Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 December 1896 — Page 3

THE MASK OF DECEIT

"WHY FEIGNEST THOU THYSELF TO BE ANOTHER?" SeT, Dr. Talmage Draws Some Startling Lessons from a Unique Text— BoTiltj in Disguise— The Accuracy of God’s Providences in the Universe. Our Washington Pulpit. In this sermon from a Bible scene never used in sermonic discourse Dr. Talmage draws some startling lessons and tears off the mask of deceit. The text is I. Kings xiv., 6, “Why feignest thou thyself to be an either?” In the palace of wicked Jeroboam there is a sick child —a very sick child. Medicines have failed; skill is exhausted. Young Abijah, the prince, has lived long enough to become very popular, and yet he must die unless some supernatural aid be afforded. Death comes up the broad stairs of the palace and swings back the door of the sick room of royalty and stands looking at the dying prince with the dart uplifted. Wicked Jeroboam knows that he has no right to ask anything of the Lord in the way of kindness. He knows that his prayers would not be answered, and so he sends his wife on the delicate and tender mission to the prophet of the Lord in Shiloh. Putting aside her royal attire, she puts on the garb of a peasant woman and starts on the road. Instead of carrying gold and gems as she might have carried from the palace, she carries only those gifts which seem to indicate that she belongs to the peasantry —a few loaves of bread and a few cracknels and a cruse of honey. Yonder she goes, hooded and veiled, the greatest lady in all the kingdom, yet passing unobserved. No one that meets her on the highway has any idea that she is the first lady in all the land. She is a queen in disguise. The fact is that Peter the Great working in the dry docks of Saardam, the sailor’s hat and the shipwright’s ax gave him no more thorough disguise than the garb of the peasant woman gave to the queen of Tirzah. But the prophet of the Lord saw the deceit. Although his physical eyesight had failed, he was divinely illumined, and at one glance looked through the imposition, and he cried out: “Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam! Why feignest ■thou thyself to be another? I have evil tidings for thee. Get thee back to thy house, and when thy feet touch the gate of the city the child shall die.” She had a right to ask for the recovery of her son; she had no right to practice an iinposition. Broken hearted now, she started on the way, the tears falling on the dust of the road all the way from Shiloh to Tirzah. Broken hearted now, she is not careful any more to hide her queenly gait and manner. True to the prophecy, the moment her feet touch the gate of the city the child dies. As she goes in the soul of the child goes out. The cry in the palace is joined by the lamentation of a nation, and as they carry good Abijah to his grave the air is filled with the voice of eulogy for the departed youth and the groan of an afflicted kingdom.

