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PAUL’S RESCUE FROM PRISON.
TALMAGE BREACHES OF THE PHIL
LIPPIAN JAILER.
A Whole Lexicon of Meaning in Him
Question: “Sirs, What Must I Do to
Be Saved f”—First It Im Noticeable
for Its Courtesy—Utter Lack of
Doubt am to God’s Power to Save
Another Characteristic.
Washington, Dec. 29.—For the closing
discourse of th© year, Rev. Dr. Talmage
chose a subject which appeals to the
unconverted everywhere, viz.: “The Phil
ippian Jailer.” The text selected was:
“Sirs, what must Idoto be saved?” Acta
16’JO.
Incarcerated In a Philippian penitenti
ary, a place cold, and dark, and damp,
and loathsome, and hideous, unillumined
save by the torch of the official who
comes to see if they are alive yet, are
two ministers of Christ, their feet fast
in Instruments of torture, their shoulders
dripping from the stroke of leathern
thongs, their mouths hot with inflamma
tion of'thirst, their heads faint because
they may not lie down. In a comfortable
room of that same building, and amid
pleasant surroundings, Is a paid officer
of the government whose business it Is
to supervise the prison. It is night and
all Is still in the corridors of the djun
geon save as some murderer struggles
with a horrid dream, or a ruffian turns
over in his chains, or there is the cough
of a dying consumptive amid the damp
ness; but suddenly, crash’, go the walls.
The two clergymen pass out free. The
* jailkeeper, although familiar with the
darkness and the horrors hovering
around the dungeon, Is startled beyond
all bounds, and, ,flambeau in hand, he
rushes through amid the falling walls,
shouting at the top of his voice: “Sirs,
what must I do to be saied?”
I stand now among those who arc ask
ing the same question with more or less
earnestness, and I accost you in this crisis
of your soul with a message from heaven.
There are those in this audience who
might be more skilful in argument than I
am; there are those here who can dive
into deeper depths of science, or have lar
ger knowledge; there are In this audience
those before whom I would willingly bow
us the inferior to the superior; but I yiqfd
to no one In this assemblage in a desire
to have all the people saved by the power
of an omnipotent Gospel.
I shall proceed to characterize the ques
tion of the agitated jall-keepcr. And first,
1 characterize the question as courteous.
He might have rushed In and said; “Paul
and Silas, you vagabonds, are you tearing
down this prison? Aren’t you satisfied
with disturbing the peace of the city by
your infamous doctrines? And are you
now going to destroy public property?
Hack with you to your places, you vaga
bonds!” He said no such thing. The word
■-W foui lett<r«. ."Sirs!” equivalent to
> t v a.-d' titd"
honor of their mission, tsirs! If a man
with a captious spirit tries to And th©
way to heaven, he will miss It. In a man
.comes out and pronounces all Christians
z'' us hypocrites and the religion of Jesus
Christ as a fraud, and asks irritating ques
tions about the mysterious and the In
scrutable, saying, “Come, my wise man,
explain this and explain that; if this be
true, how can that be true”—no such man
finds the way to heaven. The question of
the text was decent, courteous, gentle
manly, deferential. Sirs!
Again, 1 characterize this question of
the agitated jail-keeper by saying that it
was u practical question. He did not ask
why God let sin come into the world, he
did not ask how Christ could be God and
man In the same person, he did not ask
the doctrine of the decrees explained or
want to know whom Cain married, or
what was the cause of the earthquake.
His present and everlasting welfare was
Involved in th© question, and was not that
practical? But 1 know multitudes of peo
ple who are iaWhering themselves about
the non-essentials of religion. What would
you think of a man who should, while
discussing the question of the light and
heat of the sun, spend his time down in a
coal cellar, when ne might come out and
see the one and feel the other? Yet there
ar© multitudes of men who, in discussing
the chemistry of the gospel, spend their
time down in the dungeon of their un
belief, when God all the while stands
telling them to come, out into th© noon
day light and warmth of the sun of right
eousness. The % question for you, my
brother, to discuss is not whether Calvin
or Arminlus wasgright, not whether a
handful of water in holy baptism or a bap
tistery is the better, not whether foreordi
nation and free agency can be harmon
ized. The practical question for you to
discuss, and for me to discuss, is, “Where
will 1 spend eternity?”
/Again, *1 characterize this question of
the agitated jail-keeper as one personal to
himself. I have no doubt he had many
friends, and he was interested In their
welfare. I have no doubt he found that
there were persons in that prison who, if
the earthquake had destroyed them, would
hav® found tbalr case desperate. He is
not questioning about them. The whole
weight of his question turns on the pro
noun "I." "What shall I do?” Os course,
when a man becomes a Christian, he Im
mediately becomes anxious for th© salva
tion of other people, but until that point
Is reached the most Important question is
alanit your own salvation. “What is to be
my destiny?" “What are my prospects for
the future?” “Where am I going?”
"What shall I do?" The trouble is we
shuffle the responsibility off upon others.
We prohesy a- had end to that inebriate,
and terrlfh exposure to that defaulter,
and awful catastrophe to that profligate.
We are so busy in weighing other people
we forget ourselves to get Into the scales.
We arc so busy watching the poor gar
dens of other people that we let our own
dooryard go to weeds. We are so busy
sending off other people Into the lifeboat
we sink in the wave. We cry “Are!” be
cause our neighbor’s house Is burning
down and seem to be uninterested al
though our own house is in the conflagra
tion. O wandering thoughts, disappear
to-day. Blot out this entire audience ex
cept yourself. Your sin, Is it pardoned?
Your death. Is it provided for? Your
heaven, is it secured? A mightier earth
quake than that which demolished the
Philippian penitentiary will rumble about
your ears. The foundations of the earth
will give way. The earth by one tremor
will fling all the American cities into the
dust. Cathedrals and palaces and prts
, ons which have stood for thousands of
years will topple like a child’s blockhouse.
Tile surges or the sea will submerge the
land, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans
above the Alp# and the Andes, clap their
band*. What then will become of me?
What then will become of you? I do
wonder at the anxiety of this man of my
text, for he was not only anxious about
the falling of the prison, but the falling
of a world.
