Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-04


/ became interested in the Bible.
merely as a matter OF literature;
not in the least an matter OF
religion or ethics. mind you. but
Just as a matter of entertaining
reading. From that day to this'
whatover other books l tako
with mo on my Journeys. l al
ways include the Bible because
when / get tired or bored with
the other volumes. 7 always can
lay them down and pick UP the
Bible and find entertainments
and relief.
BeverIdge's homo experience with the
Bible was similar to that Of many other
men, who early In life became nverse
to reading IL because of the air Of SOL
cmnity which always chung about II
I'm their homes. The black leather
cover. the gilt edges. the word holy,
all tend To cause many persons to give
Il the place of honor on tho shelf where
the dust collects. Too frequently par
cnts do not take tho trouble TO make
reading Of tho Biblo interesting to their
children. Consequently the latter grow
up without a knowledge of some Of the
most wonderful tales. stories, poems
and business maxims ever penned.
Buslnoss maxIms? Certainly. Turn
to the Proverbs OF Solomon. and read
them slowly. undorstandingly. ono may
even nnd there some excellent advice
regarding the economic chaos which
results from wholesale cancellation OF
orders-an evil which this country ex-
perionced recently. No correspondence
school can furnish better principles of
,,,,,,,,oss than solomon did some thou
sands Of years ago
Rvron. Swinohurne and Walt whit
man nnd favor with three very select
rrouns 81 thinkers to-day. Turn 70 the
Songs Of solomon. and you will md
nootv-v moro musical than that of Byron.
moro aesthetic than that q SWINE
b,trne ana FAR more philosophio than
that which il found in Leaves Of
Grass" II ia easy 70 read. too. and one
does not need specialist 70 interpret
what the author meant.
For true aghtns yarn. there is none
mat can rival the vivid description Of
the hattie between David and Goliath.
7, reads more interestingly than any
/ repcrt of a heavy weight championship
| bNt held today. Imagine two armies.
mat Of the Ph,listines and that Of the
! 1araelltos. drawn up in hattlo forma-
| tion. following the preliminary skir-
nishing. out steps Goliath Of the Phil-
istlne army corps, and offers to do all
the aghtins for his side. il tho Israel
ites viii put up an opponent, Everyone
else may stand on the side lines. and
watch tho fray. Young David, smaller
than Goliath. accepts the challenge;
We all know how he defeated Goliath
b. aiming true. and hitting hard at
Goliath's ono vital point. Good tnc-
tics. that.
There arc a score of beautiful love
stories between those sonbre covers;
stories in which the characters stand
before the imaginatlon's eye like
! brightly earbed figures in an old world
tapestry. And there is tragedy. great.
sublime tragedy, in which the human
soul fights against the overwhelming
powers Of the universe.
The Bible is more than a compen-
dunn Of religious teachings; more than
the fountain Of modern-day faith; more
than a moral guide-it is a library in
itself. =
The chnd who is permitted 70 reach
maturity without having the beauties
within it revealed to him is not treated
fairly by the parents. No man ever
regretted his knowledge Of the Bible;
many have mourned their ignorance OF
/ it, especially when they have seen how
much pure enjoyment other persons
get from It.