The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1894-04-11

employees to distrust their religion.
I saw 10000 people at Harlem. N. T.,
on Sunday afternoon. who had cone out
with their families to breathe the
fresh air. From Monday to Saturday.
their masters drove them without
resting. Could such men act as
missionaries for the church :? could
they accomplish anything in the way
of inducing che labor,ng people to
attend church? No; no man will
confde in a religious profession that
allows it's owner to be cruel. On a
smaller scale, all this is true. A man
irreligious in a business way has no
influence in a religious way, aud hence
the hands of so many are tied. There
are persons who can make speeches
10 the church, and could say a
word for Gods truth, but for the fact
that they have cut ont their own tongue.
Sweet talk on Sunday will never
atone for bitter talk during the week.
So I believe there is truth in the state
ment that business methods employed
during the week are blocking the way
Of many who otherwise might attend
the church on Sunday.
5. Bad family government is
another trouble. DR.. Strong says. the
present generation of young people
have had a training very different from
that which their grandparents received.
In most families the rod, like Aarons' rod
has budded and brought forth almonds
aud sugar-plums of all sorts. Children
are hired and coaxed, instead of being
required to obey, aud they consult sheir
inclination rather than their obligation
io all the matters pertaining to the
church. They are not made to feel
that attendance upon church is a duty.
They attend when they feel like it, and.
by and by, they grow up aud grow
away from the church ; then, in after
years, we arise to ask. Why are peo-
pie drifting away from the church :?
5. The church does not cultivate
the fellowship Of outsiders.-This is
regarded as the work of the clergyman
alone. In other words, he must cultl~
vate the field that lies in the church,
aud then also the wider field of the
world. Where, then, is the work of
the layman :? What is he for? What
occupation can he ind7 When che
Bible says, .'Son, go work 10 my vine
yard," we are to understand that only
preachers are meant, aud the laymap is
only a sort Of supernumerary after all.
Yet, we talk much about church work,
and sing about being soldiers of the
cross. How strange! soldiers with no
battle to fight, no enemy to confront.
The preacher IL both the general and
the army. DR.. Bell tells a story about
a little child who vas being put to bed.
While saying her prayers, some q
overheard her telling the Lord, "And.
dear Lord. this afternoon, [ saw out on
the cold sidewalk a poor little girl. and
she had no shoes nor stockings on, and
-aud"-there. was a long silence
..bus it's zone of our business, is it.,
God 2" Alas! child, there are too many
who virtually make the same prayers to
God, and the substance of them all is,
that it is none Of their business to be
looking after the worlds woes, or seek
ing to win the worlds love and con-
6dence. And yet We wonder Why men
drift away from the church to be lost.
6. Church dress is sometimes in the
way of the masses.-There are many
whose narrow circumstances make them
unable to dress as they desire. They
know hat a church is a place where
people always try to wear and look
their best, and the costly goods that
some put on are a stumbling block to
others who are too poor to array them
selves in such attire In fact, Sunday
has come TO be the day for dress
parade. Many rel common clothes
on Monday, and walk the streets
without any feeling of discomfort, who
stay at home on Sunday because they
think their clothes are unfit. In this
case, there are two evils-one on the
part at those who dress too much, and
another on the part Of those who
imagine that their common dress will
make them conspicuous.
Z. Our Sunday Schools are at fault
seem to be maintained
only in the interest of the children who
attend, aud not much mission work is
attempted. If any diligent efforts are
being made in this community in behalf
of the numbers of little ones who spend
Sunday in idleness. l have not heard Of
it. W. all know how to sing leather
them in" with great animation, but
how to carry on: what We sing is the
unsolved problem. Now, this say,
the Sunday School ought to do a large
part of the mission work of the church.