Again, 1 remark; 1 characterize this
question of the agitated jail-keeper us
one of Incomparable importance. Men
uro alike, and I suppose he had <*ores
of questions on his mind, Im all quvs
||Ations for this world are hushtsl up. for-
annihilated tn this one qu,- tton
text “What must 1 do to h<>
And have you n.v i.ivher,
of imp *• Unit
MgSM&sAipto'st ion '■ Is it .1
Your comm •«•,
\v ■ ■
K c: ..
Id cc it id
that, if a conflagration should sweep all
Washington into ashes, it would not touch
you and would not damage you. If every
cashier should abscond and every bank
suspend payment, and every insurance
company fail, it would not affect you.
Oh, now insignificant Is business this side
the grave with business on the other side
the grave! Have you made any purchases
for eternity? Have you any securities
that will last forever? Are you jobbing
for time when you might be wholesaling
for eternity? Is there any question so
broad at the base, so altitudinous, so
overshadowing as the question: “What
must Idoto be saved?” Or, is it a domes
tic question, is it something about father,
or mother, or husband, or wife, or son,
or daughter that is the more important
question? You know by universal and
inexorable law that relation will soon be
broken up. ‘ Father will be gone, mother
will be gone, children will be gone, you
will be gone; but after that, the question
of the text will begin to harvest its chief
gains, or deplore its worst losses, or roll
up its mightiest magnitudes, or sweep
its vaster circles.
Oh, what a question, what an impor
tant question. Is there any question that
compares with it in Importance? What is
it now to Napoleon II whether he tri
umphed or surrendered at Sedan, whether
he died at the Tuileries or Chlselhurst,
whether he was emperor or exile? Be
cause he was laid out in the coffin in the
dress of a field marshal, did that give him
any better chance for the future than if
he had been laid out in a plain shroud?
What difference will it soon make to you
or to me whether in this world we walked
or rode, whether we were bowed to or mal
treated, whether we were applauded or
hissed at, welcomed in or kicked out? while
laying hold of every moment of the future,
and burning in every splendor or every
grief, and overarching or undergirding all
time and all eternity will be the plain,
startling, infinite, stupendous question of
the text: “What must I do to be saved?”
Again, I characterize this question of
the agitated jail-keeper as one crushed
out by his misfortunes, pressed out by his
misfortunes. The falling of the peniten
tiary, his occupation was gone. Besides
that the flight of a prisoner was ordinarily
the death of the jailer. He was held re
sponsible. If all had gone well, if the
prison walls had not been shaken of the
earthquake, if the prisoners had all
stayed quiet in the stocks, if the morning
sunlight had calmly dropped on the jailer’s
pillow, do you think he would have hurled
this .red-hot question from his soul into
the ear of his apostolic prisoners? Ah!
no; you know as well as I do it was the
earthquake that roused him up. And it
• is trouble that starts a great many people
to asking the same question. It has
been so with a multitude of you. Your
apparel is not as bright as it once
was. Why have you changed the garb?
Do you not like solferino, and crimson,
and purpl© as well as once? Yes. But
you say: “While I was prospered and
happy those colors were accordant with
my feelings; now they would be discord
to my soul." And so you have plaited up
the shadows Into your apparel. The world
is a very different place from what It was
once for you! Once you said: "Oh, if I
could only have it quiet a little while.”
It la too quiet. Some people say that they
would not bring back their departed
friends from heaven even if they had the
opportunity; but if you had the oppor
tunity you would bring back your loved
ones, and soon their feet would be sound
ing in the hall, and soon their voices
would be heard in the family, and the
old times would come back just as the
t©sj»l days of Christmas and Thanksgiv-
is the
earthquake that startled you to
asking this question—the earthquake
of domestic misfortune. Death is
so cruel, so devouring, so relentless
that when it swallows up our loved ones
we must have some one to whom we can
carry our torn and bleeding hearts. We
need a balsam better than anything that
ever exuded from earthly tree to heal the
pang of the soul. It is pleasant to have
our friend© gather round us and tell us
how sorry they are and try to break up
the loneliness: but nothing but the hand
of Jesus Christ can take the bruised spul
and put it in his bosom, hushing It with
the lullaby of heaven. O brother! O sis
ter! the gravestone will never be lifted
from your heart until Christ lifts it. Was
It not the loss of your friends, or th© per
secution of your enemies, or the over
throw of your worldly estate—was it not
an earthquake that started you out to
ask this stupendous question of my text?
But I remark .again: I characterize
.this question of the agitated jail-keeper
as hasty, urgent, and Immediate. He put
it on th© run. By the light of his torch
as he goes to look for the apostles, behold
his face, see the startled look and see the
earnestness. No one can doubt by that
look that th© man is in earnest. He
must have that question answered before
th© earth stops rocking, or perhaps he
will never have it answered at all. Is
that the way, my brother, my sister, you
are putting this question? Is it on the
run? Is it hasty? Is ft urgent? Is it
Immediate? If it is not, it will not be an
swered. That is the only kind of question
that is answered. It is the urgent and
the immediate question of the Gospel
Christ answers. A great many are ask
ing this question, but they drawl it out,
and there is indifference in their manner
as if they do not mean it. Make it an
urgent question and then you will have it
answered before an hour passes, before
a minute passes. When a man with all
th© earnestness of his soul cries out for
God he flnds him and finds him right
away.
Oh, ar© there not in this house to-day
those who are postponing until the last
hour of living the attending to the things
of th© soul? I give it as my opinion that
ninety-nine out of the one hundred death
bed repentances amount to nothing. Os
all the scores of persons mentioned as
dying in the Bible, of how many do you
read that they successfully repented in
the last hour? of fifty? No. Os forty?;
No. Os thirty? No. Os twenty? No. I
, Os ten? No. Os five? No. Os one—only'
one, barely one, as if to demonstrate the;
fact that there is a bare possibility of I
, repenting in th© last hour. But that fs im- I
probable, awfully improbable, terrifically
Improbable. One hundred to one against;
I the man. If, my brother, mv sister, you
; have ever seen a man try to repent in the
last hour, you have seen something very
| sad. I do not know anything on earth so
i sad as to see a mun try to repent on a
death bed. There is not from the moment
that life begins to breathe in Infancy, to
th© last gasp, such an unfavorable, com-
I pletely unfavorable, hour for repentance as
• I the death haur. the last hour. There are
. | the doctors standing with the medicines.
