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A TALE OF THE SEA.
OF CAPTAIN SAV
AGE OF THE CITY OF SAVANNAH.
A Night of Terror and Peril Among the
Beefs—The Captain Describes Uls
Worst Experience in the Wreck.
To sum him up in three words, Captain
George Savage, the hero of the lost steam
ship Savannah, is a manly man. It is ou
record that at the moment of supreme
peril, when his ship was beating itself to
pieces on the reel’s, he laughed and joked
to reassure the frightened passengers, yet
afterwards, when the reporters beseiged
him and sought to make much of him. he
blushed like a girl and tied from his amiable
tormentors.
lie can look death between the eyes,
but he 11 inches at a compliment.
In the service he is reckoned the most
popular man on the line. He litis risen
from the ranks, and those who have work
ed with him before the mast, and under
him as mate, as first officer and as cap
tain. are ready to swear that success has
never turned his head or promotion changed
him one iota. This explains
the devotion of his crew, and the ease with
which he handled them in the hours of
storm and stress when the lives of all de
pended upon the maintenance of discip
line. And thus a panic, unusually the dead
liest incident of a wreck at sea. was
avoided.
A wilder story has been seldom penned
than that, of the loss of the Savanna it-
She met the hurricane off Hatteras and
I
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'-St-’W ///$r !/ X
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captain' savage.
fought her way southward in the teeth of
a terrine shoreward blaot, when at last
nite 10.--t her smokestack and her great
screw ceased to revolve, they made an
effort to set sail, but as fast as the can
vas was unfurled ii was torn into rags.
Then Captain Savage turned her prow to
the we.-t ami drove straight lor the snore.
No laagu.i-'c .an dtscribe the suspense
that followed. The chances were one tn
a hutidreu, ami it is small wonder that
he says it was with a feeling of intense
relief that he finally heard the vessels
keel pounding ou the rocks. It was a
sound that he had momentarily expected
for six mortal hours. Alter that came the
two dav* on the strati led hulk that every
body has read about. Tile lack of food
and’ water, the nights spent in the rigging,
the quick depletion of the slender store
and signal rockets, the constant danger of
tile hull parting on the reef and the agony
of ilis.-'.ppointim'nl as vessels hove into
sight only to sail away, combined to form
a tale . f travail amt adventure unsurpassed
by any romance of the sea.
I asked Captain Savage, a few days
af'er his return. what he considered his
worst experience in the wreck-
"My worst experience,” he replied, “was
after it war. all over."
Then he lit a cigar and told me this
story, which 1 have endeavored to repeal in
as nearly as possible his own words:
“You "will remember,” he said, “that
when the crew and myself were finally
taken off by tiie Birmingham and brought
to Savannah we were in ignorance of the
fate of the women and others who had
left in two small boat* the day before.
When I was told that they had not been
lien rd from my heart sank. For five days
and nights I had been without sleep. . It
was not the thought of the vessel that
kept me up, for 1 knew that I had done
all possible and that she was lost beyond
human power, but there were lives initust
ed in my keeping that 1 determined must
be saved. Several times, even when tiie
ship was pounding on the rocks, my eyes
would glue together in spite of me
but 1 would think of this terrible respon
sibility, ami it would wake me up like u
tshock Item a baJery.
"So 0..e may realize iiow I felt when 1
learned tmre was mi news from the boats.
Some of the re.,at ves ot the missing iolks
v ere there, and 1 could not bear to look
i- in. it was heart-breaking. Well, 1
rushed down the dock and ordered the
tu_. its crew were scattered, asleep at
home, ami it seemed to me that we would
jievor find them. .Some counseled waning
until morning. but i would not hear to it,
uu a: lasi, afi.r several hours of hard
V. >rk, vve got O-l-
■j ... ied io- tug for H miter’s Point,
i that
the boats would have made a landing at.
1 <-a Uiot leserdie bow slow.y that Illg em
en to move, and 1 pm , d up an . down, hardy
• eal my agitation rest,
some of whom were kindle I o! tin m:-:s.ng
>ve ighted tin md
and 1 put off in a small boat. ,\ moment
uf.er 1 1111.ded. 1 met ill) Second otlicer, wh >
han charge <»i ’ t ine lilt*
• ar** sjih*,’ he rivlu before I hiul
time to so mi.. Thank God'.' 1 replied, ‘but
where i- tiie oiler party?' '1 don’t know,
he said, ‘th y must lie lost.'
"1 turned and sal dow n out the fcatid. It
seemed to tm for a moment that 1 could
go no further. 1 had built all my hopes
on finding both boats there, and the dis
appointment turned me sick and faint,
llow to go back without, those people 1
did not know. But 1 puffed myself to
gether somehow and told the officer to get
hi-- p:is>. ngcrs ami come out to the tug.
“W here .ire yon going?' he asked. ‘1 don’t
know exactly,’ I said, ‘but I'm going to
find the rest.’
"If you will look on the map, you will
Bee that there is a chain of islands at that
point on the coast and a perfect tangle of
« hannels crossing in every direction inland.
A harder place to hunt for lost people
could not be imagined. It is a maze in
which old fishermen often lose their way.
"1 determined to first try the island of
fcst. Helena, where there is a lighthouse.
We vvtut back to the tug, which toward
evening got within about live miles of the
island and anchored. Then 1 put off tin a
small boat with two sailors, bidding the
tug wait our return. As we reached the
, ost line night came on. The part of the
island 1 wanted to make was*-some dis
tance above, and we entered a little chan
nel at sundown. Presently it. came to an
end and we bad to go back.
