The times., 1897-11-14

| from two Of the great poets, of whom we
| are justly proud, Bryant aud Iongfellow
| Probably they are the best that ever viii
| be made. But what Impressions have they
| made upon English IiCerature2 II had al
ready q higher elevation. But il you trans
! late the Bible into any language on the face
of the earth, from that Instant the Ian
guage begins to beat with a new lie. 1t
takes new elevation; it has new out
looks.
But it is not the language of a nation
alone which the Bible affects. IL aft eets
the life OF that nation: its customs; its
morality; It's institutions; it's la VS.. The
hnglo Saxon civilization Is the highest
civilization winch ever blessed The world
This civilization comes from the Bible.
and from 10 other source. know that
Huxley says that modern civilization rests
upon physical ScIence.' Take away"
ne adds, her gifts TO England and her
position among the leading nations OF
the world Is gone tomorrow For tis physI-
cal science IGat makes intelligence and
moral energy stronger than brute lorce.'
But what wnuld happen IL you take way
trola England the giIIs OF the Bible? What
gave England physical science? What
gave England her intelligence? What gave
ner het moral energy? What gave her her
schools aud universities The Bible. Tell
your prince. SAID Victoria Of England, to
an African embassy, that this Bible IS the
secret of Englands greatness. The facts
Of physical science have been the same
since the world began. Why is it that
oDly those countries where the Bible has
been read for centuries; where The Bible
has been given ire eGem OF thought and
freedom OF institutions; where the Bible
has taught man his native dignity, have
discovered these facts of physical science.
and availed themselves or them? Why
did not the gifts OF physical science go to
China, 10 Spain, to Mexico? Because
these nations lid not hay We the Bible.
Facts yf physical science indeed What
is it thar makes a city full of men
and women a nobler gathering than the
busy tenants Of al anthill? The clviliZa-
tiOn OF the ant rests upon the facts OF
physical science. The ant has industry.
The ant las architectural skill. Why are
not community of bea vers erecting their
dams and plastering their dwellings as
noble a spectacle as city full of men and
women building houses and Ships, and
railways? What makes the civilization OF
modern times a possibility? Is it the
great mechanical powers? Is it the gIeat
modern inventions? Take away the sense
of aecounta biiity TO man and to Col: ia Ike
away the ties Which binda man 10 his wife,
lis children and country, which makes him
anxious for a good name; what viii be-
come OF him? Which can he best afford 10
spare, steam-p0wer and electricity, the
science of chemistry in agrieuHufe archI-
lecture III house building, or that sense Of
Gods presence and of stewardship to Him
which binds us ia our slightest act To sys
tenn of moral government of which he is
the head?
We have seen whole nations upon the
islands of the sea isolated and homogeneous
H. their degradation by a sudden impulse
received from the Bible transformed ia a
day from baTbarism to civilization. To-
day the inhabi Of the Sandwich Isl
anus or NADIA "a scar are like the demoniac
iD the Gospel. They dwell In the tents of
FaGarjsIn. They deform and deface them
selves with brutal rites. They dre allf-
naked savages. Tomorrow having felt the
upHft which comes from this wonderful
Book they sit at the feet Of Jesus, clothed
IT. their right minds. They build churches
ard schoulhouses. They elect rulers and
print boofs. They send missionaries with
the Boie to regions beyond theirs; 10 reach
a degradation deeper than theirs. Where
ere tie triumphs OF physical science, such
as these Where &C the achievements of
physical science but where the word OF
the iiuDg God has gone TO prepare the way
before them?
These changes are bot tie result Ut any
wholesale magic. They IRE the result
OF the study of this Single book II
woulG be great losk 10 mankind, indeed,
if all tue great Libraries n the world We're
consumed. But burn them all up: Jurn
up ali the implements andnachines which
the mind OF man has thas far originated:
blot from the knowledge OF men what they
know Of the triuruphs of physical science,
and YOU have ia the Bible, brought inso
contact with the uiIsl of man that which
WI insure their repetition; that which
viii inspire mankind To tread the same
pathway OF dpininloL over material things
hich they heve already achieved II
would be q great loss to the human race il
you should destroy all treaties ON consti-
tutional government. But, destroy them,
ana leave man the Billie, and he VIII
write them over again. Just as the Oral
insect is building new continents, so the
power Of the Bible is lifting one nation
after another up into the light of truth,
clothing II with beauty and grace, making
its institutions stable as the everlasting
hills. How Will you account for such a
look? For lts unity, its diversity, its
adaptness to all the races OF the human
family, to all the several individuals of
each several race? It's power TO reprove
correct, comfort, guide aud inspire; its
power to make all things new? This is the
problem.