Newspaper Page Text
\ ESTABLISHED 1850. )
i J. H. KfeTILL, Editor uud Proprietor. J
WORK BEFORE CONGRESS
THE SENATE WILL ELECT ITS COM
MITTEES TO-DAY.
Little Beyond the Introduction of Bills
Apt to Occur in the Open Sessions
of the Senate this Week—Messages
Making 600 Nominations to be Con
sidered.
Washington, Dec. 11.—The Senate is ex
pected to formally elect its committees to
morrow, thus ratifying the work w hich the
Republicans on their part have already per
formed in caucus, and which the Democrats
will have accomplished before the body is
called to order.
Little besides the introduction of bills is
likely to occur during the remainder of the
week in the open sessions of the Senate.
SIX HUNDRED NOMINATIONS.
The President has before him 365 messages
nominating postmasters alone, all of whom
have been appointed during the recess of
Congress and are already in oftiije, which
messages he will send to the Senate as fast as
he can examine and sign them. Other recess
nominations, sufficient to bring the number
up to about six hundred are exacted during
the w'eek. Daily secret sessions are likely
to occur for thepurpose of reading and re
ferring these, and it is possible that some
of the Cabinet nominations already sent to
the Senate, but not yet laid before the
body, may lie reported for action before the
end of the week.
All the important committees will bold
meetings during the week for the purpose
of organization.
The daily sessions of Senate are likely to
be short ones.
IN THE HOUSE.
Short sittings and long adjournments
may be expected in the House.
The Speaker will appoint the Committee
on Rules within a day or two, and a recess
for two days will probably be taken in or
der to allow that committee on opportunity
to consider and report upon the various
propositions that have already been intro
duced looking to amendments of the former
rules.
Mr. McCreary’s resolution requiring gen
eral appropriation bills to be reported to the
House by committees within sixty days
after their appointment during the long ses
sion will probably be speedily and favorably
reported by the Committee on Rules, and
the discussion following the report may
consume the time of the House for a day or
two. There is also talk of an aggressive
movement by the friends of some of the
House officials recent ly displaced which may
enliven the proceedings during the latter
j .art of the week.
SENATE COMMITTEES.
The Members Who Will be on Them to
Represent the Democracy.
Washington, Dec. 11.—A caucus of
Democrats will be held here to-morrow
morning at 10 o’clock for the purpose of
taking action on the report of the caucus
committee relative to the minority repre
sentation on the committees of the Senate.
Following is a correct list of the Senators
who will represent the Democratic party on
the committees named, except that one or
two changes may be made on committees of
minor importance, such ns the Committee
on the Revision of the Laws:
Appropriations—Messrs. Beck, Cockrell,
Call and Gorman.
Agriculture--Messrs. George, Gibson and
Jones, the old members with Senator Bate
of Tennessee as a probability.
_ To Audit and Control the Contingent Ex
penses of the Senate—Mr. Vance.
Civil Service and Retrenchment—No
change; Messrs. Voorhees. Walthall, Wil
son and Berry.
Commerce—No change; Messrs. Ransom,
Gorman, Kenna and Gibson.
Education and Labor —No change; Messrs.
Call, Pugh, Payne and Walthall.
Engrossed Bills—Messrs. Saulsbury,(chair
man) and Call.
Enrolled Bills—No change: Mr. Colquitt’
To Examine the Several Branches of the
Civil Service—No change; Messrs. Hamp
ton and Gray.
Epidemic Diseases—No change; Messrs.
Harris, Hampton, Eustis and Berry.
Finance—No change; Messrs. Voorhees,
Beck, McPherson, Harris and Vance.
Judiciary—No change; Messrs. Pugh,
Coke, Vest and George.
Library—No change; Mr. Voorhees.
Military Affairs—Messrs. Cockrell, Hamp
ton. Walthall, the old members, with
probably Senator Bate as anew member.
Naval Affairs—Messrs. McPheraon, But
ler and Blackburn, the old members, with
Senator Gray as a j robable new member.
Privileges and Elections—No change;
Messrs. Saulsb-'ry, Vance, Pugh and Eustis.
Public Lands—No change; Messrs. Mor
gan, Cockrell, Walthall and Berry.
of the Laws—No change; Messrs.
Kenna and Wilson.
Railroads—Probably no change; Messrs.
Brown. Kenna. George and Blackburn.
Rules—No change; Messrs. Harris and
Blackburn.
Revolutionary Claims—Mr. Coke, chair
man.
Committee on Private Land Claims—
Mr. Ransom, chairman.
From'the fact that Mr. Beck, of Ken
tucky, is the chairman of the caucus, it
was not thought necessary to give him a
chairmanship in addition.
SELECT COMMITTEES.
Additional Accommodations for the
Library—Messrs. Voorhees, chairman; But
ler and Gibson, the old members.
To Inquire into Claims of Citizens against
Nicaraugu—Messrs, Morgan chairman;
Wilson and some new man.
River Front of Washington—Messrs. Mc-
Pherson, chairman; Ransom and some new
member.
Woman Suffrage—Mr. Cockrell, chair
man; with Mr. Brown and somo new mem
ber. •
Centennial of the Constitution and Dis
covery of America—Messrs. Voorhees, Gor
man and Eustis.
A TARIFF CLINCHER.
The Effect of Free Quinine PointodOut
by Mr. McKenzie.