A Thrilling Story. It is for no insignificant purpose that I present you the thrilling story of the text. In the first place I learn that wickedness involves others, trying to make them its dupes, its allies and its scapegoats. Jeroboam proposed to hoodwink the Lord’s prophet. How did he do it? Did he go and do the work himself? No. He sent his wife to do it. Hers the peril of exposure, hers the fatigue of the way, hers the execution of the plot; his, nothing. Iniquity is a brag, but it is a great coward. It lays the plan and gets some one else to execute it; puts down the gunpowder train and gets some one else to touch it off; contrives mischief and gets some one else to work it; starts a lie and gets some one else to circulate it. In nearly all the great crimes of the world it is found out that those who planned the arson, the murder, the theft, the fraud, go free, while those who were decoyed and cheated and hoodwinked into the conspiracy clank the chain and mount the gallows. Aaron Burr, with heart filled with impurity and ambition, plots for the overthrow of the United States Government and gets off with a few threats and a little censure, while Bleunerhassett, the learned Blennerhassett, the sweet-tem-pered Blennerhassett, is decoyed by him from the orchards, and the laboratories and the gardens, and the home on the bank of the Ohio river, and his fortunes are scattered, and he is thrown into prison, and his family, brought up in luxury, is turned out to die. Abominable Aaron Burr has it comparatively easy. Sweettempered Blennerhassett has it hard. Benedict Arnold proposed to sell out the forts of the United States; to surrender the Revolutionary army and to destroy the United States Government. He gets off with his pockets full of pounds sterling, while Major Andre, the brave and the brilliant, is decoyed into the conspiracy and suffers ou the gibbet on the banks of the Hudson; so that even the literature the marble tablature that commemorated that event—has been blasted by midnight desperadoes. Benedict Arnold has it easy. Major Andre has it hard. I have noticed that nine-tenths of those who suffer for crimes are merely the satellites of some great villains. Ignominious fraud is a juggler which by sleight of hand and legerdemain makes the gold that it stole appear in somebody else’s pocket. Jeroboam plots the lie, contrives the imposition, and gets his wife to execute it. Stand off from all imposition and chicanery. Do not consent to be anybody’s dupe, anybody’s ally in wickedness, anybody’s scapegoat. The story of the text also impresses me with the fact that royalty sometimes passes in disguise. The frock, the veil, the hood of the peasant woman hid the queenly character of this woman of Tirzah. Nobody suspected that she ,was a queen or a princess as she passed by, but she was just as much a queen as though she stood in the palace, btr robes incrusted with diamonds. And so all around about us there are princesses and queens whom the world does not recognize. They sit on no throne of royalty, they ride in no chariot, they elicit no huzza, they make no pretense, but by the grace of God they are princesses and they are queens; sometimes in their poverty, sometimes in their self-denial, sometimes in their hard struggles of Christian service—God knows they are queens. The world does not recognize them. Royalty passing in disguise, kings without the crown, conquerors without the palm, empresses without the jewel. You saw her yesterday on the street. You saw nothing important in her appearance, but she is regnant over a vast realm of virtue and goodness—a realm vaster than Jeroboam ever looked at. You went down into the house of destitution and want and suffering. You saw the story of trial written on the wasted hand of the mother, on the pale cheeks of the children, on the empty bread tray, on the fireless hearth, on the broken chair. You would not have given a dollar for all the furniture in the house. But by the grace of God she is a princess. The overseers of the poor come there and discuss the case and say, “It’s a pauper.” They do not realize that God has burnished for her a crown, and that after she has got through the fatiguing journey from Tirzah to Shiloh and from Shiloh back to Tirzah there will be a throne of royalty on which she shall rest forever. Glory veiled. Affluence hidden.