"That section of the eoast is indescribably
desolate ami forbidding- It is rocky,
broken, torn to pieces by the sea. There
is m> human habitation anywhere. We
cruised along this shore all night, trying
first this inlet and then that, hunting for
the light. After midnight, one of the sail
ors gave out and swore he could not pull
another stroke. 1 took his oar, and for
four hours I pulled like a crazy man, but
1 did not even feel tired: I did not feel
tiungry, 1 did not feel sleepy. My sole idea
•was to reach the lighthouse. It was very
dark, and we-maWwly escajw'd the reefs,
which were roaring all around us. Now'
and then a wave would wet us to the skin.
It was pure luck that we were not
swamped. . .
"Just at the gray of the morning we
saw the lighthouse, twelve hours after
leaving the tug. We beached the boat, and
1 scrambled out, falling repeatedly iu my
fc-iste I had to go about half a mile
t hrough mud km e deep, wading inlets
t<, mv waist and climbing over huge rocks.
When I reached the house I could have
cried for joy. for there, drawn close to
the door, was one of my own lifeboats-
T knocked, and a sailor from the Sa
vannah opened to me. He had gone with
the lifeboat and was sure 1 had been
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTION: ATIANTA. GA. TUESDAY. SEPTEMBER 12. 1893.
drowned; in fact, he thought he saw my
ghost, and screaming out ‘lt’s the captain!
It’s the captain!’ ran as fast as his legs
could carry him. I suppose I was a ghastly
spectacle, dripping from head to foot, cov
ered with slime and popping up suddenly
before him in the dim morning light.
"His cries aroused the others and they
crowded around me. When 1 asked, after
the other boat, they looked sober, and said
it must be lost. 1* told them nothing, but
gave the order to get ready to go to the
tug at once. They'were only too glad to
obey, but were saddened by the thought
that their companions had gone down.
They embarked in the lifeboat mid we
pulled back in an hour and a half—tin* trip
it had taken us twelve hours to make by
night. Was the meeting on the tug a joyful
one? Well. J can't describe it —that's all.
The old father of one of the passengers
was th'>re and ho took mo by the hand and
tried to say something but. didn’t. 1 was
glad of it, for 1 couldn't have replied—there
was too big a lump in my throat. Then
ah of a sudden I realized that I was sore
and stiff and couldn’t move my arms or
legs. I dropped down on a. berth in the call
in and slept, slept, slept, like a dead man—
lige a log.
I hat, said the captain, throwing nwav
the stump of his cigar, “was the story of
the rescue and my worst experience.”
MAY FLOAT AGAIN.
The Insurance Companies talk of liaising
t he f'tty of S.*ivMttY!H}i,
Savannah, Ga., September (I.—(Special.)
1 he agents, owners and insurance agents
of the many barks, schooners and steamers
which are lying on shore at Tybee and
quarantine are going down the river everv
day to inspect the hulls of the vessels there
and to decide what is to be done with
them.
A board of survey went, down to inspect
the Aorwegian steamer Barnin, Captain
iranson, .1. b’. .Minis A Co., agents, which
was disabled during (he storm and was
brought inside the harbor (he next dav.
Ihe Banan was bound from A'ew York to
Cardanos, < üba, and her machinery was
so disabled that, she could make but. little
headway.
After giving the steamer a thorough in
spection they decided that she should go
to New York for repairs instead) of contin
uing her journey. She will start for New
lock today, steaming slowly jfa account of
her disabled machinery.
The other venseis will all be given an
inspection during the week and either or
dered taken up or they will be condemned
and ordered sold for whatever they will
bring. Most of the vessels ashore* there
are considered total wrecks, and the loss
of property as a result of their having
been w.ushed ashore will inn up to about
$300,000.
It seems that the underwriting companies
which had the insurance on the City of
Savannah have determined to raise her.
and they have employed the Merritt
Wrecking Company to determine what can
be done. This company sent the steamer
Coley out from Norfolk to the scene of
the wreck on Sunday, and she has arrived
there. She was met by Captain Savage.
It is said that the shin can lie raised and
put in as good a condition as she was be
fore sinking for an amount far less than
lac insurance carried, which is .$ 1 .T.i>oO.
and if the companies have the option of
doing this and turning her back over to
tiie company it is clear that they will save
something by the transaction.
Cotton SiiH’v th<* Storm.
Recent reports received by the cotton
factors show that the damage Io the col
ton crop by the storms was not so great
as was al first reported. In fact the fac
tors do not anticipate any appreciable de
crease in the yield nil account of the storm.
The area covered by the storm in the cot
ton belt was not very extensive, although
a factor estimated yesterday that the total
area affected m Georgia. Florida and the
Carolinas produces about 50II.0IM) bales an
nually. None of the factors estimated t:ie
damage al more than 5 per cent, and the
majority do not think it Will reach that
much.
The first reports declared that very great
damage had been done, but later reports
are much more moderate.
The chief loss the factors estimate to
have been from open cotton, which was
beaten out by the st.J4»n. and afterwards
covered with earth by the rain. This cot
ton, where it was not taken up from the
ground within a day or two, has begun to
sprout, and is, of course, worthless. This
loss is thought to bo small, as the cotton
Is not fully open yet and at this portion of
the season is harder tr beat out of the bolls
than It is later on when the plant has lost
its vitality.
IN THE EKEAKEKS.
The Hteuiuslilp City of Suvonuah i( Standing
Almost Holt Upright.
Savanmih, Ga.. Septemlier V. (Special )
The -Merritt Wrecking Company sst earner
Coley was expected at the scene of the
wreck of the City of .Savannah yesterday.
It takes a day to get any information from
the scene of tiie wreck, as it is suuethiug
over sixty miles from Savannah, and re
ports from there last night stated that noth
ing had yet been seen of the wri cking
steamer which it was reported had been
sent oat.
