The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1889-03-29

Associated Press to all the world--the
astronomers from the city of Wash
ington--that another world had been
discovered. Within comparatively
short space Of time astronomers
tell us, thirteen worlds have
burned down. From their observatory
they notice first that the worlds look
like other worlds, then they became a
deep red, showing they were on fire;
then they became ashen, showing they
We're burned down; then they entirely
disappeared, showing that even the
ashes were scattered. Now, I say, if
God can start world, and swing a
world, and destroy world, he could
stop one or two of them without O
great deal of exertion, or he could by
unusual refraction Of the suns rays
continue the illumination. But infidel
scientists say it would have been be-
lifting for other worlds to stop on
account of such battle. Why, sirs
what Yorktown was for revolu-
tionary times, and what Gettys
burg was in our civil con-
test, and what Sedan was in the
Franco-German war, and what Wat
erloo 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 bat
tie now should occur in which Eng
land and the United States and France
and Germany and Italy and Turkey
and Russia should fight for victory or
humiliation. However much any
other world, solar, lunar or stellar,
might be fastened in its errand Of
light, it would be excusable if it lin
gered in the heavens for little while
and put down its sheaf of beams and
gazed on such an Armageddon.
In the early part of this century
there was what was called the Dark
Day. Some of these aged men per-
haps may remember it. 1t is known
in history as the Dark Day." Work
men at noon went to their homes, and
courts and legislatures adjourned. No
astronomers have ever been able to
explain that dark day. Now, if God
can advance the night earlier than its
time, can he not adjourn the night
until after its timer l often used to
hear my father describe a night
think he said it was in 1S33-when his
neighbors aroused him in great alarm.
All the heavenly bodies seemed to be
in motion. People thought our earth
was coming to its destruction. Tens
of thousands of stars shooting. No
astronomers have ever been able to
explain that star shooting. Now,
does not your common sense teach you
that if God could start and stop tens
of thousands Of worlds or meteors, he
could start and stop two worldsG If
God can engineer train of ten thou
sand worlds or meteors, and stop them
without accident or collision, cannot
he control two carriages of light, and
by putting down a golden brake stop
the sun, and by putting down a silver
brake stop the moon2 Under this ex-
PLANTATION, instead of being skeptical
about this sublime passage of the Bible,
you will, when you read it, feel more
like going down on your knees before
God as you read: ''Sun, stand thou
still above Gideon, and thou moon in
the valiey.OI Avalon. 1
A POINT THAT IS MUCH DISCUSSED.
Then there is the Bible statement
that whale swallowed Jonah and
elected him upon the dry ground in
three days. II you will 20 to the
museum at Nantucket, Mass, you will
find the skeleton of a whale large
enough to swallow man. I said to
the janitor, while l 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 improbable, does it," ooh, no."
he replied, lit does not" There is a
cavity in the mouth of the common
whale large enough for man to live
in There have been sharks found
again and again with an entire human
body in them. Beside that, the Bible
says nothing about a whale. It says,
''The Lord prepared 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 have just mentioned,
but the word may just as well be trans
lated "sea monster"-any kind of a
sea monster. Procopius says, in the
year 532 a sea monster was slaip
which had for fifty years destroyed
ships. Isuppose 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. Beside that, my
friends, there is one word which ex
plains the whole thing. 1t says, 'The
Lord prepared great fish," If a ship
prepare vessel to carry
Texan beeves to Glasgow, l suppose it
can carry Texan beeves; if ship car
penter prepare vessel to carry coal to
one of the northern ports, suppose it
can carry coal; if ship carpenter pre-
pare vessel to carry passengers to
Liverpool, ! suppose it can carry pas
sengers to Liverpool; and if the Lord
Drena red n fiSh ~ % rru r,,,o nassau, oor