The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-05-20

terminus Of this crusade and what this
world will be when atheism and inSdel-
fly have triumphed over It. IL they car.
Isay, II they ean. Irei,erate Il. IL they
can.
In the first place. q win be the COM
plete and unutterahle degradation Of
Womanhood. I will prove Il hy facts
and arguments which no honest man
will dispute. In all communities and
cities and states and nations where the
Christian religion has been dominant
woman's condition has been amelio-
rated and improved. and she Is deferred
10 and honored in a thousand things
and every gentleman takes Of his hat
before her. II your associations have
been good. you know that the name Of
wife, mother, daughter. suggests gra-
cious surroundings You know there
are no better schools and seminAries
in this country than the schools and
seminaries for our young ladies. You
know that while woman may suffer In
justice in England and the United
States she has more Of her rights in
Christendom than she has anywhere
else.
Now, compare this with woman's con-
dition in lands where Christianity hae
made little or no advance-in China.
in Barbsry, in BorneO, in Tartary. in
Egypt, in Hinduxtan. The Burmese sell
their wives and daughters as so many
sheep The Hindoo Bible makes Il dis
graceful and an outrage for a woman to
listen to music or look but Of the win
dow In the absence OF her husband and
gives as a lawful ground for divorce q
woman's beginning TO eat before her
husband has finished his meal. What
mean those white bundles on the ponds
and rivers in China In the morning?
lnfanticide following infanticide. Fe-
male children destroyed simply because
they N female. Woman harneSsed 10
the plow as Al OK. Woman yelled and
bsrricaded and in all styles Of cruel Sc
elusion- Her birth a misfortune. Her
life a torture. Her death q horror. The
missionary Of the cross to-day in
heathen lands breaches generally to
two groups-A group Of msn who do as
they please and sit where they please;
the other group, women hidden and
carefully secluded in q side apartment
where they may hear the voice Of the
preacher, but may not be seen No re-
fnemsnt No liberty. No hope for this
life No hope for the life TO come.
hinged nose. Cramped foot. DiSfgured
face. Embruted soul Now, compare
those two conditions How far toward
this latter condition that | speak OF
would a woman 60 II Christian inau-
enees were withdrawn and Christianity
were destroyed? II is only a question
Of dynamies. II an object be lifted 10
9 certain point and not fastened there
and the lifting power be withdrawn.
how long before that object will fall
down to the point from which 1t start
ed? II will fall down. and il will go
still farther than the point from which
Il started. Christianity has lifted wom-
an up from the very depths of degrade
ton almost to the skies. II that lifting
power be withdrawn she falls clear
back to the depth from which she was
r~esurrected, not going any lower, be-
cause there Is no lower depth. And yet,
Notwithstanding the fact that the only
salvation of woman from degradation
and woe Is the Christian religion-snd
the only influence that a ever lifted
her in the social scale is Christianity
| have head that there are women who
reject Christianity. | make no remark
in regard to those persons. In the ST.
lence Of your own soul make your OBJ
seryations.
II infdelity triumph and Christianity
be overthrow. II means the demoraliza-
ton Of society. The one idea In the
Bible that atheists and infdels most
hate is the idea Of retribution. Take
away the idea Of retribution and pun
ishment from society, and 1t will begin
very soon to disintegrate, and take
away from the minds Of men the fear
Of hell, and there are a great many Of
them who would very soon turn this
world into a hell. The majority Of those
who are indignant because o. the idea
Of punishment are men whose lives are
bad or whose hearts are impure and
who hate the Bible because of the idea
Of future punishment for the same rea-
son that criminals hate the penitan-
tiary. Oh, / have heard this brave talk
about people fearing nothing of the
consequences Of sin in the next world,
and l have made up my mind it is mere
ly a towards whistling TO keep his eour-
age up. Ihaye seen men faunt their i'm
moralities in the face OF the communi-
ty, and have heard them defy the judg-
ment day and scof at the idea of any
future consequence Of their sin, but
when they came to die they shrieked
until you could hear them for nearly
two blocks, and in the summer nigh,
the neighbors got up to put the win.
dows down because they could not en-.
dure the horror.
would not want. TO see q rail train
with 500 Christian people on board &c
down through a drawbridge into q
watery grave; l would not want TO see
500 Christian people go into such dis.
aster, but l tell you plainly that l could
more easily see that than / could for
any protracted time stand and see an
inhdel die, though his pillow were Of
cider down and under a canopy Of YER
million. ] have never been able e
brace up my nerves for such a spec
tacle. There is something at such
time so indescribable in the counte
nance. 1 Just looked in upon II a min
ute or two, but the clutch Of his fist wa
so diabolic and the strength Of his voice
was so unnatural ] could not endure II
= There is no hell, there Is no hell, Their,
Is no hell" the man had said for G.
! years, out that night when l looket
: In the dying room Of my inidel neigh
] Dor there was something on his counte
nance which seemed to say: There ia
? there iR, there is, there isl" Tn
o mightiest restraints to-day agains
theft. against immortality, against lib
ertinism, against crime Of all sorts
4 the mightiest restraints are the retri
e buttons Of eternity. Men know tina
= they can escape the law, but down II
= -