The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-04-02

~ uut u ftucy Will EChu II 10 NIB
Bottome did, not for geology and as
tronomy but for moral and spiritual
regeneratioR- In shorts for the Bread
Of Life-they Will Inbt be troubled by
any doubts as to whether It is eligible
to professional endorsement for inclu-
sion n@acaderhy libraries. y 81
They tell q story Of a trader who In
passing a converted cannibal In Africa
asked him what he was doing. oh
l am reading the Bible" the ex-can-
nibal answered. THAT book IS out OF
date in my country" said the foreign
er. "If II had been out OF date here
said the African to the European, "you
would have dbccn eaten long ago.
Another story tells Of woman in In
dia who said TO n missionary: "our
old men say you come and carry us
away with your religion. But II is
nothing said by you that carries us
away and makes US Christians; 1t Is
your Book. There are such wonder
ftf words in II; when they sink into
the heart nothing can take them out
again."
But It Is not only the unlearned and
simple Of heart who have discovered
priceless treasures In this matchlcss
chronicle OF mankind's moral and spir-
itual progress, Charles A. Dana was
one OF the most famous and influential
Journalists this country, has ever pro-
duced--a scholar, philosopher &C.
Quainted with the best knowledge and
thought Of his own and past times, and
moreover man Of affairs, who had
successfully filled important Offices un-
der the national government. Hear
what he said concerning the Bible:
"There is perhaps no book whose
style is more suggestive and more in
structive. from which you learn more
directly that sublime simplicity which
never exaggerates, which recounts
the lowest sections Of the city. Before
course. but without scntimentality or
affection. There is no book which
you open with such confidence and
lay down with such reverence; there
is In fact no book like the Bible. When
you get into controversy and want
exactly the right answer, when you
are looking for an expression, what is
there that closes dispute like verse
from the Bible? What is 1t that sets
up the right principle for you, which
pleads for policy. for a cause, SO
much as the right passage from Scrip
ture."
1t Is narrated of a New York mis-
sionary that he went to hold an open
air service in Paradise park, one oil
the lowest section of the city. Before
he began to speak, he heard man
say Damn the Bible, anyhow" The
missionary at once mounted his bar
rel and announced my text today is
Damn the Bible" That made the
whole crowd. including the man who
made the irreverent remark, eager to
hear the. sermon. 1t was less sensa-
tional than the text, but 1t was full
Of wholesome and needed truth. and
was exceedingly to the point. for II
proceeded to tell in homely language
Just why the devil, who had uttered
the same sentiment long before the
man in the crowd. wanted the Bible
damned-namely. because it filled the
churches and emptied the brothels ;
because 1t destroyed mans desire
/ to spend his evenings with drunken
companions in low saloons and vile
resorts and gave. him a new Joy In
remaining at his own fireside and in
the sweet and uplifting circle Of his
own family; because 1t gave him q
new vision and revealed to him how
noble even the humblest may become
through pureness and uprightness Of
live and loving service; because In
short, the Bible takes men from evil
and gives them. to God. Many I,
rough but manly fellow went away
from that open air talk with a feel.
ing that the Bible was his friend ant
with a determination that he would
have 1t in his house and send his
children to the Sunday school to learr
more about 1t than he had learned,
Much learning, once declared yer,
learned man. maketh mad. Perhaps 4
does not make mad save in rare cases
but nothing Is conimoner than mer
whom learning has made wise in thei,
own conceit. No really great mar
was ever supercilious or ribald in hi.
attitude toward the Word Of God. Il
is still true that truth Is revealed mo-
to the proud and wise in their owr
conceit, but to. the reyerent ant
humble. and 1t is these who lingel
most lovingly over the Book.