Washington, Dec. 11.—Ex-Representa
tive McKenzie of Kentucky, who put
through the bill putting quinine on the free
list, thinks the effect of that act is good
argument in favor of free raw
materials. The protectionist critics of
the President’s recommendations allege that
itie effects of free trade would bo: First, to
Oisturb, and pissibly destroy our home in
dustries, by flooding the country with the
product of the paujier labor of Europe; and
second, to increase the prices
m the products in question after crushing
mil our manufacturers. Now, as Mr. Mc-
Kenzie points out whereas there were three
factories in this country manufacturing
quinine when this bill became a iaw, there
ate now fifteen, and the product never was
80 good, while prices never were so cheap.
Claims of Postmasters.
Washington, Dec. 11.—The committee
of the third and fourth class postmasters js
here trying to impress on Congress the
justice of their claim that they should be
adowed office rent and other expenses.
(jjf/
DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF.
Pennsylvania Railroad Officials in a
Bad Muddle.
Philadelphia, Dec. 11.—The Record to
morrow will say: “Information comes from
the main office of the Pennsylvania Rail
road Company that disagreement or di
vision has arisen among the managers of
that corporation relative to the question of
what are known as drawbacks or rebates.
It is said that President Roberts has de
clared his determination to have the system
abolished, and that as a preliminary step he
has recently caused a list to be made
of all persons, firms and corporations
who have had allowances made to them
during the past fiscal year by the company.
It is also stated that the efforts of the
President to accomplish his purpose has met
with opposition upon the port of other man
agers. Asa result of this an interesting
contest has arisen withiu the inner circle of
the management of the road. Information
is given out, that rebates and drawbacks
are not known by those titles now.
but that they are expressed
by such phrases as allowances
and terminal charges. It is also said that
recent suits for damage brought bv oil pro
ducing and shipping firms has had consid
erable to do with this action upon the part
of the President of the company. Inform
ation relative to the inside workings of the
corporation has been given to its
enemies, and armed with this ship
pers all over the country who have
been discriminated against have begun ac
tion against the corporation. Suits aggre
gating about $1,000,000 for alleged discrimi
nation have already been begun, and there
is no telling when they will end or what po
sition the company will be placed in should
they be pushed to a conclusion.
PENNSYLVANIA’S LICENSE LAW.
Saloon Keepers Having Hard Work to
Secure Bondsmen.
Philadelphia, Dec. 11.—The new high
license law passed by the last Legislature
promises to drive out the liquor business,
not only those who cannot afford to pay a
SSOO license fee, but also many wealthy
dealers who will And it impossible to secure
the necessary bondsmen to become respon
sible for their faithful compliance with the
law. Up to the close of business yesterday
only 350 applications for licenses for
next year had been filed with
the Clerk of the Court of Quarter
Sessions. This is considered a small number
in view- of the fact that there are about
6,000 saloons in the city. Dealers are ex
periencing no end of trouble iu obtaining
two bondsmen who are willing to take upon
themselves the responsibility attached to
those who become sureties for tavern keep
era. Such bondsmen will each become
responsible in the sum of $2,000 for the pay
ment of all fines, penalties or damages that
may be levied upon a dealer for any viola
tion of the laws governing the sale of liquor.
In attaching their names to the bond thd
sureties also give power of attorney to the
District Attorney to confess judgment in
the sum named for the recovery of all dam
ages, costs, fines and penalties, etc.
PLYMOUTH’S PULPIT.
Rev. Berry Causes a Sensation by De
clining the Pastorate.
New York, Dec. IL—The small congre
gation present at Plymouth Church, in
Brooklyn, this morning, was unpleasantly
surprised by Rev. Dr. Lyman Abbott’s an
nouncement from the pulpit that Rev.
Charles A. Berry, of Wolverhampton, Eng.,
had declined the call extended to him by
Plymouth Church. After lengthy prefatory
remarks, in which he deplored the announce
ment he had to make, Dr. Abbott en
lightened the audience, not half a dozen of
whom knew what was coming, by reading
the following cablegram:
To Professor Rossiter W. Raymond:
Charles Albert Berry greets Plymouth, appre
ciates its confidence, reciprocates its affection,
prays for its prosperity, but cannot accept tbe
pastorate. Home claims are inexorable; duty
here commands. Letter mailed you God bless
and guide you.
The announcement was ail unforeseen
blow, ami much excitement followed. Sev
eral ladies in the congregation gave way to
their feelings iu tears.
SOCIALISTS ON TOP.
A Resolution Passed Declaring a Boy
cott on Milwaukee Beer.
New York, Dec. 11.—The Socialist pro
gressive element was topmost at tbe meet
ing of the Central Labor Union to-day, its
adherents succeeding at length in ad
mitting the Progressive Musical Union,
which had been opposed by the
Knights of Labor and Carl Saha
Club. A resolution boycotting Milwaukee
beer was passed unanimously. This action
was taken at the instance of the Brewers
Union fry the purpose of helping the
brewers’ workmen in M’lwaukoe, who have
struck or been locked out. The resolution
declared that workmen “had been slapped
in their faces by insolent money hag bosses,”
and that, therefore, they should be pun
ished. The resolution and the action there
on is ordered sent to all the Central Labor
unions.
AN ACCOUNTING WANTED.
The Executive Board of the Knights of
Labor Must Report.
Philadelphia, Dec. 11.—A meeting of
representative men from nearly all the local
assemblies of the Knights of was held
to-day at which resolutions were adopted
recommending that all local asseblies make
a demand upon the General Executive Board
for an itemized account of all the expendi
tures made by that body during the past
year, so that they may know where and how
$500,000 was disbursed.
If the General Executive Board should
fail or decline to render such account, it is
proposed to compel it to do so by law.
The Committee on Elections.
