The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-03-23

i believe the millennium craze Has sun
sided for awhile Within my recollec-
tion X bobbed up three or four times
and excited good people all over the
country. for good people wish it to come
and live in hope and expectation l 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 that he
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 and 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 raiment 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 didn't
come and it nearly broke their hearts
and they liked to have persisted 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 millennial year
at 1863 We were fighting over here
about that time and the millennium had
to be postponed The millennium means
the reign of Christ upon the earth for
thousand years, when everybody will be
good and there shall be no more death
nor pain nor sorrow, and there has not
hnnr cirn &c nrIl( Il V
that the religious people have not been
looking for His coming. The Christians
got their belief from the prophecies Of
Daniel and from st. John and st. Peter
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 and the fruits of
the earth would be colossal and never
dying. One notable writer said that
every grape vine would have 10000
branches and every branch 10000 shoots
and every shoot 10000 grapes and every
grape would make twenty five gallons of
wine. Good gracious! how thirsty that
fellow must have been. But the mill
lennium didn't come, and by and by ORR
gen, very wise and good man, came
along in the third century and declared
that there would be no such grapes, but
that Christ's coming would be altogeth
er spiritual. Still His coming kept on
being predicted and when the reforma-
tion Of Luther and Calvin came about
they 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 millenDium-aud so it goes on and
on ard now it is about time for another
just a soon as we have done killing off
thethe Filipinos and England has killed
out all the Beers.
Well, now all these nominations about
the millennium were provoked by what
have been reading about the recent dis
coveries of Gil all over the country. One
thought brings on another, and if 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 no
winter or night, or sickness, or pain, or
sorrow, we don't need all this oil, neither
for fuel nor light. And so l don't be-
lieye the millennium is very near. If all
the people are to be converted and be-
come good it will be long time Off for
it is slow process, and all the coal and
oil that is in the bowels Of the earth
will be needed. 1t wasn't put there for
nothing. Missionary work is going on
more rapidly than ever before, but it is
like drop in a bucket of water We
have got 10000 missionaries in heather
lands and they are aiGed by $4,000 native
preachers and teachers, but these 100 600
will have to convert an average for each
of ten year to make a million, and
there are ever thousand millions of
heathens now and more coming on. But
they do not convert half million year
for the last report gives only 1000, 600
all told. Last year we spent $40, 900
on them and have now over 81 900, 900
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 and
the insane and the lepers. They have
got almost everything that we have got
and now have protection in CONSTANT
nople and Pekin and Beirut and other
great neatnen centerS. The work they
have done in the last ten years is amaz-
ing, and the abduction of Miss Stone
has increased their zeal. Thirty mil
lion dollars has been promised for this
year, and they say that if we cannot
convert them we can at least cirilize
them and teach them the doctrine of a
clean shirt and a comfortable home, and
these are the first lessons in religion.
The last official report tells us that more
than half the pupils are girls. For CEN
turtles 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 are being lifted
up and treated with humanity and re-
spect. If the work of our missionaries
accomplished no other good hut the res
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 orr
wealth, and that surplus is not ours, but
Gods Libraries and COLLEGES are good
things to build up and foster, but how
much do the millionaires give to the
cause of missions? Most of this charity
We are told came from those who are