The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1916-05-12

we acknowledge tne receipt Oh d
copy of the Centennial History of the
American Bible Society; 100 years ago
was sad year in the eastern states,
because of the killing frosts each
month of it, as the Observer recounted
in Our issues of February Is and April
IA; it was the year following the "last
war with England" as it used to be
called in my boyhood; a year when
the country was trying to recover
from the financial depression caused
by that war, and had the added dis
tress of the almost entire cutting off
of the crops in the New England and
Middle States But it was time of
religious revival all through that sec
ton, and in May of that year Bible
societies of several of the individual
states joined in organizing the ma
tional society, whose centennial ami
versary was observed quite generally
throughout our country last Sunday;
several churches in our region making
suitable observance Of the occasion;
among them the Pilgrim Congrega-
district of our city and the Congrega-
readers of Mondays dailies noted that
an address at such meeting in Wash
ington.
The history is published by the
Macmillan company in volume of
over 900 pages. and shows the usual
excellent Workmanship of that pub
fishing house.
The Observer has been in close
touch with the work, and many of
the administrators of this society for
many years, and welcomes this very
interesting record of its wonderful
work in the last hundred years.
1t is the warm and glowing story
of one of the most picturesque of the
worlds events-the following of the
Word of God into many languages
and its distribution to the uttermost
parts of the earth.
The Romance of Americanization.
The Centennial History's keynote
is to be found in its opening para
graph: "The beginning of the story
of the American Bible Society is
found in those provinces of God
which made the Bible the Book of
the American Colonies The colo
nists not only brought the Bible over
in the "Mayfower" with them, but
thCy SdlHSlCu EOUOO people lIO1ll the
old country-between 1920 and 1910
who, likeminded with themselves,
had suffered for this charter of lib
erty. And it was true outside of New
England, also, that the Bible was the
dictionary War brought about Bible
sets, New Hampshire, Connecticut,
and Rhode Island, which thought
the matter of sufficient national i'm
portance to be brought before the
Colonial Congress; but it was New
JERSEY and Pennsylvania as we'll
and even Georgia.
The Romance of Great Names.
If the Bible had not been so deeply
ingrained in the American soul, it is
not probable that the lists of mem
bers and officers of the American
Bible Society could have shown such
noble names. Elias Boudinot was its
first great President. Col. Richard
Varick. of Gen. Washington's staff,
was another. John Jay, first Chief
Justice OF the Supreme Court of the
United States. and Theodore Freling.
huysen were still other Presidents.
John Quincey Adams and Governor
lev III SlllllOll were OH It's boards,
and Abraham Lincoln, was one of
its members. Nearly $4,000 books
were the record of the first seventy
five years of the Society, all told, and
in the year just ended the output of
Bibles through Home Agencl 5, alone
in the United Statesmen by any
means its total output here-was
!, lS5,297 copies. In China during the
same period the amazing number Of
2,244,747 volumes was reached Alto |
gether the American Bible Society has |
distributed nearly p 100000 Bibles in |
the Chinese Empire. and over llS,00O,- |
coo throughout the world.
The Romance of Tongues.
Not since PentecoSt has there been |
a more arrestng record of speaking
the Word of God in tongues as the |
Centennial History shows. 1t is a |
dramatic story of languages. First be-
ginning at jerusalem" the Bible So ,
city began printing Bibles in French !
and Spanish. 1t early began to make |
Babel serve God" by publications in :