The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-06

crimes well paid. / repeat that all
the mighty men OF the Scriptures
were aioof from polygamy. save as
they were pounded and failed
and cut to pieces for their insult 10 holy
marriage. II the Bible is the friend OF
polygamy, why is it that in all the lands
where the Bible predominates, polygsmy IS
forbidden, and in the lands where there IS
no Bible, it is favoredl Polygamy all over
China, all over India, all over Africa. all
over Persia, all over heathendom. save as
the missionaries have done their work;
while pOlygamy does not exist In
England aud the United States, ex>
cept in defiance of law. The Bible abroad,
God honOred monogsmy. The Bible not
abroad, Go abhorred polygamy.
! Another false charge which infidelity has
made against the Bible is that it is AntagO-
nistic to woman, that 1t enjoins her degra-
dalton and belittles her mission. Under
this impression many women have been
overcome of this plague Of infdelity. Is the
| Bible the enemy OF woman! Come INTO the
| picture gallery, the Louvre, the Luxem-
bourg Of the Bible, and see which pictures
are the more honored. Here is Eve, per-
/ feet woman, as perfect woman as could
| be made by perfect God Here is De-
| borah, with her wOmanly arm hurting a
| host into the battle. Here is Miriam, lead
| ing the Israelitish orchestra on the banks Of
the Red Sea. Here is motheriy Hannah,
with her own loving hand replenishing
the wardrobe of her son Samuel, the
prophet. Here is Abigail, kneellng at
the foot of the mountain until the
four hundred writhful men, at the 81 ght OF
her beauty and proves, halt, halt-a hur-
ricane stopped at the sig Of a water lily,
dewdrop dsshing tack Niagara. Here is
Ruth, putting to shame all the modern
slang about mothers in-law as she turns her
back on her home and her country, and
t.. .y..sl1 - 49,. H. -
she may be with Naomi, her husbands
mother. Ruth, the queen of the harvest
fields. Ruth, the grandmother Of David.
Ruth, the ancestress Of Jesus Christ. The
story Of her virtues aud her lfe-sacriffce
the most beautiful pastoral ever written
Here is Vashti, defying the bacchanal of a
thousand drunken lords, and Esther, will
ing TO throw her life away that she may
deliver her people And here is Dorcas, the
sunlight of eternal fame gliding her philan-
thropic needle, and the woman with per-
fume in box made from the hills of Ala
ba tron, pouring the holy chrism on the
head of Christ, the aroma lingering Gil
down the corridor of the centuries. Here
is Lydia, the merchantess of lyman purple
immOrtalized for her Christian behavior.
Here is the widow with two mites more
famous than the Peabodys aud the Len
oxes Of all the ages, while mere comes in
slow of gait and with careful attendants
and with especial honor and high favor,
leaning on the arm Of inspiration, one who
| il the Joy and pride Of any home so rarely
fortunate as to have one, an old Christian
grandmother, Grandmother Lois. Who
| has more worshipers to-day than
any being that ever lived on earth except
Jesus Christi Mary. For what purpose
| did Christ perform his first miracle upon
earthl To relieve the embarrassment of a
womanly housekeeper at the ia ling short of
a beverage. Why did Christ break up the
silence of the tomb and tear off the shroud,
and rip up the rocks9 It was to stop the
bereavement of the two Bethany sisters
For whose comfort was Christ most anxious
in the hour of dying excTuciationl For a
woman, an old woman, a wrlnkle-faced
woman, a woman who in other days, had
held him in her arms, his first friend, his
last friend, as it is very apt to be- his
mother. All the pathos of the ages com
pressed into one utterance, Behold tay
mother" Does the Bible antagonize
woman2
If the Bible is SO antagonistic to woman.
| now do you account for the difference in
woman's condition in China and Central
Africa, and her condition in England and
Americal There is no difference, exceot
tnat which the Bible makes In lands where
there is no Bible she is hitched like a beast
| of burden to the plows, she carries the bod,
| She must lie kept in a private apartment,
and if she comes forth she must be care
fully hooded and religiously yelled,
as though it were shame to
be a woman. Do you not know that
the very first thing the Bible does when it
comes into a new country is to strike
off the shackles of womans sertdom? o
woman, where are your chains to-dly2
Hold up both your arms and let us see your
handOnHo a WI ha hat and Pc 4bor
are bracelets Of gold bestowed by hus-
handy, or fatherly, or brotherly, or sisterly
or luverly affection. Unloosen the warm
robe from your neck, o woman, and let us
see the yoke Of your bondage. o, | find the
yoke carcenet of silver, or string of cor
nelans. or cluster of pearls that must gall
you We y much. How bad you must all
have 1t!
Since you put the Bible on your stand in
the 81 ting room, has the Bible been to you,
o woman, curse or blessing! Why is it
that woman, when she is troubled, Will go
to her worst enemy, the Biblel Why do
you not 60 for comfort to some of the great
iutidel hooks, Spinoza's Ethics" or Hume's
Natural History of Religion" or Paine's
age Of Reason" or Dedros Dramas" or
any one of the two hundred and slxtv vol
umes of Voltaire1 No, the silly, deluded
woman persists in hanging about the Bible
verses: Let not your heart be troubled, d"
"All things work together for good"
"Weepi s may endure for night, 81 am
the resurrection, peace, be still"
Furthermore; rather than invite | resist
this Plague of InideliUy because it has
wrought no positive good for the world,
and is always Il hindrance. | ask you to
mention the names Of the mercful and the
educational institutions which infidellty
founded and is supporting, and has sup
ported all the way through; institutions
pronounced against God and the Christian
religion, and yet pronounced in behalf of
suffering humanity. WHAT are the names
of themi Certainly not the United States
| Christian commission; or the sanitary
commission, for Christian George H. Stuart
was the president of the one, and Christian
Henry w. Bellows was the pres dem OF the
| other. Where are the asylums and
mercitul institutions founded by inf
| deity, and supported by infdelity, pro-
nounced against God and tho Bible, and vet
doing work for the alienation of sutferinga
| Intidelity is so very loud in its brGggadocio
| II must have some to mention. Ger alnly, if
| you come u speak Of educa,io nal iustitu~
| tions IL is not Yale, it is NOT Harvard, it is
not Frincetoo, it is not Mijdletown, it is not
! Cambridge or Oxford, il is not any institu>
ton from which diploma would not be a
| disgrace. Do You point to the German uni
versities as exoeptioDs' / have to tell
| you thnt all the German uni
versitiss to-day are Under positive
| Christian innupncas eYCey,t fha ITDi