Capulin Frank Avery of Ihe tug H. M.
C. .Smith, made a trip over to the scene of
the wreck a day or two ago. lie went
nearer to it th.in any oilier tug has
yet dared to go. He went up
as close as 400 yards, the water shoaling
from seven to t'\o and one-half fathoms as
he approached. From that distance, a
good view of the entire wreck could be ob
tained. Her correct position is on Fripp's
inlet shoal, oh Hunting island, out two
miles oil the beach, ami about three miles
from the Hunting island light, .southeast by
south. With the glass. eV. r\ part of the
Savannah could be made out from the
Smith. I p forward, the water is up to the
pi.ot house door ou the lee Side. The snl
looti joiner work is gutted out on her main
deck from the smokestack to the ,after
thwart; tehip passageway. Fart of the
spar deck and the social hall ou the awning
deck remain. Aft. her main deck shows
plainly at high water.
The Savannah, it appears, is listed only
degrees to the starboard, instead of 45
degrees as reported. She is comparatively
tlal-bottomed and she stands almost straight
up on the shoal. The wreck appears de
serted. First < itlieer Crowell and two
seamen were left there to protect her from
the sea pirates, but yesterday there were
no signs of life whatever on board. If
they ate around, they are probably ou the
island where they are in reach should any
pirates attempt to pilfer tiie vessel. This
distance, the Savannah appears in com
paratively good condition and there is no
eviden-e lltat it would not pay to raise her
and put her in repairs. It "ill require a
diver, however, to ascertain whether she
has any holes in her hu.l v. hu h may prove
fatal to all efforts to gel her out at a rea
sonable cost. It seems lo be the verdict of
every one, who has seen her. that she can
easily be repaired if she can be gotten out
ail right. What t tie underwriting compan
ies will do about her has not yet been de
cided, and it seems that the visit of the
Merrit company's steamer Coley in only for
the purpose of giving her a good inspection
and dc-'idmg definitely what can be done.
The trip Let ween here and Beaufort, on
the inland route, discloses losses, many of
which seem beyond repair. For that en
tire distance of sixty miles or more, tin*
sight of some stranded bark, schooner, tug
or steamer is not once lost. Il is rare that
they stand alone. The sight of three or
four wrecks together is a common one, and
very few efforts are being made as yet to
get them. Few repairs are being made at
the storm-swept town of Beaufort from the
fact that all the labor there is being em
ployed in digging out the wrecked steamers
and tugs whi-h went- ashore. There is lit
tle or no business at all at Beanfort now.
The labor is employed in trying to get some
of the shipping interests in shape. There
is no wharf as yet for any vessel to tie to
that might want to go there.
A large loaded with provisions,
clothing and supplies of all kinds, left this
city yesterday for Beaufort, where they are
to be distributed among the sufferers on Ihe
sea islands. There were barrels of flour,
grits, meal, potatoes, cabbage, syrup, crack
ers, meat, clothing and some little furniture,
in all. about $1,500 or $2,000 worth of sup
plies which will help out considerably iu sat
isfying the wants of the sufferers ou the
wrecked islands off the eoa.st.
The fund raised in Savannah, alone,
amounts now to $1,092.51 and it is still in
creasing.
HOME KUEE BEJECTED.
The House of I-ords Divided at Midnight
Adversely to the Bill.
London, September B.—Although it was
generally understood that the house of
lords would reject the home rule bill to
night, the house did not fill up until after
the dinner hour, popular interest centering
in the speech of the marquis of Salisbury,
woh wtis not expected to rise until towards
midnight. In the meantime Baron Salis
bury, Baron llerschell, Baron Monkswell
anA the bishop of Ripon had spoken to
halt empty benches.
After 9 o’clock the scone outside and
inside the house livened up as members and
visitors began streaming in. The peers,
strangers and diplomatic galleries showed
few vacant seats.
Lord Salisbury, seizing a chance during a
momentary pause, rose at 10:30 o'clock
amid rapturous cheers and began his speech.
Lord Salisbury said he felt, that there
was some satisfaction in occupying the po
sition he did —that of the last person to
speak against home rule in the course of
the present session. But, although it. was a
position of much distinction, it had many
inconveniences. In particular the ground
of debate had been so fully occupied that
there was little new left for him to say.
Throughout the debate one question con
stantly prefient in his mind was: Why
had the government introduced such a bill?
On this point the house had received no
sufficient enligliteument. What appeared to
shine through all the argument was that
home rule was a policy of despair. The
liberals had said: “You have failed; we
do not know how to succeed, but we will
trv something that nobody has tried be
fore. What moral or .political right had
any government to embark on such an
experimental policy in Ireland, divided to
its base by party conflicts, which during
seven centuries English rule had rather
increaseil than diminished.
Lord Salisbury spoke for an hour and a
quarter. His conclusion was marked by
quiet eloquence.'
The earl of Kimberly, lord president of
the council and secretary of state for In
dia. briefly replied to Lord Salisbury.
The lord chancellor then put the motion
for the second reading of the bill, lie
caused some sentiment by crying: “1 think
the contents have it. Very loud and de
termined was the rival cry: “The non
contents have it.”
I lio Division at Mi«lni|rht.
The house divi led al midnight and the
result was the rejection of the motion by
a vote of 419 to 41. . .
The marquis of Waterford voted sitting
and the earl of Galloway voted while lying
at full length on a bench. Lord Headley
returne.l from a hunting expedition on the
Zambezi river in order to hi' able <to vote.
All the bishops went, with the majority.
The announcement of the result was re
ceived with laughter ami some cheering.
Th<> house was then cleare.Vof spectators
and adjourned immediately.
Outside of the building the police had
kept a free circulation during the evening.
