The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-03-01

picture in he Ma
tional Gallery I'm
London IL Murtl-
los Holy Family" in Paris. MariIlo's
Assumption Of the Virgin" in Ant
werp. Reuben's Descent from tho
Cross" In Florence. The Madonna
de Ia Sedia:" in Venice, Titian's AZ
sumption Of the Virgin" in Milan.
Leonardo's Last SUPPER" IN Berlin.
Guido's "Ecce Homo" In Rome, The
Crucif1xion." and In Madrid. The A.
cension." by Raphael: in Dresden, tho
crown Of all the worlds art, The SITS
tine Madonna"
The influence of the Bible Ia equally
felt in the realm Of poetry as illus-
trated in Dante's VISION" Tenny-
sons Holy Grail" Brownfng's
Christmas Eve" Easter Day"
Death in the DESERT" Whittier's
"Our Master"
In h realm Of music. tho influence
of b Bible 10 e. In such ~Oratoriosl
as Elijah and Paul" by Mendelssohn:
The Messiah" by Handel: The Gre
alton" by Haydn. Our National hymn
ASAs was "NilNCA Oy u CEcN
man.
Literature also has felt the influence
OF the Bible. In a very real sense Ger
many may be called the home Of the;
Bible, and Germany ia the land Of
books and learning. 1t Is claimed that
over %. 900 900 books laft the German
press last year. 1t has been said that,
Ireland, which. in a ens has been de-
rteratur>/th bfk It has besn claim
ed hxsyJs. lndeeoa.S mere are towns az
mcs sonle mat dsend in which a
Ioook store cannd~ be- fouscs but bar
beautiful gardens would bsN Nov...
ron deserts were It not for the r~-~r-
taken from the Bible. Millions Para
disc Lost" is nothing but the Bible In,
blank verse. Bunyan in his Pilgrim
Progress saw practically nothing that
the Apostle John had not seen in tho
Book of Revelation. Shakespeare's
works would be very meager II
stripped Of all their scripture quota
lions n references. II 10 claimed
that Carlyle is but a spiritual distor-
ton OF the Prophet Ezekiel.
When we turn to the realm or NOR
ais. the influence Of tho Bible stands.
out In even stronger relief. A moral
geography Of the world could be made
BY considering the countries that have
the Bible and those that do not What
makes Edinburgh better than Constan-
tinople; Toronto better than Paris.
Massachusetts better than Mexico.
Mexico was colonized . whole cen
fury before Massachusetts,. Yet look
At the moral and intellectual contrast
between Massachusetts and Mexico.
What better testimony can we have
to the influence OF the Bible than il
found in these comparisons and CON
trasts? What is the difference between
the Pilgrim fathers who came to this
country to build up and many of tho
present emigrants who come to pull
down the institutions which are prec-
ious to US! Does not tho differences
lie in this-thnt those Pilgrims came
with the Bible in their hands and the
fear Of God In their hearts. while a
large number Of the emigrants Of to-
day come with neither OF these bless
ings! Say what we will against the
blue laws Of Puritanism. they are to
be much preferred to the wide open
continental Sabbath and the anarchi-
cal spirit that too often characterize
the emigration Of today.
Some figures will be interesting and
instructive in this connection. In
England. a Bible land, there was 1
murder to every $4,000 Inhabitants:
IN Holland. a Bible land, / to every
10O. 900: in Austria. a land which il
half and half Bible. ! to every 81. 900;
In Spain. a land OF no Bible. ! to ey-
cry Ala: in Naples, a land OF no
Bible. i to every 1850: and in Rome,
the city of no Bible. l to every $50.
Further, in speaking Of the in
luence Of the Bible in the realm of
morals, 1t is claimed that in London.
a Bible city. 4 births out Of every 100
IN llegitimate; in Paris, where tie
Bible Ia seldom read. 48 out Of every
100; In Vienna, where there is prac-
tically no Bible. for every 100 legiti-
mate births, 118 were illegitimate; and
In Rome. where the Bible is practical
~ a forbidden book. for every 100 legf-
innate births there were 243 Height.
mate.
Yet in spite of these facts some
men today are trying t. get rid OF
the Bible. Should we not count that
man q traitor to his God and to his
country who would destroy the Bible.
Further, and shall We say it i'm
bated breath, that this il the book the
state OF Illinois has banished from its
public schools. As a nation We should
never forget that the secret of our
national dignity and greatness comes
from the Bible. 1t will be a sad day
indeed for this nation, and the be-
ginning Of the decay of her greatness.
il the other states Of the Union should
follow the example OF Illinois. Then
we had better write Ichabod upon the
door OF our Capitol at Washington, for
God will have left US and our glory
will have departed.