Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1899-12-09
not a century ago discovered.
Honesty Everywhere.

reasonable profit, and the firm In the
counting room and the clerks at the
counter and the draylnen at the door
way and the errand boy on his rounds
and the messenger who brings the
mail md the men who open the store
in the morning, as well as those who
close it at night. all look as If they
were satisfied and we'll treated. No
swallowing up Of small houses of mer-
chandise by great houses. No ruinous
underselling until those in the same
line are bankrupt and then the prices
lifted. No unnecessary assignment to
defraud creditors. No overdrewlng of
accounts. No abscondings. No sharp
practice. Ne snap Judgments. But the
manufacturer right In his dealings
with the wholesaler, and the wholesal-
err with the customer. No purchasing
Of goods that will never be paid for.
All right behind the counter. No repe-
tition of what Solomon describes when
he writes. SIT is naught, 1t is naught,
saith the buyer; but when he is gone
his way, then he boasteth.
But what is yonder row of build
ings, majestic for architecture The
spirit of the twenty-frst century says.
Those are our legislative halls and
places of public trust. and. If you
would like it. will show you the po-
litical circles, the modes of preferment,
the styles Of election, the character
of public men In this century" "Thank
you," | reply. 81 can easily under
stand how gospellzatlon would i'm
prove individual life and social life
and commercial life. but would like
to see what it can do for political life"
LET me tell you," says the spirit OF
the tw~nty-first century. that have
read about political chlcanery and cor
ruption of more than hundred years
ago-the nineteenth century, in which
you lived here-but the low political
caucus has gone from the face Of the
earth, and the stuffed ballot box, and
the bribery by money and by promise
of office. and the jobs got through legis-
lntures and congresses by lobbyists.
The last corrupt judge Of election was
buried so years ago, the preacher OIL
ciating at the obsequies taking for his
text Proverbs X, Z, The name of the
wicked shall rot, or jeremiah xii, 10,
He shall be buried with the burial Of
an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond
the gates Of jerusalem
"Our laws are good and we'll exc
cuted. Men do not in our century have
to wade chin deep through moral slush
In order to gain Office"
End OF Inhdelity.
AS in company with our escort we
pass down from the heights on which
these buildings stand, l see a dis
mounted cannon planted on the side OF
the hill, and go to examine 1t, and l
read the inscription, cut in letters Of
bronz. This Is the last gun that was
fred in The last battle Of the last war
that will ever be fought. Presented
by the last regiment Of war just before
disbanding. Glory to God in the high
est, and on earth peace, good will to
men," Then look up. and our escort
says: do you see that large structure
on our right? That was fortress, but
now it is a college, and instead of guns
aiming out Of the portfolios are looking
the stud ,nts of higher literature and
a wiser science and grander ciyiliza-
ton than the world ever before mag
ined. And those students are taught
by a professorate Of men as renowned
for piety as for science. Arch@olo-
gist's hammer and biologists crow
bar and chemists laboratory. and
explorers journey have Joined in
q confirmation of the truth Of the
Holy Scriptures until there is not
an unbei.ever in all the earth.
The astronomer through his telescope
has seen the Morning Star of the Re-
deemer, and the geologist has found
the Rock of Ages. and the geometri-
clan has demonstrated that heaven is
the city which 'lieth four square, and
the length and the breadth and the
height of it are equal ,"
"Whatw | say to our escort. mo
skeptics? No intidels? No agnosticsT
His reply is: Absolutely none. The
last fool who said in his heart there Is
no Cod was buried a half century
ago without any liturgical service"
In response to my question as to
what had wrought all this change
obliterated all the evil and fully In
augurated all the good-our escort, the
spirit of the twenty-iirst century, tells
me that gospelization had directly or
indirectly done it. 1t was practical
gospel that had not only changed the
heart. but made the man honest-a
practical religion. which did not ex-
pend all its energy in singing Fly
abroad. thou mighty gospel" but gave
something TO make il tly.
Sin ohIiternted.
The good work WAS helped on by the
fact that it became a general habit
among millionaires and multimillion-
aires to provide churches and schools
and institutions Of mercy. not to be
built after the testatorS were dead,
bua built, so that they might he present
at the laying Ut the cornerstone and az
the dedication and leave less induce
ment for the heirs at law to prove II.
orphans court that when the testators
made their last will and testament
they were crazy. The Geographic wires
in the air and the cables under the sea
thrill with Christian invitation. Pho
nographs charged with gospel SER
mons stand in every nelghborhood.
The 5000, 100000 of the worlds inhab-
itants in that century are 5000, 900 0CO
disciples.
"But." l say to our escort, the spirit
of the twenty-frst century, you have
shown us much. But what about In
ternational conditions? When we lived
on earth, it was century that bled
with Marengo and Chalons and Lodi
Rr;doo and Tupknow and SOlferlDO