At. midnight u distinctive unionist demon
stration was held, consisting in the. flour
ishing of the union jack, the singing of
patriotic songs and cheering lor Lord Sails
■burv. the duke of Argyle, and Joseph Chain
beriain. Skyrockets were sent up from the
precincts of the house and the answer
greeted with ringing cheers.
How They X »>♦-•<».
London, September 9.—Sir Henry Pon
sonby, the queen’s private secretary, passed
la“t night at Black Craig castle, wheie
Mr. Gladstone is taking a holiday with
Mrs Gladstone and a. party of friends.
This morning he and the prime minister
had a long interview, and before noon
Sir Henrv left with a special despatch
from Mr.’Gladstone to the queen concern
ing the government's attitude towards the
defeat of the home-rule bill in the house
of lords last evening- Sir Henry was con
veyed in all haste from Black Craig castle
to’the railway station at Coupar Angus,
Where the express train was stoppet to
take him on board ami carry him to Ba.-
moral. It is significant that Sir Henry,s
mission was .not undertaken at the queen s
instance, but at 11m suggestion ot Mr.
Gladstone two days ago. Ihe queen is
known to nave awaited with unwonted
anxiety Mr. Gladstone’s decision as to the
course after the rejection of the bill b)
the lords. The royal idea is that Mr.
Gladstone should appeal at once to the
ountrv, and the determination which ts
understood to have been expressed by Mr.
Gladstone’s despatch, to hold on definitely
will not. suit her majesty at. all.
The Oueen's Prerogative.
According to constitutional precedents,
the queen certainly had some reason to
expect that after the overwhelming ma
jority of lords, spiritual ami temporal, had
'condemned him. the aged premier would
resign or ask the electors again to justify
his policy. It is surmised that Mr. Glad
stone intimated in the dispatch carried to
Balmoral today the readiness ot the eabi
jiet to submit to the queen s prerogative
1o dismiss her present ministers. Hus inti
mation would mean little, however, as lie
knows he can rely mi the queen e. discre
tion to take no step involving the crown id
the popular outcry against the house ui
'" x large and influential part of the ultra
torv party expect such direct intervention
from rhe queen, but their expectation "ill
hi'-'lv be realized. On the other hami.
the queen’s opinion as to'the proper course
for Mr Gladstone will weigh with him.
undoubtedly, in hastening his appeal to the
(*OUi)tl\» , . r*i Izx I-3
Before last nights sitting of the lot is,
Ihe highest vote recorded iu the tipper house
uas 375. This was given on t lu ‘
~f repealing Hie corn laws of 184 b. am.
im-lu led the proxies of absent members.
The attendance and vote las. evemrij.,
therefore, were quite beyond precedent \o
sm-li gathering of hereditary .giskPors hi:'
boeu seen previously iu London. Mans of
Pip overs v.bo came to the town to vote
•eminst the bill had never seen the interior
<‘,f the bouse before, and fifty of them were
~b!'. r od to sign the roll ,for the first time
before voting.
. , •ht Their Own < ookh.
To render the duty of attendance less,
some tifiv <>r sixty persons loafed in the
refreshment and smoking rooms during the
debate Several finding the cuisine tn Ihe
resiiuraiit "f the house unsuitable to their
taste had their own cooks, wines and meats
brought in for the occasion. On.' peer, for
instance, gave a dinner prepared by his
own chef <crv<* 1 on ins own plate b\ in>
own servants. In neither its public nor its
nrivite aspects did the house reveal any
eharacteristic* Hkily to strengthen ns
chances of a long existence.
The radicals will raise again the question
of the duke of Connaught’s appointment to
?he Alderahot command. The debate will
follow a motion, to be iikulo proha hl \ b\ La
1 oiK-here for the reduction of the army
estimates bv culling down the salary drawn
b'v the duke’ of Cambridge as commander m
,.i0,.f Several conservative* and some
liberal unionists will snpporti the motion
with the purpose of defeating the govern
ment If they rally a majority, the eon
sequences for the government will b"
serious. Campbell-Bannerman, secretary of
m. lt e for war. wmil I resign, ami a general
reorganization of the cabinet would be
.« K-irv is such a vote inurlit aiso result
in ‘h'>\lniie of (’ambride’s retirement. 'l’he
leaders privately talk ot with
drawing the motion in ease they obtain a
üblie assurance that the govcrnnienk does
design the duke of Connaught s. Ahier
shot appointment as a prelude to Ins rnic
eessiou to the conimandcrship-Hi-chief Hus
Offer from the radicals;, however, would not
help the ministry much.
The queen and the princo of Males hold
Hu chief command belongs to a nmm-
■ l f tlie roval family, and any effort by
the ministry to shut out the duke -of Con
ning” would result m an open rupture
between the court and cabinet The pro
o<ed motion ami the suggested bargain
arm therefore, the two horns of a serious
dilemma.—
'l'lie Emperor s»t ransbiirg.
rnulin September !». -Although Emperor
wtiii. ; s stnv in Strasburg was limited to
r few 'hours. 'an Immense throng of visitors
cathered there from all parts of the country
t -root him Great numbers ot persons ar
riv'd on special trains and the streets’of the
<• tv were tiffed to overflowing. Every station
between Metz and Strasburg was elaborately
decorated with flowers and draped with flags
of German states. The citizens of Stras
burg however, made but a meager display of
decorations. The ejnperor had declined to be
present at a dinner tendered him by file muni
cipal authorities and would, not condescend to
do more than to take slight refreshments be
fore returning to Metz.
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
THE DOCTOR THINKS TILE ItILILE
XUE GEE ATE ST OF ALL HOOKS.
