Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-07-02

Chew LASeE's PLUGS. The Great Tobacco Antidc
ances There is nothing proposed by men
that can do anything like this gospel The
religion of Ralph Waldo Emerson was the
philosophy of icicles The religion of The
odore Parker was q sirocco of the desert
covering up the soul with dry sand. The
religion of Renan was the romance of be-
lieving nothing, the religion of the Hux-
leys and the Spencers merely pedestal on
which human philosophy sits shivering in
the night of the soul, looking up to the
stars, Offering no help to the nations that
crouch and groan at the base. Tell me
where there is one man who has rejected
Shat gospel for another, who Is thoroughly
Eatisfled and helped and contented In his
skepticism, and will take the car tomor-
row and ride 500 miles to see him. The
full power of the gospel has not yet been
touched. AS sportsman throws up his
head and catches the ball flying through
the air, just so easily will this gospel after
awhile catch this round world flying from
its orbit and bring 1t back to the heart of
Christ. Give it full swing, and it. will
pardon every sin, heal every wound, cure
every trouble, emancipate every slave and
ransom every nation. Ye Christian men
and women who go out this afternoon DO
do Christian work, as you go into the Sun
| day schools, the lay preaching stations and
the penitentiaries and the asylums want
you to feel that you bear In your hand a
| weapon, compared with which the light
ming has no speed, and avalanches have no
heft, and the thunderbolts of heaven have
no power. 1t is the arrow Of the omnipo-
tent gospel. Take careful aim. Pull the
arrow clear back until the head strikes the
bow. Then let it fly. And may the slain
Of the Lord be many.
| Searching For Game.
Again, if you want to be skillful In
spiritual archery, you must hunt In unfre.
quented and secluded places. Why does
the hunter go three or four days in the
Pennsylvania forests or over Raquette lake
into the wilds of the Adirondacks? 1t Is
the only way to do. The deer are shy, and
one "bang" of the gun clears the forest.
From the California stage you see as you
go over the plains here and there coyote
trotting along, almost within range of the
gun-sometimes quite within range of 1t.
No one cares for that; it Is worthless The
good game is hidden and secluded. Every
hunter knows that So many of the souls
that will be of most worth for Christ and
: of most value to the church are secluded.
They do not come in your way. You will
have to go where they are. Yonder they
are down in that cellar; yonder they are w
in that garnet. Far away from the door Of
any church, the gospel arrow has not beer
pointed at them The tract distributor and
city missionary sometimes catch glimpse
of them, as a hunter through the trees get!
a momentary sight of partridge OF roe
buck. The trouble Is we are waiting fol
the game to come to us. We are not goof
hunters. We are standing in some stree
or highway expecting that the timid ante
lope will come up and eat out of our hands
We are expecting that the prairie fowl will
light on our church steeplc. 1t is not theil
habit. If the church should wait 0,000
900 Of years for the world to come in ant
be saved, it will wait in vain. The worlt
will not come. What the church want
now Is to lift its feet from damask otto
mans and put them in the stirrups w
want pulpit on wheels The churcl
wants not so much cushions as 1t want
saddlebags and arrows. We have got Il
put aside the gown and kid gloves and pu
on the hunting shirt. We have been fishing
SO long in the brooks that run under tn,
shadow of the church that the fish know
US, that they avoid the hook and escape a.
soon as we come to the bank, while yonde
is Upper Saranac and Big Tupper's lake
where the first swing of the gospel ne
would break it for the multitude of tn
fishes There is outside work to be done
What is that I Sc, in the backwoods9 1t i
is tent. The hunters have made clearin,
and camped out What do they care If the,
have wet feet, or if they have nothing bu
pine branch for pillow, or for the north
east storm! If moose in the darkness
steps into the lake to drink, they hear
right away. If loon cry in the moonlight
they hear 1t.
So in the service of God we have expose,
work. We have got to camp out and rougl
it. We are putting all our care on the pee
Pile who come to our churches What ar
we doing for the thousands upon thou
sands that do not Gomez Have they n
souls? Are they sinless that they need n
pardonP Are there no dead in their house
that they need no comfort Are they Gu
off from God to go into eternity-no win
to bear them, no light to cheer them, n
welcome to greet themi 1 hear today, surg
ing up from the lower depths, groal
that comes through our Christian Assem-
blages and through our beautiful churches
and 1t blots out all this scene from my eye
today, as by the mists of a great Niagara
for the dash and the plunge Of these grea
torrents of life dropping down into tn
fathomless and laundering abyss Of suffer
ing and woe sometimes think that jus
as God blotted out the churches of Thyatir
and Corinth and Laodicea because of thei
sloth and stolidity he will blot out Amer
lean and English Christianity and raise o.
the ruins stalwart, wide awake mission
ary church that can take the full meaning
of that command, $50 into all the worl,
and preach the gospel to every creature I"
Courage.
remark, further, if you want to sue
ceed in spiritual archery you must hav
courage If the hunter stand with trem
, bling hand or shoulder that f1inches wit
, fear, instead of his taking the catamoun
the catamount takes him. What woul,
become of the Greenlander if, when ou
hunting for the bear, he should stand shiv
, ering with terror on an iceberg? Wha
, would have become Of Du Chaillu ant
Livingstone in the African thicket with
, faint heart and a weak kneep When pan
ther comes within 20 PAGES Of you, and
has its eye on you, and it has squatted 70
, the fearful spring, "Steady therep'
Courage, o ye spiritual archersl Their
, are great monsters in iniquity prowling al
around about the community. Shall W
not Of the strength Of God go forth en-
combat them9 We not only need NOR
, heart, but more backbone. What Is tn
, church of God that it should fear to lool
J in the eye any transgressionP There is tn