Sternal raptures hushed up. A queen In mask. A princess in disguise. The Queen in Disguise. When you think of a queen you do not think of Catherine of Russia, or Maria Theresa of Germany, or Mary, queen of Scots. When you think of a queen, you think of a plain woman who sat opposite your father at the table or walked jsvith him down the path of life arm in arm, sometimes to the Thanksgiving banquet, sometimes to the grave, but always side by side, soothing your little sorrows and adjusting your little quarrels, listening to your evening prayer, toiling with the needle or at the spinning wheel, and on cold nights tucking you up snug and warm. And then on that dark day when she lay a-dying, putting those thin hands that had toiled for you so long, putting them together in a dying prayer commending you to that God in whom she had taught you to trust. Oh, she was the queen, she was the queen! You cannot think of her now without having the deepest emotions of your soul stirred, and you feel as if you could cry as though you were now sitting in infancy on her lap, and if you could call her back to speak your name with the tenderness with which she once spoke you would be willing now to throw yourself on the sod that covers her grave, crying, “Mother, mother!” Ah, she was the queen! Your father knew it. You knew it. 'She was the queen, but the queen in disguise. The world did not recognize it. But there was a grander disguising. The favorite of a great house looked out of the window of his palace, and he saw that the people were carrying heavy burdens, and that some of them were hobbling on crutches, and he saw some lying at the gate exhibiting their sores, and then he heard their lamentations, and he said: “I will just put on the clothes of those poor people, and I will go down and see what their sorrows are, and I will sympathize with them, and I will be one of them, and I will help them.” Well, the day came for him to start. The lords of the land came to see him off. All who could sing joined in the parting song, which shook the hills and woke up the shepherds. The first few nights he has been sleeping with the hostlers and the camel drivers, for no one knew there was a King in town. He went among the doctors of the law, astounding them, for without any doctor’s gown he knew more law than any doctors. He fished with the fishermen. He smote with his own hammer in the carpenter’s shop. He ate raw corn out of the field. He fried fish on the banks of Gennesaret. He was howled at by crazy people in the tombs. He was splashed of the surf of the sea. A pilgrim without any pillow. A sick man without any medicament. A mourner with no sympathetic bosom in which he could pour his tears. Disguise complete. I know that occasionally his divine royalty flashed out as when in the storm on Galilee, as in the red wine at the wedding banquet, as when he freed the_shackled demoniac of Gadara, as when he turned a'whole school of fish into the net of the discouraged boatmen, as when he throbbed life into the shriveled arm of the paralytic, but for the most part he was in disguise. No one saw the King’s jewels in his sandal. No one saw the royal robe in his plain coat. No one knew that that shelterless Christ owned all the mansions in which the hierarchs of heaven had their habitation. None knew that that hungered Christ owned all the olive groves and all the harvests which' shook their gold on the hills of Palestine. No one he who said “I thirst!” poured the Euphrates out of his own chalice. No one knew that the ocean lay in the palm of his hand like a dewdrop in the vase of a lily. No one knew that the stars and moons and suns and galnxies and constellations that marched on age qfter age were, as compared with his lifetime, the sparkle of a firefly on a summer night. No one knew that the sun in midheaven was only the shadow of his throne. No one knew that his crown.of universal dominion was covered up with a bunch of thorns. Omnipotence sheathed in a human body. Omniscience hidden in a “human eye. Infinite love beating in a human heart. Everlasting harmonies subdued into a human voice. Royalty en masque. Grandeurs of heaven in earthly disguise. Puperstltion. My subject also impresses me with how people put on masks and how the Lord tears them off. It was a terrible moment in the history of this woman of Tirzah \Yhen the prophet accosted her, practically saying: “I knovf who you are. You cannot cheat me. You cannot impose upon me. Why feignest thou thyself to be another?” She had a right to ask for the restoration of her son; she had no right to practice that falsehood. It is never right to do wrong. Sometimes you may be able to conceal an affair. It is not necessary to tell everything. There is a natural pressure to the lips which seem to indicate that silence sometimes is right, but for double dealing, for moral shuffling, for counterfeit and for sham God has nothing but anathema and exposure. He will tear off the lie. He will rip up the empiricism. He will scatter the ambuscade. There are people who are just ready to be duped. They seem to be waiting to be deceived. They believe in ghosts. They saw one themselves once. They heard something strange in an uninhabited house. Going along the road one night, something approached them in white and crossed the road. They would think it very disastrous to count the number of carriages at a funeral. They heard in a neighbor’s house something that portended death in the family. They say it is a sure sign of evil if a bat fly into the room on a summer night or they see the moon over the left shoulder. They would not for the world undertake any enterprise on Friday, forgetful off the fact that if they look over the calendar of the world they will see that Friday has been the most fortunate day in all the history of the world. As near as I can tell, looking over the calendar of the world’s history, more grand, bright, beautiful things have happened on Friday than any other day of the week. They would not begin anything on Friday. They would not for the world go back to the house for anything after they Bad once started. Such people are ready to be duped. Ignorance comes along, perhaps in the disguise of medical science, and carries them captive, for there are always some men who have found some strange and mysterious weed in some strange place and plucked it in the moonshine, and then they cover the board fences with the advertisements of “elixir” and “panaceas” and “Indian mixtures” and “ineffable cataplasms” and “unfailing disinfectants” and “lightning salves” and “instantaneous ointments,” enough to stun and scarify and poultice and kill half the race. They are all ready to be wrought uj)on by such impositions. Ah, my friends, do not be among such dupes! Do not act the part of such persons as I have been describing. Stand back from all chicanery, from all imposition. They who practice such imposition shall be exposed in the day of God’s indignation. They may rear great fortunes, but their dapple grays will be arrested on the road some day, as was the ass by the angel of God with drawn sword. The light of the last day will shine through all such subterfuges and with a voice louder than that which ac- . costed this imposition of the text: “Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam. Why feignest thou thyself to be another?” With a voice louder than that God will thunder down into midnight darkness and doom and death all two faced men, and all charlatans, and all knaves, and all jockeys, and all swindlers. Behold how the people put on the masks, and behold hew the Lord tears them off!

