News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-04-04

| carpenter prepare vessel to carry coal to
/ one of the northern ports I suppose it can
| carry coal; if a ship carpenter pre-
| pare vessel to carry passengers to
/ Liverpool, | suppose it can carry passengers
/ to Liverpool; and if the Lord prepared a fish
| to carry one passenger, l suppose it could
carry passenger and the ventilation have
/ been all right.
So all the strange things in the Bible
have them explained. And you can
/ build them into a beautiful and health
| ful fire for your hearth, or your can with
/ them put your immortal interests into con
| hagration. But you had better decide about
| the veracity Of the Bible very soon. L want
/ this morning to caution You against putting
! of making up your mind about this book.
Ever since 1772 there has been great
| discussion as to who was the author
of Junius's Letters, those letters so full
of slrcasm and -vituperation and power.
Thu whole English nation stirred up with il.
more unan a hundred volumes written TO
discuss that question: "Who was Juniusl"
Who wrote the letters of JuniuS!" Well,
it is an interesting question to discuss, but
still, after all, it makes but little prac
teal difference to you and to me who
Junius was whether Sir Philip Francis, or
Lord Chatham or John Horne Tooks, 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 a practical question,
I
and to me, the authorship of this
Holy Bible-whether the Lord God of
heaven or earth or pack of dupes, scoundrels
or impostors. We cannot afford to ad iourn
that question week or day or an hour,
any more than a sea Captain can afford to
say: well, this is very dark night. 1
have really lost my bearings; there is a
light out there. L don't know whether
the shore, I don't know what it is; but
I'll just go to sleep and in the morning I'll
fiud out" l.. the morning the vessel might
be on the rocks and the beach strewn with
the white faces of the dead crew. The time
for that sea Captain to find out about the
lighthouse is before he goes to s!esp Oh,
my friends, / want you TO understand
that in our deliberations about this Bible we
are not at calm anchorage but we ara
rapidly coming toward the coast, coming
with all the furnaces ablaze, coming at the
rate of seventy hsart throbs minute, and |
must know whether 1T is going to be harbor
or shipwreck.
Twas so glad to read in the papers of the
fact that the steamship Edam had coma
safely into harbor. A week before tho
Persian Monarch, blowing its way toward
the NarrowS, hundred miles ont, saw sig
nais of distress, bore down upon the vessel,
and found it was the steamship Edam. She
mad lost her propeller. She had two
hundred passengers ON board. The mercful
Captain of the Persian Monarch endeav-
ored to bring her in, but the tow line broke.
He fastened it again, but the saa was rough
and the tow line broke again. Then the
night came on and the mercful Captain of
the Persian Monarch "lay to-" think.
ing in the morning he could give rescua
to the passengers The morning 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 be-
cause he could not give completes
rescue to that lost ship. / am glad
that afterward another vessel saw hsr and
brought her into safety. But when [ saw
the story of that steamship Edam, drifting,
drifting, drifting, | do not know where, but
with no ruIder, no lighthouse, no harbor, no
help, said; That is skeptic, that is an in
fidel, drifting, drifting drifting, not knowing
where ne drifts" And then, when thought of
the Persian Monarch anchored in harbor,
said: THAT is Christian, that is a man who
does all he can on the way, crossing the sea TO
help others, coming perhaps through very
rough voyage into the harbor, thsre safe and
safe forever" Would God that there might
be some one to-day who would go forth
and bring in these souls that are drifting.
In this assemblage, how many a
score SHALL L say, or a hun1red, or
thousand:-not quite certain about the truth
of the Bible, not certain about anything.
Drifting, drifting. drifting. Oh, how I
would like to tow them in. ! throw you
this cable. Lay hold of that cable of the
Gospel. Lay hold OF it. invite you all in.
all the shipping. Como in, o you wanderers
on tue deep Drift no more, DRIFT no
more. Come into the harbor. See the
Giorions lighthouse of the Gospel peace
on earth, good will TO men," Come into the
harbor. God grant that it may be said of
oil OF you who are now drifting in your I'M
belief as it might have been said of the pas
rengers of the steamship Edanl, and as it was
said centuries ago of the wrecked corn ship
of Alexandria, at came to pass that they all
escaped safe TO land"