Mora Men Would Eight, and Die for the
Holy Word Than for All Other Books
That Were Ever Written.
Brooklyin, September 10.—(Special. )
This forenoon Rev- T. DeXVitt lalniage
preached 4o a Uhronged audience in the
Brooklyn, tabernacle. The keynote of the
service was one of gladness. -Many of the
audience had been absent during the sum
mer-and had returned for this .
pastor commented on passnM s °
depicting the morning of the world s del v
erance. The subject of the si 1 m<> . •
"The Battle Ours,” the text being Mrst
00-’T- And the children ot Israel
Of With thirty-three kings drunk it; on<‘
’!be
lion couhl
ofSvrians under General Ben-hadad, strong
as Itotls. The Israelites are few and weak,
like two little flocks of kids. Who beat-
The lions, of course. Oh no; the kid. .
For it all depends whether Gid is on the
side of the lions or the kids. Aftei th
battle 11)0,009 Syrians lay dead on tm
field, ami 27,(H»0 attempting to fly, came
along by a great, wall, which toppled and
crushed them to death.
Which was the stronger weapon—great
Goliath’s sword or little Davids sling.
David had five smooth stones from the
brook, lie only used one in striking down
Goliath. He had a surplus of ammunition;
he had enough to take down four more
giants if they had appeared iu the way.
It all depends upon whether God is on
the side of the shepherd boy or on the side
of the giant.
There have been many in our day Who
have ventured the opinion that Christian
ity is falling back, and that in fifty- years
it will be extinct. They found their opinion
ou the assumed fact that the Bible is not
as much of a book as it used to be, ttiid
that, portions of it are repulsive to the
people. 1 reply by asking, which one of the
publishing houses of Neu York, Philadel
phia, Boston or Chicago is publishing the
Bible today- with the omission of a single
verse or chapter? Are not our publishers
intelligent men? .Ami would they, contrary
to their financial interests, continue to pub
lish tihe Bible without the omission of a
single chapter or n single verse if it were
becoming an unpopular book, and the people
did not want it? If Harpers, or Appleton,
or Scribner, or Lippincott, should publish a
Bible with the omission of one chapter
they would not sell ten copies in ten years,
ihe tact That Christendom
there are hundreds of printing presses
printing the word of God without Ihe omis
sions of a chapter or a verse, proves that
the Bible is popular; and the fact that
there are more being printed iu this decade
ii'’>>‘ ?“L O,II< T decade, proves that the
1 'file is increasing in popularity.
go .,!. hr 0 the courtroom*'of the conn
' j I hud a judge's bench, or
a ilmks desk, J tm | the Bible. Bv what
other book would they take solemn oath?
\\hat is xery apt to be .-imong the bride's
presents? ’lhe Bible. What, is very apt
to be put m the trunk of a vmmg man
when he starts for city Th(l ];ib|( ,
Aoltaire predicted that the Bible during
1 ““ !‘h century would become an
obsolete book. A) el). w 0 are pretty nearly
through the nineteenth century: the Bible
is not obsolete yet; then- j s not much pros
pect ot its becoming obsolete; but 1 have
to tell ,vou that that room -the very room
in which Voltaire wrote that prediction -
some time ago was crowded from floor
to ceiling with Bibles for Switzerland
Suppose the congress of the Fnilcd States
should pass a law that no Bibles should be
printed in the L'tiited Stales. If there are
thirty million grown men and women in
tim country then there would be thirty
million people armed against such a law.
Lut suppose the congress of the Fnited
States should pass a law that Macaulay's
history, or Charles Read’s novels should
not be read—could you get half as large an
army, or the fourth as large an artnv? In
other words, there are. as you know am!
1 know, a thousand men who would die
for their Bibb'*, "here there are fifty men
who would die for any other book'. The
fact that there are now more Bibles being
printed than ever before, that publishers
find it a financial interest for them to con
tinue the publication of the Bible, proves
that this book is still the most popular
book on the planet.
’.’Hut.” say those 'who are antagonistic,
“Christianity is tailing back, from the fact
that the dbureh iis not as much respected us
it used to be. ami it is not as influential.”
1 reply to that with the statistic that one
denominaion the Methodist church accord
ing to a statistic given me by one of their
bishops, dedicates on an average a new
church every day of the year- Three hun
dred and sixty-live new churches in one de
nomination in a year, and over a thousand
new churches built every veur in this coun
try. Does that look as though the church
were failing iu its power, and were becom
ing a worieout institution? Around which
institution in our communities g-ather the
most ardent affections? The postofliee. the
hotel, the courthouse, the city hall, or the
churches? Why. when our old taber
nacle was burning. there "■•■ re hun
dreds of men standing in the ts who
never went to church, tears raining down
their cheeks. It is because the <dim-< h of
God stands nearer the sympathies < f ;ne
American peoqle than any other insti >iG>>n.
Men may caricature the church yn I call it
a collection of hypocrites, but wh.m their
children are swept off with the diphtheria,
for whom do they send? To the postmas
ter, to tile attorney general, to the aider
men or to the pastors qf the ch ir’lies?
And if there be not room for the obse piios
iu the private house, what building to they
solicit? The academy of music, the hotel,
public hall, courthouse? No: di.- churches.
And if they want music <>n 11 <• s-> ] < ll (a
sion d > they select the .Mars ■dlaise hymn,
or “God Save the Queen.” er our tv. n
grand national air? \o; they "tint the old
hymn with which we sang tin ir old Chris
tian mother to sleep: they want the Sunday
school hymn that their little girl sang the
last Sabbath afternoon she was out before
she was seized with the awful sickness that
broke father’s heart and mother's heait.
