The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1900-03-28
Srss parsdiss, 50 it closes wish the
3-.-,e of the second paradise.

drama of accident and Sunerlng sa"
one slippery morning in the streets OF
Philsdelphic Just ahead of me was
lad wretched in apparel, his limb am.
putated at the knee; from the pallor Of
the boys cheek, the amputation not
long before. He had package OF
broken food under his arm-food he had
begged, l suppose, at the doors. AS ne
passed on over the slippery pavement,
cautiously and carefully, steadleo MN
until his crutch slipped and he fell. ;.
helped him up as we'll as | couldf
gathered up the fragments Of the pack
sse as well as l could, put them uaaer
one arm and the crutch under the othef
arm. But when saw the blood run
down his pale cheek burst into tears
F;ftv ESSAYS about the sutferlngs Of the
moor could not touch one like that little
dams Of accident and suffering.
oh we want in all our different de-
nsrtmeuts Of usefulness more of the
dramstic elemeats and less of the
6idactic. The tendency in this day is
to drone religion, to whine religion, to
cant religion, to moap rcliglop, to croaS
religion, to sepuleharize religion, when
we ought to present 1t II animated and
spectacular manner.
Let me say to all youag ministers Of
the gospel: ISyou lave this dramatic
element IN your nature, use It for G3d
aud heaven. If you will g, home apd
look over the history of the church, you
will 6nd that those men have brought
more souls to Christ who have been
dramatic. Rowland Hill, dramatic;
Thomss Chalmers, dramstic; Thomas
Guthrie. dramatic; John Knox, drs-
matte; Robert McChcyne, dramatic;
George Whisefeld, dramatic; Robert
Hall, dramatic. Robert South, dra-
matte; Bourdalone, dramatic: Feneion,
dramatic; John Mason, dramatic.
When you get into the ministry, if you
attempt to cultivate that element and
try to WELD it for God, you will meet
with mighty rebuff and caricature, and
ecclesiastical counsel will take your
case in charge, and they will try to put
you down. But the God who starts you
will help you through, and great will be
the eternal rewards for the assiduous
and the plucky.
What We want, ministers and laymen, +,
is to get our sermons and our exhorta-
tions aud our prayers out of the old rut.
The old hackneyed religious phrases
that como snoring down through the
centuries will never arrest the masses.
What we want today, you in your
sphere and l in my sphere, is to freshen
up. People Go not want IN their SER
mons the sham flowers bought at the
millinery shop, but the japonicas wet
with the morning dew; not the heavy
bones of extinct megatherium of past
ages, but the living reindeer caught last
August at the edge of Schroon lake.
We want to drive out the dro@sy, and
the prosaic, and the tedious, and the
hsmdrum, and introduce the bright
ness, and the vi7acitY, and the holy
sarcasm, and the sancti6ed wit, and the
epigrammatic power, and the blood red
earnestness, and the fire of religious
zeal, and I do not know Of any way Of
doing it as well as through the drs-
matte.
But nov let U, turn to the drama as
an amusement and entertainment.
Rev. DR.. Bellows of New York many
years ago, in s very brillisnt but much
criticised sermon, took the position
that the theater might be renovated and
made auxiliary to the church. Many
Christian people are of the same opinion.
I do not sgree with them. / have no
idea that success is in that direction.
What I have said heretofore oD this
subject, as far as I remember, is my
sentiment now. But today take q
slept in advance of my former theory.
Christianity is going to take full posses,
sion Of this world and control its science
its maxims, its laws, its literature, its
amusements Shut out from the realm
Of Christianity ANYTHING, aod you give
it up to sin and death.
IF Christianity is mighty enough to
manage everything but the smusements
of the world, then it is very defective
Christianity. Is it capable Of keeking
account Of the fears of the world and in
co npetent to make record OF It's smiles?
Is it good to follow the funeral, but
dumb at thv worlds play? Can it con-
troll al the other elements of our nature
but the dramatic nature? Ny idea
Of Christianity is that it can and will
conquer everything Ia the good time
coming, which the world calls the
golden age and the poet the elysiau age
and the Christian the millennium, We
have positive announcement that the
amusement of the world are to be under
Christian sways. Holiness shall be
upon the bells of the horses, says one
prophet. So, you see, it will control
even the sleigh rides The city shall
be .ull Of boys and girls playing in the
streets thereof, says another prophet.
So, you see, 1t is to control the hoop
rolling and the kite fying aud the bali
playing Now, what we want is to
hasten that tine. How will it be done?
By the church going over to the
theateg? It Will no. 80. By the thea
ter coming to the church? It will not
come. What we raat is reformed
amusement association in every city
and town of the Uoited States. Oncc
announced and explained and illustrated
the Christian and philsnthropic capi-
talisl will come forward to established
it, and there will be public spirited
men everywhere who will do this work
for the dramatic element Of our natures.
We need a new Institution to meet aud
recognize aud de-elop and defend the
dramatic element Of our nature. 1t
needs to be distinct from everything
that is or has been.
l would have this reformed amuse-
ment association having in charge this