The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-09-23

house into n courtroom and summon wit
nesses. and YOU shall be the jury. and now
impanel you for that purpose, and will nut
upon the witness stand men whom all the
world acknowledge 20 be strong ntellectually
and whose evidence in any other courtroom
would be- incontrover,iblc. will not call
to the witness stand any minister OF the
Gospel. for he might he prejudiced
There are two ways OF taking an oath In q
courtroom. One is by putting the lips 10 the
Bible and the other is by holding up the
right hand toward heaven. Now. as In this
case II Is the Bible that Is on trial. we will
not ask the witness 10 put the book 10 his
lips, for thnt would imply that the san City
and divinity of the book is settled and that
would be begging the question. So shall ask
each witness 10 lin his hand toward heaven
in affirmation.
salmon T. Chase. chief Justice OF the su-
preme court OF the United States appointed
by President Lincoln. will take the witness
stand. 'Chief Justice Chase, upon your
oath, please state what you havet to say about
the book commonly called the Bible" The
witness replies ''There came n time in my
life when doubted the divinity OF the Scrip
lures. and 1 resolved. as a lawyer and judge,
1 would try the book as l would try anything
In the courtroom, taking evidence for and
against II was long and serious and pro-
found study, and using the same principles
OF evidence In this religious matter as l al
ways do in secular matters i have come TO
the decision that the Bible IL a supernatural
book, that II has come from God. and that
the only safety for the human race is to fol-
low its teachings" "Judge. that will do.
Go back again to your pillow OF dust on the
banks OF the Ohio"
Next put upon the witness stand Presi-
dent of the United States-John Quincey
Adams. President Adams, what have you 20
say about the Bible and Christianity" The
President replies "I have for many years
made Il practice TO read through the Bible
once year. My custom Is to read four or
five chapters every morning Immediately
after arising from my bed. IL employs about
an hour OF my time and seems TO me the
most suitable manner OF beginning the day.
In what light soever we regard the Bible,
whether with reference to revelation, to his
tory or 10 morality, II Is an invaluable and
inexhaustible mine OF knowledge and virtue" ="
Next l put upon the witness stand Sir
Isaac Newton, the author OF the "Principia"
and the greatest natural philosopher tho
world has ever seen. 'Sir Isaac, what have
you 10 say concerning the Bible?' The
philosophers reply IL, "We account the
philosophy"
chantment OF letters, Sir Walter Scott, and
when / ask him what hc thinks OF the place
that our great book ought To take among
other books he replies, There is but one
book and that is the Bible"
Next put upon the stand the most famous
geologist OF all time Hugh Miller, an elder
OF DIR. Guthrie's Presbyterian church In Ed
inburgh, and Faraday and Kepler, and they
all testify TO the same thing. They all say
the Bible is from God, and that the mightiest
influence for good that ever touched our
world Is Christianity.
"Chancellor Kent. what do you think OF
the Bible2" Answer "No other book ever
addressed itself so authoritatively and so
pathetically to tho judgment and moral sense
OF mankind"
Edmund Burke, what do you think OF the
Bible" Answer, az have read the Bible
morning, noon and night, and have ever
since been the happier and tho better man
for such reading"
Next put upon the stand William +. Glad
stone. the head OF the English government
and hear him saying what he said to me In
January OF 1890, when In reply To his tele-
gram, 'Pray come TO Hawarden tomorrow,
visited him. Then and there / asked him
as TO whether I'm the passage OF years his faith
In the Holy Scriptures and Christianity was
on the increase or decrease, and he turned
upon me with an emphasis and enthusiasm
such as no one who has not conversed with
him can fully appreciate and expressed by
voice and gesture and illumined countenance
his ever increasing faith In God and the Bible
and Christianity as the only hope OF our
ruined world. "That is all, Mr.. Gladstone,
we will take OF your time now, for, from the
reports OF what Is going on In England just
now, think you are very busy"
The sulphurous graves of Sodom and
Gomorrah have been identified. The re-
mains OF the tower OF Babel have been
found. Assyrian documents lifted from the
sand and Behistun inscription hundreds OF
feet high up on the rock echo and re-echo
the truth OF Bible history. The signs OF the
time indicate that almost every fact OF the
Bible from lid TO lid will find its corrobora-
tion I'm ancient city disentombed or ancient
wall cleared from the dust OF ages, or ancient
document unrolIed by arch@ologist.
Before the world rolls on ~ far into the
twentieth century as It has already rolled
into the nineteenth an inndel will be n man
who does not believe his own senses, and the
volumes now critical and denunciatory OF
the Bible, IL not entirely devastated by the
book-worms, will be taken down from the
shelf AZ curiosities Of ignorance or idiocy.
All succcss TO the pickaxes and crowbars and
powder blasting OF those apostles OF archmo-
logical exploration. like the ringing de-
flance OF the old Huguenots TO the assailants
OF Christianity: Pound away, you rebels I!
Your hammers break, but the anvil OF Gods
word stands"
How wonderful the old book hangs to-
gether. II Is n library made up OF G6 books
and written by at least 80 authors. IL ~ a
supernatural thing that they have stuck to-
gether. Take the writings OF any other 80
authors, or any 10 authors, or any authors,
and put them together and how long would
they stay together2 Books OF "elegant ex-
tracts" complied from many authors are
proverbially short lived. / never knew one
such book which, 10 use the publishers
phrase, chad life in Il" for five years.
Why is IL that the Bible, made up OF the
writings OF at least 80 authors, has kept to-
gether for n long line Of centuries when the
natural tendency would have boen TO 6y
apart like loose sheets OF paper when gust
OF wind blows upon them? II Is because God
stuck them together and keeps them to-
gether. But Tor that Joshua would have
wandered OF in one direction. and Paul into
another, and Ezekiel into another, and Ha-
bakkuk into another and the 80 authors in
10 80 directions.
Put the writings OF Shakespeare and Ten
nyson and Longfellow, or anypar oithem,
together. How long would they stay to-
getherl No book bindery could keep them
together, But the cannon Of the Scripture
Is loaded now with the same arm munition
with which prophet and apostle loaded II.
Bring me all the Bibles OF the earth into
III IltuHfr,II al hat IN "a ,Dt tal