The Russellville Democrat., 1889-04-04

astronomers tell us, thirteen worlds have
burned down. From their observatory
they notice first that the worlds look like
other worlds, then they became deep
red, showing they were on fire; then they
became ashen, showing they were burned
down; then they entirely disappeared,
showing that even the ashes were scat
tered. Now, l say, if God can start o
world, he could stop one or two OF
them without a great deal OF ex-
ertion. or he could by unusual re-
fraction of the suns rays continue
the illumination. But infidel scientists
say it would have been belittling for other
worlds to stop on account OF such bat
tie. Why, sirs, what Yorktown was for
Revolutionary times, and what Gettys-
burg was in our civil contest and what
Sedan was in the Franco-German war,
and what Waterloo was in the Napoleonic
destiny--that was this battle Of Joshua
against the five allied armies of Gideon.
1t was that battle that changed the entire
course Of history. 1t was battle to
Joshua as important as though battle
now should occur in which England and
the United States and France and Ger
many and Italy and Turkey and Russia
However much any other world, solar,
lunar or stellar, might be fastened in its
errand of light, 1t would be excusable II
it fingered in the heavens for little while
and put down its sheaf of beams and
gazed on such an Armageddon.
Then there is the Bible statement that a
whale swallowed Jonah and elected him
upon the dry ground in three days. If you
xr-Sn 20 f1s. of
Mass, you will find the skeleton Of a
whale large enough to swallow man. /
said to the janitor, while was standing
in the museum: "Why it does not seem
from the looks Of this skeleton that that
story in the Book Of Jonah is so very i'm
probable, does it?" "Oh, no." he re-
piled, sit does not" There is cavity
in the mouth Of the common whale large
enough for a man to live in. There have
been sharks found again and again with
an entire human body in them. Besides
that, the Bible says nothing about whale.
1t says: 1.-The Lord prepared q great
fish, and there are scientists who tell
us that there were sea monsters in other
days that make the modern whale seem
very insignificant. / know in one place in
the New Testament it speaks of the whale
as appearing in the occurrence l have
just mentioned, but the word may just as
well be translated, "sea monster"-any
kind Of sea monster. Procopius says,
in the year $50, a sea monster was slain
which had for fifty years destroyed ships.
l suppose this sea monster that took
care of Jonah may have been one Of the
great sea monsters that could have easily
taken down prophet, and he could have
lived there three days If he had kept in
motion so as to keep the gastric juices
from taking hold of him and destroying
him, and at the end OF three DAYS the
monster would naturally be sick enough
to regurgitate Jonah. Besides that, my
friends, there is one word which explains
the whole thing. 1t says: 'The Lord
prepared great fish," If q ship car
penter prepare a great vessel to carry
Texan beeves to Glasgow, suppose it can
carry Texan beeves; if q ship carpenter
prepare a vessel to carry coal to one of
the Northern ports, | suppose it can carry
coal; If ship carpenter prepare vessel
to carry passengers to Liverpool, sup
pose it can carry passengers to Liver
pool; and IL the Lord prepared fish to
carry one passenger, l suppose it could
carry 3 passenger and the ventilation
have been all right.
So all the strange things in the Bible
can be explained if you wish to have them
explained. And you can build them into
a beautiful and healthful fire for your
hearth, or you can with them put your i'm
mortal interests into conhagration. But
you had better decide about the veracity
of the Bible very soon. want this morn
ing to caution you against putting of
making up your mind about this Book.
Ever since 1772 there has been great dis
cussion as to who was tie author of
Junius' Letters, those letters so fuu OF
sarcasm and Yirtuperation and power.
The whole English nation stirred up with
it. More than one hundred volumes writ
ten to discuss that question: "Who was
Juniusp "Who wrote the letters of
Junius?" Well, it is an interesting ques-
ton to discuss, but still, after ALL it makes
but little practical difference to you and
to me who Junius was, whether Sir
Philip Francis, or Lord Chatham, or
John Horne Tooke, or Horace Walpole,
or Henry Grattan, or any one of
the forty-four men who were seriously
charged with the authorship. But It is an
absorbing question, it is practical ques-
ton, it is an overwhelming question to you
and to me, the authorship of this Holy
Bible-whether the Lord God Of Heaven
and earth or pack Of dupes, scoundrels
or imposters. We can not afford to ad-
journ that question a week. or a day, or
an hour, any more than sea captain can
afford to say: "Well, this is a very dark
night. / have really lost my bearings;
there is a light out there. l don't know
whether it is lighthouse or false light
on the shore; | don't know what 1t is; but
I'll just go to sleep, and in the morning
In ha ipr fha nj
might be on the rocks and the beach
strewn with the white faces of the dead
crew. The time for that sea captain to
iAd out about the lighthouse is before he
goes to sleep. Oh my friends, want you
to understand that in our deliberations
about this Bible we are not at calm an
chorage, but we are rapidly coming toward
the coast, coming at the rate of seventy
heart throbs minute, and l must know
whether it is going to be harbor or ship
wreck.
was so glad to read in the papers OF
the fact that the steamship Edam had
come safely into harbor. A week before,
the Persian Monarch, blowing its way to-
ward the Narrows, hundred miles out,
saw signals of distress, bore down upon
the vessel and found it was the steamship
Edam. She had two hundred passengers
on board. The merciful captain Of the
Persian Monarch endeavored to bring her
in, but the tow line broke. He fastened 1t
again, but the sea was rough and the tow
line broke again. Then the night came
on and the merciful captain Of the
Persian Monarch "lay to-" thinking
in the morning he could give
rescue to the passengers. The morn
ing came, but during the night the
steamship Edam had disappeared, and the
Captain Of the Persian Monarch brought
his vessel into harbor, saying how sad he
felt because he could not give complete
rescue to that lost snip. l am glad that
afterward another vessel saw her and
brought her into safety. But when / saw
the story Of that steamship Edam, drift
ing. drifting drifting. l do not know