Oh, you know as well as I do- I shall tot
dwell on it any longer—the church of God,
instead of being a worn-out ii.stif uti< u.
stands nctirer the sympathies of 11.e p< ople
than it ever did and eclipses all other insti
tutions.
But our antagonists go o.i an 1 sav that
Christianity is falling back, in the fact ihat
infidelity is bolder now and more blatant
than it ever was. I deny the statement.
Infidelity is not near so boh] now i< b
in ihe days of our fathers ami gr.t’idf i bir*
There were times in this country ". cii
men who were openly ami above-board in
fidel and antagonistic to Christianity cot.ld
be elected to high office. Now, let s< me
man wishing high position in 'he s - -ite pro
claim himself the foe of Christianity and
an infidel; how many states of the union
would lie carry? How many counties?
llow- many wards in Brooklyn? Not one.
Ah! my friends, infidelity in this day is
not half as bold as it used to be. If it)
comes now, it is apt to come under the dis
guise of rhetoric or fantastic sentimentality.
I know if a man with groat intelligence
does become an infidel and begins an attack
on Christianity it makes great excitement
—of course it does, ami people come to (he
conclusion, weak-minded Christians come
to the conclusion, that everything is going
overboard because some man of strong in
tellect assails Christianity.
If a man jumps overboard from a Cunard
steamer Im makes more excitement than
all the s<X> sane passengers who continue
in the berths or on the decks: but does that
stop the ship? Does that wreck all the 500
passengers? It makes great excitement when
a man leaps from a platform or a pulpit
into infidelity, but, does that hinder mir
glorious Bible from taking its millions into
the skies. I tell you infidelity is not half
as bold now as it used to bo..
Do you suppose such things could be
enacted now as were enacted in the days
of Robespierre, when a shameless woman
was elected to be goddess, and she was
carried on a golden chair to a cathedral,
and the people bowed: down to her as a
divine being, ami burned incense before
her—she to take the place of Ihe Bible,
and of Christianity, and of the laird Al
mighty? And while that ceremony was
going on in the cathedral, in ihe chapels,
and in the corridors adjoining the cathedral,
scenes of drunkenness and debauchery
ami obscenity enacted, such as the world
had never seen. Could such a thing as that
transpire now? No, sir. The police would
swoop ou it. whether in Paris or New
York. Infidelity is not half a* bold now
as it used to be.
“But,” say our antagonists, “Christianity
i* failing back because science, its chief
enemy, is triumphing over it.” Now, 1
deny that, there i* any war between science
and revelation. There is not a fact in science
that may nob be made to harmonize with
the statements of the Bible. So said Hugh
.Miller, so said Joseph Henry, so said Pro
fessor Hitchcock, *o said Professor Silli
man, so said Professor Mitchell.
Joseph Henry, the leading scientist of
America, better known and honored in the
royal societies transatlantic than any other
American, lived and died a believer in the
religion of Jesus Christ. Joseph Henry
knew all the facts of geology, and yet be
lieved the Book of Genesis. lie knew all
the facts of astronomy, and -et belived the
Book of Joshua, the sun and moon standing
still. Joseph Henry knew all the anatomy
of man and fish, and yet believed the Book
of Jonah.
If the scientists of the day were all
agreed, and they came up with solid front
to attack our Christianity, perhaps they
might make some impression upon it; but
they are not agreed. Il is often said that
we’religionists are failing in our advocacy
of Christianity because we dilier in our
theologv. I tell you we do not differ inside
the church in theology half as much as
thev differ outside the church in
science. If they reject, our religion because
we differ on some minor points, we might
just as well reject science because the
scientists differ: but. as far as 1 can tel .
the war of infidel science against Chusti
aiiitv is not as severe as it used to be,
because these men are antagonistic to eaca
~1. .... nnd as far as I can tell, it is going
lo be’a'war between telescope ami telescope,
Leviien jar and Ley-leu jar, cheinma appa
rat'us and chemical apparatus. lh«j do
suppose'Vhn’t. this Bible theory
about ’the origin of hfe
?hoori^ < ’'\"ft> b> <liff''rent
trine of evolution, and s.tjs in u.-at
out h the difference between- the
feelers of a “
horns of a beetle, he begins to patronize the
Aliniahty. and go about ta king a ’“Ut cub
lure as though it were spelled c-u-l-c-h a r
’ It'maki’-s me sick to see these literary
fops going down the street with a copy of
"Darwin” under one arm and a case ot
transfixed grasshoppers and butterflies un
der the Other arm. talking about, the sur
vival of the Fittest" and "Huxleys I roto
plasm,” ami the "Nebular Hypothesis, and
talking to us common men as though we
were tools! If they agreed in their theories
ami came up with solid front against Chris
tianitv, I say pertiaps they might make
some impression; but they do not agree.
Darwin charges upon Lamarck, Wallace
upon Cope. Herseh4 even charged upon
j. erguson. They do not. agree about the
gradation of the species; they do not
agree about embryology. What do they
agree about ?
Herschel wrote a whole chapter ou what
he calls the “Errors in Agronomy.” La
I’lace says that the moon was not put in
the right’place; that if it hail been put four
times the distance from our world, there
would have been more harmony in the
universe. But. Lionville comes up just in
time to prove that the Lord was wise, ami
put the moon in the right, place. Jhrw
many colors woven into the light? Seven,
says' Newton. Three, says David Brewster.
How high is the aurora borealis? Two
ami a half miles high, says Lias. One hun
dred and sixry-tive mites, says '1 winig.
How far is the sun from the earth? Sev
tv-six million miles, says Lasaille; .S2.* , (M>,-
ihm> miles, says Humboldt: 90.0'H>,()(MI miles,
says Henderson; 104.UU0.000 miles, says
Mayer. Only a little difference of 28,000,-
000 miles! These men say we do not agree
in religion. Do they agree in science?
