Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-09-18

"a small fortune every year " pay lHciA
taxes. What fastens on our great indus
tries this awful load? Crime, individual
and official. We have TO pay the board
of the villains who are incarcerated In
our prisons. We have 10 take care Of the
orphans Of those who plunged into their
graves through sensual indulgences. We
have to support the municipal govern
ments, which are vast and expensive,
Just in proportion as the criminal pro-
clivities are vast and tremendous. Who
support the almshouses and police sta
tions, and all the machinery Of munich
pal government? The taxpayers.
No More Crime.
But in the glorious time Of which l
speak grieyous taxation will all have
ceased. There will be no need Of sup
porting criminals; there will be 10
criminals Virtue will have taken the
place of vice. There will be no orphan
asylums, for parents will be able to
leave a competency to their children.
There will be no voting Of large sums
of money for some municipal improve
ment which money, before they get to
the improvements, drops into the pock-
cts Of those who voted it. No oyer and
terminer kept up at vast expense to the
people. No impaneling Of juries to try
theft and arson and murder and slander
and blackmail. Better factories. Grand
er architecture Finer equipage. Larger
fortunes. Richer opulence. Better
churches.
In that better time, also, coming to
those cities, Christ's churches will be
more numerous, and they will be larger,
and they will be more devoted to the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and they will
accomplish greater influences for good.
Now, it is often the case that churches
are enyious Of each other. and denomi-
nations collide with each other, and
even ministers Of Christ sometimes for
get the bond Of brotherhood. But in the
time Of which l speak, while there will
be Just as many differences Of opinion
as there are now, there will be no acer-
bity, no hypercriticism, no exclusive
ness.
In our great cities the churches are
not today large enough to hold more
than a fourth Of the population. The
! churches that are built-comparatlvely
few Of them are fully occupied. The
average attendance in the churches OF
the United States today is not 400.
Now, in the glorious time Of which l
speak, there are going TO be vast
churches, and they are going to be all
thronged with worshipers. Oh, what
rousing songs they will sing! Oh, what
earnest sermons they will preach! Oh,
what feryent prayers they will offerl
Now, in our time, what is called q
fashionable church is place where
few people, having attended very care
fully TO their toilet, come and SIT down
they do not want TO be crowded they
like a whole seat to themselves-and
then. if they have any time left from
thinking Of their stole and from exam.
ming the style Of the hat in front Of
them, they sit and listen to sermon
warranted to hit no mans sins and lis
ten to music which is rendered by
choir warranted TO sing tunes that no
bodv knows. And then, after an hour
and half Of indolent yawning, they go
home refreshed. Every man feels bet
ter after he has had a sleep.
In many Of the churches Of Christ IN
our day the music is simply mockery.
l have not a cultivated ear nor culti-
waited voice, yet no man can do my sing
ing for me. | have nothing TO say
against artistic music. The 81 or 50
pay to hear any of the great
queens Of song are good investment.
But when the people assemble IN rell'
pious convocation, and the hymn IS read,
and the angels OF God step from their
throne to catch the music on their
wings, do not let US drive them away
bv our indifference. l have preached IN
churches where vast sums OF money
were employed to keep up the music,
and it was as exquisite as any heard on
earth. but thought, at the same time,
for all matters practical l would prefer
the hearty, outbreaking song OF back
woods Methodist camp meeting.
Let one Of these starveling fancy
songs sung in church get up before the
! throne Of God, how would 1t seem stand
ing amid the great doxologies Of the re-
deemed? Let the finest Cperatic air that
ever went up from the church OF Chrls'
get many hours the start, 1t Will b
caught and passed by the hosanna oi
the Sabbath school children. know
church where the choir did all the sing
ing. save one Christian man, who,
through perseverance Of the saints,
went right on, and afterward COM
mittee was appointed to wait on hlm
and ask him if he would not please STOP
singing, as be bothered the choir.
Let those refuse to sing
Who never knew our God,
But children Of the heavenly King
Should speak their Joys abroad
"Praise ye the Lord. Let everything
with breath praise the Lord " In thu
glorious time coming in our cities and
in the world hosanna will meet hosan
M. and halleluiah, hallelulan-
How It VIII BE Done.
In that time also Of which l speai
all the haunts Of iniquity and crime arc
soualor will be cleansed and will be IL
Illuminated. How is it to be done! fo'
say. perhaps by one influence. Perhaps
| say by another. | will tell you wha
is ny ilea, and know am right in IT
The gospel of the Son of God is the oni!
agency that will ever accomplish this
A gentleman in England had theor7
that II the natural forces Of wind and
tide and sunshine snd wave were rightly
applied and rightly developed 1t wooio
make this whole earth a paradise In
book of great genius, and which rushed
from edition to edition, he said; Eel
low men, promise TO show the means
of creating a paradise within ten years
where everything desirable for human
life may be had by every man in super
/, abundance without labor and withou
pay-whero the whole face OF natur'
shall be changed into the most beautiiu
! farms, and man may live in the mos
magnificent palaces, in all imaginaoi
L.