The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-02-15
Capital

NY coronottcd " Il
W temple and pa)ac"
and radiant, whether looked up n, from
the valley of JchoshapLat or Gaz'd at
from adjoining mills was the capit2I
of a great nation, Clouds OF incense
had lowered over It. Chariots Of tingS
Had rolled through it. Batt'r'uE-ra'h8
of enemies had Numbered against j.
There isaiah pr0phcsiod and J'roln'an
lamented. and David rcigncd, and 'AN'
preached. and Christ vas martyr'u'
Most interesting city ever bul'i Sih''
masonry runE its first troWcl or piuh'o-
line measured its first wall or royalty
swung ice first sCeptcr. what J'ruSa-
lem was to the Jewish kingdom. WAIST
ington Is to our own countrywide capt.
tai. the place to which all the trib'|
come up, the great national hear, whose
throb sends life or death through the
body polite, clear out to the geograph-
cal extIomities.
What the rcsurrcCted Christ said ~
my ieXt to his disciples, when he or
dered them to start on the work OF Cos
pelzaton, beginning at Jerusalem, 1t
seems TO me God says now, in his Prov
.dencc, TO tens Of thousands Of Chris
tians in this city start for the evan
geliEatiOn of America, beginning at
Washington" America is going 10 be
taken for God If you do not believe
it. take your hat now and leave, ana
give room to some man or woman VINO
does believe it. As surely as God Ives,
and he is able to do as he says he Will,
this country will be evangelical from
the mouth of the Potomac to the mouth
of the Oregon, from the Highlands OF
the Neversink to the Golden Horn,
from Baftin's Bay to the Gulf Of Mex
leo. and Christ will walk every lake,
whether bcstormed or placid. and be
transfgured on every mountain, and
the night skies, whether they hover
over groves of magnolia or over Alas
kan glacier. shall be filed with angelic
overture of tGlory to God and good will
to men.
Again and again does the old Book
announce that all the earth shall see the
salvation Of God. and as the greater in
cludes the lesser that takes America
gloriously In. Can you not see that Il
America Is not taken for God by his
,consecrated people. It will be taken for
Apcllyon' The forces engaged on
both sides are so tremendous that it
cannot be drawn battle. 1t Is COM
ing. the Armageddon! Either the
American Sabbath will perish and this
nation be handed over to Herods, anC
Hildobrands, and DoClctiaes an
Neros of baleful power, and alCoholisst
will reign, seated upon piled-up throne
of beer barrels, his mouth foaming witt
dOlnest's and national curse, and crime
will lift its unhndered knife Of assaS
sination, and rattle keys of worst bur
glary. and wave torch Of widest conNa
grafton, and our cities be turned int
Sodoms, waiting for Almighty tempest
of fire and birthstone, and one tida
wave of abomination will surge aCros
the continent, or olg Sabbaths will TAX
on more sanctity, and tho newspaper
IA will become apoCalyptiC wings Of benc
II diction and pcntentiarics will be aban
"A doned for lack of occupants and ho!i
ness and happiness, twin son and dauSh
ter of heaven, shall walk through tn
land, and Christ reign over this ma
ton either in person or by aEency s
glorious that the whole country will b
one clear, res0unding echo Of heaven
It will be one or the other. BY tn
throne of him who livcth forever an
ever. declare it will be the latter.
the Lord will help me. as he Away
does-blessed be his glorious namo,
will show you how mighty work c
grace begun at Washington would hay
q tendency to bring the whole CoNtinen
to God, and before this century closes
William the Conqueror ordered tn
curfew, the custom of ringing the be
at midnight, at which all the fires o
the hearths were to be banked. and a
the lights extinguished and all the pee
pie retirS to their pillows. lpray Go
that the curfew Of this century ma
not be sounded, and the fires be banked
and the lights extinguished. as til
clock strikes the midnight hour thu
divides the nineteenth century from tn
twentieth century, until this believe
land. which was to most of US a cradl
and which will be to most Of It's q gray,
shall come into the full possession .
him who is so glorious that William til
Conqueror could not be compared
him. even the One who rideth fort
<.oonquering and to conquer
Why would it be especially adval
{ageous II mighty work of graz
started here, beginning at Washin!
TONI First, because this city is c
the border between the north and sout
1t Is neither northern nor southern,
commingles the two climates.
brings together the two styles OF pop
lation. 1t is not only right, but beaut
full, that people should have espaci
love for the latitude where they We
born and brought up. With what 10