Washington, Dec. 11.—Npoal/er Carlisle
will ask the House to-morrow to appoint
the Committee on Elections for this present
Congress. He will not suggest any special
way of appointing it. He will call Mr.
Crisp, of Georgia, to the chair, and let the
House select the committee just as it
(ileuses. He is making good progress with
the other committees. They will all be
ready before the Christmas recess.
A Second McGlynn.
Newark, N. J., Dec. 11.—Rev. Hugh K.
Pentecost this morning resigned his position
ns pastor of the Belleville Avenue Congre
gational church, of this city. His promi
nence in the labor movement, and his can
didacy for Mayor of the city on that ticket
at the last'charter election, as well as his
utterances in regard to the Chicago An
archists, had estranged him from some mem
bers of his congregation.
Colquitt on Temperance.
New York, Dec. 11.—Senator A. H. Col
quitt, of Georgia, addressed the American
Temperance union at Chickering Hall to
day. lie emphatically declared that prohi
bition was not dead in Georgia, despite its
recent defeat, and he was equally sure there
would be no compromise in his State.
SAVANNAH, GA., MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1887.
PROF. ORR DEAD.
Overwork Terminated in Congestion
of tba Brain.
Atlanta, Ua., Dec. H. —After a long
illness from which recovery was hopeless,
Gustavus J. Orr, State School Commis
sion, died at 11 o’clock this morning. He
was first affected with nervous prostration
from overwork, which terminated in con
gestion of the brain. Dr. Orr was born in
Anderson county, South Carolina, 1819, but
his family soon after moved to Jackson
county, Georgia. He entered the State
University in 1841, in the times of T. R. K.
Cobb, Samuel Hall, Joseph Leconte, Linton
11. Stephens, Jabez L. M. Curry, H. H.
Hill and others since distinguished.
When a senior he would have graduated
with first honor, but a porsoual difficulty
caused his expulsion, and the first honor
place fell to Ben Hill. He graduated at
Emory College in 1844 with the second
honors. With the exception of a brief period
his whole life has been devoted to the cause
of education, and after graduation ho taught
school in Jackson county, and tnen at Cov
ington; from 1849 to 1866 he filled the chair
of mathematics at Emory College. In the
winter of 1859 he was appointed by Gov.
Brown, Surveyor on the part of
Georgia for the boundary line between
Georgia and Florida, settling finally what
had bean an open question since tbe acquisi
tion of Florida. From 1867 to 1870 ho was
I ’resident of the Masonic Female College at
Covington. In 1870 Oglethorpe University
was moved from Milledgoville to Atlanta,
and Prof. Orr was elected to the Chair of
Mathematics, which he filled until the uni
versity was abandoned two years later. In
1872 be was appointed State School Commis
sioner bv Gov. Smith,succeeding Gen. Lewis,
of the Bullock administration. This position
he held at the time of his death. He was
wrap,sal up in his office, and faithful and
efficient in the discharge of its duties.
Since it was known nearly a week ago
that Professor Orr could not recover, a
number of applications for the vacancy,
should it occur, have been filed in the exec
utive office. It is pretty well understood
to-night, however, the appointment wiil be
tendered Judge James S. Hook, of Augusta.
The office has a salary of $2,000 and a
clerk, and the term follows the Governor’s.
SOUTH CAROLINA LEGISLATURE.
The High Country Gettln the Best of
the Low Country.
Columbia, Dec. 11.—The week just
closed has witnessed a Waterloo for the low
country interests of South Carolina. From
time immemorial there has a! wajs pre
vailed among a certain class of people in
upper Carolina an intense and very bitter
feeling against their fellow-citizens of the
coast country, and especially against
Charleston. Ever since 1876 this element
has been increasing in strength in the
General Assembly, and the sentiment has
found expression in various ways. The
great cause of c omplaint is the very natural
influenco exercised by Charleston in the
General Assembly. Somo of the more ig
norant ot the up-country section ascribe it
to the number of Representative- allowed
to Charleston. It should be mentioned that
prior to the division of Charleston into two
counties, she had seventeen Representa
tives and two Senators. After the creation
of Berkeley county, Charleston's representa
tion was reduced to twelve members, but the
two Senators were retained. The present
apportionment was based on the State cen
sus of 1875. Soon after the Democrats came
in power the cry was raised that Charleston
had too many Representatives, and year
after year efforts were made to get a reap
portionment, but always without success.
To make an enumeration of the inhabitants
would cost from $60,000 to $75,01X1. and the
“economics,” as they are called, while
anxious to stab the metropolis of the State
in its back, were unwilling to spend the
money to do it in a constitutional way.
THE LOW COUNTRIES LOSE.
So after mauy defeats they secured the
passage of an amendment to the constitu
tion, which was adopted by a popular vote,
and by which the Legislature was given tbe
power “to dispense with an enumeration,
and to base future apportionments upon
the last preceding United States census.
The bill which passod the House last Friday
makes a reapportionment on the basis of
the United States census of 1880. Under it
the low country loses seven Representatives,
of which four are taken from Charleston,
and the upper country gains seven.
It was said by a member during the discus
sion that tlie up-country Representatives
were wrong in attributing Charleston’s in
fluence iu the Legislature to the number of
her Representatives. “That influence,” lie
said, “is due rather to the character of the
men she sends here.” It was a palpable hit,
but it did not avert the defeat. It was also
urged that to take the census of 1880 was to
do an injustice to Charleston, as her popula
tion had very largely increased since then,
but this consideration also -failed. The bill
was carried by a majority of 3. which noth
ing could break.
A SECOND BLOW AT THE LOW COUNTRY.