. j There is the lawyer standing with the
■ half-written will. There is the family in
* consternation os to what .is to become of
’ ] them. All the bells of eternity ringing the
• | soul out of th© body. All the past rising
■ | before us and ail the Oh, that
• : : man is an infinite fool who procrastinates
; to the death-bod his repentance!
i My text does not answer the question.
■ It only asks it. with deep and importu-
> I nate earnestness asks it, and according
to the rules of sermonizing, you would
' say: “Adjourn that to some other time;”
. but I dare not. What are the rules of
> i sermonizing to me when I am after souls?
i What other time could I have, when per
haps thia is the only time? This might
‘ be my last time for preaching: this might
be your last t Ime for hearing.
After my friend in Philadelphia died
I his children gave his church Bible to me,
and I read it. looked over it with much
interest. I saw in the margin, written
■ | in lead pencil: "Mr. Talmage said this
i | morning that the most useless thing in
i j all Gotrs universe is that ■sxny sinner
1 ( should perish.” I did not remember say
inn It, but tt is true, and I say it now,
■ whether I said it then or not; the most
i useless thing in all God’s universe is
• i that any sinner sliould perish. Twelve
| gates wide open. Hsse you not heard
i I how Christ bore our sorrows, and how
■ | sympathetic he Is with all our woes!
: Have you not heard how that with al!
i | the sorrows of heart and all the agonies
i I of hell upon him, he cried: "Father, for
; I give them: they know not what they
i I do?" By his feet blistered of the mouti
!tain way—by his back whipped until the
skin came off. by his death-couch of four
spikes, two for the hands and two for
SAVANNAH, MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1895.
g
1 the feet—by his sepulchre, in which for
the first time for thirty-three years the
cruel world let him alone—and by the
heavens from which he now bends in com
passion, offering pardon and peace, and
i life eternal to all your souls, I beg of you
put down your all at his feet.
I saw one hanging on a tree .
In agony and blood,
Who fixed his languid eyes on me
As near his cross I stood.
Oh, newr till my latest breath,
Will I forget that look;
It seemed to charge me with his death,
Though not a word he spoke.
In the troubled times of Scotland, Sir
John Cochrane was condemned to death
by the king. The death warrant was on
the way. Sir John Cochrane was bidding
farewell to his daughter Grizel at the
prison door. He said: TFarewell, my
darling child! I must; die,’ His daughter
said: “No, father, you shall not die.”
“But,” he said, “the king is against me,
and the law is after me, and the death
warrant is on Its way, and I must die; do
not deceive yourself, my dear child.” The
daughter said: “Father, you shall not
die,” as she left the prison gate. At
night on the moors of Scotland, a disguis
ed wayfarer stood awaiting for the horse
man carrying the mail-bags containing
the death warrant. The disguised war
fares as the horse came by, clutched the
bridle and shouted to the rider—to the
man who carried the mail bags: “Dis
mount?” He felt for his arms, and was
about to shoot, but the wayfarer jerked
him from his saddle and he fell flat. The
wayfarer picked up the mail bags, put
them on his shoulder and vanished in the
darkness, and fourteen days were thus
gained for the prisoner’s life, during
which the father confessor was plead
ing for the pardon of Sir John Cochrane.
The second time the death warrant is on
its way. The disguised wayfarer comes
along and asks for a little bread and a lit
tle wine, starts on across the moors, and
they say: "Poor man, to have to go out
on such a stormy night; it is dark and
you will lose yourself on the moors.”
"Oh, no,” he says, “I will not.” He
trudged on and stopped amid the bram
bles and waited for the horseman to come
carrying the mail bags containing the
death warrant of Sir John Cochrane. The
mall carrier spurred on his steed, for he
was fearful because of what had occurred
on th© former journey, spurred on his
steed, when suddenly through the storm
and through the darkness there was a
flash of firearms and the horse became
unmanageable, and as the mail carrier
discharged his pistol In response, the
horse flung him, and the disguised way
farer put his foot on the breast of the
overthrown rider and said: "Surrender,
now!” The mail carrier surrendered his
arms, and the disguised wayfarer put
upon his shoulders the mall bags, leaped
upon the horse, and sped away into the
darkness, gaining fourteen more days for
the poor prisoner, Sir John Cochrane; and
before the fourteen days had expired,
pardon had come from the king. The
door of the prison was swung open, and
Sir John Cochrane • was free. One day,
when he was standing amid his friends,
they congratulating him, the disguised
wayfarer appeared at the gate, and he
said, “Admit him right away.” The dis
guised wayfarer came in and said: “Here
are two letters; read them, sir, and cast
them into the Are.” Sir John Cochrane
read them. They were his two death war
rants, and he threw them into the fire.
Then said Sir John Cochrane: “To whom
am I indebted? Who is this poor way
farer that saved my life? Who is it?"
And the wayfarer puffed aside
and io! it was Grizel. the daughter of
Sir John Cochrane. “Gracious heaven!”
he cYied, "niy child, my savior, my own
Grizel!” But a more thrilling story. The'
death-warrant had come forth from the
King of heaven and earth. The death
warrant read: “The soul that sinneth, it
shall die.” The death-warrant coming on
the black horse of eternal night. We
must die! We must di©! But breasting the
storm and putting out through the. dark
ness was a disguised wayfarer w’ho gripped
by the bridle the on-coming doom and
flung it back, and put his wounded and
bleeding foot on the overthrown rider.
Meanwhile pardon flashed from the throne,
and Go free! Open the gate! Strike off the
chain! Go free! And to-day your liber
ated soul stands in the presence of the dis
guised wayfarer, and as he pulls off the
disguise of his earthly humiliation and the
disguise of his thorns, and the disguise of
the seamless robe, you find he is bone of
your bone, flesh of your flesh, your Broth
er, your Christ, your T, ardon, your Eternal
life. Det all earth «’ heaven hreaJc forth
in vociferation. Victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ!
