Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-07-08

states SDOulu pass !: EtW ID1t Inore
should be 10 more H.hIcs printed in
America and no Bibles read. If there
6000O.000 gr@Wn people in the
T:-t=J S+arcs. there would be 60,000,
40 pcCple IN an army 10 put down such
a law and defend their right to read
the Bible. But suppose the congress
Of tie United States should make law
against the reading or the publication
of any other book-how many people
would go out in such a crusade? Could
you get 60.000,000 people to go out and
risk their lives in the defense of Shake
speare's tragedies or GladstOne's tracts
Or Macaulays History of England?'
You know that there are a thousand
men WIG would die in the defense of
this book where there is not more than
one man who would die in the defense
of any other book. You try to insult
my common sense by telling me the
Bible is fading oct from the world. It
it the most popular book Of the centu-
ries.
How do know? I know it just as I
know in regard to other books. How
many volumes Of that history are pub
ished? Well, you say 5000. How
many copies of another book are pub
lished? A hundred thousand. Which
is the more popular? Why, of course
the one that has the hundred thousand
circulation. And if this book has more
copies abroad in the world, if there are
five times as many Bibles abroad as
any other book among civilized ma
tons. does not that show you that the
ast11 fn60 is
the word of God?
ooh" say people. 'the church is
collection OF hypocrites, and it is los
ing it's power, and it is fading out from
the world. Is it? A bishop of the
Methodist church told me that that de-
nomination averages two new churches
every day. In other words, they build
$50 churches in that denomination in
year, and there are at least 800 new
Christian churches built in America
every year. Does that look as though
the Christian church were fading out,
as though it were q defunct institution?
What stands nearest to the hearts Of
the American people today? [ do not
care in what village or what city or
what neighbOrhOOd you go What is
it? Is it the postofice? Is it the hotel?
Is it the lecture hall? All, you know
it is not. You know that that which
stands nearest to the hearts of the
American people is the Christian
church.
InfdeIity Decreasing.
You may talk about the church being
q collection Of hypOcrites. but when the
diphtheria sweeps your children off,
whom do you send for? The pOstmas- |
ter? The attorney general? The hotel |
keeper? Alderman? No. You send for
q minister Of this Bible religion. And |
if you have not a room in your house
for tie obsequies, what building do you
solicit? Do you say. Give me the !
finest room in the hotel?" Do you say, !
"Give me that theater:" Do you say, /
"Give me that public building, where I |
can lay ny dead for little while until
We say Il prayer over it," No. You |
say. Give US the house of Cod And +;
if there is a song to be sung at the ,
what do you want? What !
does anybody want? The "NIarseillaise !
Hymn God Save the Queen?' Our |
own grand national air? No. They |
want the hymn with which they sang |
their old Christian mother into her last .
sleep or they want sung the Sabbath
school hymn which their little girl sang
the last Sabbath afternoon she was
out before she got that awful sickness
which broke your heart. l appeal to
your common sense. You know the
most endearing institution on earth, the
most popular institution on earth to-
day, is the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ y man is q fool that does not
recognize it.
The infdels say: There is great lib
erty now for infdels-freedom Of plat
form. Infdelity shows it's power from
the fact that it is everywhere tOlerat-
ed. and 1t can say what it will" Why,
my friends, inlidelity is not half SO
blatant in our day as it was in the days
of our fathers. Do you know that in
the days Of our fathers there were pro-
nounced infidels in public authority,
and they could get any political posi-
ton? Let a man today declare himself
to the Christian religion,
and what city wants him for mayor,
what state wants him for governor,
what nation wants him for president or
for king? Let man openly proclaim
himself the enemy of our glorious
and he cannot get ma
jority Of votes in any state, in any city,
n any country. in any ward of Amer
ca.
A distinguished infdel years ago,
riding in rail car in Illinois, said,
what has Christianity ever done?
An old Christian woman said: '1t has
done one good thing anyhow. It has
kept an infidel from being governor of
AS l stood in the side room
Of the opera house of Peoria, Ills, a
prominent gentleman of. that city said,