Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-05-29

American Declaration of Independence
BENJAMIN Franklin, holding that Holy
Book in his hand, stood before an in
fidel club in Paris and read to them out
of the prophecies of Habakkuk, and
the infdels, not knowing what book it
was, declared it was the best poetry
they had ever heard. That book brought
George Washington down on his knees
in the snow at Valley Forge and led the
dying Prince Albert to ask some one to
sing Crock of Ages.
tell you that the worst attempted
crime of the century is the attempt to
destroy this book. Yet infidelity. loath-
some, stenchful, leprous. pestiferous,
rotten monster, stretches out its hand,
ichorous with the second death, to take
the hand of this republic. It stretches
it out through seductive magazines, and
through lyceum lectures and through
caricatures of religion. It asks for all
that part of the continent already fully
settled, and the two-thirds not yet oc-
cupied. 1t says: "Give me all east of
the Mississippi, with the keys of the
church and with the Christian printing
presses-then give me Wyoming, give
me Alaska give me Montana, give me
Colorado. give me all the states west Of
the Mississippi, and will take those
places and keep them by right of pos
session long before the gospel can be
fully intrenched. p"
And this sutton presses his case ap-
pallingly. Shall the banns of that mar
rage be proclaimed2 "Nol" say the
home missionaries Of the west. martyr
band of whom the world is not worthy,
toiling amid fatigues and malaria and
starvation. 'tNoi not if we can help it.
BY what we and our children have suf
fered, we forbid the banns of that mar
riagel" ''Nol" say all patriotic voices.
sour institutions were bought at too
dear price and were defended at too
great sacrifice to be so cheaply sur
rendered. t'Nop' says the God of
Bunker Hill and Independence hall and
Gettysburg, ST did not start this nation
for such farce" "Nol" cry 10, 900
voices, "to infdelity this land shall not
be married.
Christ as the Bridegroom.
But there is another sutton that pre-
sents his claim for the hand of this re-
public. He is mentioned in the verse
the bridegroom rejoiceth over the BRIDE
so shall thy God rejoice over thee" 1t
is not my figure-it is the figure of the
Bible. Christ is so DESTROYS to have this
world love him that he stops at no hu
initiation of smile. He compares his
grace to spittle on the eyes of the blind
man. He compares himself to hen
| gathering the chickens, and in my text
| he compares himself to a sutton begging
a hand in marriage. Does this Christ,
| the king, deserve this land2 Behold Pi-
| late's hall and the insulting expectora-
ton on the face of Christ. Behold the
| Calvarean massacre and the awful
| hemorrhage of five wounds. Jacob serv
ed IA years for Rachel, but Christ, my
Lord, the king, suffered in torture 33
years to win the love of this world. AS
often princesses at their very birth are
| pledged in treaty of marriage to princes
or kings of earth, SO this nation at its
birth was pledged to Christ for divine
marriage. Before Columbus and his
1870 men embarked on the Santa Maria,
the Pinta, and the Nina, for their won
derful voyage, what was the last thing
they did =? They sat down and took the
holy sacrament of the Lord Jesus Christ.
| After they caught the first glimpse of
this country and the gun of one ship
| had announced it to the other vessels
| that land had been discovered, what
was the song that went up from all the
three decks? 'tGloria in excelsis. 3" Aft
er Columbus and his 100 men had step
ped from the ships deck to the solid
ground, what did they do? They all
/ I ia / -
God What did the Huguenots do after
they landed in the Carolinas? What did
the Holland refugees do after they had
landed in New York? What did the
pilgrim fathers do after they landed in
New Englandi With Bonded knee and
uplifted face and heaven besieging pray
er, they took possession of this continent
for God. How was the first American
congress opened? By prayer, in the
name of Jesus Christ. From it's birth
this nation was pledged for holy mar
rage with Christ.
And then see how good God has been
to usl Just open the map of the con-
tinent and see how it is shaped for i'm
measurable properties. Navigable riv
ers, more in number and greater than
of any other land, rolling down on all
sides into the sea, prophesying large
manufactures and easy commerce. Look
at the great ranges of mountains tim
bered with wealth on the top and sides.
metaled with wealth underneath. One
hundred and eighty thousand square
miles of coal. One hundred and eighty
thousand square miles of iron. The
land so contoured that extreme weather
hardly ever lasts more than three days
extreme heat or extreme cold Gil
mate for the most part bracing and ia