The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-14

| the Bible. But suppose the Congress | of the United States should make law against the reading or the publication | of any other book-how many people would so out in such a crusade? Could l you get 6o.oo0. .0e0 people to go out and fisk their lives in the defense of Shake | speare's tragedies or Gladstone's tracts or Macaulay's History of Engiand7" You know that there are thousand men who 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 out from the world. It is the most popular book of the cen turies.
 How do I know? I know 1t just as know in regard to other books. How many volumes of that history are pub Ilshed? 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 fiev times as many Bibles abroad es any other book among civilized ra- tions does not that show you that the most popular book on earth today is the word of God?
 "Oh" say people, the church is a collection of hypocrites, and 1t IS h S. ing its power, and 1t is fading out from the world. Is 1t? A bishop of the | Methodist church told me that that de- nomination averages two new churche es every day. In other words, they build 730 churches in that denomination in a year, and there are at least ,50e new Christian churches built in America every year. Does that look as though the Christian church were fading out, as though 1t were a defunct institution? What stands nearest to the hearts of the American people today? I do not care in what village or what city or what neighborhood you go. What is 1t? Is 1t the postoffice? Is 1t the i'Ctel? Is it the lecture hall? An, you krcw 1t is not. You know that that which stands nearest to the hearts of the American people is the Christian church.
 Infidelity Decreasing.
 You may talk about the church being , a coll action 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 a minister of this Bible religion. And if you have not a room in your house for the obsequies. what building do you solicit? Do you say: Give me the finest room in the hotei?" Do you say: Give me that public building where can lay my dead for little while until we say a prayer oevr it?" No: you say, Give us the house of God" And if there is a song to be sung at the obsequies. what do you want? What does anybody want? The "Marseillaist Hymn?" God Save the Queen?" Oul own grand national air? No: they want the hymn with which they sans 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 wal out before she got that awful sickness which broke your heart. appeal te your common sense. You know tht most endearing institution on earth to. day Is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. A man is a fool that dc not recognize it
 The infidels say: There is great lib. erty now for infidels-freedom of plat form. Infidelity shows its power from the fact that it Is everywhere tolerat' ed. and it can say what 1t will" Why my friends. infidelity is not half SC | of our fathers. Do you know that ir the days of our fathers there were pro- nounced infidels in public authority , and they could get any political posi- tion? Let a man today declare himself antagonistic 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 Christianity. and he cannot get a ma jority of votes in any State. in any city or in any country, in any ward oi America.
 A distinguished infidel years ago riding in a rail car in Illinois, said; What has Christianity ever done?' An old Christian woman said: "It has done one good thing, anyhow. It has ) kept an inf Tel from being Governor oi Illinois" As I stood in the side room of the opera house of Peoria, H., g prominent gentleman of that city said . T can tell you the secret of that Ire. mendous bitterness against Christian ity." Said l, What Is it?" Why, } said he. fin this very house there wat a great convention to nominate a Gov. 7 ernor. and there were three or four can. didates. At the same time there was in a church in this city a Sabbath school convention. and 1t happened that one of the men who was in the Sabbath school convention was also a member of the political convention. In the 10 litical convention the name highest or the roll at that time and about to bt } nominated was the name of the great champion infidel. There was an ed. journment between ballots. and in the afternoon when the nominations were being made a plain farmer got up an6 said: "Mr. Chairman, that nomination must not be made. The Sunday schools of Illinois will defeat him." That erd. ed all prospect of his nomination.
 The Christian religion is mightier to- day than 1t ever was. Do you think that such a scene could be enacted now as was enacted in the days of Robes pierre. when a shameless woman was elevated to the dignity of a goddess and carried in a golden chair to a cathedral. where incense was burned to her and people bowed down before her as a divine being, she taking the place of the Bible and God, while 1T the corridor of that cathedral were enacted such scenes of drunkennes: and debauchery as had never before been witnessed? Do you think thai such a thing could possibly occur ir Christendom today? No. The police of Washington or of New York or o I KN. |