The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1901-04-04

character. Sodom was destroyed be
cause ten good men could not b,
found. If all men were good W,
would have no need Of courts or pri
: sons. But for every church that i.
set on hill there is a Jail in the valley
L hear the preacher calling and the bel
. tolling from the one, and imagine
hear the devil calling from the other
ana nc cries out as the sergeants did in
the Old muster language, ooh, yes
On, yes! All who belong TO Captain
Satan's company parade here" AND
the people are gong and coming ali
the time, some to one call and more tC
the other. But as the devil can't be
heard afar Off, he goes about calling
anu even invades the sanctuary and
calls aloud while the preacher is preach.
ing.
Man never erects house of prayer
But what the devil builds q pulpit three,
And twill be found upon examination
lhe devll has the largest congregation
His pulpit is always at the rear end
where the young people love TO sit,
and you can tell how popular he is by
the number who sit there.
| I was ruminating about this family
institution and its grent Importance in
the world because l have been read
ing about it in the Apocrypha, which is
IN one of our family Bibles. l heard
q preacher say once that Bible with
the Apocrypha in it should not stay in
his house. Well, it took ,S2G years
to exclude it from the Protestant Bible,
and most of it is in the Roman Catho-
lie Bible yet. What is called sacred
| canon was not established until the
sixteenth century, and for centuries
before that almost every great theolo-
gian had his own catalogue of inspired
books as he believed them. For 300
years only ten of Paul's epistles were
admitted. The Book of st. James
and the Revelation of St. John were
excluded. So were Esther and Daniel
and Jonah in the Old Testament.
Luther tried to have Hebrews, and
James, and Jude, and the Revelations
of St. John excluded, but failed. But
all differences of opinion seem to have
been harmonizcd at the council Of
| Trent by all Christians and the Apo
crypha was left in, not as an inspired
part, but to be read for religious in
| struction.
In 1926 it was excluded from the
Protestant Bible, but it remains in
many of the old time family Bibles
and is in one of mine. l dare to peruse
it sometimes, especially "The Wisdom
of Jesus tho Son of Sirach," which is
called Ecclesiasticus, which has fifty
| chapters and is as full of maXims and
morals and instruction for the family
as are the Proverbs of Solomon. AL
olson says that if this book had been
left in the canon, or if it had the name
of some great Greek philosopher, it
would have commanded the admira-
ton of mankind. To my mind it is
the condensation Of wisdom for family
government. Itis as pointed and pun
gent as anything that Solomon ever
wrote. This Jesus was better man
than Solomon. He lived and wrote
800 years after Malachi, the last of the
prophets. In the close of his nara
tive concerning Moses and the propp-
cts, he says of Solomon: "By his
boLy he was brought into subjection
and didst stain his honor and pollute
his seed and brought wrath upon his
children, and his kingdom was divid-
ed" l never did have profound ad-
mlratlon for man who said, "Rcjoice,
Oh, young man, in the wife of thy
youth, and be thou always ravishcd
with her love-" and then goes off and
marrics 300 wives and takes 700 con-
cubines. His precepts were good, but
his example was bad, very bad. My
doctrine has always been that a man
has no more right to two wives than a
woman has to two husbands. Let him
stand by his marriage VOWS. This is
the injunction Of Jesus, the son of
Sirach. AS a sample of his wisdom let
me quote:
" A man that brcaketh his wedlock,
saying, 'Who sceth me; am | not
compassed about with Darkness he
forgetteth that the eyes of the Lord
are ten thousand times brighter than
the SUM-"
" Blessed is he who hath virtuous
wife, for the number of his days shall
be doubled"
" A silent and LOVING woman is a
gift from the Lord"
| "A tooi VIII PCtp III dt luC uOOi VI
the house, but he that is we'll nurturcd
will stand without"
"Do not banquet upon borrowed
money"
Commend not man for his out
ward appearance, for many kings have
sat down upon the ground, and one
that was never thought of hath worn
the crown"
A friend cannot be known in pros
perity, and an enemy cannot be hid in
adversity."
"Use not much the company OF G
woman who IS q singer lest thou be
captured with her voice."
"Rcjoice not over thine enemy wher
be is dead"
Lend not to him who is higher
than thyself, but if thou lendest count
ii lost"
"Slt not down with the wife of an
other man in thine arms, for ii viii
bring thee to destruction"
my son, help thy father in his old
age and thou shalt have Joy IN thine