“If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country, I do not know what is going to become of us as a nation. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and His Word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the Gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end.”
Daniel Webster, 1823
Country Ripples 
Wise words that still ring true today!
I don’t remember where I got that quote from, but I put it in my “Favorites” notebook–an 8 1/2 by 11 notebook where I put quotes I liked, newspaper clippings, etc. I was paging through the notebook not too long ago, and thought, “How this speaks to our time.”
Here we are, almost 100 years later. God, help us!
You’re right, David. God is the only One Who can. He’s the only One Who can get people on fire to read and put His Word into practice.
Wow, this quote stops you in your tracks and really gets one thinking, especially when it was written in 1823 and can see the fallout in 2021. My favorite Thank you for sharing! One of my favorite reference books when studying the Bible is Webster’s 1828 dictionary which is available online.
Daniel Webster was a noted orator, and lawyer. I believe he also served in Congress, but I’m not sure of that. He must have really had his “ears to the ground” to make that comment. I didn’t realize Noah Webster’s dictionary is available online; I’ll check that out–thank you.
Oh dear I did mix the men up didn’t I. Thank you for the gracious way you corrected my error. On the Noah side of things you can find the dictionary at webstersdictionary1828.com