A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
On thy. kind arms I fall;
Be Thou my strength and righteousness,
My Jesus and my all.
A TRAGEDY IN A POSTOFFICE.
The Postmaster Shoots a Physician
Dead.
Weldon, 111., Dec. 29.—Dr. William H.
Taylor, a member of th© lower house o$
the general assembly from the Thirteenth
district, was shot and instantly killed at
8 o’clock last night by John H. Pace, the
postmaster of this town. Pace pleads self
defense, while the friends of his victim
assert that the shooting was premedita
ted and the result of jealousy.
Dr. Taylor had practiced medicine here
for twenty-eight years, and was popular
with all classes. Pace has been separated
from his wife for over a year, and had
accused Dr. Taylor of being the cause
of his family troubles. To these charges
little attention was paid at the time. Dr.
| Taylor’s reputation being such as to cast
• general discredit upon them.
Bent on securing his mails, the doctor
entered the postoffice shortly before 8
o’clock last night. While standing at the
' window, it is said he demanded of Post
| master Pace an explanation bf a letter
j which he had heard the tatter had writ
i ten, Pegurdlng a suit he (Pace) was pros
- ecuting against th© representative. Pace
says that he told the doctor to leave, but
; th© latter advanced upon him, threaten-
Ing an assault, whereupon he drew a re
| volver and shot him in the head, Inflict
j ing a wound that proved instantly fatal.
No one but the two participants were
; present at the time, but the shot attract
ed scores of people. Mr. Pace made no
i effort to flee, but calmly surrendered his
i revolver when asked for it. saying his
j life had been In danger, and he had fired
! only in self defense. Angry mutterings
| were heard, bu* no violence was offered
■ when the authorities took him in charge.
Dr. Taylor had long been prominent In
political circles in this part of the state
Among his close friends were Senator
Cullom and John R. Tanner.
XVAVNE COUNTY’S TRAGEDY.
j Henry Manning Now in Jail With
His Father.
Brunswick, Ga., Dec. 29.—Young Henry
Manning, who cut Mumford Harrison at
a dance near Waynesville Christmas
night, has been caught, and "is now safely
< behind the bars of the Wayne countv
! jail. The arrest was made yesterday by
i Sheriff Lyons and Deputy Fishback at
I Sandhill, some miles distant from the
scene of the tragedy. Powsell, an accom
plice of Manning’s, who stole a horse ok
wliich to escape, has not yet been appre
hended. Manning s father, as stated in a
special from Jesup to th© Morning News
of to*uay is alrestuy undejr arrest.
Griffo to Fitfht Everhart.
Dallas, Tex , Dec. 29.—Dan A. Stewart
to-day received a telegram from New
York announcing that Griffo and Jack
I 1 Everhart had signed to fight for the
Ug nt weight championship of the world
for a purse of a side and a side bet
| of H. 0.0 a side.
COWARDICE UNDER THE CROSS
CHRISTIANITY’S INACTION IN AR-
MENIA CENSURED.
The British Lion Playing the Cnr Be
fore the Dogs of Constantinople.
The Editorials of the Turkish
Press Inserted. Under Censorship
From the Palace—The Story of the
Capture of Zeitoun False—Armen
ian Envoys Treacherously Seized
by the Turks.
London, Dec. 29.—Dr. Henry S. Lunn,
editor of the Review of the Churches, and
Percy W. Bunting, editor of the Contem
porary Review, have addressed the follow
ing communication to “All Editors, Eng
lish and American.”
We inclose extracts from a letter from
a private friend who spent several
months of this year in Armenia, ahd who
is one of the first authorities on the
question, as indeed you would admit, were
we at liberty to publish his name. May
we beg you to insert these in the next
issue of your paper. Yours faithfully,
Henry S. Lunn,
Editor of the Review of the Churches.
Percy W. Bunting,
Editor of the Contemporary Review.
“Any allusion to Armenia upsets me. I
am ashamed, excited, indignant when I
think of what I saw in that country, and
of the confidence with which I consoled
quailing women, weeping men, with hopes
that England would see them through
their difficulties, and the words of heart
felt thanks they uttered, often upon their
knees in the fields or on the hillsides, and
the childlike messages of anticipatory
gratitude, which they asked me to deliver
to the English people, now bum and
rankle within me like an envenomed
wound.
“The European powers are playing a
farcial representation round the graves
of a Christian people. If conduct similar
to their’s were to be pursued by an in
dividual in private life, it would be visi
ted with social ostracism and would brand
him with an indelible Cain's mark of in
famy. Kancy a man’s neighbor parading
about the doors of his house while he and
his children rush frantically from room
to room and from window to window,
implring them to save them from the de
vouring flames. We have a pity on a rat,
if we hear of its protracted and hopeless
efforts to escape from burning, but men
and women, boys and girls Who are kill
ed piecemeal, are laughed at—that is
what it has come to.
“The governments of Europe are a
spectacle to make angels weep. They
guard the gates of Turkey, so to say,
solemnly declaring that whatever may
happen to the Christians, however dia
bolically they may be tortured to death,
nothing shall happen to the Turks—they
at any rate must and will be preserved
Lors" harm, - U- i* r. the
Turks should Set about fulfilling their
threat of wiping out Armenia In Armen
ian blood? Every one knew that the
threat would be fulfilled. Consuls re
ported to their governments that the de
parture of the European delegates from
Moush would mark the beginning of the
blood bath, and newspapers gave the pro
phesy publicity. Appeals to the public
to insist on precautionary measures were
multiplied, and at last mere verbal warn
ing gave place to unmistakable signs and
preparations, but diplomacy turned a deaf
ear (the Armenians are nobody kith and
kin). Were they Greeks or Bulgarians,
Magymars or Serbs, they would have high
and powerful protectors who tellingly talk
of the primary duty of protecting brothers
and Christians. Even Abysslnians are
brethren and orthodox when political cal
culations come in. But Armenians! and
so none o|‘ these governments insisted on
the explanation or even dismissal of Seek
ki Pasha and the authors of the Sassoun
savagery. Nay, they were decorated and
honored by the sultan, as an encourage
ment to others to go and do likewise. And
now others have gone out and have out-
Heroded Herod, and none seems shocked.
