The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-02-21

GO
stssscsirs Instead 81 rspulsi7s, Lord
Byron iD "Don JuaD" adoros this 2rine
until it smiles like 8 May GReent.
Miehelet, the great French writer,
covers it up with bcwitch;ng rhetoric
until it grows like the rising sun, when
il it ought to be made loathsome as a
smallpox hospital. There are today
Influences abroad which il unlesisted
by the pulpit and the printing press
will turn our modern cites into Sodoms
and Gomor1ahs, fit only for the storm
of fire and birthstone that wheimed the
cities of the plain.
You who are seated in your Chris
tian homes, compressed by moral and
religious restraints, do not realize the
gulf Of iniquity that bounds you on the
north and the south and the east and
the west. While | speak there are
tens of thousands Of men and women
going over the awful plunge Of an im
pure life, and while cry to God for
mercy upon their souls | cry to you to
marshal in the defense of your homes,
your church and your nation. There
is banquetius hall that you have
never heard described You know all
about the feast OF Ahasuerus, where
1000 lords sat. You know all about
Belshazzar's carousal, where the blood
of the murdered king spurtcd into the
faces Of the hanquetcrS. You may
know Of the scene Of riot and wAssal
where there was set before -E;opus one
dish CT food that cost Sl00 coo. But
I speak now of different banqucting
hall. Its roof is lrc,,cd with fire Its
floor is tcssellated with fire. Its chali-
ces arc chased witt, irc It's song IS I.
ong of fire. 1t, walls are
buttresses Of fire Solomon refers to 1t
when he says, Her guests are in the
depths of hell.
Our American communities are sui
fering from the gospel Of free lovlsm
which 80 years ago was preached on the
platform and in some of the churches
Of this country. | charge upon free
lovism that it has blighted innumers-
BILE homes aud that it has sent lunu.
mersble souls to ruin. Free lovlsm IS
bes1ial; it is worse-it is internal! 1t
has furnished this land with many
thousands of divorces annually. ln
one county 10 the state Of Indiana II
| furnished IL divorces in one day before
dinner. 1t has reused up elopements
north, south, cast and west. You can
hardly take up paper but you read OF
an elopcment. AS far as can under
stand the doctrine Of free lovism, it IS
this-that every man ought to have
| somebody clse's wife and every wife
somebody else's husband. They DO
not like our Christian organizati i "I
society, aud wish they would all .'ne,
the wretches of one sex taking the
wretches of the other, and start t,aoc-
row morning for the great Sahara de-
sert until the simoon shall sweep seven
feet Of sand all over them and no. one
passing caravan for the next 800 years
bring back one miserable bone Of their
carcasses! Free loVism! 1t IS the
double distilled extract of nux Yo'nica,
ratsbane and adders tongue. Never
until society goes back to the old ilible
and hears its eulogy OF purity and It's
ansthems of uncleanness-ncver antil
then will this evil be eztirpated.
Behold also in this giant Of the
text and in the giant of our own CEN
tury that great physical power must
crumble and expire. The Samsor of
the text long ago went away. He fought
the lion. lie fought the PhlIistines.
He could fight anything, but death was
too much for him. He may have re-
ouired longer grave and broader
grave, but the tomb nevertheless was
his terminus.
If, then, we are to be compelled to
90 out of this world, where are we to
20 to? This body and soul mnst sooR
part. What shall be the destiny Of the
former I know-dust to dust. But
what shall be the destiny Of the latter?
Shall it rise into the companionship Of
the white robed, whose sins Christ has
slain, or will it 80 down among the un
believing, who tried to gain the world
and save their souls, but were swlDdled
out Of both? Blessed be God, We have
a Champion! He is SO styled in the
Bible. y Champion who has conquered
death and he'll, and he is ready 10 tight
all our battles, from the first to the
last. VII, is this that cometb up from
Edom with dyed gatments from Bozrah,
mighty to save?' If We follow in the
wake Of that Champion, death has no
DO yer and the grave no victory. The
worst man trusting in him shall have
his dying pangs alleviated and his fu-
ture illumined.
In the light of this subject | wait to
call your attention to fact which may
not have been rightly considered, and
that is the fact that We must be brought
| into judgment for the employment Of
our thysical organism. Shoulder,
brain, iland, foot-we must answer IN
| judgment for the use VIC have made OF
them. Have they been used for the
elevation of society or for its dcprcs
sion? In proportion as our arln is
strong aud our step elastic will our &C
couut at last be intensified. Thou
sands Of sermons arc preached 10 in
yaiidS. ! preach this sermon 20 stout
men and healthful women We must
give to God an account for the right
use of this physical organism These
iuvalids have comparatively ll,.ict az
count for perhaps They could nos l,f,
20 pcuads They could not walk hal
mile withou, sitting down to rest
Yet how much many Of them accom-
plish. Rising up in judgment, stand
ing beside the men and women whe had
only little physical energy, aud yet
consumed that energy in confagra
tion Of religious Enthusiasm, how will
- J O., e :. L.