Good for the world

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Many, many years ago my husband and I "discovered" a Scriptorium in Grand Haven, Michigan, kind of tucked away in an unassuming spot. Yesterday, I pulled out a "bulletin" from our visit that I had put aside because of the wonderful articles in it.

Here's a bit of trivia . . . among the Van Kampen Collection at the Scriptorium was the "first Bible printed in America." Interestingly, that first Bible was printed in Algonquin, not English.

I would encourage you to look up the history of the Eliot Bible online; it's fascinating. The collection, which had a variety of many amazing artifacts, is no longer housed where we saw it, nor available to the public, as far as I can tell.

The article offers a quote by Nathaniel Hawthorne in tribute to John Eliot, since it was Eliot who worked so hard to see that the Algonquins had a bible translated in their language.

Even though, according to the article, Hawthorne was not a fan of the Puritans, he wrote of Eliot:

"It is good for the world that such a man has lived."

Now whether or not you agree with Hawthorne, or the need for such a bible, it is a great quote.

I mean, who might you know that this could be said about?

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.com

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