People are only interested to get the
latest news of Sivas or Trebizond, or
wherever the latest massacre has oc
curred, at their breakfast table early. Few
persons take even a remote interest in the
Armenian question on the continent, and
those few are the advocates of Turkey.
The Mustyian press, said to be paid by
the Turkish government, impudently de
nies the Sassoun massacre and accuses
the Armenians of having attempted to
butcher the Kurds and Turks. The Ger
man press is the bearer of the same kind
of culture to its readers, and in both these
countries the public knows positively
nothing about the Armenian question. The
Russian papers, beginning with the No
voya Vremya, cracks Jokes at the Armen
ians and in the last numbers which I
have read, ask: ‘Why should we Rus
sians sacrifice a single soldier for the
sake of Armenian bankers arid million
aires who are much better off than we kra
ourselves, to say nothing of British And
American agitators, who have so cleverly
got up the Armenian comedy.’
"A couple of regiments of British sol
diers or Cossacks is what is wanted. They
would set matters right in a few days.
But even if the whole English speaking
people should arise and demand this,
would it be accepted?”
The next issue of the Contemporary Re
view will contain a long article entitled:
“Armenia: An Appeal,” by Dr. E. J. Dil
lon. of which the following is a synopsis:
“The time has come for every reason
ing person to accept or repudiate his share
of the joint Indirect responsibility of the
British nation for a series of the hugest
and foulest crimes that have ever stained
the pages of human history. The Armenian
people in Anatolia are being exterminated
by Turks and Kurds, by such fiendish
methods as may well cause the most slug
gish blood to boil with shame and indig
nation. , , ,
“The Armenians are not lawless barbari
ans or brigands', nor are the Turks and
Kurds the accredited torch-bearers of civ
ilization, but if it be expedient that the
Armenians should be exterminated, why
chop them up piecemeal? Why must an
honest hard working man be forced to
witness the violation of his daughter and j
then have his hand cut off and stuffed into !
his mouth, while a sermon is being
preached to him on the text: "If your God f
be God, why does he * not succor you?’
Then the other hand is hacked off, his
ears torn off and ills feet severed with a
hatchet. Surely roasting alive, flaying,
disemboweling, impaling and other hor
rors have nothing that can excuse them
in the eyes of Christians, however, deep
ly absorbed on politics. Christians
they are, and from the middle of the fifth
century scarcely a year has elapsed tn
which' Armenian men and women have
not unhesitatingly laid down their lives
for their religious belief. The murdered
of Sassoun. of Van, of Erzeroum, were
Christian martyrs: and any or all of those
whose eyes were gouged out. whose quiv
ering flesh was torn from their bodies,
might have obtained life by embracing
Islam and abjuring Christ. But. instead,
they died like Christian martyrs. Why
is it that our compassion for these, our
fellow men, has not yet assumed the form
of effective help? or reasons of ‘higher
politics.’ The condition of Armenian
Christians when we firsfc interfered (1878)
was deplorable. Laws existed only on pa
per. Mohammedan crimes were punisha
ble only in theory. Russia was willing to
substitute law and order for crime and
chaos, and to guarantee to Christians the
treatment due to human beings. But we
then denied her right to do this, as she
refuses to admit our claim to undertake
it single handed. We said in effect *though
our political interests may clash with
those of Russia, we will see to it that, they
are not subversive of the elementary prin
ciples of human justice and the immutable
law of God.’
“Yet we never took any efficacious step
to fulfil that solemn promise. Our con
suls forwarded exhaustive reports, the
press published heartrending details and
Armenian ecclesiastics presented piteous
appeals. But we pigeon-holed the con
sular reports, pooh-poohed the particu
lars published by the press and ignored
the petitions of the priests. We pressed
a knob, as it were, in London and there
by opened hell’s portals in Asia Minor,
letting loose legions of fiends in human
shape, who set about torturing and ex
terminating the Christians there. And,
lest it should be urged that our, govern
ment was ignorant of the wide-reaching
effects of its ill-advised action, it is on
record that for seventeen years it con
tinued to watch’ the harrowing results of
that action without once interfering to
stop it.
“During all these seventeen years writ
ten law, traditional custom, the fundamen
tal maxims of human and divine justice
were suspended in favor of a Mohamme
dan saturnalia. The Christians, by whose
toll and thrift the empire was held to
gether, were despoiled, beggared, chained,
beaten and banished or butchered. Scores
of Armenians were thrown into prison
and tortured and terrorized until they de
livered up the savings of a lifetime. Whole
villages were sacked. In a few years the
provinces were decimated, Aloghkerd, for
instance, being almost entirely purged of
Armenians. Over 20,000 woe-stricken
wretdhes fled to Russia or Persia. On the
way they were seized over and over again
by soldiers of the sultan, who deprived
them of their little money and clothes,
outraged the women and girls, and then
drove them over the frontier to hunger
and die. Those who remained for a time
behind were no better off. Turkish tax
gatherers followed these, gleaning what
the brigands had left, torturing and flog
ging their male victims, dishonoring their
wives and deflouring their daughters.
"Stories of this kind in connection with
Turkish misrule in Armenia have grown
familiar to English ears of late. It should
be remembered that these statements are
neither rumors nor exaggerations, con
cerning which we are justified in suspend
ing our judgment. History has set its
seal upon them. The Turks have admitted
these and worse acts of savagery; the
Kurds glory in them; trustworthy Euro
peans have witnessed and described them,
and Armenians have groaned over them in
blank despair. Officers and nobles in the
sultan's own cavalry regiments bruit it
abroad with pride, the story of the long
series of rapes and murders which have
marked their official careers.
