The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-03-25

and excited good people all over the
country, for good people wish it to come
and live in hope and expectation. re
member when William Miller, of Massa-
chusetts, had all New England excited,
for he was a very learned man and sin
cere Christian and believed all tnat ne
profeSsed. For ten years he eXhorted
the people to be ready for the coming
of Christ in 1S43 and even fixed the day
when they would see Him descending
from heaven in magnificent glory ard es
corted by Moses and Elijah and retinue
of angels He had over $4,000 devoted
converts and the night before the prom
ised day they arrayed themselves in
white rament and sang and shouted and
prayed until morning and then climbed
the high hills and the tree tops and the
spires of the churches to meet Him as
He neared the earth But He dion
come and it nearly broke their hearts
and they liked to have perished to death,
for they had given away all their earth
ly possessions.
Next came DR.. John Cummings, very
learned minister of London. who wrote
book on It and fixed the millcnnial year
at 1868. We were fighting over here
to be postponed The millennium means
the reign of Christ upon the earth for
thousand years, when everybody will be
nor pain nor sorrow. and there has not
been century since His cruciiiXion
hat the religious people have not been
looking for His coming. The Christians
got their belief from the prophecies Of
John EptPT
and later on from Irenaeus and Justin
Martyr, and they delighted themselves
With dreams of glory that was near at
hand Some of them declared there
would be no more winters, no more
nights and everlasting wells would run
with honey and milk and wine. Jerusa
lem would be rebuilt ard the fruits Of
the earth would be colossal and rever
dying. One notable writer said that
every grape Vine would have 10000
branches and every branch 10 900 shoots
and every shoot 10oCC grapes and every
grape would make twenty five gallons of
wine. Good gracious, how thirsty that
fellow must have been. But the mil
lennium didn't come and by and by Ori-
gen, very wise and good man, came
along in the third century and declared
that there would be no such grapes but
that ChristS coming would be altogeth-
er spiritual Still His coming kept on
being predicted and when the reforma
tion of Luther and Calvin came about
tEcy said that the pope was the anti
Christ and the millennium was now at
hand Next came Oliver Cromwell who
excited his followers with a prediction
of the mllenrium-au so it gees on and
on ard now it is about time for another
just as soon as we have done kilinG off
ttethe Filipinos and England has killed
out all the BOcrs
Well, now all these ruminatiOnS about
the millennium We're provoked by wnat |
coveries of Gil all over tie country. One
thought brings on another and ii the
coming of Christ is near at hand and His
reign is to be a spiritual one for
thousand years, and there is to be nc
winter or night. or sickness, or pain, or
sorrow, we don't need all this oil, neither
lieve the millennium is very near. If all
the people are to be converted and be-
come good it will be long time Oft. for
it is slow process, and all the coal and
oil that is in the bowels Of the earth
nothing. Missionary work is going on
mere rapidly than ever before. but it is
like a drop in bucket of water. We
have got 20 600 missionaries in heather
lands and they are aiCed by so 600 native
preao hers and teachers but these 20o 00c
will have to convert an average for each
Of ten a year to make a million, and
there are over a thousand millions OF
IcathcnS now and more coming But
they do not convert half a million ycar,
for the last report gives only 4,000,0OG
all told Last year we spent $2O,0Go.000
on them and have now over 81 900, 600
children going to Christian schools and
have $4,000 churches and over 900 sec
Ondary schools besides medical colleges
and training schools and hospitals and
asylums for orphans and the blind anG
the insane and ne Iepers. They have
got almost everything that we have ECt
and now have protection in CCGstantl-
nople and Pekn and Beirut ami other
great heather centcrs. The work they
have done in the last ten years is a-2az-
ing, and the abduction of Miss stone
has Increased their zeal. Thirty mil
lior dollars has been promised for this
year. and they say that if we cannot
convert them we can at least clElllze
them and teach them the doctrine or a
clean shirt and comfortable home. and
these are the first lessons in religion
Tho Il st official report tells us that more
than half the pupils are girls. Fer cen
turies women and girls have been under
the ban and were of no more consequence
in the household than dogs or beasts of
burden. but now they ere being lifted
UP and treated With humanity and re
spect. If the work of our missionaries
accomplished no other good nut the ,es-
cuing of woman from the degradation of
ages 1t is worth ten times it's cost Cost.
what is the cost but the surplus Of or
wealth, and that surplus Sc not ours, but
Gods Libraries and COLLEGES are good
things TO build up and foster but how