unit
the course through grammar school and col
| III ha
pleted Poor widow putting her mite intt
the Lords treasury, the face of Emperor OF
President impressed upon the coin not so con
spicuous as the blood with which she earned
it. Millions Of good men and women, but
more women than men, to whom Christ /.
everything. Christ first and Christ last ant
Christ forever. .... -
Why, this age is not so characterized by
invention and scientific exploration as j
is by Gospel proclamation. You can ge
20 idea Of it unless you can ring al
the church bells in one chime, an
sound all the organs in one diapason, an
gather all the congregations Of Christen
dom in one Gloria tn Excelsis
Groves. Mighty Chautauquas. Mighty con
ventions of Christian works. Mighty gen
eral assemblies of the Presbyterian church
Mighty conferences of the Methodist church
Mighty associations of the Baptist church
Mighty conve.. Ions of the Episcopal church
l think before long the best investments vii
not be in railroad stock or Western Union
but in trumpets and cymbals an
festal decorations, for we are OF
the eve of victories wide and worl
uplifting. There may be many year
Of hard work yet before the consumnlatioll
but the signs are to me so encouraging tina
would not be unbelieving if l saw the win
OF the apocalyptic angel spread for its las
triumphal fight in this days sunset; or
tomorrow morning the ocean cables shout
thrill us with the news that Christ the Lor
had alighted on Mount Olivet or Mount Ca
vary to proclaim universal dominion.
Oh, you dead churches, wake upl Thro1
back the shutters of stiff ecclesiasticism an
let the light of the spring morning come ir
Morning for the land. Morning for the sea
Morning Of emancipation. Morning of lgh
and love and peace Morning Of day i
which there shall be no chains to break, n
sorrows to assuage, no despotism to shattel
no woes to compassionate. o Christ, descend
Scared temple, take the crown Bruise
hand, take the scepterl Wounded foot, ste
the thronel Chime is the kingdom"
These things say because want you +
be alert. want you to be watching all thes
wonders unrolling from the heavens and tn
earth. God has classified them, whethe
calamitous or pleasing. The divine purpose
| | uIe udIueSotu Ill UIdCeS Sttll1lo
break, and in girths that cannot shI
and in buckles that cannot loosen, an
are driven by reins they must answer.
preach no fatalism. A swarthy engineer a
one of the depots in Dakota said: when wi
you get on the locomotive and take rid
with usr' ''Well," said, NOW, if tina
suits your So / got on one side the loco
motive, and Methodist minister
who was also invited got on the other side
and between us were the engineer and tn
stoker The train started. The engineer ha
his hand on the agitated pulse of the grea
engine. The stoker shoveled in the coal an
shut the door with loud clang. A vast plat
slipped under us and the hills swept by
and that great monster on which W
rode trembled and bounded and snorte
. ana ragged as It hurled us on.
said to the Methodist minister on the othe
side the locomotives "My brother, VIII
should Presbyterians and Methodists quarre
about the DEGREES and free agency? You Sc
that track, that firm track, that iron track
, that is the decree. You see this engineer
arm? That is free agency. How beautiful
they work together They are &c
! ing to take us through. We coul
not do without the track, and we could no
, do without the engineer. So rejoice day b.
! day. Work for us all to do, and we may tur1
,, the crank of dhe Christian machinery this wa,
or that. for we are free agents; but there l