“In accordance with the plan of exter
mination which has been carried out with
such success during the long years of
Turkish vigor and English sluggishness,
all Armenians who possessed money or
money’s worth were for a time allowed to
buy immunity from prison. But as soon
as terror and confiscation took the place
of extortion, the dungeons of Erezroum,
Erzingham, Marsovan, Hassankaleh and
Van were filled till there was scarcely
standing room. Educated schoolmasters,
missionaries, priests and physicians
were immured in these noisome hot beds
of infection and forced to sleep night after
night standing on their feet, leaning
against the foul, reeking corner of the
wall. Hunger, thirst and slimy water ren
dered their agony maddening. Yet these
were not criminals nor alleged criminals,
but upright Christian men, who were nev
er yet accused of ap intcactlon of the law.
Jr.t<*>tthaae prttons were ca&.f .zenera.vjo
missionaries, teachers, ministers of re
ligion, merchants, physicians and peas
ants.
“Those among them who refused to de
nounce their friends or consent to some
atrocious crime, were subjected to tor
tures indescribable, often occupying days,
while their tormentors laughed and howl
ed in glee.
“Nights were passed in such hellish or
gies and days in inventing new tortures
or refining upon the old. Some of them
cannot be described nor even hinted at
In the homes of these wretched people
the fiendish fanatics were equally active
and successful. Rape and dishonor with
nameless accompaniments menaced al
most every girl and woman in the coun
try. Children were often married at the
age of U, even 10, in the vain hope of
lessening this danger. But the protec
tion of a husband proved unavailing; it
merely meant one murder more, ana one
‘Christian dog’ less, and what astonishes
one throughout this long, sickening story
of shame and crime is the religious faith
of the sufferers.
“Such in broad outline has been the
normal condition of Armenia ever since
the treaty of Berlin, owing at flrfit to
the disastrous action and subsequently
to the equally disastrous inaction of the
British government. The above sketch
contains but a few isolated Instances of
the daily, commonplaces of the life of the
Armenian Christians. The Turks, en
couraged by the seventeen years conlv
ance of the only power which possessed
any formal right to intervene in favor of
the Armenians, organized a wholesale
massacre of the Christians of Sassoun.
The preparations were elaborate and
open. The project was known to and
canvassed by all. A long report was ad
dressed by the Abbott of Moush to the
British representatives at Erzeroum, In
forming him of this inhuman plan. But
international comity forbade us to med
dle with the ‘domestic affairs of a friend
ly power,’ and the massacre took place
as advertised. The rivulets were choked
up with corpses; the streams ran red
with human blood, the forest glades and
rocky caves were peopled with the dead
and the dying; among the ruins of once
prosperous villages lay roasted infants
by their mangled mothers’ corpses; pits
were dug at night by the wretches des
tined to fill them, many of whom
flung in while but lightly wounded, awoke
beneath a mountain or clammy corpses
and vainly wrestled with death and the
dead, who shut them out from the light
and life forever. It was then that our
present ambassador at Constantinople
took action and displayed those remark
able gifts of energy ana industry to which
the prime minister lately alluded with
pride. The British ambassador did his
best, and at last carried the appointment
of a commission of investigation. Yet,
while the commission of Inquiry was still
sitting at Moush, the deeds of atrocious
cruelty which it was assembled to investi
gate were outdone under the eyes of the
delegates. Threats were openly uttered
that on their withdrawal massacres would
be organized all over the country—mas
sacres, it was said, in comparison -with
which the Sassoun butchery would com
pare but as dust in the balance.
"In due time they began. Over sixty
i thouand Armenians have been butch
ered, and the massacres are not quite end
; ad yet. In Trebizond, Erezingham, Has
i sankaleh and numberless other places the
Christians were crushed like grapes dur
ing the vintage. The French mob during
the Terror were men—nay, angels of
mercy—compared with these Turks.
"These are but isolated scenes. The
worst canont be described. And, if it
could be, no description, however vivid,
would convey a true notion of the dread
reality. At most of these manifestations
of bestial passion and rapine the sultan’s
troops in uniform stood by as delighted
spectators, when they did not* actually
take an active part as zealous execution
ers. And these are the Turks whom unan
imous Europe has judged worthy of con
tinuing to govern and guide the Christ
ians of Asia Minor. The sultan under
takes, if a reasonable time be given him,
to re-establish the normal state of things
In Turkish Armenia; and we know that
the normal condition implies the denial
to Christians of the fundamental rights
of human beings, the abolition of wo
manly purity, the disintegration of the
family, the raping of tender children—
in a word, a system of government for
which the history of the world affords
no parallel.
"Yet unanimous Europe we are told,
entertains no doubt that the true inter
ests of Christendom demand that Turk
ish rule should be maintained. It can
not be too clearly stated that what is
I WEEKLY 2-TIMES-A-WEEK $1 A YEAR } 1
< 5 CENTS A COPY. I 1 ('I 6 )
I DAILY, $lO A YEAR. f IM kJ IVA
asked for is not the establishment of an
Armenian kingdom or principality, not a
buffer state,’ not even Christian autono
my in any sense that might render it of
fensive or dangerous to any of the pow
ers of Europe; but only that by some effi
cacious means the human beings who
professed and practiced it there for cen
turies before the Turks or Kurds were
heard of, shall be enabled to live and die
as human beings, and that the unparall
eled crimes of which, for the past seven
teen years, they have been silent victims,
shall speedily and once for all be put a
stop to.
“What serious hope is there that the lot
of the Armenians will be bettered in the
future? Continental jurisconsults have
just given it as their conscientious opin
ion that any special reforms for the
Armenians would necessarily involve a
grave violation of the rights of man and
of the law of God. and the jurisconsults
ought to know. It this be so, the sensi
tive sultan will naturally shrink from
such lawlessness and godlessness, and
piously shelve the reforms. They would
strongly recommend the introduction of
wide reaching reforms for all Turkish
subjects, were it not that insuperable ob
jections render even such a course abso
lutely impossible; for, first, the
powers have no right to in-
terfere in favor of the sultan’s Moham
medan subjects; second, the Turks and
Kurds themselves desire no such reforms,
are in fact opposed to them: and finally
general reforms for all would necessarily
prove as disastrous as special reforms for
Armenian Christians, because the Arme
nians, as the most intelligent and only
self-disciplined element of the popula
tion, would profit by the improvement
,to obtain political preponderance for
themselves. Things had better, therefore,
remain as they are, with the wholesale
butcheries left out; that is to say, the
normal conditions of things must be re
established, which in a very few years
will solve the Armenian question by ex
terminating the Armenians.
