Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1894-03-22


young man as he leaves for city lifef The
Bible What shall nnd in nine out Of
every ten homes in Brooklyni The Bible.
In nine out Of every ten homes in Christen-
doml The Bible. Voltaire wrote the proph-
ecy that the Bible in the nineteenth centu-
~ would become extinct. The century Is
nearly gone. and As there have been more
Bibles published in the latter part Of the
century than In the former part Of the ecu
tury do you think the Bible will become
extinct in the next six yearsi
/ have TO tell you that the room In which
Voltaire wrote that prophecy not long ago
was crowded from floor 10 ceiling with BIZ
bles from Switzerland Suppose the con-
gress Of the United States should pass a
law that there should be no more Bibles
printed In America and no more Bibles
read. II there are 100000 grown people
In the United States, there would be zO.-
10000 people In an army to put down such
law and defend their right to read the BIZ
bic. But suppose the congress Of the United
States should make law against the read
ing or The publication OF any other book,
how many people would 20 out in such q
crusader Could you get a. 900, 900 people to
90 ont and risk their HIVES In defense Of
Shakespcare's tragedies, or Giadstons's
tracts, or Maeaulsy's History Of Englandp
You know that there are thousand 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 tell
Ing me the Bible is fading out from the
world. It is the most popular book of the
century. How do know iti / know 1t
just as / know In regard to other books.
How many volumes of that book are pub
lishedi Well, you say, 5000. How many
copies Of that book are publishedi A hun
dred thousand. Which is the more popu-
lari Why, Of course the,one that has 1O0, 900
circulation. And IL this book has more cop
ies abroad in the world, II there are five
times as many Bibles abroad as any other
book, does not that show you that the most
popular book on the planet today is the
Word of Godi
"Oh," say people, "the church is collec-
tion Of hypocrites, and it is losing its pow
er, and it is fading out from the world" Is
iti A bishop of the Methodist church told
me that that denomination averages two
new churches every day of the year. There
are at least 800 new Christian churches
built in America every year. Does that
look as though the church were fading out,
as though it were a defunct institution!
Which institution stands nearest the hearts
of the people Of America todayi l do not
care in what village, or in what city, or
what neighborhood you go. Which insti-
tuition is iti Is it the postofficei Is it the
hntaIN Im ha lanfur4r, hal Az
know it is not. You know that the institu-
tion which stands nearest to the hearts of
the American people is the Christian
church. If you have ever seen a church
burn down, you have seen thousands Of
people standing and looking at it--people
who never go into q church-the tears rain
ing down their cheeks. The whole story is
told.
AN UNPOPULAR BELIEF.
You may talk about the church being a
collection of hypocrites, but when the diph-
iberia sweeps your children off whom do
you send for3 The postmaster, the attor-
ney general, the hotel keeper, alderman
No, you send for a minister Of this Bible
religion. And If you have not a room in
your house for the obsequies what building
do you solicit9 Do you say, "Give me the
finest room in the hoteli" Do you say,
"Give me that theater" Do you say, "Give
me a place in that public building where
can lay my dead for little while until we
say prayer over itW No. You say, "Give
us the house of God"
And If there is song to be sung at the
obsequies what do you wantl What does
anybody want? THE Marseillaise" hymni
"God Save the Queen" Our own grand
national air? No. They want the hymn
with which they sang their old Christian
mother into her last sleep, or they want
sung the Sabbath school hymn which their
little girl sang the last Sabbath afternoon
she was out before she got that awful sick
ness which broke your heart. appeal to
your common sense. You know the most
endearing institution on earth, the most
popular institution on earth today, Is the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The infidels say, 'Infdelity shows itssuc
cesses from the fact that It Is everywhere
accepted, and it can say what it will"
Why, my friends, infidelity is not half SC
blatant in our day as 1t was In the days OF
our fathers. Do you know that in the dayt
of our fathers there were pronounced inf
dels in public authority, and they could get
any political positioni Let man today de
clare himself antagonistic to the Christian
religion, and what city wants him for may
or, what state wants him for governor
what nation wants him for president or fol
kingi Let a man openly proclaim himself
the enemy of our glorious Christianity, and
he cannot get majority OF votes in any
state, In any city, in any county. In any
ward of America.
RELIGION AND SCIENCE.
Do you think that such a scene could bt
enacted now as was enacted in the days oi
Robespierre, when a shameless woman was
elevated as goddess and was carried in q
golden chair to a cathedral, where incense
was burned to her, and people bowed down
before her as divine being, she taking the
place of the Bible and God Almighty, while
In the corridor of that cathedral were enact
ed such scenes of drunkenness and debauch
cry and obscenity as have never been wit
nessedP Do you believe such thing coult
possibly occur in Christendom todayH No
sir. The police, whether of Paris or New
York, would swoop on It,
I know infidelity makes a good deal o.
talk in our day. 1t is on the principle that
if a man jumps overheard from Cunart
steamer he makes more excitement thar
all the 500 people that stay on the decks
But the fact that he jumps overboard-doe'
that stop the shipi Does that wreck tn,
500 passengers? 1t makes great excitement
when a man jumps from lecturing plat
form or from the pulpit into infidelity. Bu
does that keep the Bible and the church
from carrying their millions Of passenger
into the skiesf
They say-these men-that science is over
coming religion in our day. They lool
through the spectacles Of the inffdel scien
lists, and they say; ut is impossible tha
this book can be true. People are finding i
out. The Bible has got to go overheard
Science is going to throw it overheard.
Do you believe that the Bibles account O
the origin Of life will be overthrown by in
fidel scientists who have so different theo
ries about the origin of lifes If they should
come up In solid phalanx, all agreeing OF
one sentiment and one theory, perhap