Connecticut western news. [volume] (Salisbury, Litchfield Co., Conn.) 1871-1970, 1901-02-14


sister died ten years ago. and my moth
er never was herself again, and she
died soon after. Last night dreamed
I was killed In battle and that mother
and sister came down to meet me-"
After the next battle was over some
one crossing the field heard voice
that he recognized as 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 1t stopped. and they went up and
found Tom, the drummer boy, leaning
against a stump and dead.
Drive Out the Danb Devil.
That hymn 20 For a Thousand
Tongues to Sing" was suggested to
Charles Wesley by Peter Boiler, who,
after his conversion, said, al had better
keep silent about It." NO" said Wes-
ley. 1T you had 10000 tongues, you
had better use them for Christ" And
then that angel Of hymnology penned
the words:
Oh, for a thousand tongues to sng
My dear Redeemer's praise.
The glories Of my God and King,
The triumphs OF his gracei
Jesus the name that calms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease;
IT'S music In the sinners ears;
IT'S life and health and peace.
While much of the modern music Is q
religious doggerel, a consecrated nom
sense, a sacred imbecility, | would
like to see some great musician of our
time lift the baton and marshal LuI
theirs Judgment Hymn, Yarmouth,
Dundee, Ariel, Brattlestreet, Uxbridge,
PleyePs Hymn, Harwell. Antioch.
Mount Pisgah and Coronation, with
few regiments Of mighty tunes made
In our own time. and storm Asia, AZ.
rica and America for the kingdom Of
God. But the first thing to do Is to
drive out the dumb devil Of the text
from all our churches.
Do not, however, let us lose ourselves
In generalities. 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
fairly put before us. The word of in
vitation or consolation or warning
came to the inside gate of the mouth,
but there II halted. Some hindering
power locked the jaws together 30 that
they did not open. The tongue lay
fat 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 filed with
air which. by the command of our will.
could have made the laryngeal muscles
move and the vocal organs vibrnte. we
were wickedly and fatally silent For
all time and eternity we missed our
chance. Or 1t was a prayer meeting.
and the service was thrown open for
prayer and remarks, and there was .
dead halt-everything silent as a grave
yard ut midnight. Indeed, 1t 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 were praying In silence,
but they Were not praying at all. They
were busy hoping somebody else would
do his duty. The women flushed IN
der the awful pause and made their
fans more rapidly hutter. Some broth
er, with no cold. coughed, by that
sound trying to I'LL up the time, and
the meeting was slain. But what kill
ed 1t? The dumb devil. This Is the
way l account for the fact that the
stupidest places on earth are some
prayer meetings. do not see how
a man keeps any grace II he regularly
attends them. They are spiritual re-
frigeratsrs. Religion kept on Ice. How
many or us have lost occasions of use
fulness! In sculptor's studio stood
a figure of the god Opportunity. The
sculptor had made the hair fall down
over the face of the statue so as to
completely cover 1t, and there were
wings to the feet. When asked why
he so represented Opportunity, the
sculptor answered, "The face Of the
statue Is thus covered up because we
do not recognize Opportunity when 1t
comes, and the wings to the feet show
that Opportunity is swiftly gone"
Aggressive Christianity.
But do not let the world deride the
church because Of all this, for the
dumb devil is just as conspicuous In
the world. The great political parties
assemble at the proper time to build
platforms for the candidates to stand
on. A committee Of each party Is ap-
pointed to make the platform. After
proper deliberation the committees
come In with ringing report. where
as" and whereas" and whereas"
Pronunciamentos all shaped with the
one Idea of getting the most votes. All
expression In regard to the great moral
evils of the country ignored. No ex-
preston In behalf Of temperate living,
for that would lose the vote of the liq-
uor traffic. No expression In regard to
the universal attempt at the demolition
OF the Lords day. No recognition OF
God In the history Of nations. for that
would lose the vote of atheists. But
whereas" and whereas" and where
as" Nine cheers will be given for the
platform. The dumb devil of the text
| puts one wing over the one platform
ana the other wing over the other plat
form. Those great conventions are
| opened with prayer by their chaplains.
II they avoided platitudes and told the
honest truth in their prayers. they
would say: 10 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 will 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.
lence 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 be God, follow him; II Baal.