The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-09-03
JONAH And THE WHALE.

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OF One oTths LsVIsthHns'
Mr.. A. W. Campbell, in an editorial in
the Denver, Colorado, News,
Not long since the Rev, Lyman Alb
hot, Of Brooklyn, New York, delivered
n series OF lectures on the book Of Jo-
noh. He Is the successor Of Henry
ward Beecher at Plymouth church,
Like his famous predecessor, he is not
IN to the full measure of the orthodox
standard. The rigid school OF the Con-
gregat!oual ministry look quite as much
nsEant at him as they did at Beeeher
This Is why, we presume, he was chosen
ms the latter's successor by the Ply
mouth people. They did not want a
more orthodox pastor than the great
preacher who had made their tabernacle
famous the world over,
In the lectures referred to, the Rev.
Abbot undertook to utterly dlscredlt the
hook OF Jonah as an inspired narrative.
II vas a mythical and legendary story
that had crept Into the sacred record.
and was to be read only as pious ale
CORY, This was his position as regards
The book Of Jonah and the story of the
whale. The book had It's instructive
uses like other books that convey a
wholesome moral, but was not on ac-
count OF something that had ever really
happened,
Naturally, such position as this on
the part OF so eminent minister as Mr..
Abbott provoked reply and criticism.
Hence we have from the Rev, Dr. Luth-
er Townsend u little theological bro
chure entitled THE story OF Jonah in
the Light of Higher Criticism" in
which the story of Jonah and
the whale is gone and gone into as a
question of physics as well as theology,
DR. Townsend boldly meets the chal-
lenge OF science as 20 the imposslbilitP
of a whale having swallowed man
alive, and Of having saved him harm
less three days IN his stomach and then
having thrown him up safe and sound
at some convenient spot on the shore,
from whence he proceeded on his orlgi-
nal mission to the wicked people OF
Nineyah. He proceeds hTst to question
the correct rendering of the Hebrew
word for whales The so-called whale
may have been any kind of sea mon
ster 1t may have been the equivalent
of any OF Gus extinct terra tiTma mon
sters, such, for instance, as the masto-
don. But putting aside the question OF
mistranslatlon as respects the kind of
fish or monster of the deep that swal-
lowed Jonah, the Rev. DIR. Townsend
boldly atIirms, from purely naturalis-
tic point OF view, that n whale could
have swallowed Jonah wltsiout crushing
him In the process. and could have
carried him about Tor three days and
three nights, as recorded In the sacred
text, and that during that time Jonah
could have thought and repented and
prayed exactly as stated. The difficulty
with DR., Abbot and other heterodoxlsts
like him is, according 20 Dr. Townsend,
that they have not studied the anatomy
OF the whale. They are not familiar
with his wonderful makeup. II they
were they would know how readily the
elastic throat OF the whale will admit
a man, and large man at that They
are also not familiar with the records of
actual facts as regards the swallowing
of sailors by whales. There Is such a
record and DR.. Townsend quotes from
it. Here, for instance, is an extract
from what he says IS a well attested
occurrence:
an the month OF February, 1891, the
whaler Star OF the East, Gan Eastern
ship. launched two whaleboats with an
equipment OF men to pursue q superb
whale that was observed at some dis
tance. The huge creature was har-
pooned and. wounded to the death.
While It was writing In Its last agon-
les one OF the -whaIeboats was struck
by It's tail and shattered TO pieces The
sailors who were In II were thrown into
the water; all but two were saved
shortly afterward by the other boats.
The body of one was recovered. but the
other-a man named James Barley
could not be found. When the monster
had ceased moving, and It's death was
quite certain. 1t was hoisted alongside
the ship, and the work of cutting It up
beg0n. When II was ended the stomach
OF the whale was opened. What was the
surprise of the whalemen to find In Il
their lost comrade. James BARLEY, I'M
conscious, but alivei They had much
trouble In revivIng him. For several
days he was delirlous, and could not
speak an intelligent word. Not until
three weeks had elapsed did he recover
his reason sufficiently to narratc his
Impressions. IT remember very WE'LL"
said he, "the moment when the whale
threw me into the air. Then ! was
: swallowed. and found myself in firm,
slippery channel, whose contractIons
forced me continually downward. This
lasted only an instant Then found
myself In n large sac, and, by feeling
about, realized that / had been swal-
lowed by a whale and that / was In his
stomach. / could still breathe. though
with much difficulty. had feeling OF
insupportable heat, and Il seemed as IL
were being boiled alive. The horrible
thought that was doomed to perish In
the whales body tortured me, and my
anguish was intensified by the calm
and silence that relgned about me. FL
nally lost the consciousness of my
frlghtful situation"
Dr. Townsend does not claim, OF
course, that there Is an exact parallel
between the cases OF Jonah and Bart
ley. The latter was rescued after sew
Cral hours from dead whale-from
one that had been fatally harpooned.
while Jonah was carried about and
finally cast up BY live whale, What
would have been the fate Of BARLEY had
his whale remained alive and thus ca
pabie Of supplying him with mir is
matter for nnturallsts TO speculate upon.
That he did live for some time In a dy.
Inv whale ana that he did keep his
senses Tor time, Is the important fac:
te which Dr.. Townsend calls attention.
Therefore as purely naturalistlc posi-
ton, It Is not impossible for a whale 20
swallow a man and for man to pre-
serve MS complete consciousness after
being swallowed. Therefore. 10 this cx-
tent Dr. Abbo's higher criticism is Of
itctuhlly answered. And that, too.
without any resort whatever to the MI
TICui0uH f.utur.a. ~ ~. $50. -, -,