My subject also impresses me with how precise and accurate and particular are God’s praridenees. Just at the moment that woman entered the city the child died. Just as it was prophesied, so it turned out, so it always turns out! The event occurs, the death takes place, the nation is bom, the despotism is overthrown at the appointed time. God drives the universs with a stiff rein. Events do not just happen so. Things do not go slipshod. In all the book of God’s providences there is not one “if.” God’s providences are never caught in dishabille. To God there are no surprises, no disappointments and no accidents. The most insignificant evest flung out in the ages is the connecting link between two great chains —the chain of eternity past and the chain of eternity to come. I am no fatalist, but I should be completely wretched if I did not feel that all the affairs of my life are in God’s hand and all that pertains to me and mine, just as certainly as all the affairs of this woman of the text, as this child of the text, as this king of the text, were in God’s hand. You may ask me a hundred questions I cannot answer, but I shall until the day of my death believe that I am under the unerring care of God, and the heavens may fall, and the world may bum, and the judgment may thunder, and eternal ages may roll, but not a hair shall fall from my head, not a shadow shall drop on my path, not a sorrow shall transfix my heart without being divinely arranged—arranged by a loving, sympathetic Father. He bottles our tears, he catches our sorrows, and to the orphan he will be a Father, and to the widow he will be a husband, and to the outcast he will be a home, and to the most miserable wretch that this day crawls up out of the ditch of his abomination crying for mercy he will be an all pardoning God. The rocks shall turn gray with age, and the forests shall be unmoored in the last hurricane, and the sun shall shut its fiery eyelid, and the stars shall drop like blasted figs, and the continents shall go down like anchors in the deep, and the ocean shall heave its last groan and lash itself with expiring agony, and the world shall wrap itself in a winding sheet of flame and leap on the funeral pyre of the judgment day; but God’s love shall not die. It will kindle its suns after all other lights have gone out. It will be a billowy sea after the last ocean has swept itself away. It will warm itself by the fire of a consuming world. It will sing while the archangel’s trumpet is pealing forth and the air is filled with the crash of broken sepulchers and the rush of the wings of the rising dead. Oh, may God comfort all this people wifi this Christian sentiment!

Short Sermons.