“And England, Christian, moral Eng
land, apparently indorses this view.
“If there still be a spark of divinity in
our souls, or a trace of healthy human
sentiment in our hearts, we shall not
hesitate to record our vehement protest
against these hell-born crimes that pol
lute one of the fairest portions of God’s
earth, and our strong condemnation of
any and every line of policy that may
tend directly or Indirectly to perpetuate
or condone them.”
The correspondent of the United Press
at Constantinople sends the following un
der yesterday’s date: “The continuous
publication and circulation of official
falsehoods, together with the barricade
against truth of every avenue of publicity,
has become one of the most dangerous
elements of the political situation at Con
stantinople. Censorship of the Turkish
press exists. Latterly its sole object has
been to suppress facts, and to compel the
publication of ‘editorials’ relative to the
Armenians, which are prepared at the
palace, and of ’telegrams’ written under
physical compulsion by wretched Arme
nian prisoners in the dungeons of Asiatic
Turkey. In reality, the Turkish newspa
pers are thus edited at the palace.
“The result of this use of the press is
that the Mohammedan populace, and even
moderately educated gentlemen at Con
stantinople, find their chief reason for dis
content with the sultan in his failure
to order the destruction of Christians
generally. They suppose that the Arme
nians of Asiatic Turkey have murdered
and pillaged great numbers of Moslems;
that the reserves have been called into
the field to punish and reduce to order
the Armenians; that the European pow
. era PiterveUvd.'tc pre* ■ e’M.' th’; restor
ation ard that the foreig»Wt«*
boats have come the Bosphorus in order
to encourage the Christians in insurrec
tion. The deduction madq,from this mass of
error is that the Christians are preparing
to massacre Moslems, and that therefore
the Moslems must first massacre the
Christians. Unquestionably the object of
this official dissemination of falsehoods,
through cunningly devised communica
tions to the press, has been to inflame the
ignorant and cause the intense excite
ment which has resulted.
“It is now learned that the report that
the Turkish troops had captured the town
of Zeitoun from the insurgent Armeni
ans had its origin in a statement made by
Gen. Mustafa Remiz, who is at Zeitoun.
This report was supported by a telegram
received in Constantinoule from Aleppo,
which not only stated that Zeitoun had
fallen, but gave details of the flight of
many refugees before the Turks regained
possession of the town. Many of these
refugees were said to have fled to Killis,
in a southeasterly direction from Zei
toun, where it was expected that an at
tack would be made upon them by the
Turks.
reports now show that
the city itself has not been taken by
the Turks. The place which is filled with
refugees is invested by the troops. Gen.
Mustafa Remiz, demanded the surrender
of the city and eighteen of the Armenian
notables went outside the fortifications
to treat for a surrender. Ffteen of these
envoys were detained by the Turkish gen
eral, who sent the other three back with
the terms he offered by the surrender of
the place. These terms included the giv
ing up of their arms by the Armenians.
The Armenians from the mountains, who
captured the# city, were willing to ac
cept the terms, but the refugees, who
feared that if the Turke got Inside the
fortifications there would be another mas
sacre, insisted that there be no capitu
lation. Gen Remiz asked for orders from
Constantinople, and yesterday the sultan
issued an irade ordering that a battle be
avoided if there was any chance of pro
cupng the surrender of Zeitoun by other
means.
“The missionaries at Marsovan have
telegraphed to the Hon. A. W. Terrell,
the American minister, declaring that
the guards furnished by the authorities
for their protection are not trustworthy
and that in consequence their lives and
property are in danger.
“Mr. Terrell telegraphed to Milo A.
Jewett, the American consul at Bivas,
instructing him to go to Marsovan if
possible. Yesterday Mr. Jewett replied
that It was impossible for him to leave
Sivas, as an outbreak was threatened at
that place.
“Mr. Terrell then visited the porte,
where his representations resulted in
an order being sent to the military com
mander at Marsovan to substitute regu
lar soldiers for the guard who had been
detailed to protect the Americans.
“The missionaries at Marsovan are Rev.
and Mrs. John F. Smith, Dr. and Mrs.
George F. Herrick, Dr. and Mrs. Charles
C. Tracy, Rev. and Mrs. Edward Riggs,
Rev. and Mrs. George E. White, Miss
Frances C. Gage and Miss Martha A.
King.
“At Sivas are located Rev. Albert W.
Hubbard, Rev. Hy T. Perry and wife and
Miss Mary E. Brewer.”
The Constantinople correspondent of
the Standard telegraphs that M. Neli
doff, the Russian ambassador, had a long
private audience with the sultan on Wed
nesday. He adds that It would cause no
surprise should it be learned that there
is a secret Russo-Turkish treaty. It is
well known in Constantinople that the
so-called concert of the powers consists
of a confused entente between five of
them, while Russia backs Turkey, whose
finances are in a hopeless condition.
Russia, It is said, is now offering a loan
of money to the porte. A Russian syn
dicate which is strongly supported by the
Russian embassy, has applied for a con
cession for a petroleum monopoly, offer
ing therefor the sum of £250,000 yearly.
All the foreign embassies, with the ex
ception of the Russian, are prepared to
strenuously resist the granting of the
monopoly. Turkey’s financial troubles
reached such a pitch last week that the
treasury applied to every province for
£20,000 with which to nay the troops.
Smyrna was the only vilayet which was
able to meet the demand.
Constantinople, Dec. 29.—Several Turks
were arrested here on Friday. It was
charged that they intended to make a
demonstration against the sultan when he
drove from the palace to the mosque to
perform his usual Friday devotions.
Among the prisoners are two clerks who
are employed in the ministry of war and
a clerk in the ministry of the interior.
MONDAYS
/ ■■■■ AND
THURSDAYS
-
A military adjutant was also arrested on
the same charge.
The sultan has presented to the czar
a magnificent pair of horses and a quan
a ttie fi nes t Turkish tobacco. Gen.
