The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-09-20


the stand William E. Gladstone, the
head Of the English Government, and l
hear him saying what he said to me in
January Of 1890, when, in reply to his
telegram, pray come to Hawarden to-
morrow" visited him. Then and
there l asked him as TO whether in 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 enthu-
siasm such as no one who has not con-
versed with him can fully appreciate,
and expressed by voice and gesture,
and illumined countenance his ever in
creasing faith in God and the Bible and
Christianity as tho only hope Of our ru-
ined world. THAT is all, Mr.. Glad
stone, we will take of your time now,
for, from the reports Of what Is going
on in England Just now, l think
you are very busy" The next man
put upon the witness stand Is
the late Earl of Kintore, and I
ask him what he thinks Of Christian
ity, and he replies; "Why do you ask
me that? Did you not hear me preach
Christ in the Midnight Mission Of Lon
don2" ''oh, yes! / remembers" But
see many witnesses present to-day In
the court room, and call you to the
witness stand, but have only a second
Of time for any one Of you. AS you
pass along just give one sentence in re-
gard to Christianity. "Under God 1t
has changed my entire nature" ssys
one, "It brought me from drunkenness
and poverty to sobriety and good
home" says another. ut solaced me
when lost my child" says another.
at gave me hope Of future treasures
when my property was swept Oft by
the last panic" says another. 1T has
given me peace and satisfaction
more to me than all the world beside"
says another. ut has been TO me
light and music and fragrance and
radiant anticipation" says another.
Ali stop the procession of witnesses
Enoughl Enoughl All those voices Of
the past and the present have nightly
increased our faith.
Again, our belief is reinforced by
archaeological exploration. We must
confess that good men at one time were
afraid of geologist's hammer and
chemists crucible and archeologists
investigation, but now intelligent
Christians are receiving and still ex.
pecting nothing but confirmation from
all such sources. What supports the
Palestine Exploration Society" Con-
tributions from churches and Christian
benefactors. saw the marks Of the
shovels of that exploring society amid
the ruins of ancient Jericho, and all VI
and down from the Dead Sea TO Ces
aria Philippi. "Dig raway," says the
Church of God, land the deeper you dig
the better / like" The discovered
monuments of Egypt have chisselcd OF
them the story OF the sufferings OF th'
Israelites in Egyptian bondage, as W.
find It in the Bible; there, in imperish
able stone, representations Of the slave
of the whips, and Of the taslt-master
who compelled the making Of brick
without straw. Exhumed Ninevel
and Babylon, with their dusty lips
declare the Bible true. Napoleon
soldiers in the Egyptian campaign
pried up stone, which you may fin'
in the British museum, a stone, as
remember, presenting perhaps tw
feet of lettered surface. 1t contain
words in three languages. That ston
was the key that unlocked the mean
ing Of all the hieroglyphics of tomb
and obelislSs, and tells over and owe
again the same events which Moses re
corded. The sulphurous graves O
Sodom and Gomorrah have been iden
tilted. The remains of the Tower q
Babel have been found. Assyria
documents lifted from the sand an
Behistun inscription, hundreds OF fee
high up on the rock. echo and re-ech
the truth Of Bible history. The sign
of the time indicate that almost ever
; fact Of the Bible from lid 10 lid wi
find its corroboration in ancient cit
disentombed, or ancient wall, cleare
from the dust Of ages, or ancier
document, unrolled by archwolc
Rists. Before the world rolls on O
far into the twentieth century
II has already rolled into the ninetcct
an infidel will be a man who does nj
believe his own senses, and the vo
umes now critical and denunciatory {
the Bible, II not entirely devastated b
: the book worms, will be taken dow
from the shelf as curiosities of igno
ance or idiocy. All success to the picl
axes and crowbars and powder-blastin
OF those apostles Of archaeological e.
ploration. like the ringing defiant
OF the old Hugenots 10 the assailan
Of Christianity: Pound away, you re
elsl Your hammers break, but the a
Y vii of Gods Word stands" How wo
J derfully the old Book hangs togethe
: II is a library made up Of sixty-s
books and written by at least thirt
|, nine authors. It is n supernatur
, thing that they have stuck togethe
}. Take the writings Of any other thirt
J nine authors. or any ten authors,
any FIVE authors, and put them
!. Hether, and how long would they st'
together? Books Of elegant extracts
g compiled from many authors are pr
! verbally shortlived. never kne
y one such book, which, 10 use the pu
! lisher's phrase, had life In it'' for a
years. Why is II that the Bible, ma
up of writings Of at least thirty-nil
d authors, has kept together for loI
r line Of centuries when the natur
e tendency would have been TO fly apa