The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-08-12
IN A COSTLY CASKET.

The Great Place Gods Book Holds In the
History of the Nations.
1t is said that Queen Victoria once
presented herself before the keeper of
the treasure chamber in Windsor castle
with request for the richer of the two
small caskets in his custody, made each
OF one solid crystal, exquisite in work.
manship and very costly. Selecting
the richer and finer of the two, she
drew from her pocket a copy Of the
Bible and locked it in the casket, which
was then returned to its place, richer
than ever for the new treasure it con-
tanned.
The Bible stored in that shrine was
Gen. Gordon's. 1t had been his daily
support and solace, and was with him
at khartoum. 1t was worn and marked
with the thousand notes of daily use
and daily study, which indicated the re.
lation of its hero owner to it and what
it had been to him.
We give the story as we have heard it.
Treat it as we will, as parable or as his
tory, it is striking illustration of what
gives supreme value to the Bible and of
its true relation to men. 1t was not a
new copy Of the Scriptures, fresh, un-
soiled and unused, that was thus row.
ally set; it was not selected for the
beauty OF the binding, the richness of
the material, or the excellence of the
workmanship. 1t was chosen because
it had once borne the relation it did
to. heroic life. 1t had helped to Gre
ate that life, to raise it high, to make
it pure and strong, to fill it with faith
and light and hope. The queens act
was the commemoration of a great
service that can be rendered to a man
in helping him to develop his character,
to be what he is made to be, and to do
what he is made to do. This is the
place the Bible holds in the
history of the nations which have
loved it and lived by it, This
is the place it is destined to hold in the
life Of the race redeemed. Redeemed
and sanctified humanity is to be the
crystal shrine of the well-used Bible,
which will have guided, supported and
inspired it through the long years Of it's
warfare. b. ,t-..lt.t+
This is the supreme usefulness and
the supreme glory of the Bible. 1t will
turn every life which is committed to
it's guidance into victory. 1t possesses
for every man, in whatever condition,
the art of defeating sin, Of defying fate,
and of realizing the Divine plan of life.
1t may not solve all doubts; it may not
clear away all perplexities; it may not
tell us all we would like to knows; it
may be silent where we wish it would
speak; and when it speaks it may not
always be in a voice which has one
meaning to all men or meaning which
is caught easily at first; but it shows
men how to live and what to live for
1t gives the ,sorely perplexed and baf-
fed existence of ours its proper direc-
ton and its much-needed support.
The best service to a man in this
world is not to help him on with
money, but to show him how to live,
what to aim and live for, what to find
peace and satisfaction in, and so to lead
him to that Divine philosophy which is
the heart Of that life which God means
to be a blessing to every creature who
shares in its mystery. ...
The Bible never yet failed to do this
for every one who went to it for this
service. 1t has provided solid, hope
full, rational and inspiring theory of the
world, of its origin, its government, its
purpose, and of the inner aim and
meaning of life. 1t has taught the SUI
preme value of truth and Righteousness.
1t has given a theory as to the awful
mystery of sin and practical solution
of its dark problem in the thousand
and ten thousand times ten thousand
examples it is daily giving of holy lives
trained amid sin and in spite of sin.
upon whom sin appears to have no
power except perhaps as it drives them
back the more earnestly into the Divine
hope the Bible has set before them.
Paul speaks, as the lawyers say, nd
rem when he defines the nature and the
aim of inspiration in describing it to
Timothy as profitable" and then goes
on to say Tor what it is profitable, 'for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the
man Of God may be thoroughly fur
nished unto all good works" This is
view of Scripture which transforms it
into friend sent to aid MS in the per-
plexities and the responsibilities of life.N
1t is a help in right living For this end
it provides the theory of what the right
life is, the motives that support il, and
correctives to bring our wandering lives
back to the right line.
Amid all our clamorous moderation
for Bible that is more than this, for a
Bible that is less than this, for a Bible
that is different from this, the we'll
worn Bible II. the crystal shrine is the
xr,,a aDl @1.ol,.r.