The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-05-17

ows before, is an old saying and "a
true one.
Several years ago the public mind
had arrived at such stage as to max C
the dcsirability Of mari iagc dcbatable
question. ''Is marriage a failure?'
had its run, performed it's mission and
the substance of the shadow made it's
appearance in the increase Of divorce
suits and a growing tendency among
the young people to remain in state
Of 'singlc blesscdncss,' as some
choose to have it,
That such question should engage
the attention Of the reading public
was pointed indication Of the pro
rress Of decentralization which had
taken for itself the name of culture, =
and under this alias was to march for
ward sowing the seed and preparing
lhc ground for other ''progrcssivc"
movements until the Bible be proved
fraud and God myth. Even to day
the advance has been so great, that it
is nothing at all remarkable to hear
young men and young women openly
proclaim themselves as disbclicvcrs in
.he Bible, and one more step will have
them proclaim that there is no God
In the oldcn timcs-forty years ago,
evcn-in Georgia, such people would
have been Stunned as scrpcnts. Never
could a young man who held such scn-
timents have associated with the girls
Of old Hebron church down in Pike
but that old church has passed away
and sold for $40 not long ago, and
nothing remains upon the ground but
the graves of a people who trusted in
God and believed in the Bible, and if
it we're ignorance with them, they
found bliss in the faith, and left be-
hind q consolation never to be had in
the ranks Of culture which makes
the grave the end or death leap in
the dark ! mention this old church
as sample of the best which have
passed away before the advance Of
progress, and | think that in setting
down in the little town Of Concord,
only mile away, the congregation has
been blessed in location far beyond
many others, and from what ! know
Of the people, I believe that there will
remain in the new church enough Of
holy reverence to lcaven the whole for
a long time to come, and make it one
Of the last to forsake God and join the
devil.
But the passing away Of these old
country churches, the houses them
selves, is nothing but sentiment.
There would be nothing very dangerous
in this. The great trouble lies in the
passing away Of the old preachers. Do
you suppose that the grand old preach
ers who built up old Hebron and made
il place whose associations SO twined
around the hearts of thousands, that
"a sweet and holy memory still holds
:hem to the spot, even though the
house is gone, would stand any show
ing in this day and time? Not bit.
Why, l remember once when that
good-and he was very great man. l
know it now--old Uncle Billy Moscly
walked all the way from Griffin,
eighteen miles, on Sunday morning
10 preach the funeral of common old
Elardshcll sister who was SO poor that
she could not bury herself. He would
be arrested now as a man afflicted with
paranoia If he we're here and were to
perform such thing. But he preach
ed two hours and those he failed to
convince Of the goodness Of God, he
made believe that hell was only fifteen
or twenty feet below the surface, and
that the devil was down there stirring
them up with long fire stick and
pitching them about with his iron
pitchfork. Late day culture calls this
all foolish. 1t seems to be the most
important now to make big collections,
and yet it seems that they are unequal
to this task. Every day they bring
up some new scheme for raising money
money. money, and yet the demand
is neverc satisfied. The preacher has
sunk his individuality and give ur
discipline in the church and caters tc
whims of the rich and rings in sisters
and brothers to help him, but still the
cry is for more money, more style te
@sdraw,' more catering to whims. till
the time is about here, to spring the
question
SIS preaching failure .
It's sad predicamcnt, but it i.
Upon us. And preachers are TO blame
In:the multiplication Of adjuncts t
the church the preachers proclaim tha