Indiana American. [volume] (Brookville, Ind.) 1833-1861, 1856-11-21
The Bible.

respecting the attachment which men
have for IL 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 pa
ges. II is'related that when the poet
Scott was on his dying bed he said to
Mr.. Lockhart, Bring me the book"
"Of poetry?" "No." OF the
history which 1 consulted in the prepa
ration OF my own history?" No.
"what book?" {" 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
culation Of the Bible in the Crimea.
After giving you 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 a
gent to Constantinople. From thence
he went TO the Crimea. There be
found the French soldiers greedy for
the Bible, and he has distributed e.
mong them oil his Bibles. Thereby
hangs tale. Some three or four
years ago, Napoleon saw the igno-
rance OF reading among the soldiers
Of his armies, and hired n teacher for
them. This man took slate and pen
Gil with which TO instruct them. And
what was the first book he gave them
To readYIt was a French translation Of
the Gospel Of St. John. This ex.
plains why the French soldiers were
so greedy for the Bible. They have
been vaccinated with that tract. No
man having drunk old wine straitway
desireth the new.
The Bible produces a 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, "The seed Is the Word Of Godl
"Behold sower went forth to SOW"
Sometimes / think this intended
not only as a parable. but also as
proverb. And l thought that. while
the Savior stood on the shore Of CALI
lee. and observed the sower strewing
his seed broadcast, that he stretched
his eye forward to the beginning Of
the nineteenth century. and saw the
British and American Bible Societies
spreading 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 E
gypt, and among the bandages which
swathed 1t were found few grains Of
wheat Of large size. AS curiosity.
il was planted to see whether il would
yield aught. Will you believe it. that
from those few grains Egyptian wheat
has become almost staple in the A
merican market; that, from that small
quantity, thousands of bushels are
now annually brought to market.
A few years ago comparatively q lit
tie handful of wheat was found in a
monastery Of Europe. II was the
true seed Of the Word. Martin Luth-
er was affected by it. and was led TO
translate the Bible and publish it to
the world. The influence Of the BIZ
BILE is so great, that although set in op-
GRAFTON without visible fundamentally,
il 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 flames. The fire rises in spi-
raj columns, moving to no point Of the
compass. As 1t burns. the flames are
driven on and on; the grass feeds the
flame. and the FIRE itself creates the
breeze which fans the blaze. So il is
with the influence Of the Bible. The
Word contains in itself the elements
of progress. The speaker remarked
that there had been some agitation on
the subject Of war between the United
States and England. But this would
never be. No sooner will such an at
tempt be made than the church will
throw the Bible between the belliger-
ents, and they dare not trample on its
holy teachings. The Bible has made
these two nations what they are, and
it is the Bible only which will make
any nation prosperous.- Rev. NJ. l..
Scudder.