Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-09-28

burn. Then put together on the other
hand all the debauchces and profigates
and assassins of the ages, and their
unanimous verdict concerning the Bible
would be, let it burn" Mind YOU,
do not say that all intidels are i'm
moral, but do say that I'LL the scape-
| graceS and Scoundrels of the universe
agree with them about the Bible. Let
me vote with those who believe in
the Holy Scriptures. Men believe other
things with half the evidence required
to believe the Bible. The distinguished
Abner Knerland rejected the Scriptures,
and then put all his money into an en-
terprise for that hocus-pocus, Captain
Kidd's Treasures" Knceland's faith for
doing so being founded Oh Il mans
statement that he could tell where
those treasures were buried from the
looks of Il glass of water dipped from
the Hudson river. The internal evil
dence Of the authenticity of til" Scrip
lures is so exact and SO vivid that no
man, honest and sane, can thoroughly
and continuously and praycrfully read
them without entering their disciple
ship. So 1 put that internal evidence
J paramount. How are YOU led to be-
| lieve in Il letter you receive from hus-
| Utl1u VI Nllc VI Culll VI 1iASAh. AosA
know the handwriting. You know the
style. You recognize the sentiment.
| When the letter comes YOU do not sum-
mon the postmaster who stamped it
and the postmaster who received 1t
and the letter-carrier who brought 1t
to your door to prove that it is Il gen
uine letter. The internal evidence set
ties it, and by the same process you
can forever settle the fact that the
Bible is the handwriting and commune
cation Of the infinite God.
Furthermore, as l have already lntl>
mated, we have increased our faltn Dy
| the testimony of others. Perhaps we
of lesser brain may have been overcome
by superstition or cajOled into an &C
ceptancc of Il hollow pretension. SO l
WILL this morning, turn this house into
a courtroom and summon witnesses.
and you shall be the jury. and now |
empanel you for that purpose. and l
will put upon the witness stand men
| whom all the world acknowledged to be
strong intellectually and whose evidence
in any other courtroom would be lncon-
trovcrtiblc. 1 will not call to the wit
ness stand any minister of the gospel,
Cor he might be prciudiccd. There are
two ways of taking an oath in a court
room. One is by putting the lips to the
Bible and the other is by holding up the
right hand toward heaven. Now, us in
this case, it is the Bible that is on trial;
! we will not ask the witness to put the
book to his lips for that would imply
mat the Sanctity and divinity of the
DOCK Is settled. and that would be beg
slng the question. So 1 shall ask each
witness to lift his hand toward heaven
III animation. Salmon p Chase, chief
Iustlce OF the supreme court of the
| Inl'e1l States, appointed by President
Lincoln, will take the witness stand.
| Chlef Justice Chase, upon your oath,
please to state what YOU have to say
about the book commonly called the
blDle. The witness replies: There
came time in my life when / doubted
the divinity Of the Scriptures, and re-
solved, as a lawyer and Judge, l would
Try the book as l would try anything in
the court room, taking evidence for and
against. 1t was Il long and serious and
profound study, and using the same
principles of evidence in this religious
ihatter as l always do in secular mat
ters, l nave come to the decision that
| !he BLDG Is Il supernatural book, that
IL nas come from God, and that the only
surety TOT the human race is to follow
/ us teachlngs.' Judge, that will do.
Ho PACK again to your pillow of dust
on the banks Of the Ohio" Next l put
upon the witness stand president of
tne United States-John Quincy Adams
| president Adams, what have YOU to
say about the Bible and Christianity %
The president replies: II have for
many years made it practice to read
through the Bible once year. My GUS
tom is to read four or five chapters
every morning Immediately after ars-
ing from my bed. 1t employs about an
hour OF my time and seems to me the
most suitable manner of beginning the
DAY. In what light soevcr we regard
the Bible, whether with reference to
! revelation, to history or to morality, it
is an Invaluable and inexhaustible mine
OF knowledge and virtue" Next 1 put
, upon the witness stand. Sir Isaac New
, ton, the author Of the Principal and the
greatest natural philosopher the world
! has ever seen. Sir Isaac, what have
you to say concerning the Bible?' The
philosophers reply is: we account
| the Scriptures Of God to be the most
sublime philosophy"
Next l put upon the witness stand
the enchantment Of letters, Sir Walter
SSott, anu "lCu GSA I'LL "uttG liz
thinks of the place that our great book
ought to take among other books he re-
plies: There is but one book and that
is the Bible" Next l put upon the
stand the most famous geologist of all
time, Hugh Miller, an elder Of DR..
Guthrie's Presbyterian church il, Edin-
burgh, and Faraday, and Keplcr, 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 Bible?' Answer: NO other
, book ever addressed itself so authorita-
lively and so pathetically to the judg-
ment and moral sense of mankind"
Edmund Burke! What do you think
of the Bible?' Answer: II have read
! the Bible morning noon and night, and
have ever since been the happier and
/ the better man for such reading Next
l put upon the stand William II. Glad
stone, and 1 hear him saving what he