The other severe blow to the low country
was in the defeat of the phosphate bill in
the Senate on Wednesday lest. The scope
of this bill has already been published in
the columns of the Morning News. It is
admitted that the phosphate interests are
languishing owing to the over-production,
and that unless some such relief as was pro
posed by this bill was afforded their would
be trouble, and serious trouble. The Sen
ate, after discussing it for one day,
indefinitely postponed the mea-ure by
a vote of 17 to 16. The bill, however,
is still before the House, and if it can pass
that body the fight may be renewed in the
Senate.
These are about the only two measures
that have been disposed of during the week,
the remainder of the legislative work being
devoted to tinkering at existing laws and
the passage of county measures.
The news comes from Charleston of a
serious holt in the Democratic ranks, and
the political situation there looks gloomy
enough. However serious a blow may be
inflicted by the success ot independentismin
the coming election there is consolation in
the fact that the persons who are put up for
office are well known and responsible citi
zens.
Killed by an Electric Shock.
Cincinnati, Dec. 11.—James O’Connell,
stage manager of Charles Andrews’ Michael
Strogoff Combination, was struck dead by
an electric current Vbich came down the
hell wire when he rang down the curtain at
Robinson’s Theatre this evening. He was
26 years old. Miss Collins, whom he was to
marry, was almost heart-broken by tbe
event.
Frisco War-ta a Conversion,
Ban Francisco, Doc. 11.—The State
Democratic Club has decided to appoint a
special committee to go to Washington and
endeavor to obtain the support of promi
nent Democrats in the movement to hold
the National Democratic Convention in this
city. Two members of this club will start
East on this mission at once.
Three Killed In a Collision.
Btaunton, Va., T>ec. It.—Two freight
trains collided on the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad to-day. near Clifton Forge. Three
men were killed, one of whom was Con
ductor Fry. Both trains were wrecked.
ADOABOUTSM ALL THINGS
GUIDES WHICH STRAIN AT A GNAT
AND SWAoLOW A CAMEL.
Rev. Talmage Preaches on a Proverb
from Matt hew-Ministers Who are
Photographed In the Text—Financiers
Who Come Under the Ban -Thou
sands Are Hit by the Comparison.
Brooklyn, Dec. 11. —To-night the Rev.
T. Do Witt Talmage, D.D., preached at the
Tabernacle, this city, on “Too Much Ado
About Small Things.” His-text was:'“Ye
blind guides, which strain at a gnat and
swallow a camel” Matthew xxiii; 24. The
eloquent preacher said:
A proverb is compact wisdom, knowledge
in chunks, a library in a sentence; the
electricity of many clouds discharged in one
bolt, a rivet put through a mill race. When
Christ quotes the proverb of the text, He
means to set forth the ludicrous belmvior of
those who make a great bluster about small
sins and have no appreciation of great ones.
In my text a small insect and a large
quadruped are brought into comparison—a
gnat and a camel You have in museum
or on the desert seen the latter, a meat awk
ward, sprawling creature, with back two
stories high, and stomach having a collec
tion of reservoirs for desert travel, an ani
mal forbiddeu to the Jews as food, and in
many literatures entitled “the ship of the
desert.” The; gnat spoken of in the text is
in the grub form. It is born in pool or pond,
after a few weeks becomes a chrysalis, and
then after a few days becomes the gnat ns
we recognize it. But the insect spoken of
in the text is in its very smallest shape, and
it yet inhabits the water—for my text is a
misprint and ought to read “strain out a
gnat.”
My text shows you tbe prince of inconsis
tencies. A man after long observation has
formed the suspicion that in a cup of water
he s about to drink, there is a grub or the
grandparent of a gnat. He goes and gets a
sieve or strainer. He takes the water
and pours it through the sieve in
the broad light. He says, “I
would rather do anything almost
than drink this water until this larva be ex
tirpated.” This water is brought under in
quisition, Tbe experiment is successful.
The water rashes through a sieve and leaves
against the side of the sieve the grub or
gnat. Then the man carefully removes the
insect and drinks the water iu placidity.
But going out one day, and hungry, he de
vours a “ship of the d’sert,” the camel,
which the Jews are forbidden' to eat. The
gastronomer has no compunctions of con
science. He suffers from no indigestion.
He puts the lower jaw under the camel’s
forefoot, and his upper jaw over the
hump of the camel’s back, and gives
one swallow and the dromedary
disappears forever Ho strained out a
gnat, be swallowed a camel.
While Christ’s audience were vet. smiling
at the appositeness and wit of His illustra
tion —for smile they did in church, unless
they were too stupid to understand the hy
perbole—Christ practically said to them:
“That is you.” Punctilious about small
things; reckless about affairs of great mag
nitude. No subject ever withered under a
surgeon’s knife more bitterly’than the Phar
isees under Christ’s scalpel of truth. As an
anatomist will take a human body to pieces,
and put them under a miscroscope for ex
amination, so Christ finds His way to the
heart of the dead Pharisee, and cutis it out,
and puts it under the glass of inspection for
all generations to examine. Those Phari
sees thought that Christ would flatter them
nnd compliment them, and how they must
have writ tied under the red-hot words as Ho
said: “Ye fools! ye whited sepulchres! ye
blind guides, which strain out a gnat and
swallow a camel.”
There are in our day a great many gnats
strained out and a great many camels swal
lowed, and it is the object of this sermon to
sketch a few persons who are extensively
engaged in that business.
First. I remark that all those ministers
of the Gospel are photographed in the text
who are very scrupulous about the conven
tionalities of religion, but put, no particular
stress ur*m matters of vast importance.
