The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-01-26
A RIGHTEOUS EARTH.
Or. Talmage Discourses on the
World as 1t VIII Be.
Improvement in Human Conditions
After IL Has Deen RevolutiOnizcd
for Good-GIories of the
Coming Century.
Copyright 1899. by Louis Klopsch.l
Washington. Dec. &

copyright, 1899, by Louis Klopsch.l
Washington. Dec 3.
BY novel mode, DR.. Talmagc in this
discourse shows how the world will look
after it has been revolutionized for
good; text. Peter 3:13: "Anew earth.
wherein dwelleth righteousness"
Down in the struggle to make the
world better and happier we sometimes
get depressed with the obstacles 20 be
overcome and the work TO be accom-
/ plished. VIII il not be n tonic and an
inspiration TO look at the world - Il
will be when il has been brought back
/ 10 paradisaical condition? So let us for
few moments transport ourselves into
the future and put ourselves forward in
the centuries and see the world in its
rescued and perfected state. as We will
see II ~ In those times we are permitted
to revisit this planet, as | am sure we
will We all want to see the world after
lthas been thoroughly Gospelized and all
wrongs have been righted We will
want 20 come back, and we will come
back 10 look upon the refulgent consum-
nation toward which we have been on
larger or smaller scale toiling. Having
heard the opening OF the orchestra on
whose strings some discords Travelled,
we will want to hear the last triumph
ant bar Of the perfect oratorio. Having
seen the picture as the painter drew its
first outlines upon canvas. we will want
TO see II when It is as complete as Reu-
ben's Descent from the Cross or
Michael Angeles Last Judgment"
Having seen the world under the CLEAN
of the star of Bethlehem, we will want
TO see 1t when, under the full shining Of
the sun of righteousness, the towers
snail strike IL al noon.
Alighted on the redeemed earth. we
are first accosted by the spirit Of the
twenty-frst century, who proposes 10
guide and show Us all that we desire to
see. Without his guidance we would
lose our way, for the world is so much
changed from the time when we lived
in it. First Of all. he points out to us
a group Of abandoned buildings. We
ask this spirit Of the twenty-frst cen
tury: What are those structures
whose walls are falling down and whose
gates are rusted on the hinges?' Our
escort tells US: "Those were once peni-
tentiaries filed with offenders, but the
crime OF the world has died out. Theft
and arson and fraud and violence have
quilted the earth. People have all they
want. and why should they appropriate
The property Of others even if they had
the desire? The marauders, the assas-
sins. the buccaneers, the HerOds. the
Mana Sahibs, the rufilans, the bandits,
are dead or, transformed by the power
Of the Christian religion, are now up
right and benefcent and useful.
After passing on amid columns and
statues erected in memory Of those who
have been mighty for goodness in the
worlds history, the highest and the
most exquisitely sculptured those IN
honor Of such as have been most ef-
fectual in saving life or improving life
rather than those renowned for de-
stroying life, we come upon another
group Of buildings that must have been
transformed from their original shape
and adapted to other uses. What isall
thls?" we ask our escort. He answers:
"Those were almshouses and hospitals,
but accuracy in making and prudence
In running machinery of all sorts have
almost abolished the list of casualties,
and sobriety and industry have nearly
abolished pauperism, so that those
buildings which once were hospitals
and almshouses have been turned into
beautiful homes for the less prospered,
and il you will look in you will see the
poorest table has abundance, and the
smallest wardrobe luxury, and the harp.
waiting to have its strings thrummco
leaning against the piano, waiting for
Its keys to be fingered.
"Hospitals and almshouses must have
been a necessity once, but they would be
useless now. And you see all tho swamps
have been drained, the sewerage Of the
great towns has been perfected, and the
worlds climate is so improved that
there are no pneumonias to come out Of
the cold, or rheumatisms out Of the
dampness, or fevers out of the heat.
Consumptions banished, pneumonias
banished, diphtheria banished. ophthal-
mia banished, neuralgia banished. As
near as l can tell from what have read,
our atmosphere of this century is a
mingling Of the two months Of May and
October of the nineteenth century"
And we believe what our escort says,
for as we pass on we find health glow
ing in every cheek and beaming in
every eve and springing in every step
and articulnting in every utterance,
and you and / whisper to each other
as our escort has his attention drawn
TO some new sunrise upon the morning
sky, and we say, each to the other:
"Who would believe that this is the
world we lived in over 100 years ago?
Look at those men and women we
pass on the road How improved the
human racel Such beauty, such
strength. such gTacefulness. such
genlalityl Faces without the mark Of
one sorrowl Cheeks that seem never
TO have been wet by one tear. 4 race
sublimnted A new world born"
Z Ill