The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-03-14

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sheep and hogs were destroyed in this
section. The hail that fell was from the
size of hickorynut to chunks of ice the
size of mans fist. The whole county
suffered great loss.
A REMARKABLE INTERVIEW.
Mr.. Beecher's free.Ihinhins Ten
dencies-He Says IngersOIl Be-
Iieves in the Bible az Much as He
Does.
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was icter-
viewed By Buffalo Express reporter,
day or two ago, upon the modern aspect
OF thought and Its effect upon Biblical
influence and the Christian faith. Mr..
Beecher first discussed Colonel lngersoli
as the able:t extremist of the age. he
said Now the great fault | find with
Mr. Iuger;oll is tnst he suffered himself
to pick flaws In the mere exterior of the
Bible, and that the marrow of 1t, the rea-
son of it, he did not touch at all, yet he
believes in it. lie believed in the most
part of the Bible Just as far as l do, but
ne hid his light. lie made himself spe-
cial plesder, and instituted arguments
against the external part of the Bible
and not against its internal. In his ar.
guments sgsnsts the Bible he attacks
the weakest part OF 1t, the language OF
metaphor, the language OF drama, which
wss used rs capitalization and Intended
to inspire poetic people with sense OF
the grandeur of God. He !iterallzes 1t IS
il God Was q stern tyrsnt. Such
method Of argument would be rejected
by sny court in the United States.
While / see u great many things that be
said are true, they are 10 more true now
than they were before, for they have
been recOgized true from time immem"r-
ial. II be SAID them in different spirit
they would have been taken in differ
en-. spirit, but
THE ANIMUs SPoILS THEM.
| think 1t is one OF those transient
waves that will just pass over the coun-
try and spend itself. l think that MIR.
Ingersoll, with the best intentions doubt
less in the world, has made a representa-
ton of religion and of the Bible that
would be rejected by every Intelligent
denomination of Christian men under
the sun. They are the criticisms of a
man who sets out to ridlcule book,
without taking into consideration lis
many excellent testures, and simply
makes special pleas, AS an employed
counsel on one side. l hold the Scrip
lures to be inspired, not IN the same way
that Milton and Shakespeare were sever
ally inspired, literary Inspiration, to SIT
down and write out whole book; re
cognizc that it Is the sum of the religious
literature of one people through period
of more than 1000 years. 1t has been
gathered into one book, and il is the re-
cords through that period OF time, and IS
like any other history so far as 1t Is his
tory, and like any other poetry so far as
1t is poetry. 1t Is a religious book. II
is q book OF the experience OF the past
belongs to the past. 1t forms the
recorC, not of the literary lnspira-
tion of any one man, but Of that
divine inspiration which belongs to the
whole nation, to the life OF generation.
II is picking of the grain and gathering
it back through long periods OF time so
that it gives to US AL inspired book, a
record of inspiration which, through
Divine Providence, has been working on
the human race.
Mr.. ISGERSoLLS CRITICISMS
do not Invaldste the Bible any more
than wheat is invalidsted or its value
Ies.eued when a msn brings me the
straw upon which 1t grows and asks me
10 eat that. Now, there are great
many things in the growth OF the book
which stand in the same relation 10 II as
the straw stands IN relation TO the grain.
The word OF God contains good, SIMPLY
the grain, the bresd of life as we might
SAY. but IL also contains historical state
ments which we have outgrown. Who
cares for Levticus, Deuteronomy, etc,
All these institutional statements which
the people of the present age have out
crown? Now, take the New IestsmeLI
1t represents 8 more advanced perioI.
The point which MIR. IngersOll criticises,
and which men generally Crlticise, are
mstters about which the human brain
has no conIpe;ency-the doctrlns! forms,
the structure OF the universe, the
absolute nature OF God, the
theory of human government and
tae doctrine OF last things. Tney lie be
ycnl the horizon. We hsve no means
of investigating them. OF the future OF
Christianity. Mr.. BeeCher said; at Is
what | regard IS the breaking up OF
sp-ipg. swollen rivers, damaged bridges,
srd ice and various cstastrophies, and
vet It is infinitely better than winter and
constant congeis:ion. think the
growth OF the human mind, the incom-
Ing OF scientific knowledge and scientific
methods, is going TO dissrrsnge, TO
large extent, the old ways OF looking 81
neral truths, and there has got to be
growth grsdusI-not very grsdusi,
either, but pretty rapid, snd restste-
ment OF all the great truths OF humanity
is at hand; and II you DO nstrestste these
truths, if you 60 on usl2g
MEDIEVAL THEOLOGY,
YOU are gong to lose sill thinking men.
They are going to drift away from The
church, sni lesve it to convenuonsllties
and shsms. l, has beeu the labor Of my
mind TO give expression 10 sll idess that
would give TO sll denominations an e1:
preston of universal consciousness oil
mind, so, whatever my preference msy
be for this creed or that creed, thai fun
| dsmentsl relations of man to God would
stand without suy hindrance by any
change, or changes of form or statements.
There is q change going on in regard to
the subjec. of future punishment no.
that the punishment is stricken ous' pa'