Word

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and

the glory, for ever. Amen.”

Mat 6.13

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Lew Wallace – born

ON THIS DATE

Lewis Wallace was born 4/10/1827 at Brooksville, IN (on US 52) the 2^nd of 4 sons born to David & Esther French Wallace. His father was a West Point graduate, lawyer & governor of Indiana (1837-1840) &  mother was a daughter of congressman John Test.  Lew left school (at 16), served as a copyist & studied law before going to the Mexican War. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar and served in the Union army in the uncivil war. He was a part of the court which tried those charged with assassinating President Lincoln.

Lew met Susan Arnold Elston, proposed in ’49, & married her 5/6/1852 in Crawfordsville. Susan was the daughter of Isaac Compton & Maria Akin Elston. Isaac was a merchant of means;  Maria had a Quaker (Friends) background. Susan would play a part in her Lew’s conversion. Pres. Hayes appointed him governor of the Territory of New Mexico (1878–81).  It was in Sante Fe that he completed the manscript of Ben Hur.  Pres. Garfield made him Minister to the Ottoman Empire (Constantinople, Turkey 1881–85).

Wallace at one point considered himself an atheist. He gathered material “proof” against the Bible.  Susan believed in the Lord & prayed for him. He realized his error & was converted. He reportedly asked his wife what he could/should do with all the material he’d collected – it provided foundations for Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ (pub.1880) which was enormously successful.  Lew died in Crawfordsville, IN, 2/15/1905.       

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George Herbert – born

ON THIS DATE 

George Herbert was born 4/3/1593, fifth son (10 children total) of Richard & Magdalen (Newport) Herbert at Black Hall in Montgomery, Wales.  Richard (who died when George was very young) was from an old & powerful Montgomeryshire family who’d lived there since the 13^th century.  Herbert went to Westminster School at 10 (12?) & earned this BA at 20 & MA at 23 both from Trinity College, Cambridge Univ.

He was appointed to some positions at Cambridge. In 1624,1625 he was elected to Parliament & knew King James I.  He married Jane Danvers (1629) & though no children are listed they provided a home for three orphaned nieces. The following year he took orders in the Church of England & he spent the rest of his short life as rector in Bemerton near Salisbury (about 75 miles west of London) where he helped rebuild the church with his own funds.  He died of tuberculosis 3/1/1633.  See Izaak Walton’s Memoir of Herbert.

His classic (worth reading) The Temple, was published that same year.  By 1680 it had 20 re-printings.  From the literary side Samuel T Coleridge wrote about his diction, “Nothing can be more pure, manly or unaffected.”  From the religious side Richard Baxter said, “Herbert speaks to God like one that really believeth a God, and whose business in the world is most with God.”  Herbert is thought to have influenced poet Henry Vaughan & he in turn influenced William Wordsworth.

Herbert quotes:

“His bark is worse than his bite.”

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

“Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes Error a fault, and truth discourtesy.”

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Esther

 

Though moderns would not think it best

Ahasuerus and the rest

Since Vashti was unseen

Chose to choose a new queen.

Esther hand’ly won the contest.

(Est 1.19)     – eab,  4/1/05

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Word

“For by thee I have run through a troop; and

by my God have I leaped over a wall.”

Psa 18.29

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Paradise Lost – published

ON THIS DATE 

John Milton published his classic Paradise Lost 3/27/1667.  Milton, born in 1608 (12/9), was at a good mental age to produce this excellent contribution except for the fact that by now he was blind (a daughter wrote what he dictated to her from his memory).  Paradise Lost is not only a most worthy piece of English writing, it has become an enduring poem in the field of literature at large.

It is impossible to imagine a greater backdrop than he chose: Heaven, Earth, & Hell. His imagination is vast, his vocabulary stretches the modern mind.  Bible believers can “see” his word pictures yet must guard against making them too authoritarian – after all, Milton’s inspiration is only the earthly kind allowed to poets & great prose writers – he was not inspirited in the same sense as writers of Holy Writ.

Milton himself was an interesting person.  After preparing to enter the clergy (at Cambridge) he changed careers to become a poet.  He gave himself to extensive classical & modern readings (religion, science, philosophy, history, politics, & literature). He became proficient in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Spanish,  Italian, & was familiar Old English & Dutch.  His education was “rounded out” by a 13-month tour of France & Italy in which he met several intellectuals among whom was Galileo,

Opening lines of Paradise Lost

Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

With loss of Eden, till one greater man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

Sing heavenly muse, that on the secret top

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,

In the beginning how the heavens and earth

Rose out of chaos: Or if Sion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed

Fast by the oracle of God; I thence

Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song…

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Gilmore penned “He Leadeth Me”

ON THIS DATE

Joseph Henry Gilmore on 3/26/1862, penned the words to the hymn, “He Leadeth Me.”  Joseph H was born at Boston, 4/29/1834, one of the eleven children of Joseph A & Ann Page Whipple Gilmore.  (Joseph A was later 29^th Governor of New Hampshire – Joseph H served as an assistant to him & edited a paper.)  Joseph H graduated from both Brown U. & Newton Theological Institution.

Gilmore pastor the Second Baptist Church (Rochester, New York) & pastored at Fisherville, New Hampshire.  In 1868 he was appointed Professor at Rochester U. & directed their English Department (1868-1908).  He wrote half a dozen books but is remembered today for the above mentioned hymn. He was married (did not see wife’s name).  His death date is July 23, 1918 (Rochester, New York).

He leadeth me, O blessèd thought! O words with heav’nly comfort fraught!

Whate’er I do, where’er I be Still ’tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Refrain

He leadeth me, He leadeth me, By His own hand He leadeth me;

His faithful follower I would be, For by His hand He leadeth me.

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Ussher – died

ON THIS DATE 

James Ussher died 3/21/1656 at Reigate, Surrey, England.  He was born 1/4/1581, Dublin, Ireland one of two sons of Arland & Margaret (Stanihurst) Ussher.  James (13) entered Trinity College (Dublin); after receiving his BA & being ordained by Henry Ussher (an uncle) & getting his MA, James became a  professor & twice vice-chancellor of the same university.  He married Phoebe (1614) daughter of Luke Challoner; they were blessed with one child, Elizabeth – later wife of Sir Timothy Tyrrell.

Ussher became primate (1^st ranking bishop) of Ireland. However he was in England (1641) when the Civil War broke (never returned to Ireland) & held various teaching/preaching positions there. Politically, he was royallist, able to counsel Charles I, yet his genuineness showned so that Cromwell accepted him, ordered his burial to be in Westminster Abbey, & paid the funeral expenses (thought to be the only Anglican funeral service read in the Abbey during the Commonwealth period). The Puritans also respected Ussher.

Some shallow men & evolutionary men reject Ussher’s dates, perhaps ignorant of Ussher’s grasp of Semitic languages, or who haven’t read his Annals of the World or are men influenced by the Roman Catholic system he opposed. “The religion of the papists is superstitious & idolatrous; their faith & doctrine erroneous & heretical…to give them therefore a toleration, or to consent that they may freely exercise their religion, & profess their faith & doctrine, is a grievous sin.”

A stone erected in his memory at Trinity U. (1904) claims him to be,

“…most learned among the holy, most holy among the learned…” 

What a compliment from those who knew him better than modern critics!

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Word

“He delivered me from my strong enemy, and

from them which hated me:

for they were too strong for me.”

Psa 18.17

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Samuel Green Quote

“…seize the one truth which the parable is intended to set forth…and

let the parts of the parable that are explained be explained in harmony with this one truth.

– Samuel Green, from his Handbook

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