Church services ought to be grave and .sol
emn. There is no room for frivolity in re
ligious convocation. But there are illus
trations and there are hyperboles like that
of Christ in the text, that will irradiate
with smiles any intelligent auditory. There
are men like those blind guides of the text,
who advocate only those things in religious
service which draw the corners or the
mouth down, and denounce all those things
w’hich have a tendency to draw the corners
of the mouth up, and these men will go to
installations and to presbyteries, and to
conferences, and to associations, their
pockets full of fine sieves to strain out the
gnats, while in their own churches at home
every Sunday, there are fifty
people sound asleep. They make
their churches a great dormitory, and
their somniferous sermons are a cradle, and
the drawled-out hymns a lullaby, while
some wakeful soul in a pew with her fan
keeps the flies off unconscious persons ap
proximate. Now, I say it is worse to sleep
in church than to smile in church, for the
latter implies at least attention, while the
fotmer implies the indifference of the
hearers and the stupidity ot the speaker. In
old age, or from physical infirmity, or from
long watching with the sick, drowsiness
will sometimes overpower one; but when a
minister of the Gospel looks off upon an
audience and finds healthy and intelligent
people struggling with drowsiness, it is
time for him to jfivo out the doxology or
pronounce the hWiediction. The great fault
of church services to-day is not too much
vivacity, but too much somnolence. The
one is an irritating gnat thut may be easily
strained out; the other is a great, sprawling
and sleepy-eyed camel of the dry desert. In
all our Sabbath schools, in ail our Bible
classes, in all our pulpits, we need to
brighten up our religious messages with
sogn Christ-like vivacity os we find in the
text.
I take down from my library the biog
raphies of ministers and writers of past
ages, inspired and uninspired, who have
done the most to bring souls to Jesus Christ,
and 1 find that without a single exception
they consecrated their wit and their humor
to Christ. Elijah used it when he ndvi .-d
the Baalites, as they oouid not make their
god respond; telling them to call louder ns
their god might be sound Asleep or gone a
hunting. Job used it when fie said to his
self-conceited comforters, “Wisdom will die
with you.” Christ not only used it in the
text, nut when He ironically complimented
the putrefied Pharisee*, saying, “The whole
need not a physician,” and when by one
word He described tbe cunning of Herod,
saying, “Go ye, and tell that fox.!’ Matthew
Henry’s commentaries from the first
page to the last are coruscated with
humor as summer clouds with
heat, lightning. John Bunyan’s writings
are as full or humor as they are of saving
truth, ami there is not an aged man here
who has ever read “Pilgrim's Progress” who
does not remember that while reading it he
smiled as often as he wept. Chrysostom,
George Herbert, Robert South, John Wes
ley, George Whitelield, Jeremy Taylor,
Rowland Hill, Nettle-ton, George G. Fin
ney, and all the men of the past who
greatly advanced the kingdom of God con
secrated their wit and their humor to the
causo of Christ. So it has been in all the
ages, and I say to these young theological
students, who cluster in these services Sab
bath by Sabbath, sharpen your wits as
keen as scimitars, and then take them iuto
this holy war.
It is a very short bridge between a smile
and a tear, a suspension bridge from eye to
lip, ami it is soon crossed over, and a smile
is sometimes just its snored us a tear. There
Is ns much religion, and I think a little
more, in aspring morning than in a starless
night. Religious work without any humor
or wit in it is a banquet with a side of beef,
and that raw, and no condiments, and no
dessert succeeding. People will not sit down
at suidi n banquet. Bv all means remove all
frivolity nnd ail bathos anil all lightness and
all vulgarity—strain them out through tile
sieve of holy discrimination; but, on the
other hand, beware of that monster which
overshadows the Christian church to-day,
conventionality, coining up from the Great
ISuhara Desert of Eeelesiastieism, having on
its back a hump of sanctimonious gloom,
und vehemently refuse to swallow that
camel
Oh, how particular a great, many people
are aliout the infinitesimals while they are
quite reckless about the magnitudes What
did Christ say* Did He not excoriate the
people in His time who were so careful to
wash their hands before a meal, hut did not
wash their hearts! It is a bad thing to
have unclean hands; it is a worse thing to
have an unclean heart. How many people
there are in our time who are very "anxious
that after their death they shall be buried
with their feet toward the east, and not at
all anxious that during their whole life
they should face in the right direction so
that they shall come up in the resurrection
of the just whichever way they are buried.
How many there are chiefly anxious that a
minister of the Gospel shall come in the
line of apostolic succession, not caring so
mgeh whether he conies from Apostle Paul
or Apostle Judas. They have a way of
measuring a gnat until"it is larger than a
camel
Again, my subject photographs all those
who are abhorrent of small sins while they
are reckless m regard to magnificent thefts.
You w’ill find many a merchant who whilo
he is careful that he would not take a yard
of cloth or a spiel of cotton from the coun
ter without paying for it, and who, if a
bank cashier should make a mistake and
send in a roll of bills live dollars too much,
would dispatch a messenger in hot haste to
return the surplus, yet who will go into a
stock company, in which after awhile he
gets control of the stock, and then waters
the stock and makes one hundred thousand
dollars appear like two hundred thousand
dollars. Ho only stole one hundred thousand
dollars by the operation. Many of the men
of fortune made their wealth in that way.
