Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-05-19

death a horror The missionary Of the
cross today In heather lands breaches
generally TO two groups-a group Of
men who dc as they please and sit
where they please; the other group,
women hidden and carefully secluded
in side apartment, where they may
hear the voice of the preacher, but may
not be seen. No refinement No liber-
ty. No hope for this life. No hope for
the life to come RiIged nose. Cramped
foot Disfgured face. Embruted soul
Now, compare those two conditions.
How far toward this latter condition
that l speak of would woman go if
Christian influences were withdrawn
and Christianity were destroyedf 1t is
only question of dynamics. IF an OBJ
ject be lifted to 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withdrawn, how long before that object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
it started2 1t will fall down, and it
will go still farther than the point from
which it started. Christianity has lifted
woman up from the very depths of
degradation almost to the skies. If that
lifting power be withdrawn, she falls
clear back TO the depth from which she
was resurrected, not going any lower,
because there is no lower depth, and
yet notwithstanding the fact that the
only salvation of woman from degrada-
tion and woe is the Christian religion
and the only influence that has ever
lifted her in the social scales is Chris
tianity-I have read that there are
women who reject Christianity. 1 make
no remark in regard to those persons.
In the silence of your own soul make
your observations.
Decentralization of Society.
If infdelity triumph and Christiani-
ty be overthrown, it means the demor-
alization 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
punishment from society, and it will
begin very soon TO disintegrate, and
take away from the minds of men the
fear of hell, and there are great many
of them who would very soon turn this
world into hell. The majority of those
who are indignant against the Bible
because of 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 pun
ishment, for the same reason that Grim
inals hate the penitentiary. Oh, have
heard this brave talk about people fear
ing nothing of the consequences of sin
in the next world, and l have made up
my mind it is merely towards s whis-
ting to keep his courage up. l have
seen men fiaunt their immoralities in
the face of the community, and have
heard them defy the judgment day and
scoff at the idea of any further conse-
quence of their sin, but when they
came to die they shrieked until you
could hear them for nearly two blocks,
and in the summer night the neighbors
got up to put the windows down, be-
cause they could not endure the horror.
would not want to see a rail train
with 500 Christian people on board
go down through drawbridge into a
SldNGr L NOulu hOu W GCO
500 Christian people go into such disas-
ter, but l tell you plainly that could
more easily see that than could for any
protracted time stand and see an infidel
die, though his pillow were of elder
down and under canopy of vermilion.
I have never been able to brace up my
nerves for such spectacle. There is
something at such time so indescriba
BILE in the counterance. Lust looked in
upon it for a minute or two, but the
clutch Of his fist was so diabolic and
the strength of his voice was so unnat- |
ural could not endure it. ''There is
no hell, there is no hell, there is no
helll' the man had said for 60 years,
but that night when l looked in the
dying room of my infidel neighbor
there was something on his countenance
which seemed to say, 'iThere is, there
is, there is, there ISL
The mightiest restraints today against |
theft, against immortality, against lib
ertinism, against crime of all sorts-the
mightiest restraints are the retributicns
of eternity. Men know that they can
escape the law, but down in the offend
ers' soul there is the realization of the |
fact that they cannot escape God. He
stands at the end Of the road of prof
ligacy, and he will not clear the guilty.
Take all idea of retribution and punish
ment out of the hearts and minds of
men, and it would not be long before
our cities would become Sodoms. The |
only restraints against the evil passions
of the world today are Bible restraints. /
Suppose now these generals of atheism |
and infidelity got the victory and sup
pose they marshaled a great army
made up of the majority of the world.
They are in companies, in regiments,
in brigades-th whole army. Forward,
march ye hosts of infidels and atheists,
banners flying before, banners flying
behind, banners inscribed with the
words: "No Godl No Christ No Pun
ishment No Restraintsl Down With
the Biblel Do as You Pleaser' The
sun turned into darknessl
Would Abolish Churches.
Forward, march, ye great army of
infidels and atheists. And first of all
you will attack the churches. Away
with those houses of worshipl They
have been standing there so long delud-
ing the people with consolation in their
bereavements and sorrows. All those
churches ought TO be extirpated; they
have done so much to relieve the lost
and bring home the wandering, and
they have so long held up the idea of
eternal rest after the paroxysm of this
life is over Turn the st. Peters and