Artr Pasha, accompanied by the third
dragoman of the Russian embassy, has
gone to St. Petersburg, where he will
JiJ r ? t? 1 ® gifts over to tne czar. It is said
that Arif Pasha is also entrusted with a
secret mission to the czar. It is evident
that there is a Russo-Turkish rapproach
ment, and this is much commented upon.
CAMPOS TO REMAIN IN CUBA.
He Says He Cannot Resign in the
Face of the Enemy.
Madrid, Dec. 29.—A dispatch to tfce -Im
parcial from Havana confirms the new*
regarding the great constitutional dem
onstration held in that city last night.
The dispatch' says that the eloquent
speech made by Capt. Gen. Campos crea
ted a profound sensation. Referring to
the reports that he intended to resign his
command in Cuba, he declared that what
ever his personal inclinations might be,
it was absolutely impossible for him to
resign in the face of the enemy. The
government was able to replace him, but
the demonstration increased his desire to
annihilate the enemy and improve the
difficult situation.
The dispatch adds that Gen. Pando.
J he Province of Santiago
de Cuba, dispatched a strong force to meet
Jose Maceo, who was reported to be near
Baracba with 400 men. The Spanish
troops met Maceo’s force and completely
them. The insurgents lost fifty
killed and wounded. The rebel camp and
a quantity of provisions were captured.
Ihe Spanish loss was one killed and six
wounded.
A dispatch from Havana to tite Im
parciai says that Gomez and Maceo are
retreating from the Clenfuegos district.
Havana, Dec. 29.—1 tis denied here that
there are any signs of a retrograde move
ment being made by the insurgents who
are near Jaguey Chico, in the southern
part of the province of Matanzas, The
Spanish troops are vainly seeking to bring
about a decisive encounter with them.
The whole country through which the
rebels passed has been devastated by the
torch.
London, Dec. 29.—The Madrid corre
spondent of the .Standard telegraphs that
the cabinet has decided to cable to Capt.
Gen. Campos assuring him that he still*
possesses the confidence of the crown
and the government, and congratulating
him on the constitutional demonstration
that took place Saturday night. The cor
respondent adds that Gen. Campos tele- ’
graphs that the insurgents are retir
ing across the province of Matanzas,
burning the cane fields, but respecting
the mills and buildings on the estates.
He further says that the military out
look has improved during the week.
The Madrid government will not allow
Gen. Campos to grant autonomy in. Cuba
until he has obtained more successes over
the rebels.
BRIT AL WORK BY BLACKS.
f 4
Negrow •Wnrdeyowisly Assault a Gro
ce* >uid His Wife.
Jackson ,Miy<„. pec. J. F. Smith, a
doing a family gro
< t >ry tinwestern suburbs of
Jackson, assaulted last
night by thWpWgroes and left for dead.
They the store about o’clock
for some tobacco on credit. Smith declined
to spll that way and they knocked him in
the head with a coupling pin, cut his throat
and threw him off the gallery. Re-enter
ing the store, they ransacked the cash
drawer, but got nothing, and then went
in his bed room, where Mrs. Smith was
sleeping, choked her into insensibility,
stole a pistol and left.
Smith regained consciousness, gave the
alarm, tola the names of his assailant#
and the police had two wdll known ne
gro toughs by morning, but one scaled the
jail yard wall and escaped in five minutes
after commitment.
The excitement in the neighborhood is
intense and hundreds have visited the
scene. %
Physicians say Smith’s skull is cracked
and that the wound in the throat Is seri
ous, so that his recovery is doubtful.
This is the second assault of this nature
within a month.
WAR STILL OX IX ABYSSINIA.
Lending; Chiefs Renounce the Pro.
posals for Peace.
Rome, Dec. 29.—A dispatch from Mas
sowah, capitol of Eryhtrea, says that the
leading Abyssinian chiefs have held a
council and decided to renounce the pro
posals of peace with the Italians. A vast
Abyssinian party is near Makalle.
The first detachment of reinforcements
sent to the Italian troops after the de
struction of Maj. Toselli’s force at Amba
Aligi, arrived yesterday at Asmara,
about seventy-five miles north of Adlgrat,
where the main body of the Italian
troops now is.
Reports from Kassala, in the north
western ‘part of the province of Tigre,
show that everything is quiet there.
Kassala is a large town that was recently
captured by the Italians from the Derv
ishes, and a few days ago it was reported
that a strong force of Dervishes was
marching toward the Atbara river in the
direction of Kassala, the presumption
being that they were either going to at
tempt the* recapture of that place or at
tack the Abyssinlans.
LONDON’S AMERICAN SOCIETY.
A Meeting Abandoned Because Peace
Is Considered Assured.
London, Dec. 29.—1 t was announced last
week that the American society in Lon
don would hold a meeting to-morrow to
consider a resolution expressing hope and
confidence that the differences between
the United States and Great Britain
would be amicably settled. The society
has now decided that in view of the im
provement in public opinion such a meet
ing is no longer opportune. The meeting
will therefore not be held, the society
being confident that the differences will
be adjusted amicably and honorably to
both nations.
BIG BLMIE AT BENNETTSVILLE.
A Hotel and Three Stores Burned
With Their Contents.
Bennettsville, S. C.. Dec. 29.—This morn
ing at 1 o'clock fire broke out, totally con
suming the Rogers hotel with half its
contents, Mrs. L. Leggs’ store and its
entire contents, John S. Moore's furni
ture store and its contents, Joel Douglas*
drug store and nine-tenths of its con
tents, and damaging the stocks of J. H.
Mitchell and George W. WaddMl, gen
eral merchandise, fully one-half. All the
losses are about coverted by Insurance,
except that of Mrs. Rogers, who had no
insurance. The loss on Mocks and build
ings is about $20,000.
Died Because Not Asked to Dine.
Columbus, 0., Dec. 29.—John C. Kelly of
Mount Sterling Ky., aged 26, committed .
suicide at the Town street house to-day ’
by taking carbolic acid. He left a note
stating that he killed himself because
his aunt, who lives here, did not invite
him to dinner on Christmas day.