Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-09-30
CHESTS ANNIVERSARY.
DR.. -alrlage Advises Great
Christian Celebration.
He Proposes That the Nineteen Hundredth
Anniversary of the Birth of Christ
Re Great Celebration by the
Christian World.

mon of unusual interest to vast audi
ence, the subject being 1.-The Nineteen
Hundredth Anniversary: n Proposition
Concerning it," The text was taken
from Isaiah iX. O: 80 MS II child is
born" He said:
That is tremendous hour in the his
tory of any family when an immortal
spirit is incarnatcd. Out of very
dark cloud there descends very
bright morning. One life spared and
another given. All the bells of glad
ness ring over the cradle. know not
why any one should doubt that of
old star pointed down to the Saviour's
birthplace. for n star of joy points
down to every honorable nativity. A
new eternity dates from that
hour, that minute. Beautiful and APP
propriate is the custom of celebrating
the anniversary of such an event, and
clear on into the eighties and the nine
ties, the recurrence of that day OF the
year in an old mans life causes rccog-
milton and more or less congratulations.
SO, also, nations are accustomed to
celebrate the anniversary of their birth
and the anniversary of the birth of
their great heroes or deliverers or ben
efactors The ed of February and the
4th of July are never allowed to
pass in our land without banquet and
Grafton and bell ringing and cannon
ade. But all other birthday anniver-
saries arc tame compared with the
Christmas festivity, which celebrates
the birthday described in my text.
Protestant and Catholic and Greek
churches, with all the power of music
and garland and procession and dox-
ology, put the words of my text
into national and continental and
hemisphere chorus: ITO us Il child is
born" On the 25th of December each
year that is the theme in st. Pauls and
St Peters and st. Marks and st
Isaac's and all the dedicated cathe-
drals, chapels, meeting-houses and
churches clear round the world. We
shall soon reach the nineteen hun
dredth anniversary of that happiest
event of all time. This century is dy-
ing. The death of one century and
the birth of another century will be
sublime and suggestive and stupcndous
beyond all estimate. To stand by the
grave of one century and by the cradle
of another will be an opportunity such
as whole generations of the worlds in
habitants never experienced. ] pray
God that there may be no sickness Or
casualty to hinder your arrival Mt that
goal. or to hinder your taking
part in the valedictory of the de-
parting century and the salutation of
the new. But us that season will be
the nineteenth anniversary of the
Saviour's birth, now nominate that Il
great international jubilee or eXposi-
ton be opened in this cluster of cities
by the sea coast on Christmas day, the
.5th of December, 1900, to be continued
for ut least one month into the year
1901. This century. closing December
81. 1900. and the new century, begin
ming January l, 1901, will it not be
time for all nations to turn aside for n
few weeks or months from everything
else and emphasize the birth of the
greatest being who ever touched our
planet; and could there be more APP
propriate time for such commemora-
ton than this elimination of the CEN
turtles which are dated from his nativ-
ity? You know that all history dates
either from before Christ, or after
Christ, from Is. c. or A. ID. 1t will be
the year of our Lord, 1900, passing into
the year 1901.
The three or four questions that
would he asked me concerning this
nomination of time and place, proceed
to answer. What practical use would
come of such international celebration?
Answer: The biggest stride the world
ever took toward the evangelization of
all nations. That is u grand and won
derful convocation, the religious con-
gress at Chicago. 1t will put intelli-
gently before the world the nature of
false religions which have been brutal
izing the nations, trampling woman
hood into the dust, enacting the hor-
rors of infanticide, kindling funeral
pyres for shrieking victims, and rolling
juggernauts across the mangled bodies
of their worshipers. But no one sup
poses that any one will be converted to
Christ by hearing Confucianism or
Buddhism, or any form Of heathenism,
~eulogized. That is to be done afterward.
And how can it SO well be done as by a
celebration of many weeks of the birth
and character and achievements OF the
wondrous and unprecedented Christ?
The difference of Christ's religion
from all others is that its one way OF
dissemination is by simple telling"
not argument, not slxillful exegesis,
polemics or the science of theological
fisticuffs, but telling" Tell We the
daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King
cometh." go quickly and tell His
disciples that He has risen from the
dead "Go home to thy friends and
tell them how great things the Lord
Al 10 u