Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1901-02-15


that he recognized ms the voice of Tom,
the drummer boy. singing. "Jesus,
Lover OF My Soul" But at the end Of
the FIRST verse the voice became very
feeble. and at the end OF the second
verse II stopped. and they went up and
found Tom. the drummer boy, leaning
against stump and dead.
Drive Out the Dumb Devn.
That hymn 80 For Thousand
Tongues to Sing was suggested to
Charles Wesley by Peter BOILER. who.
keep silent about it, NO" said Yves
ley. "If you had 10000 tongues. you
had better use them for Christ" And
then that angel of hymnology penned
the words:
Oh. for thousand tongues TO sing
My dear Redeemer's praise
The glories Of my God and King
The triumphs OF his gracei
Jesus. the name that Gains our fears
That bids sorrows cease;
It's music In the sinners cars;
IT'S life and health and peace
While much OF the modern music Is a
religious doggerel. a consecrated non.
sense, a sacred imbecility, would
like TO see some great musician of our
time lift the baton and marshal Lu-
TIERS Judgment Hymn. Yarmouth.
Dundee. Ariel. Brattlestrect. Uxhridcc.
Pleyers Hymn. Harwell. Antioch,
sIount Pisgah and Coronation, with a
few regiments OF mighty tunes made
In our own time. and storm Asia. At.
RIGA and America for the Kingdom of
God But the first thing to Go Is to
drive out the dumb devil Of the text
from all our churches.
DO not. however. let us lose ourselves
I'm generallties. Not one of US but has
had our lives sometimes touched by
the evil spirit of the text-this awful
dumb devil We had just one opportu.
nifty of saying Christian word that
might have led a man or woman into
n Christian life. The opportunity was
fairly put before us. The word OF in
yitation or consolation or warning
came to the inside gate of the mouth.
but there II halted Some hindering
power locked the jaws together so that
they did not open. The tongue lay
fiat and still in the bottom of the
mouth as though struck with PARALYSIS.
We were mute. Though God had given
us the physiological apparatus for
speech and our lungs were filled with
air which. by the command of our will.
could have made the laryngeal muscles
move and the vocal organs vibrate. we
were wickedly and fatally silent. For
all time and eternity we missed our
chance. Or it was prayer meeting.
hn
prayer and remarks, and there was a
dead halt-everything silent as a grave
yard ut midnight. Indeed, it was a
graveyard and midnight. An embar-
RAISING pause took place that put a wet
blanket on all the meeting. Men. bold
enough on business exchange or In
worldly circles, shut their eyes as
though they We're praying In silence.
but they were not praying at all. They
were busy hoping somebody else would
DO his duty. The women flushed nm
der the awful pause and made their
fans more rapidly flutter. Some broth
er, with no cold, coughed, by that
sound trying to ell up the time. and
the meeting was slain. But what kill
ed 1t? The dumb devil This is tho
stupidest places on earth are some
prayer meetings j do not see how
man keeps any grace IL he regularly
attends them. They are spiritual re-
frigerators. Religion kept on ice. How
many OF us have lost occasions of use
fuiness! In sculptor's studio stood
figure OF the god Opportunity. The
sculptor had made the hair fan down
over the face OF the statue so ms 10
completely cover IT, and there were
wings to the feet When asked vhv
ne so represented Opportunity. the
sculptor answered. ''The face of the
statue Is thus covered up because we
DO not recognize Opportunity when Il
comes, and the wings TO the feet show
that Opportunity is swiftly gone"
Aggressive Christiansty.
But do not let the world deride the
church because OF all this. for the
dumb devil is just as conspicuous i'm
the world. The great political PARTIES
assemble Mt the proper time to build
platforms for the candidates To stand
on. A committee OF each party is an
pointed TO make the platform. After
proper elaboration the committees
come In with ringing report. where
as and whereas" and "whereos -
fronuncia mentos all shaped with the
one Idea or getting the most votes All
expression in regard to the great moral
evils or the country ignored. No OK.
preston In behalf of temperate living.
for that would lose the vote of the lio.
uor traffic. No expression In regard To
the universal attempt ut the demolition
or the Lords day. No recognition of
God In the history OF nations, Tor that
would lose the vote OF atheists. But
whereas" and whereas" and "where-
as" Nine cheers will be given for tho
platform. The dumb devil of the text
puts one. wing over the one platform
and the other wing over the other plat
FORM. Those great conventions are
opened with prayer by their chaplains.
III they avoided platitudes and told the
honest truth In their prayers, they
would say: 20 Lord. we want to be
postmasters and consuls and foreign
ministers and United States district
attorneys. For that we are here and
for that we viii strive till the election
next November. Give us office or we
die. Forever and ever, Amen" The
world. TO say the least, is no better
than the church on this subject of ST.
ience at the wrong time In other
words. is 1t not time for Christianity
to become pronounced and aggressive
as never before? Take sides for God
and sobriety and righteousness. IF
the Lord lie God. follow him; If Baal.
then follow him." Have you opportu-
nifty OF rebuking sin? Rebuke IL.
Have you chance TO cheer dis
heartened soul? Cheer It, Have you a
useful word TO speak? Speak 1t.
BE out and out. up and down for
righteousness. If your ship is afioat
on the Pacific ocean of Gods mercy,
hang out your coiors from masthead.
SHOW your passport If yol have one.
10 mol smuggle your soul into the
n ~ Of hAn