News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1894-03-22
A GLORIOUS GROWTH
REV. DR.. TALMAeE SHOWS HOW
CHRISTIANITY MOVES FORWARD.

some sturdy Blows at NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Good to Live by and Consoling to Die
By-An Encouraging Discourse by the
Eloquent Pastor.
BROOKLYN, March 1s.-In the Taber.
nacle today Rev. DR.. Talmage preached
a most eloquent and Enthusiastically
vigorous sermon in refutation of the Oft
renewed assertion of the enemies of reli-
gion that Christianity is retrogradina
and the Bible losing its hold upon the
hearts and consciences OF men. ThesuD'
iect of the discourse as announced was
ssFrom Conquest to Conquest" the text
being taken from Amos tx, IS, "Behold
the days come, saith the Lord, that the
,plowman shall overtake the reaper"
Picture of tropical cline, with sea-
son so prosperous that the harvest reach.
,es clear over to the planting time, and the
iswarthy husbandman swinging the sickle
in the thick grain almost feels the breath
of the horses on his shoulders, the horses
,hitched to the plow preparing for new
crop. ''Behold the days come, saith the
Lord, that the plowman shall overtake
the reaper" When is that? That is now.
That is this day, when hardly have you
done reaping one harvest before the pillow.
man is getting ready for another.
know that many declare that Chris
tianity has collapsed; that the Bible is an
obsolete book; that the Christian church
is on the retreat. | will here and now
show that the opposite of that is true.
! An Arab guide was leading French
infidel across desert, and ever and anon
the Arab guide would get down in the
sand and pray to the Lord. It Disguised
the French infidel, and after awhile as
the Arab got up from one of his prayers
the infdel said, "How do you know there
is any God?' and the Arab guide said:
SHOW do know that man and camel
passed along our tent last night? know
it by the footprints in the sand. And you
want to know how know whether there
is any God? Look at that sunset. Is that
the footstep of mani" And by the same
process you and have come to under
stand that this book is the footstep of a
God. s-r-z-rr
HEALTHY GROWTH.
But now let us see whether the Bible
is a last years almanac. Let us see
whether the church of God is in Bull
Run retreat, muskets, canteens and hav-
ersacks strewing all the way. The great
English historian, Sharon Turner, a man
of vast learning and of great accuracy,
not clergyman, but an attorney as
well as historian, gives this overwhelm-
ing statistic in regard to Christianity and
in regard to the number of Christians in
the different centuries: In the first CEN
fury, 100000 Christians; in the second
century, 100000 Christians; in the third
century, 100000 Christians; in the
fourth century, 10000, 900 Christians; in
the fifth century, 100000 Christians;
in the sixth century, 100000 900 Chris
tians; in the seventh century, "a, OOO,-
600 Christians; in the eighth cen
tury, 100000 Christians; in the
ninth century, 100000 Christians;
in the tenth century, $4,000, 900 Chris
tians; in the eleventh century. 10000, 600
Christians; in the twelfth century, 3d.
600, 900 Christians; in the thirteenth GEN.
fury, 100000 Christians; in the four
teenth century, $4,000, 900 Christians; in
the fifteenth century, 100, 200, 900 Chris
tians: in the sixteenth century, 1875, 000,-
900 Christians; in the seventeenth CEN
fury, 155 200, 900 Christians; in the eight
zenith century, 200 1000, 900 Christians
decadence, as you observe, in only one
century and more than made up in the
following centuries, while it is the usual
computation that there will be, when
the record of the nineteenth century is
made up, at least 800, 000, 900 Christians.
Poor Christianity What pity it has
no friends! How lonesome it must bel
Who Will take 1T out of the poorhouse?
Poor Christianity Three hundred mil
lions in one century. In few weeks of
the year 1881 100000 copies of the New
Testament distributed. Why, the earth
is like an old castle with 20 gates and
park of artillery ready to thunder down
every gate. Lay aside all Christendom
and see how heathendom is being sur
rounded and honeycombed and attacked
by this all conquering gospel. At the
beginning of this century there were
only $50 missionaries; now there are 25,-
900 missionaries and native helpers and
evangelists. At the beginning of this
century there were only $4,000 heather
converts; now there are 100000 con-
verts from heashendom.
but the battery of the gospel is planted
and ready to march on-north, south,
east, west. You all know that the chief
work of an army is to plant the batteries
It may take many days to plant the bat
teries, and they may do all their work in
t0.minutes. These batteries are being
planted all along the seacoasts and in all
nations. It, may take a good while to
plant them, and they may do all their
work in one day. They will. Nations
are to be born in one day. But just
come back to Christendom and recognize
the fact that during the last 10 years as
many people have connected themselves
with evangelical churches as connected
themselves with the churches in the first
30 years of this century.
A GLORIOUS BOOK.
So Christianity is falling back, and the
Bible, they say, is becoming an obsolete
book. go into court, and wherever
find judges bench or clerks desk l
find Bible. Upon what book could
there be uttered the solemnity of an
oath? What book is apt to be put in the
trunk of the young man as he leaves for
city life? The Bible. What shall l find
In nine out of every ten homes in Brook
Ign? The Bible In nine out of every
ten homes in Christendom? The Bible.
Voltaire wrote the prophecy that the
Bible in the nineteenth century would
become extinct. The century is nearly
gone, and as there have been more Bibles
published in the latter part of the CEN
fury than in the former part of the cen
tury do you think the Bible will become
extinct in the next six years?
-asaIA have to tell you that the room In
which Voltaire wrote that prophecy not
long ago was crowded from floor to cell.
ing with Bibles from Switzerland. Sup.
pose the congress of the United States
should pass a law that there should be
40 more Bibles printed in America and
no more Bibles read. If there are 40.
100000 grown people in the United
States, there would be 100000 peo-
pie in an army to put down such law
and defend their right to read the Bible.
But suppose the congress of the United
States should make law against the
reading or the publication of any othe1
book, how many people would go out in
such crusade?
Could you get 100000 people to GO
ont and risk their lives in defense of
Shakespeare's tragedies or Gladstone's
tracts or Macaulay's History of Eng.
land?" You know that there are 1000
men who would die in defense of this book
where there is not more than one man
who would die in defense of any other
book. You try to insult my common
sense by telling me the Bible is fading
out from the world.