Milford chronicle., 1891-04-10

I behavior. How lid Solomon get alonl
with polygamy? Read his warnings il
Proverbs; read his self disgust in Eeclesi
astes. He throws up his hands in loath
ing and cries out, Vanity Of vanities, al
is vanity" His seven hundred wive
nearly pestered the life ont of him. Solo
ONION got we'll paid for his crimes-wel
paid.
repeat that all the mighty men Of thu
! Scriptures were aloof from pOlygamy, saw
as they were pounded and failed and GU
to pieces for their insult to holy marriage
If the Bible is the friend Of polygamy why
/ is it that in all the lands where the Bibl'
/ predominates polygamy IS forbidden, anC
in the lands where there is no Bible it j,
favored. Polygamy all over China, al
over India, all over Africa, all over Persia
all over heathendom, save as the mission
aries have done their work, while pOlyg
amy does not exist in England and the
United States, except in defiance of law
The Bible abroad, GOD honOred monogamy
The Bible not abroad, God Rbhorred polyg
amy.
THE GLORY or CHRISTIAN woMANHoOD.
Another false charge whichinfdelity has
made against the Bible is that it is antago-
nistic to woman, that it enjoins her degra.
datiOn aud belittles her mission Under
this impression many women have been
overcome Of this plague of infdelity. Is
the Bible the enemy Of wOmanf Come
into the picture gallery, the Louvre, the
Luxembourg Of the Bible, and see which
pictures are the more honored. Here is
Eve, perfect woman; as perfect woman
as could be made by perfect God Here
is Deborah, with her womanly arm hurting
a host into battle. Here is Miriam, lead
ing the Israelitish orchestra on the banks
of the Red sea. Here is motherly Hannah,
with her own loving hand replenishing the
wardrobe of her sou Samuel, the prophet.
Here is Abigail, kneeling at the foot
of the mountain until the four hun
bred wrathful men, at the sight of her
beauty and prowess halt, halt--a hurricane
stopped at the sight OF a water lily, a dew
drop dashing back 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
faces wild beasts aud exile and death that
she may be with Naomi, her husbands
mother. Ruth, the queen Of the harvest
fields Ruth. the grandmother of David.
Rath, the ancestress of Jesus Christ. The
story of her virtues and her life sacrifice is
the most beautiful pastoral ever written.
Here is Vashti defying the baeehanal 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
philanthrOpic needle, and the woman with
perfume in a box made from the hills of
AlabastrOn, pouring the holy chrism on
the head of Christ, the aroma lingering all
down the corridor of the centuries. Here
is Lydia, the merchantess of Tyrian purple
for her Christian behavior.
Here is the widow with two mites, more
famous than the Peabodys and the Len
Oxes of all the ages, while here comes in
slow of gait and with careful attendants
and with especial honor and high favor,
leaning on the arm Of inspiration, one who
is the joy and pride Of any home so rarely
fortunate as to have one, an old Christian
grandmother, Grandmother Lois. Who
has more worshipers today than any being
that ever lived on earth except Jesus
Christ? Mary For what purpose did
Christ perform his first miracle upon earths
To relieve the embarrassment of woman
" housekeeper at the falling short of a
beverage. Why did Christ break up the
silence of the tomb, and tear off the shroud,
and rip up the rOckss Il was to stop the
bereavement of the two Bethany sisters
For whose comfort was Christ most anx-
ous in the hour Of dying excruciationg
For woman, an old woman, a wrinkle
faced woman, woman who in other days |
had held him in her arms, his first friend, !
MS last friend, as it is very apt to be, his |
mother All the pathOs of the ages COM |
pressed into one utterance, Behold thy |
mother" Does the Bible antagonize Wom- |
IN?
a CALL FOR THE WITNESSES.
If the Bible is so antagonistic to woman,
low do you account for the difference in 1
Yoman's condition in China and Central |
Africa, and her condition in England and 1
American There is no difference except
hat which the Bible makes. In lands
where there is no Bible she is hitebed like
beast of burden to the plOws, she carries
he bod, she submits to indeseribable in
Iignities. She must be kept in private
partment, and if she come forth she must
,e carefully hooded and religiously yelled
s though it were a shame to be a woman.
% you not know that the very first
hing the Bible does when it comes
ntO a new country is to strike off
he shaclSles of wOman's serfdOm? o
roman, where are your chains today?
Iold up both your arms and let US see
our handouts. Oh, we see the handouts.
hey are bracelets Of gold bestowed by
usbandly or fatherly or brotherly or sis
arly or loverly affection. Unloosen the
arm robe from your neck, o woman,
nd let us see the yoke Of your bondage.
ID, 1 find the yoke a carcenet of silver, or
string of carnelians, oracluster of pearls,
nat must gall you very much. How bad
on must all have 1t.
Since you put the Bible on your stand in
ie sitting room, has the Bible been to you,
woman, a curse or a blessingi Why is
that woman when she is troubled will
D to her worst enemy, the Biblef Why
D you not go for comfort to some Of the
-eat infdel books, Spinoza's Ethics" or
ume's Natural History of Religion"
, Paine's Gage of Reason. p or Dedro's
ramas, OF any one Of the 26O volumes Of
oltaiTf? No, the silly, deluded woman per-
SITS in hanging about the Bible verses, ''I.et
OF your heart be troubled, " "All things
ork together for good, Weeping may
ldure for a night" II am the resur
,ction," Peace, be still"
Furthermore, rather than invite I resist
lis plague Of infdelity because it has
rought no positive good for the world
i'd is always a hindrance. ask you to
ention the names Of the mercifuI and the
EDUCATIONAL institutions which infdelity
unded and is supporting, and has sup
Irted all the way through-institutio
against God and the Christian
ligion, and yet pronounced in behalf Of
Ifering humanity. What are the names
them? Certainly not the United States
hristian commission, or the sanitary COM
issiou, for Christian George H. Stuart
as the president Of the one, and Christian !
enry W. Bellows was the president Of the !
her.
THE HOSPITALS AND COLLEGES. +
Where are the asylums and merciful in
itutions founded by inidelity and sup +
rted by infdelity, pronounced against I
VI and the Bible, and yet doing work for :
e alleviation Of sufferingf Infidelity is so +
~ loud in its braggadOcio It must have :,
me to mention. Certainly, if you come 4
speak Of educational institutions it is
{ Yale, It Is not Harvard, it is not Prince h
n IL e mt nr;d1lnfor4-Y, - se not r..,,- !