It is said of Dr. Franklin, that during his long residence in Paris, being invited to a party of the nobility, where most of the court and courtiers were present, he produced a great sensation by one of his bold movements, and gained great applause for his ingenuity. According to the custom of that age and country, the nobles, after the usual ceremonies of the evening were over, sat down to a free and promiscuous conversation—Christianity was then the great topic. The church was always ridiculed, and the Bible was treated with unsparing severity. Growing warmer and warmer in their sarcastic remarks, one great lord commanded, for a moment, universal attention, by his asserting in a round voice, that the Bible was not only a piece of arrant deception, but totally devoid of literary merit. Although the entire company of Frenchmen nodded a hearty assent to the sentence, Franklin gave no signs of approval. Being at that time a court favorite, his companions could not bear even a tacit reproof from a man of his weight of influence. They all appealed to him for his opinion. Franklin, in one of his peculiar ways, replied, that he was hardly prepared to give them a suitable answer, as his mind had been running on the merits of a new book of rare excellence, which he had just happened to fall in with at one of the city bookstores; and as they had pleased to make allusion to the literary character of the Bible, perhaps it might interest them to compare with that old volume the merits of his new prize. If so, he would read them a short section. All were eager to have the doctor read a portion of his rare book. In very grave and sincere manner, he took an old book from his coat pocket, and with propriety of utterance read to them a poem. The poem had its effect. The admiring listeners pronounced it the best they had ever heard read. “That is pretty,” said one. “That is sublimity,” said another. “It has not its superior in the world,” was the unanimous opinion. They all wished to know the name of the new work, and whether that was a specimen of its contents. “Certainly, gentlemen,” said the doctor, smiling at his triumph; “my book is full of such passages. It is no other than your good-for-nothing Bible; and I have read to you the prayer of the prophet Habakkuk.” Let every reader learn wisdom from this incident, and learn to appreciate the unequaled sublimities of the Bible.