The Nation’s Need.—The church’s opportunity is to supply the nation’s need by preaching Christ as the savior of society as well as of the individual. Also, to practice his teachings and obey his law in the world. We pray for millennial days; we shall hasten them when in business, social and political life we do the pleasure of the King. The world’s standard of business Is wrong, and our social caste is heathenish, riot Christian.—Rev. J. K. Montgomery, Presbyterian, Cincinnati, Ohio. Church Work.—The church attracts to it persons who are themselves attracted, and repels those who have nothing to do. Christ never sought any one. He was overcareful to repel them. He told them they would be stoned, cast out of the synagogue; men would speak evil of them, and they would even be crucified, as he was to be. All this they were to expect, he sought no one. The early church sought no one. He and bis church rested on an essential foundation.—Rev. S. D. McConnell, Episcopalian, Brooklyn, N. Y. Incompleteness.—ln field and flood, in plant and animal, his will Is done; but when you come into the realm of human life, there is rebellion, failure, disaster; you find men strong, brave and true, but incomplete, failures. Hence, you have the sad stories of the weakness of the strong man, the cowardice of the brave man, the folly of the wise man, the impatience of the patient man. They always stop short of God’s ideal. —Rev. W’illiam Tracey, Episcopalian, Philadelphia, Pa. Work.—God hath ordained that work along brings peace. Ask the laborer at the forge or factory, ask him who shapes his block of stone or molds his pillar of brass, or polishes his wood, or perfects his tool, and the workman will tell you that honest toil gives a sweet peace that wealth cannot increase norpoverty take away. For God hath ordained that the heart shall sing when the hand does honest and honorable work.—Rev. D. N. Hills, Independent, Chicago, 111. Profit and Loss.—We are continually considering the question of profit and loss. There is not a more perplexing question than deciding our choice or vocation in starting out in life, but a question of greater value is the all-im-portant question of our souls. Where is there really any profit outside of the question of our souls? There are things of the world that are valuable, such as wealth, glory, honor and pleasure, but they all pass away. Men often reach these, but what have they? They all pass away, but the soul exists forever. —Rev. Dr. Collins, Methodist, Louisville, Ky. God’s Way.—Life is a school in which souls are taught by the orderings as well as by the word of God. Man deserves punishment; he, no doubt, merits reprobation; even at his best he is an unprofitable servant; but God’s concern is wholly with the salvation of souls. He is not working bn the basis of judg ment. By various means he would purify and ennoble his children, and to this end he uses joys and sorrows, successes and failures, as well as Bibles and pulpits and sacrament and religious exercises. Trials are not punishment, but discipline. Pain is not the work of the Father’s wrath. Sickness, poverty, defect, disaster, may be God’s choicest gifts. At all events they are not judgments.—Rev. Henry Swentzel, Episcopalian, Brooklyn, N. Y. Charity and Sympathy—There must be a sympathy, love and companionship in all our gifts. There are hundreds and thousands rushing to darkness and doom for the want of a cheering word and the belief that some one cares for them, and for the want of the sympathy and love that might go even with the little gifts that we do give. People subscribe to funds to aid the poor in the slums, but they never go there themselves and see where their money goes. If those who are charitably Inclined visited the poor in person and added words of sympathy, consolation and love to their other gifts, there would be less misery in the slums, and a great many more souls saved.—Rev. W. R, Perrett, Presbyterian, CUnton, N. Y.

POLITICS OF THE DAY

Let Republicans Consider. When Congress is asked to enter on reckless legislative methods, simply for the purpose of annoying the Democratic party and showing the alleged superiority of the Republicans, let them consider that the numerical strength of both parties at the last election was so evenly balanced in the entire nation that if one man out of every fifty had changed his opinion the big popular majority over which the Ohio major’s supporters crow so much would have been wiped out of existence. In addition, let Congressmen remember that the abuse heaped at the Democratic party in Its platform during the late campaign, and even to-day, is unadulterated misapprehension of a most reckless character. The mere fact that the declarations put forth by the Chicago convention received the indorsement of nearly one-half the voters, in the face of an exercise of the corporate wealth of the country ou the other side such as was never seen before, oijght to convince them that the vituperation was unjustifiable and that it will be advisable to treat these declarations with a great deal of serious consideration. Let them take the planks of the last Democratic platform one after another and let them try to study them as a guide and warning, for they will find nothing there that needs to be recalled and apologized for by those who framed them. There may have been mistakes of policy, but the principles are all right when rightly and reasonably Interpreted. There is a declaration against returning to the McKinley tariff which was voted down so emphatically in two successive elections, and there is also a declaration that the best way of protecting American labor is to prevent the importation of foreign pauper labor to compete with it. It will be an’evil day for the Republicans on which they Ignore the truth of these two propositions. Then the Democracy demands economy in Government expenditures. It is against the extravagance that tries to conceal itself under the eloak of patri-otism-using the noblest sentiments of the nation to hide the rapacity of monopolists and contractors. Its declaration against “government by injunction” is very much akin to the foregoing. It has been denounced as being anarchistic, but it is in truth nothing more than a protest against the public authorities acting as the eats paws of the big-corporations. These are great questions ajid entirely worthy of the most serious, most respectful treatment. If those who believe them to be the most important now at issue are treated contemptuously and reviled, those who are guilty thereof will surely meet their proper punishment.