Have they come up with solid front to
assault our glorious <'hristiainty?
ISven mathematicians do not agree. Tay
lor's Logarithms are found to have faults
in them. The French metric system has
wrong cii*cn hit ions. Talk about exact
sciences! They are inexact. As far as with
my little knowledge 1 have been able to
ex plot e, the only exaci science is Chris
tianity. There is nothing under which
you can so appropriately write, “Quod erat
'demonstrandum. ”
"Gentlemen of the jury, have you agreed
upon your verdict?" llic court or the clerk
says to the jury, having been out all night
ou coming iu. "Have you agreed ou your
verdict?” If they say yes, the verdict is
taken and recorded. If they say "No, we
have not agreed.” they are sent, back to the
juryroom. If one juryman should say, "I
Chink the man is guilty of murder," ami
another juryman should say. "I think he is
guilty of m.inslaiig’a!er,” ami another jury
man should say, "1 think he is guilty of as
sault. and buttery With ia'.-nt t,, kill," the
judge wouid lost his patience-and say, "Go
back to your room now. and make up a
verdict; agree on something."
AVell, my friend*, there has been a great
trial going on for centuries and for ages,
between skepticism, the plaintiff, versus
Christianity, the defendant. The scientists
have been empaneled and sworn on the
jury, 'i'hey have been gone for centuries,
some of them, and they come back, ami we
say, "Gentlemen of the jury, have you
agreed upon a verdict?" They say, “No,
we have not agreed.” Then we say, "Go
back for a few more centuries, auj then
come in and see if you’can agree; see if you
can render some verilict." Now, ther,' is
not the meanest prisoner in the Tombs court
who would be condemned by a jury’ that
could not agree, and yet you expect us to
renounce our glorious Christianity for such
a miserable verdict as these men have
rendered, they themselves not having been
able to agree.
But. my subject shall no longer be de
fensive; it must be aggressive. I must
show you that instead of Christianity fall
ing back, it is on ihe march, and that the
coming religion of the world is to be
the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ ten
thousand times intensified. Lt is to take
possession of everything—-of ail laws, till
manners, all customs, all cities, all nations.
It is going to be so mighty as compared
with what it has been, so much more
mighty that it will seem almost like a new
religion.
1 adopt this theory because Christianity
has gone on straight ahead, notwithstanding
all the bombardment, ami infidelity inis not
destroyed a church, or crippled a minister,
or rooted out. one verse of the Bible, and
now their ammunilion seems to be pretty
much exhausted. They cannot get anything
new against Christianily; and if Christianity
has gone on under the bombardment of
centurie* and still continues to advance,
may' we not conclude that as the powder
ami shot of the other side seem to be ex
hausted, Clirisitanity is going on with more
rapid stride?
I find an encouraging fact in the thought
that the secular press in this day’ and the
pulpit *eem harnessed in the same team
for the proclamation of Hie gospel. To
morrow there will not be a banker on Wall
street, or Slate street, or Third street,
who will not have iu his pockets or on his
table treaties on Christianity, calls to re
pentance and scripture passages, twenty er
thirty of them, in the report* of the Christ
ian churches of this city and other cities.
Why. that thing would have been impossi
ble a few years ago. Now. on Monday
morning and’ Monday evening the secular
press spreads abroad more religious truth
than all the tract societies of the country
spread in the other six days. Blessed be
the tract societies’. We hail them, and
we hail these others. I say it would have
I been impossible a few year* ago. Hundreds
1 of letters would have come to the secular
L newspaper offices, saying: “Stop my paper;
1 we have religion on Sunday; don t give ua
any through the week. J nv
Inaner” But I have been told that
many’ of the secular papers have
their largest circulation on Monday
morning, and the whole population ot this
country are becoming sermon le.uleis.
Besides that, have you not noticed that pa
pers proclaiming themse yes secular al
most every week have religious discussion
11 Go back a few years, when there was not
a decent paper in the Lmtcd States that
had not a discussion on the docmne of
eternal punishment. Small wits made mer
ry, I know; but there was notan intelligezg
man in the United States that as a resnsi
of that controversy in regard to eternal pun
ishment did not ask himself the question,
“What is to be my eternal destiny.' and
so some years ago, when Tyndall ottered
liis prayer gauge, there there was a seeu
| lar paper in the TTnited Suites that did not
discuss the question: "Does God ever an
swer prayer? May the creature impress
the Creator?'’ Are’ not all these facts en
couraging to every Christian and every
philanthropist? Besides that, the rising
. generation are being saturated with gos-
I pel truth as no other generation, by this
[ international series of Sunday school les
i sons. Formerly the children were expected
only to nibble at the little infantile script
ure stories, but now they are taken from
Genesis to Revelation, the strongest minds
of the country explaining the lessons to the
teachers, and the teachers explaining them
yo the classes; «nd we are going to have
' in this country 5.990,000 youths forestalled
I for Christianity. Hear it! Hear it!
Besides that, you must have noticed if
you have talked ou these great themes,
that, they are finding out. that while science
is grand in secular directions, worldly
philosopb/i grand in secular directions,
they cannot give any comfort to a soul in
trouble.
Talking with mon on steamboats and in
railroad cars, I find they are coming back
to the comfort of the gospel. They say;
“Somehow human science don't comfort me
when I have any trouble, and I must try
something else;" and they are trying the
gospel. Take your s'ientific consolation
to that mother who has just lost her child-
Apply to the doctr.no of the “survival of
: the fittest;” tell her that her child died
i because its life was not worth as much as
' the life of one that lived. Try that if you
I dare. Go to that dying man with your trans
, cendental phraseology, ami ti ll him he omclit
i to have confidence in the great, "to be,"
■ and the everlasting “now," and the eternal
: “what, is it.'’ and go on with your conso-
I la lion and see if he is comforted.
