Milford chronicle., 1893-09-15

AAe DattAe Oufhf says AteNs Dr. IhlmAE,
Science Slightly soored-The Little Por
gun shots at ReligiOn-The Secular Pre-.
and the Pulpit.
BRooKLYN, Sept 1O-This forenoon Rev
7. De Witt Talmage preached to
thronged audience in the Brooklyn Taber
nacle The keynote Of the service was on
of gladness. Many of theaudience had beei
absent during the summer and had re
turned for this service. The pastor com
mented on passages of Scripture depictin,
the morning of the worlds deiiverance
The subject of the sermon was, "The Bat
tleOurs,' the text being I Kings Xxx, %
"And the children of Israel pitched befor,
them like two little fioc1s Of kids"
With 33 kings drunk in one tent thi,
chapter opens. They were allies plotting
for the overthrow of the Lord IS Israel. You
know that if a lion roar flock Of kids
will shiver and huddle together One lion
could conquer a thousand kids The bat.
tie opens. There are a great multitude OF
Syrians under General Ben-hadad, strong
/ as lions. The lsraelites are few and weak,
4 like two little focks of kids Who beatg
Tho lion, OF course. Oh, no; the kids, for
1 it all depends whether God is on the side of
600 Syrians lay dead on the field, and 27 900.
attempting to fly, came along by great
wall, which tOppled and crushed them to
death
Which was the stronger weapOn-great
Goliath's sword or little David's sling?
David had five smooth stones from the
brook. He only used one in striking down
Goliath. He had a surplus of ammunition;
he had enough to take down four more
giants if they had appeared in the way. 1t
all depends upon whether God is on the
side of the shepherd boy or on the side Of
the giant.
There have been many in our day who
have ventured the opinion that Christian
ity is falling back, and that in so years lit
will be extinct. They found their opinion
on the assumed fact that the Bible is rot
as much of a book rs it used to be, aud
that portions Of it are repulsive to the peo-
pie. 1 reply by asking which one Of the
publishing houses of New York, Philadel-
phia, Boston or Chicago is publishing the
Bible today with the omission of a single
verse or chapter? Are not our publishers
intelligent men? And would they, CON
trary to their financial interests, continue
10 publish the Bible without the omission
Of a single chapter or single verse if it
were becoming an unpopular book and the
people did not want itg
If Harpers or Appleton or Scribner or
Lippincott should publish a Bible with the
omission of one chapter, they would not
sell 10 copies in 10 years. The fact tina.
throughout Christendom there are hun
dreds Of printing presses printing the word
of God without the omission Of a chapter
or a verse proves that the Bible is popular,
and the fact that there are more being
printed in this decade than any other de-
cade proves that the Bible is increasing in
POPULAR BOOK.
60 through the courtrooms Of the coun- !
try. Wherever find judges bench or !
clerks desk find the Bible. BY what |
other book would they take solemn oath? |
What is very apt to be among the brides |
presents? The Bible What is very apt to |
be put in the trunk of the young man when /
he starts for city life? The Bible. Vol |
taire predicted that the Bible during the .
nineteenth century would become an obso-
lete book. Well, we are pretty nearly
through the nineteenth century; the Bible /
Is not obsolete yet There is not much
prospect of its becoming obsolete, but
have to tell you that that room-the very
room in which VOltaire wrote that predic-
5ion-some time ago was crowded from
loor to ceiling with Bibles for Switzer-
and. Suppose the congress Of the United
States should pass law that no Bibles
ihould be printed in the United States.
If there are 30,0O0OOO grown men and
women in the cDuntry, then there would be
K, ,OOO, GOO people armed against such a law.
But suppose the congress of the United
States should pass law that Macaulay's
history or Charles Reade's novels should
lot be read. Could you get half as large
N army or the fourth as large an army?
n other words, there are, as you know and
know, thousand men who would die for
heir Bibles where there are so men who
would die for any other book. The fact
hat there are now more Bibles being print
d than ever before; that publishers find it
financial interest forthem to continue the
publication Of the Bible proves that this
ook is still the most popular book on the
lanet
But" say those who are antagonistic,
Christianity is falling back, from the fact
hat the church is not as much respected as
used to be and is not as influential -
eply to that with the statistic that one de
omination the Methodist church h-ac-
Ording to a statistic given me by one Of
heir bishops, dedicates on an average a
ew church every day of the year. Three
undred and sixty-fiye new churches in one
in year, and over thou
and new churches built every year in this
Ountry Does that look as though the {
hurch were failing in its power and were s
a wornOut institution? Around ,
-hich institution in our communities gath {
r the most ardent affectionsg-the post
flee, the hotel, the courthouse, the city
all or the churches9
Why, when our old Tabernacle was burn
x there were hundreds Of men standing \
the streets who never went to church, 6
,ars raining down their cheeks. 1t is be- I
luse the church of God stands nearer the |
of the American people than
ny other institution. Men may caricature g
le church and call it a collection of hypo- &
.ites, but when their children are swept
with the diphtheria for whom do they l
ndP To the postmaster, to the attorney s
sneral, to the aldermen or to the pastors c
the churches? And if there benot room '
# the obsequies in the private house t
hat building do they solicit2 The acad- /
ny of music, the hotel, public hall, court
1usef No; the churches. And If they t
ant music on the sad occasion do a
ley kelecG Lue l4hfe6Lllhlsb' uyulus or y
Sod Save the Queen, or our own grand j
ltional airf No; they want the old hymn n
ith which we sang their old Christian 4
other to sleep. They want the Sunday g
hool hymn that their little girl sang the a
st Sabbath afternoon she was out before
ie was seized with the awful sickness that e,
,oke fathers heart and mothers heart. !,
b, you know as we'll as dol shall not q
we'll on it any longer-the church of God, L
stead of being wornout institution, n
ands nearer the sympathies of the people Il
AN it ever did and eclipses all other insti- {,
Itions n
But our antagonists 60 on and say that n
nristianity is falling back, in the fact that 4
fidelity is bolder now and more blatant !
an it ever was. I deny the statement =
fidelity is not near so bold now as it was es
the days Of our fathers and grandfathers b.
here were times in this countrywhen men a.
no were openly and above board infidcl ol