Cutting Off Their Own Nosea. It now seems that, since the gold hups of Wall street have succeeded in seating their candidate in the presidential chair, they will endeavor to punish those States which rolled up handsome majorities for Mr. Bryan in the recent election. An idea of the sentiment existing may be imagined from the following article which appeared a few days ago in the Wall Street Dally News: It is no exaggeration to say that the States which in the last election supported Bryan, free silver, and repudiation of honest obligations, will have a hard time of it in floating new securities or negotiating loans in New York or for that matter in any part of the East. The Chicago platform and the people who supported it have given capital a shock from which it will take a long thno to recover. Repudiation, as advocated by the States giving their full vote and support to Bryan, is sufficient to deter capital from in any way becoming financially interested in them, and henceforth they had better give New York the “go by" when money is wanted. We know of no concerted movement to boycott the securities of the Bryan States, but from conversation with leading bankers and brokers we do know that a bitter feeling of antagonism prevails, and the disposition is general to have nothing to do with them. This may seem like a terrorizing threat in the eyes of Wall street, but a careful study of the census of 1890 showing the estimated wealth of the various States will convince anyone that the dog will wag the tail, and not the tail the dog, as the financial interests of Wall street think. Even the threat of such a movement would encourage the combination of all the capital west of the Alleghenies In building up all sorts of manufacturing industries now patronized in the East, and, Instead of the West being boycotted by the East, the East would be boycotted by the West. It would simply prove to be a case of cutting off their own noses to spite themselves. They fail to recognize the fact that there is a vast population growing up in the far West, and that the deciding power of the electoral college no longer remains In the Middle States. A fair example of the outcome Is to be found in the growth of the paper industry in the West. A few years ago the East sold its news and book paper as far West as the Pacific coast; now it is hard to sell it in Chicago. In a few words, Wall street may rule Wall street, but Wall street cannot and shall not dictate to the 70,000,000 people of this grand land of freedom. They may squeeze the American eagle (the gold dollar) until the last dollar has left the treasury, but they cannot fool all the American people all the time. Some Baneful Effects. It has been demonstrated that the agricultural population of the United States, hours of work considered, receive an income, acording to numbers engaged, that is less than that provided for paupers or paid for convicts. This statement seems incredible at first blush, but when we are reminded of the fact that all the members of a farmer’s family work long hours, and that they earn a bare living under pros-

ent conditions, It becomes apparent that the earning capacity of the average producer is less than 50 cents a day. And his lot Is becoming more and more onerous every day. So true ia this that the land which he formerly owned Is slipping away from him, just as It slipped away from the peasant proprietors in England, and the curse of landlordism Is already firmly fixed among us. Its blight is upon the best blood of the rural districts. In 1880 only 25.62 per cent, of the farms in this country were cultivated by tenants. Ten years later the number had risen to 34.13 per cent., and the end of the century will see more than half the tillers of the soil non-owners. Every alternate producer will be the creature of some one else’s will. But it Is not only the rural homes that falling prices and an appreciating dollar threatens. Those who joined building and loan associations ten years ago know something of the increased and Increasing difficulty of making their weekly and monthly payments. Do they realize that while their assessments are the same on their face they have, as a matter of fact, Increased greatly in value? Why? Because of the unstable money in which they pay, the exchange value of which is much greater than formerly. A very exhaustive work on this subject—“ The Money Question”—says: “A measure of general prices the stability of which cannot be calculated upon in advance by the citizens of a State Is a relic of barbarism—it is unfit for a people who plan for years in advance their expenses and their savings.” This is unquestionably true. An unstable money makes thrift unprofitable and any effort to discount the necessities of a rainy day uncertain, if not useless. It Is a good thing for the shylock, but a bad thing for everybody else. An Extra Session. The New York Mall nnd Express, which was nearer the Harrison administration than any other American paper, being, in fact, a semi-official orgnn, claims to speak by the card when it says that there will be an extra session of Congress. Major McKinley, It declares, has no hope that the short session which convenes a week from next Monday will enact legislation looking to an Increase of Federal revenues. lie will, therefore, not later than April 1, 1897, issue his proclamation for an extraordinary convocation of members elected to the Fifty-fifth National Congress. We fail to see what legislation will then be possible that is not possible between now and March 4. Or perhaps we should say we fall to see that legislation impossible during the life of the Fifty-fourth will not be impossible during the life of the Fifty-fifth Congress. The newly elected body was not chosen to restore the McKinley prohibitory tariff rates. Nearly all the Republican orators were careful to announce repeatedly that there would be no tariff tinkering under the major’s administration, should he bo elected. Therefore, needed revenue must, If good faith with the people Is kept, be raised outside the custom house. As we have no income tax, an increase of the Internal revenue receipts will be absolutely essential. The proposition to double the rate now placed on beer meets with much favor, nnd would insure a revenue, according to conservative estimates, of $35,000,000, which would perhaps be sufficient under an economical administration.

