The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-08-11
SERMON ON THE AuT
Two Verses from the Book Of
hum Served as Texts.

MUM oeTNou ab leNtb.
A new light has been shed upon
the automobile. 1t comes from the
Rov. Jonas Hipson. pastor OF Mount
Zion Church in New Kent county,
Va, who derives his Illuminating
powers from combination of the
Scriptures and a recent visit to
Washington. New Kent county
knows neither the locomotive nor the
local paper. When the aborigines
want to go somewhere they hitch
up and when they want news they
get out the Old Testament
The Rev. Jonas is not an expert In
automobiles. Until recent events he
had never seen one. Indeed he had
never set foot beyond the confines OF
New Kent, until a month ago he
went TO Washington.
As he stepped. across the street
from the landing wharf the hoarse
bray OF a horn smote upon his af-
frighted ear and he froze in his
! tracks not foot from the path of
an automobile that flashed by him.
An hour later as he stood at van
tage point on Pennsylvania avenue TO
gaze upon the mighty dome Of the
Capitol. the "honk. honk!" Of mo-
tor car flying past his elbow drove
him shudderipg to the curb.
Soon after an attempt to cross TO
the White House was foiled by
demonstration of devil wagons that
! roared past him down the avenue. 1t
was coming too fast for Jonas. He
grabbed his grip and without a word
went home in dismay--went home
| without seeing the Big Stick or even
knowing there was a Big Stick.
He went home, buried himself in
the pines and searched the Scrip
t1res; he knew he'd find something
There TO fit the case. When he emerg-
ed to his anxious and expectant flock
a satisfied smile had banished the
gloom. He rose in his pulpit. his
finger upon his text. 1t was Nahum.
H., 4.
The chariots shall rage in the
streets, they shall jostle one against
another in the broad ways; they shall
seem like torches, they shall run like
the lightnings.
Then he preached sizzling. soul
stirring sermon that settled the auto
mobile with the Mount Zion folks.
It was true. said Mr.. Hipson. that
Nahum was talking about one As
-bani- pal or Sardanapalus (King
OF Babylon in Nahum's day, and an
all round bad lott who with a roist-
ering crowd of gay blades from his
capital had gone up in ehariots TO
the tributary town of Ninevah on
cash raising junket and shocked the
good people of that city, Nahum
among them. But these seers of old.
, he pointed out. always cloaked their
, prophecies of modern events in some
, speech on their own times, and what
Nahum was really hitting at was the
fiery motor car Of today.
Not content with his Endorsement
Of lis views by the prophet, he
clinched the case by citing the verse
! following, which, said he, refers to
the terrified wayfarer in the path OF
lhc hyiuB anu luTlouS Cur.
They shall stumble in their walk:
they shall make haste TO the wall Tor
/ curb, as the Rev Jonas interprets it,
ais own experience, he told his
hearers. left no doubt that what the
prophetic eye of Nahum really saw
was not Nineveh. B. c., but Wash
ington. ID. c.
And then--for this New Kent
preacher is erudite In subjects Scrip
tural-he drew on his enraptured
congregation the Bible Commen-
taries" of the famous divine. DIR. Nor
ton, chaplain to Queen Victoria.
"The word torches" he cited
therefrom, might better be trans
lated metal The passage should
be they speed with the Hastings Of
| metal."-New York Sun.