Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-12-16
LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.
DIR. GUARDS LECTURE.
TIE ELOQUENT IRISH METGI,DisT.
Defending the Bible Against InEersol!' =
Sopnistry.

Rev. DR.. Thomas Guard, d. ID. LII. D..
of Baltimore. iectured at Fulton opera
house last evening. before al audience OF
perhaps four hundred people. H.; re-
marks, which had been advertised as a
"reply 10 lngersoll," were devoted chiefly
to All answer to the query recently pro
pounded by an assemblage of free thinkers
and others OF intidel proclivities in
Chicago: ''Is the Bible an Immoral
Book??" At the outset Dr.. Guard applied
TO this proposition scrutiny OF the
character of the people who read the
Bible. IS it 4 book whose pages are
cnnned by wicked and immoral persons
who seek to gIati!y their depravcd appe-
tites aud obscene imaginiDgs il its record? !?
Is it Il book that is given place i'll the
brothcl aud other .:en> al shame and
lust? Is it found il iIa,.ntI OF drunken
rcvelry and riba!} jest? On the
contrary the people vino delight i'll all
that sort Of thing, who allow full license
to their Immoral passions and their evil
lasts, and who seek to draw On others 10
follow their example, dread the counter
acting influence ofthc Bible more than all
other opposition combined. This Itself
constitutes sufficient answer to the cues
ton which the amazing effrontery
OF these men prompts them to
insult the intelligence of modern
civilization with. DR.. Guard treated
in detail the vario;is phases OF sin which
the Bible records against many OF the
characters Who figure upon its sacred
pages. Bat if these men did sin, if they did
transgresS the laws of morality and virtue.
was it fer those causes that they were re-
garded as Gods especial iavOrites? Il
thousand times 10. The very truth and
honesty OF tie sacred volume cause it to
record the wroagdoin:: OF Abraham, and OF
Jacob, and Of David. and of Solomon,
and OF others whose temporary departures
from the path OF righteousness the orator
skctchod, but in all of the eases cited, ana
throug liout the book indeed. VIC mark the
relentless path Of rctrlbutiju .triiing on
to chastisc and punish the tranSgresso-.
DR.. Guards description of Dlvid's sin
ming and its punishment was marked by d
picturesIueEcss: and rhetorical effect that
cncliained tie attention of the audience.
In these records we have the precise re-
verse of anything that can possibly bear he
construction OF an encouragement Of
immortality. The evidences of Divine dis
pleasure SiSnaliz2 every instance i'll which
the iapses of the Lords servants are
chronicied, either in direct terms, !;y in-
p!icatiou. or by following the sequence OF
events. The concluding portion OF the
lecture was devoted to Il discussion uf the
wars OF Joshua, and the moral Justification
Tor the destruction of the Amorites, whose
cruelticS, ,wiczetlncsscsan and horrii practices
in which human lives were sacrificed by the
tens of thousands annually as tie offerings
of an unrighteOuS itiolatry, rendered this
people an iacUmbrarce upon the earth.
This portion OF the lecture :bo,lnlcll in
eloquent passages and brilliant rhetoric,
and the oratui'S coECii,tiii!: passage was :.
masterpiece OK POLISHED 0Tltngy ani i'm.
passiOned eaTnestness.
This brief notice is not designed as IN
:tbstra Ct CT even an OutiiGc OF DR.. Guards
lecture it points ont merely lie line Of
thought as pursued by The ciatoI, which
II! many instances WAS elaborated with :!
completeness oi detail q which The, cul-
titctei limits Ga Il report OF this character
i0rht. any attempt az even partial repro.
e!rCtion. Dr.. Guard delivery j. marked
by an eHagccr.5ti,i rf :n.IH::v:' tnat
operates to 20 y:cl;oI OF less de-
gree against is effectiveness, tpn:, the
average sens. AND Frequently attention
IS concentrated Il! a"ssitin. q. ;:u;:ci y@tilg
Suile ne" cGccntlicItT {; ;ttclaHco !:iIl,or
than upon tie subject matter .: The dis
course itself. 'Tn, is especially no:iceuhI,.
i'll the long draw Il. out ail-h h Il which the
speaker almost constantly allows tn Jy,t
upon Ills syllabicatin:, and d frequent
stannncr arising from excitement has q
most distressing erect upon the hear3.. Or
the other hand there IS :, viv!duess and
picturesque realism III many Of tie orators
passages, and at ;li times; strength and
to the height ri i.:ipassioncl aiouuencc, as
Was notably til" ease IL tho early portion
uf his discourse when describing the ma
;crial beauties o! heaven, farther ,,!. when
picturing with Elscon,lnon'T realistic effect
the mental ana DIuI;i anguish Of David that
follow ed upon his Glcat sin, Sill later IL a
descriptive account of The hInoitilirsty
practices O: the dcvot:cS O.; TIT, sun god i;
carrying out their viciCi!:; at.,: iahGi!i.,;!
sacrifices, and finally III :nC glowing per
oratiOn with wi,i"!! :ia terminated his dis
coarse u! rcal,y two hours duration. All
the instances cited ;t,!i many others were
notable in the il@:2ncSs and realism OF
word painting which thc speaker si!0wCi;
himself Z perfect master OF, wi:I4 trough
ont his remarks there Tas I. StcVnncss OF
io,ia and a Slcd,a-i,;: INNER style Of ar."u-
mc2t thai rot irfrcpientlv made ;ilc fire
ily.
De. Guard was here un,i2r the ;t..Spiccs
of st. Paufs Methodist con =rrgation and
was introduced TO the audience by Rev i.
/. McCollon,, OF that church.