The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1895-12-11


have had no return Of that trouble since"
Antigonus, their commander, straight
ened himself up and said, with indigna-
tion and vehemence, Glow many do you
reckon ME to be-" And when we see
the vast armies arrayed against the
cause of sobriety it may sometimes be
very discouraging, but I ask you in
/ making up your estimate Of the forces
Of righteousness-I ask you how many
do you reckon the Lord God Almighty
to be? He is our commander. The Lord
of Hosts is his name. have the best
authority for saying that the chariots Of
God are 10000, and the mountains are
full of them.
Have you any doubt about the need
of the Christian religion to purify and
make decent American politics? At ev-
cry yearly or quadrennial election we
have in this country great manufactures
-manufactories CT lies-and they are
run day and night, and they turn out
half a dozen day, all equipped and
ready for full sailing. Large lies and
small lies. Lies private and lies public
and lies prurient. Lies cut bias and lies
cut diagonal. Long hmbed lies and lies
with double back action. Lies compG
mentary and lies defamatory. Lies that
some people believe and lies that all the
people believe, and lies that nobody be-
lieyes Lies with humps like camels, and
scales like crocodiles, and necks as long
as storks, and feet as swift as an ante
lope's, ard stings like adders. Lies raw
and scallored ard panned and stewed.
Crawling lies and jumping lies and
soaring lies Lies with attachment
screws and ruflers and braidcrs and
ready wound bobb;ns. Lies by Christian
people who never lie except during cleo
tions, and lies by peoplewho always lie,
but beat themselves il 4 presidential
campaign.
A Potent Force.
confess I am ashamed to have for
aigncr visit this country in such times.
I should think he would stand ,dazed,
his hand On his pCcketbook, and dare
net SO out nights. What will the hun
drcds Of thousands CT foreigners who
come hero to live think Of us? What a
disgust they must have for the land Of
their adoption. The only good thing
about it is many of them cannot under
stand the English language. But ! sup
pCsa the German and Italian and Swed-
ISL and French papers translate it all
aid pcGdle cut the internal stuff to the
subscribers.
Nothing bat Christianity will ever
stCD such flood Of indecercy. The
Christian religion will speak after
awhile The billingssate and low scandal
through which VIC wade every year or
every four years must be rcbuked by
that religion which speaks from its two
greatmGuntains-f the one mountain
intoning the command, "Thou shalt not
bear false witness against thy neighbor, y
and from the other mount making plea
for kindness and blessing rather than
cursing. Yes, we are going to have q
national religion. There are two kinds
OF national religion. The oneis support
ed By The state, and is matter of hu-
man politics, and it has great patronage,
and under it men will struggle for
prominence without reference to quail
fcatiOns, and its archbishop is supported
by q salary of So, 600 year, and there
are great cathedrals, with all the ma
chinery Of music and canonicals, and
room for a thousand people, yet an au-
dience Ct fifty people, or twenty people,
Or ten Or two. We want no such religion
e. that, 10 such national religion, but
We want this kind of national religion
the vast majority of the people coll
vertcd AID evangeliZed-and then they
will manage the secular as we'll as the
religious.
Do you say that this is impracticable?
No. The timo is coming just as GER
ta!nly as there is q God, and that this is
his book, and that he has the strength
ard the honesty to fulfill his promises
One Of the ancient emperors used to
pride himself on performing that which
his counselors said was impossible, and
I have to tell you today that mans i'm
pOssibleS are Gods easies. Hath he
said, and shall he not do it? Hath he
commanded, and will he not bring it to
pass"' The Christian religion is coming
to otake possession of every ballot box, Of
every schoolhouse, Of evey home, of ev-
cry valley, Of every mountain, Of every
acre of our national domain. This ma
ton, Notwithstanding all the evil influ
ences that are trying to destroy 1t, is
going to live.
Never since, according to John Mil
ton, when satan was hurled headlong
flaming from the ethereal skies in hid
eous ruin and combustion down" have
the powers of darkness been SO deter
mined to win this continent as now.
What a jewel it is-a jewel carved in
relief, the cameo of this planet! On
one side of us the Atlantic ocean, diyid-
ing Us from the wCrn0ut governments
of Europe. On the other side the Pacific
ocean, dividing Us from the supersti-
tons Of Asia. On the north Of US the
arctic sea, which is the gymnasium il
which the explorers and navigatOrs de-
yelop their courage. A continent 500
miles long, 10000 eco square miles,
and all Of it but about cne-seyenth capa-
bic of rich cultivation. One hundred
millions of population on this continent
Of North and South America-100, ,000,
600, and room Tor many hundred mil
lions more. All fora and all fauna, all
metals aud all precious woods, and all
grains and al fruits. The Appalachian
range the backbone, and the rivers the
ganglia carrying LIE all through and
ont to tho extrcmitieS, isthmus Of
Darien, the narrow waist Of a giant con-
tiuent, ell to be under one government,
and al frce, and al Christian, and the