One of those men, ongnged iu such unright
eous acts, that evening, the evening
of the very day wlieu he watered
the stock, will find a whurf-rat
stealing a newspaper from the basement
doorway, and will go out and catch the
urchin by the collar, and twist tbe collar
so tightly the poor fellow cannot say that
it was thirst for knowledge that lod him to
the dishonest act, but grip the collar tighter
and tighter, saying, “I have been looking
for you a long while; you stole my paper
four or five times, haven’t you? you miser
able wretch.” And then the old stock
gambler, with a voice they can hear three
blocks, will cry out, “Police! police!” That
same man, the evening of the day in which
he watered the stock, will kneel with his
family in pravors and thank God for the
prosiH’i’ity of the day, then kiss his children
good-night with an air which seems to say,
“1 hope you will all grow up to be its good
as your father.” Prisons for sins insectlle
in size, but palaces for crimes dromedarian.
No mercy for sins animalcule in projior
tion, but great leniency for mastodon in
iquity. A poor boy siily takes from the
basket of a market woman a choke pear—
saving someone else from the cholera—and
you smother him in the horribleatmosphere
of Raymond street jail or New York
Tombs, while his cousin, who has been skill
ful enough to steal fifty thousand dollars
from the city, you will make him a candi
date for the New York Legislature!
There is a great deal of uueaslness anil
nervousness now among some people in out;
time who have gotten unrighteous fortunes,
u groat deal of nervousness about dynamite.
I tell them that God will put under their
unrighteous fortunes something more ex
plosive than dynamite, the earthquake of
His omnipotent indignation. It is time that
we learn in America that sin is not inex
cusable in proimrtion as it declares large
dividends and has outriders in equipage.
Many a man is riding to perdition postilion
ahead—lackey behind. To steal one copy of
a newspaper is a gnat; to steal many thous
ands of dollars is a camel. There is many a
fruit dealer who would not consent to steal
a basket of peaches from a neighbor’s stall,
but who would not scruple to depress the
fruit market; and as long as I can remember
we have heard every summer the peaoh crop
of Maryland is a failure, and by the time the
crop comes in the misrepresentation makes
a difference of millions of dollar! . A man
who would not steal one peach basket steals
fifty thousand peach basKets. Go down iu
the summer time into tbe Mercantile Li
brary, in the reading-rooms, aud see the
newspaper reports of the crops from all
parts of the country, and their phraseology
is very milch the same, and the same men
wrote them methodically and infamously
carrying out tbe huge lying about the grain
crop from year to year and for a score of
years. After a while there will lie a “cor
ner” in the whoat market, aud mon who hud
a contempt for a petty theft will burglarize
the wheat bin of a nation and commit lar
ceny upon the American corn-crib And
some of the men will sit in churches and in
reformatory institutions trying to strain out
the small gnats of’ scoundrelism, while iu
their grain elevators anil their storehouses
they are fattening huge camels which they
expect after a whilo to swallow. Society
has to be entirely reconstructed on this sub
ject. We are to find that a sin is inexcusa
ble in proportion as it is great.
I know in our time the tendency is to
charge religious frauds upon good men
They say, "Oh, what a cla-s of frauds you
have in the Church of God in this day,”
anil when an elder of a church, or a deucon,
or a minister of the Gospel, or a superin
tendent of a Sabbath school turns out a de
faulter, what display heads there are In
many of the newspapers. Great primer
type. Five-line pica. “Another Saint Ab
sconded.” “Clerical Hcoundrelism,” “Re
ligion at a Discount,” “Shame on the
Churches,” while there are a thousand
scoumlrels outside thechurch to where there
is one inside the church, and the misbe
havior of those who never see the inside of
a church is so great it is enough to tempt a
man to liecomo a Christian to get out of
their company. But in all circles, religious
and irreligious, the tendency is to excuse
.sin in proportion as it is mammoth. Even
John Milton in hjs “Paradise Lout,” while
he condemns Satan, gives such a grand
description of him you have hard work to
suppress your admiration. Oh, this strain
ing out of small sins like gnats, and this
gulping down great iniquities like camels.
This subject does not give the picture of
one or tw o persons, blit is a gal lory in which
thousands of people may see their likeness.
For instance, i II those people who, whffe
they would not rob their neighbor of a
farthing, appropriate the money and the
treasure of the public. A man lias a house
to sell, and tolls his customer it is worth
twenty thousand dollars. Next day the
assessor comes around the owner sa,vs it is
j worth fifteen thousand dollars. Tho gov
[ eminent of the United States took off tho
j tax from personal income, among other
reasons because so few people would tell the
truth, and many a man with an income of
hundreds of dollars a day made statements
which seemed to imply he was about to be
handed over to the overseer of the poor.
Careful to pav their passage from Liverpool
to Mew York, yet smuggling in their Sara
toga trunk ten silk dresses from Paris and a
half dozen watches from Genova, Switzer
land, telling the custom house officer on the
wharf, “There is nothing in that trunk but,
wearing apparel,” and putting a live dollar
gold piece in his hand to punctuate the
statement.
Described in the text are all those who
nre pa f ieular never to break the law of
grammar, and who want ali their language
an elegant specimen of syntax, straining
out ali the inaccuracies of speech with a
fine sieve of literary criticism, while through
tlie.r conversation go slander and innuendo,
and profnnity and falsehood larger than a
whole caravan of camels, when they might
better fracture every law of the language
and shock intellectual taste, and better let
every verb seek in vain for its nominative,
and every noun for its government, and
every proposition lose its way in the sen
tence, and adjectives and participles, and
pronouns get into a grand riot worthy of
the Fourth ward on election day than to
commit a moral inaccuracy. Better swal
low a thousand gnats than one camel.
