The New York herald., 1879-03-17
MASONIC TEMPLE.


beat in crisis and with every generous impulse
Of our national life.
MASONIC TEMPLE.
BIBLE LIrERATURE-sERMoN BY MIR. o. b.
FRoTHINGHAM
The subject of Mr.. o. b. Frothingham's discourse
in Masonic Temple was the Literature of the Bible
He referred to a remarkable book literature and
dogmatism published IN England some Ave years
ago. written in the interest of the Bible and
it lamented the loss authority of the Bible among
Working classes arguing that this because the
sacred literature inextricably mixed up with
the useless and irrelevant dogmatsm of Christianity
greatly sink the Scriptures in the estimation of
the people. From this 1t must appear that the i'm
portance of separating the Bible literature from
the dogma associated with it. cannot be overesti-
mated. 1t is impossible to consider the Bible as a
diviney inspired book; for If it is. who shall dare
to censure praise that which is the work of Goda
II tho Bible Is divine. then all praise Of 1t must be
criticism in view of the stupendous fact that tho
Absolute Conscience has dictated it. In fact the
s;np TnSie into hnso'eI nanaht before so sublime
work. Hence In Christianity there can
be criticism With it the Bible is divine. and the
divine Is beyond praise 1t says to all the rest of the
worid-Stand back, do not find fault with the in
spired Word. But thinking cannot fail to per-
ceive that the doctrine OF inspiration has nearly
killed the Nbe; for mon, in reading. have swallowed,
not dgested it. The Christians claim that all ltera
is ut Unreasonable distance from that OF the
Bible. Seneca. Epctetus. Plato Euclid, Descartes,
Shakespeare and the ancient sages OF the Tar East all
are held to be distant from tho literature of the
other great authors may be taken mp for while for
intellectual amusement only, but they must never be
compared with the sacred writings.
HUMAN AND DIVINE PRODUCTIONS.
Literature is the product Of the human mind, but
the Bible is the emanation OF the divine: and the
difference between the two must be vastly greater
than between the mind of infant and that of
Plato multiplied by several millions. To the be-
Mind is due the fact that it has been scattered all
over the earth broadcast. The American Bible So
cety, which is not as large as the British and For
egn Bible Society, has spent over 100000 in one
year in circulating it. and In the same time
moro than one million copies have been issued The
one hundred and nifty languages. In the last three
quarters of century ll5,o00.000 volumes OF the
Scriptures have gone forth into the world the object
of this enormous circulation being, to put copy
into the hands of every man, woman, or young per-
who could read it. Certainly enterprise like this
has produced it's effect; and such has become the
fame of the Bible that thousands have learned to read
only that they might peruse its pages The effect OF
all this is in the main goods but the result is con
chastity goodness, innocence, have found an
inexhaustible fountain OF wealth in its teach
denied that here and there groups of people
have seized some ugly passage and built a sys-
tenn upon it. Mormonism advocates polygamy by
Scriptural quotations; there is. fire worship
in the Bibles and the former Shareholders in the
South defended their barbarous institution by it,
while the abolitionists of the North. basing their
ideas in it's teachings, rang forth their appeals for
emancipation like the reverDerations of heaven itself.
At the time it is democratic book; we get out
of it our ideas of equality; for we that Moses
was leader of the people, Christ, their prophet.
1t ranks with the Yeda the Koran and the great writ
ings of Mencius. Confucius and other prodigics of
literature.
In speaking Of the spread Of general literature and
the marvellous increase Of the number Of readers
oil sides, Mr.. rockingham said that nearly every
large town in the Union boast of free library,
to support which the people cheerfuly tax tteins
selves The Boston Library. which was founded In
1884, has issued to be read TO- 900 600 volumes, and
has 900 volumes on it's catalogues. In single
year it sent out 100000 volumes, and there have
been days in which it circulated 10000 books to its
readers who numbered 100000 souls per month. He
spoke at length OF the apprentices Free Library in
this city, with its 173.000 volumes and 5000
renders He believed that novel reading was. upon
the whole, good, and said that the great Lord
Macaulay was one OF the most nveterate novel read
ers in England. He looked upon the works of such
writer's as Shakespeare Thackeray, George Eliot,
Dickens and some others ranging mp with works
of philosophy. All this dissemination of ltera
ture vulgarized the best thoughts of the human
mind and tended to bring Bible literature out of the
realm OF superstitious revelation where 1t had been
for ages, and to place 1t ON its undoubted merits
among the efforts Of human intellect. result Of
this kind would be most beneficial guiding the hu-
man into those paths OF progress and higher
civilization toward that comparative happiness in
the religion of love to which all men should aspire