The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-05-28

this evening framed itself in a ques-
tion-Why hou this great body of
people nave come together upon his
solemn night? There is nothing here
II hc seen. There is nothing delecta-
bic here to be heard. Why should
you run together in a great host
when all that is to be spoken Of is
the history Of a familiar book?
But as | nave sat and looked upon
his great body Of people l have
thought Of the very suitable circurn-
stance that here upon the platform
sat a little group OF ministers Of the
gospel lost in this great thrOng.
say the suitable circumstance
for / come here tonight to speak Of
the Bible as the book of the people,
not the book of the minister of the
gospel, not the special book Of the
priest from which to set forth some
occult, unknown doctrine withheld
from the COmmOn understanding or
n4cn. but & great book of revelatiOn-
the peoples book of revelation. For
il seems to me that the Bible has re-
Ieiled the people to themselves.
wonder how many persons in this
great audience realize the significance
tor English-speaking peoples of the
translation Of the Bible into the Eng
liSh tongue. Up to ne time OF the
translation Of the Bible into Eng
liSh, il was a book for long ages
NIlDNtll from l1t pSItSdl Ol liz peo-
piles Of other languages and Of other
tongues. and not a little OF the his
tory Of liberty lies in the circum-
stance that the moving sentences or
this book were made familiar TO the
ears and the understanding of those
peoples who have led mankind in ex-
h!biting the forms Of government and
the Impulses Of reform which have
made for freedom and for self-gov-
crnnlcnt among mankind.
For this is Il book which reveals
men unto themselves, not as crea-
lures in bondage, not as men under
human authority, not as those hidden
t. take counsel and command of n
human source. 1t reveals every man
to himself as a distinct moral agent,
responsible not to men, not even to
those men whom he has put over him
in authority, but responsible through
his own conscience to his Lord and
Maker. Whenever a man sees this
vision he stands up a free man, what
ever may be the government under
which he lives. If he sees beyond the
circumstances Of his own life.
! heard a very eloquent sermon to-
day from an honored gentleman
who is with us tonight. He wa:
speaking upon the effect Of a knOwl
edge Of the future life upon our con
duct in this life. And it seemed t(
mo that as | listened to him I say
the flames Of those fires rekindled a
which the martyrs died-died forget
full Of their pain, with praise ant
thanksgiving pom their lips, that the.
had the opportunity to render thei
testimony that this was not the lf
for which they had lived, but tina
there was a house builded in tn
heavens, not built of men but built 0
God, to the vision Of which they ha'
lifted their eyes as they passe'
through the world. which gave then
courage to fear no man but to serv
God. And ] thought that all the rec
Crds of herOism Of the great thing
that had illustrated human life wer
summed up in the power Of men t
see that vision.
CUR present life, adies and gentle
men. is a very imperfect and dis
appointing thing. We do not juds
our own conduct in the privacy c
our own closets by the standard c
expediency by which we are daily an
hourly governed. We know that Their
is q standard set for us in tn
heavens. a ida revealed to us i
this o which is the fixed an
eternal standard by which we juds
ourselves, and as we read this boo
it seems to us that the pages Of OF
own hearts are aid open before ,
Tor our own p~erusal. This is the pee
pies book of revelation, revelatio
of themselves not alone, but revel;
ton Of life and Of peace. YOU kno
that hulnAn life is a constant stru,
gle. For q man who has lost the sen!
OF struggle, life has ceased.
| believe that my confidence in IL
Judgment of the people in matte
political is based upon my knowled,
That the men who are Strugglir
are the men who know; that the M
who are in the midst of the gre
effort TO keep themselves steady
the pressure and rush Of life a
the men who know the significance
the pressure and the rush of lii
and that they. the men on the max
are the men to whom to so for yo
Judgments of what life is and VIII
us problems are. And in this bo'
there is peace simply because
read here the object Of the strugg