Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-03-24

ing with Bibles from Switzerland. Sup
should pass law that there should be
no more Bibles printed IN America and
no more Bibles read. If there are 49,
0Oo,000 grown people IN the United
States, there would be aO,oO0,000 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 publlcatlon OF any other
BOOK, now many people would go out IN
such crusade!
Could You get 4o,ooo,Voo people 10 go
out ana RISK their ives IN defense OF
Shakespeares TRAGEDIES or Giadstones
tracts or Macaulay,s history OF Eng
iands You know that there are l,ooo
men VINO would die III delense OF TINS DOCK
where there IS not more thin one man
VINO Would ole IN aelense OF any otner
DOCK. lou NY 70 Insult my common
sense ny telllnS me the Dipie Is iauinS
OUT from Tue world
IL is tne most popular pooK OF the cen
Jury. HOW 40 Know lts know II just
as Know IN regard 10 other DOCKS. how
many Voiumes OF that DooK are pupilsn-
eur wen, you say, o,oOo. how many
copies OF that BOOK are puDhshedf A
hundred thousand. Wmch IS the more
populars why, OF course the one tnat
mas loo'ooo Circulation. And II this BOOK
has more copies abroad IN the world, II
there are nVe Tunes many bibles abroad
as any other book, does not that show
you mat the most popular book on the
planet today is the word OF God!
"Oh, say people, 1.-THE. church Is a col
lection OF hypocrites, and 1t IS losing its
power, and IL Is fadln2 out from the
world. is itt A bishop OF the Metho-
dist church told me that that denomina-
ton averages two new churches every
day of the year. There are at least 900
new Christian churches built in America
every year. Does that look as though
the church Were fading out, as though if
were defunct institution! Which in
stitution stands nearest the hearts of the
people of America today l do not care
IN what village, or in what city, or what
neighborhood you go. Which institution
is ii? Is it the postoffice? Is it the ho-
tel? Is it the lecturing hall? All, you
know it is not. You know that the in
stitution which stands nearest to the
hearts of the American people is the
Christian church. If you have ever seen
church burn down, you have seen
thousands of people standing and look
ing at it-people who never go into a
church--the tears raining 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
diphtheria sweeps your children off
whom do you send for? The postmaster,
the attorney general, the hotel keeper,
alderman? No, you send for minister
of this Bible religion. And if you have
not Il room in your house for the obse-
quies, what building do you solicit? Do
you say, "Give Inc the finest room in the
hoteli" Do you say, Give me that
theater" Do you say: "Give me place
in that public building, where can lay
my dead for little while until we say
prayer over it?' No. You say, "Give
us the house CT God"
And if there is song to be sung at the
obsequies, what do you want? What
does anybody want? The Marseillaise'
hymn. God Save heQueen?' 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 Sab
bath afternoon she was out before she
got that awful sickness which broke your
heart. | appeal to your common sense.
You know the most endearing institu-
ton on earth, the most popular institu-
ton on earth today, is the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
The infdels say, '1nfidelity shows its
successes from the fact that it is every
where accepted, and it can say what it
will" Why, my friends, infidelity is
not half so blatant in our days as it was
in the days of our fathers. Do you know
that in the daysof our fathers there were
pronounced infidels in public authority
and they could get any political position:
Let n man today declare himself antag
onistic TO the Christian religion, and
what city wants HIM for mayor, what
state wants him for governor. what ma
ton wants him for president or for kingf
Let man openly proclaim himself the
enemy OF our glorious Christianity, and
he cannot get majority of votes in any
state, III any city, In any county, in any
ward of America.
RELIGION is SCIENCE.
Do you think that such a scene could
be enacted now as was enacted in the
days Of Robespierre, when shameless
woman was elevated as a goddess and
was carried in golden chair to a cathe-
dral, 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 We're enacted
suchscene of drunkenness and debaueh-
cry and obscenity as have never been
.