Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-05-13
DARKNESS ETERNAL.
WHAT The EARTH WOULD BE WITH
OUT THG GOSPEL

Oul lTS GOSPEL
Rev. Dr. Taimawr NNidIs PortrnNs
the Gloom of M t"adrI N"rId-rri-
umph ~ Atheism would Mcnn
Death of Civilization.
lropyrirht. l.ouis Elops.h 1891
WASHINGTON. MAY "a Ia this sermon
DIR. Talmag, gives a glimpse 81 what the
world would he IL The - spcl v r. abolish
al and the human race lcit without divine
guidance Thc text Is Acts g.. 20. The
sun shall W. turned into darkness
Christianity Is the rising snn ~ our
time and men have tried with the uprill
INK vapors of skepticism and the smoke II
their hlasphcmy tn turn the sun into dark
mess. suppose the anrhangcls II malice
and horror should be let locSc little
while and hc allowed 60 cxtiig uish and
destroy the sun in the natural hcavensl
They would take the oceans from other
worlds and pour them ON the mminary 81
the planetary system. and the waters 60
kissing down amid the ravincs and the
cavcrns, and there Il explosions after cx-
plosion. until there are only few peaks
~ frc left I'm the sun. and these arr cool
ing down and going out unit the vast
continents ~ flame are reduced 10 small
aruagc IT fir. and that whitctis and cools
of until there are only a few Goals left,
and these are whitening and going out
until there l. not spark left In all the
mountains of ashes and the valleys OF
ashes and the chasms ~ ashes An cx-
tinguishcd sun, \ dead sun A buried
sun, l.ct all worlds wall ut the stupen-
dous ohs,'guics.
OF course this withdrawal II the solar
light and heat throws our earth into u
universal chill, and the tropics become the
temperate. and the temperate becomes the
arctic. and there are frozen rivers and
frozen lakes and frozen oceans. From
arctic and antarctic regions the inhahit-
ants gather In toward the cenrer and find
the equator a. the poles The slain forests
are piled up into q great bonfire and
around them gather the shivcfing villages
and cities The wealth Of thu coal mines
t. hastily poured into the furnaces and
stirred into rage of combustion, hut soon
the bonflrcs begin Ia lower, and the fur
naccs begin e. 81 out, and the nations bc.
gin to die CojoUaxi. Nesuvius. Etna.
Stromholi, California gcyscrs, cease 10
smoke, and the ice Of hnilStorms remains
unmcltcd in their crater All the flowers
have hrcathcd their last breath. Ships
with sailors frozen at the mast. and
helmsmrn frozen at the wh~l, and pas
sengcrS frozen In the cabin. all nations
diving. first NJ the north and then at the
south Child frosted aud tcad In the
cradle Octoc,naran frosted and dead AT
the hearth Murkmen with frozen hand
on the hammer and frozen foot on the
shuttle. Winter from sea "a sea All
cong,aling winter. Perpetual winter.
Globe ~ frigidify. Hemisphere shackled
a. hemisphere hy chains uf ic. Universal
Nova Icmhla Thu earth an lee foe grind
ing against other ice foes. The archangcls
Of malice and horror have don 9 their work,
and now they may take their thrones Of
glacier and look down upon the ruin they
have wrought What the destruction of
the sun In the natural heavens would la
Ca our physical earth, the destruction 81
Christianity would be- Ia the moral world.
The sun turned into darkncss
InndcIIty "a Tragedy.
Infldclity In our time is considered n
great joke There arr people who rejoice
Ca hear Christianity caricaturcd and To
hear Christ assiilcd with bubble and
quirk aud misrepresentation and hadinago
and hnrlcquinnde propose today TO take
iniidclity and atheism ont Of the realm Of
jocuiarity into one uf tragedy and show
you what iuiidels propose and what II they
are successful they will accomplish There
are those ia all our communities who
would like To- see the Christian religion
uyerthrown and who say the world would
De- better without H. want 10 show you
what Is the end ~ this road and what is
the terminus of this crusade and what this
world viii be- when atheism and infldelity
have triumphcd over IL, IL they can.
say. II they can. ! rcitcrate IT. II they can.
Ia the first place. IL will b, the complete
and unuttcrahle degradation of woman.
hood will prove II by facts and argu
ments which no honest man will dispute
In all communities and cities and states
and nations where the Christian religion
has been dominant womais condition
has been amclioratcd and Improved. and
she is deferred 10 and honor'd In IA thou
sand things, and every gentleman takes
off his hat before her II your associations
have been guud. You know that the name
" wife, mother. daughter, suggests gra-
cious surroundings You know there are
no better schools and scmiuarics in this
country than the schools ard scminarics
for our young ladies. You know that
while woman may suffer I'M isiice In Eng
land and tho United states .hc has moro
81 her rights In Christcndonr than she has
anywhere else
woman and ChriStinDity.
Now. compare this with woman : con
dition In lands whore Christianity has
made little or no advance In China. in
Barbary, in liprncp in Tariary, in Egypt
In HinduStan The Burmese sell their
wives and daughters a - many sheep
The Ilinduo Bihlu makes IL disgraccful
and AN outrage for a woman IL listen to
music or look out 81 the window In the
absence Of her husband AID gives rs "a
lawful ground for divorce - woman's he
ginning to cat before her husband has
finished his meal What mean those white
bundles on the ponds and rivers in China
In tho morning. lnfanticidc following
infanticide Female childr rem destroyed
simply ts,cause they are female Woman
harncssed o. the pillow "a an OK. Woman
veiled and harricaded and IN all styles Of
cruel s.clusipn Her birth misfortune
Her life a torture. Her death "a horror
The missionary ~ the ross today in
heather lands breaches generally Ia two
groups-a group Of men Hho do rs they
please aud sit where they please; the other
Qroup, women hidden anu carefully 81
cIudcd ia % sid" apartment. where they
may hear the voice ui the preacher, nut
may not BE- seen. No rcilnrmcnt. No lib
erty. NJ hops for this life No hope for
the life Ia come. Hinged nosc. Cramped
foot. Disngurcd face. Embrutcd soul.
Now. compare those two conditions. How
far toward this latter condition that |
sneak ~ would woman 90 4 Christian IN
auenccs were withdrawn and Christianity
were destroyed: II is only question OF
a. Ia. liffaI IN, "A Ger
tain poini and not fastened there and tho
liftinp power hc withdrawn, how long lie
fore that object will fall do9n 70 the point
frnm which 1t started; II will fall down,
and n will go still farther ihan the point
fr.n, which II started christianity has
lifted woman up from the very depths "i
degradation almost 70 the skies u tha'
lifting power be Withdraw t. she '"'lS 'l''''
- T., tb. depth from which she was res