Such persons are also described in the
text, who are very much alarmed about the
small faults of others, and have no alai in
about their own great transgressions. Thore
are in every community and in every
church, watch dogs who feel called upon to
keep their eyes on others and growl. They
are full of suspicions. They wonder if that
man is dishonest, if that man is not unclean,
if there is not something wrong about the
other man. They are always the first
to hear of anything wrong.
Vultures are always the first to
smell carrion. They are self-appointed de
tectives. I lay this down as a rule without
any exception, that those people who have
the most faults themselves are most merciless
in their watching of ot,hoi's. From scalp of
head to sole of foot they are full of jeal
ousies and hypereriticisms. They spend
their life in hunting for muskrats and mud
turtles instead of hunting for llocky moun
tain eagles, always for something mean in
stead of something grand. They look at
their neighbors’ imperfections through a
microscope, and look at their own imperfec
tions through a telescope upside down.
Twenty faidts of their own do not hurt
them so much as one fault of somebody
else. Their neighbors’ imperfections are
like gnats and they strain thorn out; their
own imperfections are like camels and they
swallow them.
But lest some might think they escape the
scrutiny of the text, I have to tell you that
we all come under the divine satire when we
make the questions of time more prominent
than the questions of eternity. Come now,
let us go into the confessional. Are not all
tempted to make the question, Where shall
I live now! greater than the question,
Where shall t live forever? How shall I
get more dollars here? greater than the ques
tion, How shall I lay up treasures In lieav
on? tne question, How shall I pay my
debts to man? greater than the question,
How shall I meet my obligations to God?
the questi on, How shall I gain the world,
greater than the question, What if 1 lose
my soul? tho question, Why did God let sin
come into the world? greater than the ques
tion How shall I get it extirpated
from my nature? the question,
What shall I do with the twenty, or forty,
or seventy years of my sublunar existence?
greater than the question, What shall I do
with the millions of cycles of my poet-ter
restrial existence? Time, how small it is!
Eternity, how vast it isi The former more
insignificant in comparison with tho latter
than a gnat is insignificant when compared
with a camel. We dodged the text. We
said. “That doesn’t mean me, and that
doesn’t moan me," and with a ruinous
benevolenoe we are giving the whole sermon
away.
But let us all surrender to the charge.
What an ado about things here. What
poor preparation for a great eternity. As
though a minnow were larger than a behe
moth. as though a swallow took wider cir
cuit than un albatross, as though a nettle
were taller than a I<ebanon cedar, as
though a gnat were greater than a camel, as
though a minute were longer than acentury,
as though time were higher, deeper, broader
than eternity. Bo the text which flashed
with lightning of wit as Christ uttered it,
is followed by tho crashing thunders of
awful catastrophe to those who make the
qnestions of time greater than the ques
tions of the future, the oncoming, over
shadowing future. O eternity! eternity!
eternity!
A FLOOD IN THE ALABAMA.
Driftwood Carries Away a Span of a
Railroad Bridge.
Montgomery, Ala., Dec. 11.—Heavy
rains during the last few days have caused
a rapid rise in tfje Alabama river. The rail
road bridge of the Louisville fe, Nashville
road, four miles north of this city, has for
some weeks lioen undergoing process of com
plete rebuilding. This morning about 11
o'clock tho draw span was swept away by
driftwood braking down the falsework un
derneath. Trains northward and southward
are compelled to transfer by boat. A car
penter employed on the bridge, and who was
trying to break the force of tbe driftwood,
was swept off and drowned.
BREWERIES A NUISANCE.
The Prohibition Law In Kansas to bo
Enforced with Vim.
Topeka, Kan., Dec. 11.—Judge Brewer,
of the United States Circuit Court, yester
day issued a decree declaring the Walruff
brewery at Lawrence a common nuisance,
and directing tbe United States Marshal to
shut it up and abandon it. The decree also
perpetually enjoins the brewery from manu
facturing or selling any intoxicating
liquors. This is the first brewery that has
been declared a nuisance under the prohibi
tory law of Kansas, and the decree Is in ac
cordance with the late decision of the
U nit* id States Supreme Court on the pro
hibition question.
Boycotting Coal Companies.
Philadelphia, Dec. 11.—The Building
Trades Council of this city, which has a
membsrthiaof about 24,000, has decided to
take up tho boycott in defense of the strik
ing anthracite coal miners. A committee
has been appointed to canvass the entire
city and ascertain just wiiat dealers handle
coal mined by the companies holding out
against the demands of the men.
North Carolina’s Apostolic.
Baltimore, Dec. 11.—A dispatch from
Rome to Cardinal Gibbons announces the
appointment of Rt. Rev. Lee Haid as Vicar
Apostolic of North Carolina. He is now
abbot of St. Mary’s Abbey in Gaston county,
North Carolina, a monastery controlled by
the Benedictine order.
Bismarck’s Dyspepsia.
Berlin, Dec. 11.—Prince Bismarck is
suffering from indigestion and nervous
headache.
Count Herbert Bismarck has arrived at
Friedrichsruha
(PniCEftlOA YEAR. >
\ uiiivie a cm* ~
FERRY'S LIFE IN BANGER.
HIS CONDITION AT MIDNIGHT WAS
SERIOUS.
His Condition During the Day was Fe
verish His Assailant a Crank Whose
Mind Has Been Unbalanced by Rs
pea ted Reverses In Life-Tenor of the
Editorials.
Paris, Nov. 11.—M. Ferry was feverish
to-day, and it is feared his wounds will lie
aggravated. He spent a feverish night, but
was able to rise this morning. He has re
ceived thousands of cards and letters, and
Senators and Deputies of all parties have
called at his residence and signed the regis
ter. Aubertin, when examined by the Judge
d’lnstruction, declared that he was an
anti-ltevolutionist. He said he was sorry he
had not killed M. Ferry, and expressed the
hope that others would be more successful.
