The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-07-17


tee1tn century would become extinct.
The century is gone, and | haye to tell
rou that tie room IL which Voltaire
wrote tbst prophecy not long ego vas
crowded from foor to ceiling with B.
bles from Switzerland.
Suppose the congress Of the Uaited
States should pass law that there
should be no more Bibles printed in
America and no Bibles read. If there
are 100000 grown people in the
United States, there would be 6O. OOO,-
900 psople in an army to put down
such q law and defend their right to
read the Bible. But suppose ths con-
gress Of the Uaited States should make
= law against the reading OF the publ
cstion Of any other book, how many
people would 60 GU in such crusade ?
Gould you get 6O,0O0,000 people to go
out aad risk their lives in the defense
Of Shakesreare's tragedies or GIsd
stones tracts or Macaulay's History
Of E7g!and?" You know that there
sre 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. 1t is the most popular book
Of the centuries.
How do | know it? I know it just
as l kuow in regsrd to other books.
How many volumes of that history are
published? Well, you ssy 5000. How
mary copies of another book are pub
lished? A hundred Thousand. Waich
is the more popular? Why, Of course,
the one that has the hundred Thousand
circulasion. And if this book has more
copies abrosd ia the world, if there sra
five times IS many Bibles sbroso as aay
other book among civilized nations,
does not that show you that the most
popular book on earth today is the
word Of God?
'Oh," "ssy people, ''the churc b is a
collection Of bypocrites, and it is los
Jog its power sRd i IS fading out trom
the world" Is it? A bishop of the
Methodist church told ne that that de-
nomination averages two new churches
every day. In other words, they build
730 churches in that denomination in a
year, snd there are at least l 500 new
Christian churches built in America
eyery wear. Does that look as though
the Christian church were fading out,
As though it were defunct institution?
What stands nearest to the hesrts Of
the American people today? do not
care in what village or what city or
what neighbcrhood you go. What is
it? Is it the p,stcfi ,e? i it the
hotel? Isit the lectu7ing hail? All,
you know it is mol You know that
that which stands resrest to the hearts
of the American people is the Chris
tisn church.
You nsy talk about the church be-
ing q collection Of hypocrites, but
when the diphtheria sweeps your chill
dren of whom do you send for? The
postmaster, the attorney general, the
hotel keeper, alderman? No. You
send for minister Of this Bible relig
ion. And if you have not room in
your house for the cbsequies, what
building do you solicit2 DO You say,
Give me the 6nest room in the ho-
tell" Do you say, GIVE me that
theater?" Do you ssy, Give me that
public building where I csn lay my
dead for little while until We say s
prayer over it?" No. You ssy. Give
Us the house Of God" Andi there is
a song to be sung at the obsequies,
what DO you wsnt? What does any
body want? The "Marseillaiss Hymn
"God Save the Qleen?' Our own
grand national air? No. They want
the hymn with which they sang their
old Christisn 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. I appeal to your
common sense. You know the most
endearing Institution Oh esrth, the
most popular Institution on earth today,
is the church Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A man is 8 fool that does not recogoiz
it.
The infdels say: There is great
liberty now for in6dels; freedom Of
platform. In6delity shows its power
f,om the fact that it is everywhere tol-
Grated, and it can say what it will. "
Why, my friends, inf leiity is nos half
so blatant in cur day as it was in the
days Of our fathers. d. you know that
in the days OF our fathers there were
pronounced inf1eIs in public authori:
ty, and they could get any political
position? Let man today declare
himself antsgonistic to the Christian
religion, and what city wants him for
mayor; what state wants him for COVER
nor; what nation wants him for presi-
dent or for king? Let man openly
proclaim him self the enemy of our
glorious christianity, and he cannot
get maj ,rity Of votes in any state, in
any city, in any country, in any ward
of America.
A distinguished in6del years ago rid
ing in rail- csr in Illinois said. What
mas Chrisliaui:y evsr doae?' An cd
Christian woman said: 1T has done
ons good thing anyhow. Il has kept al
lD6dsl from selng governor Of Illinois. Z"
As | STOOD in the eslde room Of fGhe opera
house OF Peoris, lis, prominent gen.
tlemsn OF that city said, can E;li sou
the secret Of that tremendous bitterness
against Christianity" Said I, WAT is
1T" Why, said be, in this very
house ther5 was great convention to
nominate a governor, and there were
three or four c. didstes. At the same
time there vas in a church in this city
a Sabbath school convention, and it
happened that one Of the men who was
IN the Sabbath school convention was
also member of the political conven-
:. u L.