The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-01-06

In him. He goes into a great. long Black
Friday. There ia "break" IN the market.
According 10 Wall street parlance. he wiped
others out, and now he is himself wiped out.
No collaterals on which to make spiritual
loan. Eternal defalcation.
But this practical religion will not only
rectiiy all merchandise. it will also rectify
all mechanism and all toll. A time will come
when man will work as faithfully by the
job as he does by the day. You say when
thing is slightingly done. "Oh, that was
done by the job!" You can tell by the swift
ness or slowness with which a hackman
drives whether he Is hired by the hour or by
the excursion. 1.-The Is hired by the hour, he
drives very slowly, 80 as to make as many
hours as possible. Ifhe Is hired by the ex-
cursion, he whips up the, horses 80 as to get
around and get another customer. All
styles VI work have to be inspected-ships
inspected, horses inspected, machinery in
spected, boss to watch the ejourneyman; capi-
talist coming down Unexpectedly to watch
the boss, conductor Of city car sounding
the punch bell to prove his honesty as pas
senger hands to him clipped nickel. All
things must be watched and inspected. I'm
perfections in the wood covered with putty.
garments warranted to last until you put
them on the third time, shoddy in all kinds
Of clothing. chromos, pinchbeck. diamonds
you read the third chapter; spawned horses.
by skillful dose Of jockeys, for several days
made to look spry; wagon tires poorly put
on, horses poorly shod, plastering that
cracks without any provooation and falls OF,
plumbing that needs to be plumbed, imper-
feet car wheel that halts the whole train with
hot box-so little practical religion In the
mechanism of the world. I tell you, my
friends, the law of man will never rectify
these things. 1t will be the all pervading in
fluence of the practical religion Of Jesus
Christ that will make the change for the bet
ter. ....
Yes, this practical religion will also go in
to agriculture, which Is proverbially honest,
but needs to be rectihed, and it will keep the
farmer from sending to the city market veal
that Is too young to kill. and when the
farmer farms on shares 1t will keep the man
who does the work from making his half
three-fourths, and it will keep the farmer
from. building his post and rail fence on his
neighbor's premises, and it will make him
shelter his cattle in the winter storm, and 1t
will keep the old elder from working oD
Sunday afternoon in the new ground where
nobody sees him. And this practical relig-
lon will hover over the house, and over the
barn, and over the field, and over the Or
chard.
Yes, this practical religion of which
speak will come into the learned professions.
The lawyer will feel his responsibility in de-
Tending innocence aud arraigning evil and
expoupding the law, and 1t, will keep him
from charging for briefs he never wrote, and
for pleas he never made, and for percent
ages he never earned. and from robbing
widow and orphan because they are de.
fenseless. Yes, this practical religion will
come into the physician's life, and he will
feel his responsibility as the conservator OF
the public health, a profession honored by
the fact that Christ himself was physician.
And 1t will make him honest, and when he
does not understand q case he will say 80,
not trying to cover up lack OF diagnosis with
ponderous technicalities, or send the patient
to reckless drug store because the apothe-
cary happens to pay a percentage on the
prescriptions sent. And this practical re-
Iiglon will come to the schoolteacher, max
ing her feel her responsibility In preparing
our youth for usefulness and for happiness
and for honor, and will keep her from Civ
ing a sly box to dull head, chastising him
for whnt he cannot help and sending dis
couragement all through the after years OF q
lifetime.
This practical religion will also come to
the newspaper men, and 1t will help them In
the gathering ofthe news, and 1t will help
ciety, and 1t will keep them from putting
the sins Of the world in larger type than its
virtues, and its mistakes than its achieve
ments, and 1t will keep them from misrepre-
senting interviews with public men, and
from starting suspicious that never can be
allayed; and will make them stanch friends
Of the oppressed instead Of the oppressor.
Yes, this religion, this practical religion,
will come and put Its hand on what Is called
good society, elevated society, successful 30
ciety, 80 that people will have their expendi-
lures within their income. and they Will ex-
change the hypocritical mot at home" for
for the honest explanation "too tired" or
100 busy to see your and willkeep innocent
reception from becoming intoxicated con-
viviality. :.
Yea, there is great opportunity for mis-
sionary work in what are called the sue:
cessful classes of society. In some OF the
cities is Is no rare thing now to see afashlon-
able woman intoxicated in the stSeet, or the
rail car, or the restaurant. The number OF
fine ladies who drink 100 much Is tncreas-
ing. Perhaps you may find her at the recep-
tion in most exalted company, but she has
made too many visits to the wineroom. and
now her eye Is CLASSY, and after awhile her
cheek IL unnaturalIy flushed, and then she
falls into fits Of excruciating laughter about
nothing, and then she offers slckening
batteries. telling come homely man how we'll
he looks, and then she Is helped into the
carriage, and by the time the carriage gets
to her home it takes the husband and the
coachman to get her up the stairs. The re-
port is she was taken suddenly i'll at ger
man. All, no. She took too much champagne
and mixed liquors and got drunk. That
was all.
Yes, this practical religion will have to
come in and fix up the marriage relation In
America. There are. members OF churches
who have too many wives and too many hus-
bands. Society needs to be expurgated and
washed and iumigated and Ohrisdanized.
We want this practical religion not only to
take hold of what are called the lower classes,
but to take hold Of what are called the higher
classes. The trouble is that people have an
idea they can d. al! their religion on Sun
day with hymn-book and prayer book and
liturgy, and some Of them sit in church roll
ing up their eyes as though they were ready
for translation, when their Sabbath Is
bounded on all sides by an inconsistent LIFE.
and while you are expecting to come out
from under their arms the wings OF an angel
there come out from their forehead the horns
of beast.
There has got to be a new departure in re-
nglon. do not say new religion. Oh,
no, but the old religion brought to new ap-
pliances. In our time we have had the
dasuerreotype and the ambrotype and the
photograph, but it Is the same old sun, and
these arts are only new appliances OF the old
sunlight. So this glorious gospel Is Just
what we want to photograph the image OF
God on one soul and daguerreotypei on an
other soul. Not new gospel. but the old
gospel put to new work. In our time we
have had tho telegraphic Invention, and the
~ L.; nd hn oil ri
invention, but they are all children Of old
electricity, an element that the philosophers
have long while known much about. So
this electric oospel needs 10 fash Its light on