Aubertin, the would-be assassin of M.
Ferry, is the author of various pamphlets
and the inventor of soveral machines, tbe
failure of which has reduced him to deep
poverty, embittered his life and brought on
occasional attacks of insane exaltation of
mind.
Radical organs declare that the nwn is a
crank, ns political assassination is held to be
Inexcusable by the Radicals.
The Journal (lax Debate and Republican
Francaine. charge the “demagogue press’*
with inciting Aubertin, and they demand a
new press law to modify the act of 1881.
Aubertin promises to reveal the names of
his accomplices on Tuesday if the gang does
not attempt to assassinate some of the mem
bers of the Rouvier Cabinet before that day.
HIS CONDITION LESS FAVORABLE.
Paris, Dec. 12, 12:10 a. m.— The condi
tion of M. Ferry is now less favorable.
MORE SHOOTING PREDICTED.
During his examination Aubertiu said:
“On Tuesday Charles Ferry and Gen.
Perron will lie assassinated.” In Aubertin'*
pockethook was found a note of the day’s
programme he hail written. It said: “I
shall send in Hervee’ card. That will briug
the secret agent of the Orleans family rush
ing toward mo."
After shooting M. Ferry, Aubertin
shouted: “I am a Lorrainer. lhavo avenged
Lorraine and am satisfied.”
The prisoner appears to be impecunious.
He tried to borrow money to go to Ver
sailles during Congress, his intention being
to shoot M. Ferry if tho latter were elected
President.
A DANGEROUS LUNATIC.
A number of copies of M. Ferry’s paper,
La Rtpubliq.t Francaim , were found an
notated and marked in Aubertin’* garret in
the Palais Royal, where he lived with an
elderly woman wno had sunk her fortune
on his numerous schemes to make money.
Auhertin’s tether was a file-maker
at Rom bach. Ho failed in business and
hanged him self. Aubertin’* violent, whim
sical temper drove his wife to divorce. On
one occasion he tried to kill her. He has
been Imprisoned for blackmailing. He is
an educated man, and lias published a num
ber of school books, Including a French the
saurus. His landlady says that his misfor
tunes maddened him, ana that he is a dan
gerous lunatic.
FALLIERES GIVES UP.
President Carnot Asks Senator Tirard
to Form a Cabinet.
Paris, Dec. 11.—M. Fallieres went to tbs
Elysee to-day and informed President Car
not that he had foil' iit impossible to form
a Cabinet on tbe basis of concentration of
tho Republican groups, and had therefore
abandoned the attempt. M. Lockerey and
several other statesmen to whom M. Fal
liuros made overtures declined to take office.
The President has charged Senator Tirard
to try to form a Cabinet.
M. Lockerey refused to join a Cabinet un
der M. Tirard. At a meeting of the latter’s
colleagues, it was decided that it would be
impossible to form a Ministry without the
assistance of ti.e Radical Left. M. Tirard
will therefore abandon the task. The im
pression jirevails that M. Flouquot will be
summoned to form a Cabinet.
UNDOUBTEDLY CANCEROUS.
Doctors Hope th‘’t It Will Not Impede
the Prince's Breathing for Years.
Berlin, Dec. 11.—The Tagblatt says it
has authority for the statement that roosnt
medical examinations proved that the heal
ing process is progressing favorably in the
Crown Prince’s throat.
The National Gazette announces that it
is the express wish of the Crown Prince
that no change Vie made in the customary
winter entertainment* on account of
illness.
UNDOUBTEDLY CANCEROUS.
London, Dec. il.—A dispatch from Ran
Remo to the Standard says that the growth
in the i Verman Crown Prince’s t hroat is un
doubtedly of a cancerous nature, but that
it is so small that the doctors are hopeful
that it will be a long time, perhaps years,
before it will impede the Prince's breathing.
LIBERALISM'S DISSIDENTS.
A Circular Wh.cb bays Reconclllatior
With Gladstone Is Impossible.
London. Dec. 11.—The secretaries of thi
Dissident Liberal societies, after a private
conference, have issued a circular declaring
that report* from every part of the oountry
show that the Unionists have made great
progress during the last few months, an
give promise of continued success of thi
Unionist cause. The reports, the circular
furt her says, concur in declaring that everj
hope of reunion with the Glartstonians be
fore tho next election must be abandoned
and alliance with tho Conservatives main
tained until the question of union shall hava
been Anally settled.
Bradlaugh After Salisbury.
London, Dec. 11.—Mr. Bradlaugh will
notify Lord Salisbury that immediately
upon the reassembling of Parliament he
will move that a committee be appointed tc
inquire whether or not Lord Salisbury sent
a cheok to assist the fair trade meeting in
Trafalgar (Square In 1686.
Twenty-1 wo Drowned.
IiONDON, Dec. IL—Twenty-two persons
were drowned in a recent hurricane off the
Orkuey Islands.
Caught the Turkeys Napping.
From the Brunmoick (Qa.) Adeertiter.
Batilla Bluff has a famous hunter who
bears tho name of .John Johns. Home time
since ho went out and brought home four
young wild turkeys. Last Sunday evening
be came upon a flock of full grown ones
and quietly watched their movements until
night, when they “went to rooet.” As soon
as they settled down for the night to slum
lier he went home and got hia rifle and cams
back to the scene and waited patiently for
the moon to rise, and then began his
slaughter. One by one they come down at
the crack of his gun until he had five tin*
specimens, which he took home with him
and sold them the next day at 75c. apiece.