Go to that "'oman who has lost her hus
band, ami tell her it was a good geological
necessity that that man passed out. of ex
istence,just as the megatherium disappea red
in order to make room for a higher style
of creation, and go on with your consolation
and ted her that there is a possibility' that
lOJKMt.OtM) rears from now we ourselves
may be geological specimens on the geolog
ical shelf, petrified specimens of tiie ex
tinct human race! Ami after you have 'oit
ail through with your consolation, if tho
poor, afflicted soul not utterly crazed,
1 will send out the plainest Christian from
my church, and with one half hour
l Ot prayer tnd the reading of scripture
promises, the tear* will be stayed, and the
consolation, ami the joy in that house will
no-w'* ’-I'i ,;llnin !‘ Ss °* •’"' Indian stimmr-r
sunset. I here Will be a glory Hooding tiie
house from floor to cupola. Oh! people
I are finding out themselves ami thev all
have troubles—they find that philo.iophr
and science do not help them when there
I is a dead babe in the house. Thev are
, coming back to our glorious old-fashioned
j sympathetic religion.
Oh, young man! do not be ashamed to
be found on the side of the Bible. Do not
join those young men who in this dav put
I their thumb* in their vest, and swagger
about the streets and the stores, talking
I about the glorious nineteenth century, about
its light being sufficient without anv’ Bible
and without any Christ, and without any
1 God. ’lhe time is coming—we may not liv<
to see it, but I should not be surprised il
we did see it—when this whole country is
to be one great church, the forests the
aisles, the Alleghany and the Rocky moun
tains the pillars, the chain of inland lakes
the baptistries, and the worship the halle
lujah chorus unto Him who was, and is,
and shall be evermore. Oh! come over to
the majority—come under the banner of
Bmanuel.
Vernon was the son of an English squire.
He was brought up in great elegance. There
was a man working on the place by the
name of Ralph. Vernon used to often talk
with Ralph. After awhile X'emoti went
off to college, and came back with his mind
' full of skepticism. He talked his skepticism
'to Ralph, the workman After awhile
I A'ernon went from home again, was gone
| for years, came back, and among his first
j questions when getting home was, “Where
I is Ralph?" “Oh!” said the father. “Ralph
■ is in prison waiting for the day of<xecu
: tion.” Vernon hastened to see Ralph.
; Ralph, looking through the wicket of the
prison, said. “A’ernon. how good you are
ito Ralph, the workman. After awhile
j you. I hardly expected you would come
' and see mo. I don’t blame you, I don's
i blame anybody: I only blame myself; but,
Vernon, I want you to promise me never
I to talk skepticism iu the presence of any-
I body. You see it might do them harm.
■ When vou used to say there was nodiing
! in the Bible, and it didn’t make any differ
i cnee how’ we lived, we would come out
' happy at the last, somehow it had a bad
i influence upon me, and I went from bad
I to worse until I am here, and I must die
for my crimes.” By almost superhuman
effort the sentence wa* changed, and he
was io be transported to another country
for life. The ship going there was wreck
ed on A’an Diemen's land. Among those
' who perished was Ralph, the victim ol
Vernon’s skepticism- Vernon tells the storj
' today with tears and a broken heart,: hut
it is too late! Oh! do not talk skepticism,
do not talk skepticism. Let God be true,
I though every man be found! a liar!
EMIN PASHA’S HEAD CUT OFF,
And His Body Eaten by the African Canni
bals—The Arabs Kejoice.
London, September 4. —The Rev- Mr
! Swann, a missionary who has just re
turned from I jtji, on the east shore ot
I ake Tanganyika, says that it is impossi
i ble to doubt honestly that Emin Pasha is
dead.
■ “The most circumstantial reports reached
' me from four independent sources,' said
Mr- Swann, “and all agreed as to the
details- The Arabs everywhere in Africa
are rejoicing over his death.
According to the reports received by
Mr. Swann, Emin Pasha had arrived at
the residence of Seyd Bin Abed in the
country of the Manyemas. in tho eastern
1 part of the Congo state- A part of Arabs
approached and asked Emin: "M here are
you going?”
“To the coast.” was Emms reply- the
leader of the Arabs, who was armed with
a scimitar, then stepped up to Emin and
said: "You are Emin Pasha, who killed
■ the Arabs at Victoria Nyanza.”
Without waiting for an answer, he
struck off Emin’s head with the scimitar
Emin's body was thrown to the Manyemas
who ate ?t. Subsequently tiie Manyemas
murdered Emins Nubian folio"ers and ate
them- , ,
Mr. Swann says that these details have
been so often repeated that !n Fjiji nobody
has the slightest doubt as to their cor
rectness.
The Kearsarce anti Nantucket.
Washington. September <’>- The T’nited
Strato* steamship Kearsarge and the old
monitor. N'mituckot. the v-.-sse.s that bad ,«c
thrillimr an experience ofl ( :.pe ■lnttor.as
miring last week's hurricane left toe Nor
folk naw vard yesterday lor Wilmington,
x G whore tho Kearsarge will oe utilized
f>r four days bv the North Carolina naval
reserves and the Nantucket turned over to
the authorities of that state for permanent
use bv tiie reservers. The damage to the
N-intuoket has been repaired and the little
vessel is now in good condition for ser
vice.
The Knpee Bills.
London. September 6.-The India council
todav again offered bills To the amount, of
40(X)0.000 rupees. The highest tender was
15 3-(> pence. No allotment was made
and tho same amount will be offered by the
council again on next Wednesday.
