The Davenport daily gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1869, 1856-10-22
THE DAILY GAZETTE.
THE BIBLE.

have for it. There is no other book
OF which you may not be surfeited.---
But the more you read the Bible the
more interesting are its sacred pages
1t is related that when the poet Scott
was on his dying bed he said to Mr.
Lockhart, "Bring me the book. 80
poetry!n "No. "Of the history
Which consulted in the preparation
of my own historyl' no" "Whal
book?n "Do you ask what book?'
said the dying scholar there is but
one book, and that is the Bible.
Reference has been made to the cir
cula ton Of the Bible in the Crimea :
After giving yop all due credit, We
can say that we, too, in the United
States, have been doing something -
At an early day we sent out an agent
to Constantinople. From thence he
went tolthe Crimea. There he found
the French soldiers greedy for the
Bible. and he has distributed among
them all his Bibles. Thereby hangs
tale. Some three or four years age
Napoleon saw the ignorance Of read
ing among the soldiers'of his armies,
and hired teacher for them. This
man took slate and pencil with
which 20 instruct them. And what
was the first book he gave them to
read! 1t was French translation OF
the Gospel ofSt. John. This explains
why the French soldiers were so
greedy for the Bible. They had been
vaccinated with that tract. ''No
man having drunk old wine straight
way desireth the new"
The Bible possesses wonderful re-
productive power. II has redupli-
eating influence in itself. God has so
provided that what is intended for the
physical support of man is endowed
with reproductive powers. Christ
says, s'The seed is the Word of God.'
Behold a sower went forth to SOW" !"
Sometimes | think this intended not
only as parable, but also as proVerb.
And I thought that, while the Savior
stood on the shore of Galilee, and OBJ
served the sower strewing his seed
broadcast, that he stretched his eye
torward:to the beginning OF the nine
teenth century. and saw the British
and American Bible Societies spread
ing abroad that seed which is the
Word.
Some few years ago mummy was
brought into New York, which had
| been taken from the Catacombe Of
Egypt, and among the bandages which
| swathed it were found few grains OF
wheat ofa large size. As curiosity,
| it was planted to see whether it would
| yield aught Win You believe it, that
from these few grains, Egyptian wheat
has become almost staple in the
American market; that, from that
| small quantity, thousands OF bushels
are now annually brought to market
A few years ago comparatively little
handful of wheat was found in a mon.
astery of Europe. 1t was the true
seed of the Word Martin Luther
was affected by it, and was led tc
translate shs Bible and publish it tc
the world, The influence Of the Bible
is SO great, that although set in opera
ton without visible instrumentahty,
it will still perform its great mission.
The speaker illustrated this by the
| thrilling scene of prairie on fire
| The day is calm, not breath OF air
fans the danes. The fire rises in
spiral columns, moving to no point O
the compass. As it burns, the flame:
are driven on and on; the grass feeds
the flame, and the fire itself creates
the breeze which fans the blaze. Sc
it is with the influence of the Bible. :
| The Word contains in itself the ele,
ments of progress. The speaker re
| marked that there hadbeen some agita
| ton on the subject of war between the
| United States and England. But
this would never be. No sooner vii
such an attempt be made than the
church will throw the bible between
the bslligerents, and they dare moi
trample on its holy teachings. The
Bible has made these two nations
what they are, and tits the Bible only
which will make any nation prosper
ous.-Reu. N. L. Scudoer.