Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1896-12-05

churches is sparscly, yea, disgracefully at
tended, and Is the distress OF the couse-
Grated and eloquent pastors who bring
their learning and piety before pews ghast-
ly for their inOccupancy. What is the
providential meaning The greatest Of all
evangelists since Bible times recently sug-
gested that the evening services In all tho
churches he turned into the most popular
style Of evangelistic meetings for outsid-
ers. surely that is an experiment worth
making. II that does not succeed, then il
does seem To me all the churches which
cannot secure sufficient evening audiences
ought To shut up their buildings at night
and 80 where the people are and invite
them To come to the gospel banquet.
Helping Hand.
Let the Christian souls. bountifully fed
in the morning, 70 forth in the afternoon
and evening 10 feed the multitudes Of ont
sidcrs starving for the bread of which IL "a
man eat he shall never again hunger
| Among those clear down the gospel would
/ make more rapid conquest than among
/ those who know So much and have 50
much that God cannot teach or help them.
In those lower depths are splendid fellows
/ in the rough, like the shoeblack that II re-
| porter saw near New York city hall. He
asked boy to black his boots The 10y
! came up to his work provokingly slow and
| had just begun when large boy showed
| him aside and began the work, and the re-
| porter reproved him as being "A bully and
the boy replied: oh that's all right I
am going to do il for i'm. You see he's
| been sick in the hospital more n month
so us boys turn in and give i'm n lift. =
"Do all the boys help him:" asked the re-
porter Yes sir When they amt got
no job themselves and Jim gets one they
turn in and help i'm, for he ain strong
yet, you see. How much percentage
does he give you:" said the reporter The
boy replied: II don't keep none OF 1t. l
ain no such srcak as that. All the boys
| give up what they git on his job. I'd like
To catch any Teller Sneaking on u sick boy
l would. The reporter gave him 20
cent piece and said. You keep 10 cents
for yourself and give the rest 10 Jim. "
Cant do il, sir. It's his customer. Here,
Jim" Such big souls as that strcw all the
lower depths of the cities, and, get them
converted To God this would he the last
! full century of the world sin and but lit
tie work of eyangclization would he left
for the next century. Before this century
expires let there hc combined effort to
J.
Britain and of nll Chrstcndom. What an
awful thing it would he for you!
q dying century, To bequcath to tho
coming century, rs yet innocent and I'M
SCARED with single sin or burdcncd with
n single sorrow, the blasphemy, the law.
lcssncss, the atheism. the protligacy and
the woes of great cities still unevangclized
| What we ought Ia see, q dying century, IL
"a revival of religion that would wrap the
continents in CONGREGATIONS Of religious
awakening. and that would make legisla-
ton and merchandise and all styles of
worldly business wait awhile at the tele-
graph offices and the telephone Offices be-
cause they are occupied with telling the
story OF cities and nations born in - day
| Nearly all the centuries closed with some
thing tremendous Why may not this cen
fury close IN the salvation Of America?
do not know whether our theological
| friends, who have studied the subject more
than have, are right or wrong when they
say Christ will come in person To set up
his kingdom in this world: but though
we would he overwhelmed with our nm
worthincss / would like 10 see Christ de
scend from heaven in one of the clouds Of
this morning, and planting his feet on
this earth, which he came centuries ago TO
save, declare his reign Of love and mercy
and salvation on earth begun. And what
more appropriate place. say IL rcveren-
tially-for such a divine landing than the
capital Of IA continent never cursed by the
tyrannies and supcrstitiuns Of the old
world?
What has this dying nineteenth century
10 tell rs before he goes: We all love to
hear septnagcnarians, uctogcnarians, non
agenarans and ccntenarianS talk. We
gather around the armchair and listen till
IL is far ON into the night and never weary
| If hearing their experiences. But Lord
Lyndhurst, nj IS years Of age, pouring in
20 the ears of the house of lords in "a four
hours address the experiences of Il lifetime,
and ApolloniuS, at loo years Of age, re-
counting his travels To thrilled listeners.
and Charles Macklin, nj l07 wears nf age,
absorbing the attention of his hearers and
Ralph Fnrnham IL our country AT 100
years, telling the Prince uf Wales the story
of Bunker Hill, can create no such interest
as this dying ccntenarian il he will only
speak,
Dying Century.
Tell us, o nineteenth century, before
you 20 in score Of sentences some of the
things you have heard and seen. The vet
tran turns upon us and says: II saw
Thomas Jefferson riding in unattended
from Monticello, only few steps from
where you stand, tlismount from his horse
and hitch the bride 10 post and on yon.
der hill take the oath of the presidential
office saw yonder capitol ablaze with
wars incendiarism. l saw the puff Of the
first steam engine in America. | heard the
thunders Of Waterloo, of sSevastopol and
Sedan and Gettysburg. l was present at
all the coronations of the kings and queens
and emperors and expresses now in the
worlds palaces. have seen two pillows
roll across this continent and from ocean
to ocean-a billow Of revival joy in 1857
and billow of blood in 1864. have seen
four generations of the human race march
across this world and disappear saw
their cradles rocked and their graves dug.
have heard the wedding bells and the
death knells Of near n hundred years.
have clapped my hands for millions Of joys
and wrung them in millions of agonies
saw Macready and Edwin Forrest act and
Edward PaySon pray. | heard the first
chime of LongfellOw's rhythms, and before
any one else saw them | read the first line
Of Bancroft history and the first verse OF
Bryant's Thanatopsis' and the first word
Of Victor Hngos almost supernatural ro-
nance. | heard the music of all the grand
/ marches and the lament of all the rcquicms
that for nigh ten decades made the cathc-
dral windows shake / have seen more
moral and spiritual victories than all Of
my predecessors put together. For all you
who hear or read this valedictory have
| kindled all the domestic flresides by which
| you ever sat and reused all the halloos
and roundelays and merrimcnts you have
ever heard and unrolled all the pictured
sunsets and starry banners Of the midnight
heavens that you have ever gazed at. But
ere 20 take this admonition and bcncdic-
ton of "a dying century. The longest life,
like mine, must close. Opportunities gone
never come back, as could prove from
nigh n hundred years of observation The
eternity that will soon take me will soon
take you. The wicked live not out half
their days, rs l have seen in 10000 in
| stances.
The only influence for making the world
happy is AN influence that |, the nineteenth
| century, inherited from the first century
Of the Christian era-thc Christ of all the
centuries BE not deceived by the fact
that have lived so long for n century is
u large wheel that turns 100 smaller
wheels, which are the years, and each one
/ of those years turns 800 smaller wheels
/ which are the days. and each of the 365
days turns 81 smaller wheels. which are
| the hours, and each one of those ~ hours
turns 10 smaller wheels, which are the
and ,stf