Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-05-26

Nefst y stoppetl. anu lDey went up and
found Tom, the drummer boy. leaning
against n stump and dead
ION. FoR A THOUSAND TONGUES"
That hymn, '-Oh, for Thousand Tongues
TO Sing" was suggested TO Charles Wes-
ley by Peter Boiler, who, after his CONVEX
sion, said, II had better keep silent about
It." NO" said Wesley, IF you had ten
thousand tongues you had better use
them for Christ" And then that angel Of
hymnology penned the words:
Oh, for thousand tongues to sing
1fy dear Redeemer's praise,
The Glories Of my God AMI king,
The triumphs of his grace.
Jesus. the name that ealrns our fears,
That bids our snrrows cease;
IT'S music In the sinners ears,
'Tis life and health and peace.
While much Of the modern music is a
religious doggerel, a consecrated nonsense,
sacred tomfoolery, ! would like to see
some great musician of our time lift the
baton and marshal Luther's Judgment
Hymn, Yarmouth, Dundee, Ariel, Brattle
Street, Uxbridge. Pleyel's Hymn, Harwel,
Antioch, Mount Fisgah and Coronation,
with few regiments of mighty tunes made
IA OAA Ohh billlNy anu ebJLli <ASlty ElGltu
and America for the kingdom Of God.
But the first thing to do is to drive out
the dumb devil of the text from all our
churches
Do not, however, let us lose ourselves in
generalities. Not one of us but has had
our lives sometimes touched by the evil
spirit Of the text-this awful dumb devil
We had just one opportunity of saying u
Christian word that might have led man
or woman into Christian life The op-
portunity was fairly put before us. The
word of invitation or consolation or warn
ing came TO the inside gate of the mouth,
but there it halted. Some hindering power
locked the jaws together so that they did
not open. The tongue lay fiat and still in
the botLom Of the mouth as though struck
with paralysis We were mute.
| Though God had given us the physiologi-
cal apparatus for speech, and our lungs
were filed with air which, by the com
mand of our will, could have made the
! laryngeal muscles move and the vocal Or
gans vibrate, we were wickedly and fatally
silent. For all time and eternity we missed
our chance. Or it was prayer meeting,
| and the service was thrown open for prayer
! and remarks, and there was dead halt
everything silent as graveyard at mid
night Indeed it was graveyard and
midnight. An embarrassing pause took
place that put wet blanket on all the
meeting. Men, bold enough on business
exchange or in worldly circles shut their
eyes as though they were praying in 81
lence, but they were not praying at all.
They were busy hoping somebody else
would do his duty,
The women flushed under the awful
pause and made their fans more rapidly
fiutter Some brother with no cold
coughed, by that sound trying to fill up
the time, and the meeting was slain. But
what killed itg The dumb devil. This is
| the way | account for the fact that the
| stupidest places on earth are some prayer
meetings. / do not see how man keeps
any grace if he regularly attends them
They are spiritual refrigerators. Religion
kept on ice. How many of us have lost oc-
casions of usefulnessl
In sculptor's studio stood figure oi
the god Opportunity. The sculptor had
made the hair fall down over the face Of
the statue so as to completely cover it, and
there were wings to the feet When asked
why he so represented Opportunity, tbs
sculptor answered, ''The face of the statue
is thus covered up because we do not rec
ognize Opportunity when it comes, and the
wings to the feet show that Opportunity i!
swiftly gone"
i THE DUMB DEVIL IN POLITICS.
/ But do not let the world deride the
church because of all this, for the duml
devil is just as conspicuous in the world
The two great political parties will soor
assemble to build platforms for the presi
dential candidates to stand on. A commit
tee of each party will be appointed to make
the platform. After proper deliberatioI
the committees will come in with a ring
ing report, Whereas" and Whereas anG
Whereas" Pronunciamentoes all Shaped
with the one idea of getting the most votes
All expression in regard to the grea
moral evils of the country ignored. No ex
preston about the liquor traffic, for tha
would lose the rum vote. No expression
in regard to the universal attempt at tn,
demolition of the Lords day. No recogni
tion of God in the history of this nation
for that would lose the vote of the atheists
But Whereas" and Whereas" ant
Whereas" Nine cheers will be given fo
the platform. The dumb devil of the tex
will put one wing over the Republican
platform and the other wing over tn,
Democratic platform. There is nothin.
involved in the next election except offices
The great conventions will be opened witt
prayer by their chaplains.
If they avoid platitudes and tell th
honest truth in their prayers, they vii
say: 20 Lord, we want to be postmaster
and consuls and foreign ministers ant
United States district attorneys For tina
we are here, and for that we will strive til
the election next November Give us of
flee, or we die, forever and ever. Amen.
The world, to say the least, is no bette
than the church on this subject of silenc
at the wrong time. In other words, is
not time for Christianity to become pre-
nounced and aggressive as never before
Take sides for God and sobriety and right
eousness. "If the Lord be God, follow
him; if Baal, then follow him." Hav
you opportunity of rebuking a sin? Re
buke it. Have you chance to cheer
disheartened soul: Cheer it. Have you
useful word to speak? Speak it.
Be out and out, up and down for right
eousness. If your ship is afoat on th
Pacific ocean Of Gods mercy, hang ou
your colors from masthead. Show you
passport if you have one. Do not smuggl
your soul into the harbor Of heaven. Speal
out for Godl This morning close up th
chapter of lost opportunities, and pitch
into the East river, and open a new chaI
ter. Before you get to the door on you
way out this morning shake hands wit
some one and ask him to join you on til
road to heaven. Do not drive up to heave
in two wheeled ''sulky," with room onl
for one, and that yourself, but get the bis
gest Gospel wagon you can find, and pile
full of friends and neighbors, and shou
till they hear you all up and down th
skies, ''Come with US, and we will do 20
good, for the Lord hath promised goo
concerning Israel"