The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-04-04

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 sickness which
broke your heart. appeal to your common
sense. You know the most endearing in
settution on earth, the most popular institu-
tion on earth to-day IS the church OF the
Lord Jesus Christ.
The infldels say, :'Infdellty shows its sue
cesses from the fact that it is everywhere
accepted. and it can say what it will" Why,
my friends. infidelity is not half 80 blatant
in our days as it was in the days OF our
fathers. Do you knowth in the days Of our
fathers there were pronounced infdels in
public authority and they could get any
political position? Let man to-day declare
himself antagonistic to the Christian re-
Hgion, aud what city wants him for mayor,
what State wants him tor governor, what
nation wants him for president or for king2
Let 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.
Do you think that such scene could be
enacted now as was enacted in the days OF
Robespierre, when shameless woman was
elevated as goddess and was carried in
golden chair to cathedral, where incense
was burned to her and people bowed down
before her as a divine being, she taking the
place OF the Bible and God Almighty, while
In the corridor of that cathedral were en-
acted such scenes OF drunkenness and de.
bauchery and obscenity as has never been
witnessed? Do you believe such thing
could possibly occur in Christendom to-day?
No, sir! The police, whether OF Paris or
New York, would gwoop on it.
I know infiGelisy makes a good deal OF
talk In our day. It Is on the principle that
il a man Jump overheard from a Cunard
steamer he makes more excitement than all
the 500 people that stay on the decks. But
the fact that he jumps overboard-does tnat
stop the ship? Does that wreck the 500
passengers? 7: makes great excitement
when a man jumps from the lecturing plat
form or from the pulpit in fidelity, but does
that keep the Bible and the Church from
carrying their millions OF passengers into
the skies?
They ssy, these men, that science is over
coming religion In our day. They look
through the spectacles of the inalel scien-
lists, and they say SIT Is impossible that
this book can be true. People are finding 1t
out. The Bible has got to 60 overheard.
Science is going to throw it overheard" Do
you believe that the Bible account Of the
origin Of life will be overthrown by inhdel
scientists who have fifty different theories
about the origin OF life2 If they should come
up in solid phalanx, all agreeing upon one
sentiment and one theory, peihaps Christian
ity might be damaged, but there are not so
many differences of opinion inside the
church as outside the church.
People used to say, .sThere are so many
different denominations of Christians-that
shows there IS nothing in religion" have
to tell you that all denominations agree on
the two or three or four radical doctrines of
the Christian religion. They are unanimous
in regard to Jesus Christ, and they are
unanimous In regard to the divinity OF the
Scriptures. How is 1t on the other side?
All split up-you cannot find two OF Them
alike On, it makes me sick to see these lit
erary fops going along with copy OF Dar-
win under one arm and case OF transt1xed
grasshoppers aud butterflies under the other
arm, telling about the Survival of the fit
test" and Huxley's protoplasm, and the
nebular hypothesis.
The fact Is that some naturalists Just as
soon as they find out the difference between
the feslers of wasp and the horns OF a beetle
begin to patronize the Almighty, while Agas-
siz, glorious Agassiz, who never made any
his feet on the doctrine of evolution and
says, II see that many OF the naturalists OF
our day are adopting facts which do not
bear observation or have not passed under
observation" These men warning against
each other-Darwin warning against La
marche, Wallace warring against Cope, even
Herschel denouncing Ferguson.
They do not agree about anything. They
do not agree on embryology. do not agree
on the gradation OF the species. What do
they agree on? Herschel writes whole
chapter on the errors of astronomy. La
Place declares that the moon was not put In
the right place. He says that IL it had been
put four times farther from the earth than 1t
is now there would be more harmony in the
universe, but Lionville comes up just in time
to prove that the moon was put In the right
place.
How many colors woven into the Eght2
Seven, says Isaac Newton. Three. says
David Brewster. How high is the aurora
borealis? Two and half miles, says Lias.
One hundred and si1ty-eight miles, says
Twining. How far is the sun from the earthP
Seventy-six million miles, says Lacalle.
Eighty-two million miles, says Humboldt.
Ninety million miles, says Henderson. One
hundred and four million miles, says Mayer
only littls difference OF 5000. 900 miles
on anything. They come and say that the
churches OF Jesus Christ are divided on the
great doctrines. All united they are, in
Jesus Christ, in the divinity OF the Scrip
lures. While they come up and propose to
render their verdict. no two Of them agree
on that verdict.
"Gentlemen Of the jury. have you agreed
on q verdict?' asks the court or the clerk of
the jury as they come in after having spent
the whole night in celebrating. If the jury
says, "Yes, we have agreed" the verdict is
recorded, but suppose one OF the jurymen
says, 81 think the man WIS guilty OF muir
DER another says, II thinj: he was guilty OF
manslaughter in the second degree and
another man says, II think he was guilty Of
assault and battery with intent to kill, !" the
judge would say: go back to your room
and bring in verdict. Agree on something.
That is no verdict"
Here these inhdel scientists have impan-
eled themselves as jury to decide this trial
between infdellsy, the plaintiff, and Chris
tianity, the defendant, and after being out
for centuries they come in to render their
verdict. Gentlemen of the jury, have you
agreed on a verdict? No, no. Then go back
for another 500 years and deliberate and
agree on something. There iS not poor,
miserable wretch in the Tombs coart to-mor-
row that could be condemned by jury that
did not agree on the verdict, and yet you ex-
pect Us to give up our glorious Christianity
to please these men who cannot agree on
anything.