Tlila tax would not be felt by consumers, ns It would amount to nn Infinitesimal sum per glass, but It would be paid by the brewers, practically all of whom are rich beyond the dream of avarice, and most of whom are directly or Indirectly connected with a trust. Such a measure could be passed this winter, and It seems to be about the only practicable method of meeting the exigency of the hour. The Dlngley comedy of errors has already been laughed off the stage. It will not, cannot. and ns n matter of fact It should not, become a law. Let needed legislation be given the country Immediately, and then let the Country be given a needed rest.—Chicago Dispatch. Gives His Views. ‘The greatest ever submitted to the American people” Is the way In which W. J. Bryan describes the Issue on which the election turned, In his artlck in the December number of the North American Review, In which he dls cusses the result of the election ns as fecting the status of the silver ques tlon. The declaration of the Chlcagc convention In favor of the free eolnagi of silver forced upon the people of thU country a study of the money questloi In general, and within, the last foui months more people have been simultaneously engaged In its consideration than ever before in the history of the world. The result of this study, Mr, Bryan declares, to be “temporary defeat, but permanent gain for the cause of bimetallism.” “It Is a significant fact,” says Mr. Bryan, “that the sllvei sentiment was strongest where the question had been longest conslderedvlz., In the South and West. The advocates of free coinage are convinced that they are laboring In behalf of a large majority of the people, not only here, but throughout the world, and they propose to continue their contest, confident that four more years of experience will convince many who have thus far resisted arguments. Mr. Bryan counsels the successful party to remember that thousands of Republicans have been held to their party this year by the pledge that it will try to secure International bimetallism. In reference to the gold standard Democrats Mr. Bryan feels assured that they cannot do as much in 1900 as they have done this year.

“Beauty is but skin deep.” That li a skin-deep saying. Beauty Is heart deep. It Is out of the heart we desire it It is out of the heart it grows. This is not a mere saying like the other. It is the fact and secret that we are eagei to penetrate.”—Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney.

INDIANA INCIDENTS.

RECORD OF EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK. Mr*. Grace Dolan of Indianapolis Shoot* an Undesirable Visitor — Tessie Mefford’s Body to Be Exhumed by the Coroner. Kills a Negro Intruder. Mrs. Grace Dolan, living at Indianapolis, entered the front room of her residence the other evening and saw a man standing at the window. Though greatly frightened, she ordered the intruder away, but a moment inter he returned nnd forced himself in at the doo". Mrs. Dolan recognized the iutruder as a negro nnd when he advanced toward her she struck him over the head with a curtain pole. At that moment a visitor at the house brought Mrs. Dolan her husband's revolver nnd she fired upou tho negro. One shot lodged in his leg and a second penetrated his brain, killing him Instantly. The negro proved to be George Jackson, a young colored man of the vicinity. Mrs. Dolan is under arrest.

Big Gas Well Spouting Oil. Reports received in Andetson from the south port of the county hnve occasioned much excitement nnd speculation. Consumers on the Farmers’ gas lino who went to light their fires Sunday morning turned on their valves nnd, instead of getting gas, a gush of oil entne out. Several houses were flooded with tho oil. It was almost Impossible to shut it off wheu once started. Outside it wus found that oil was gushing from tho regulators and from sentns in the pipes. Investigation showed that one of the big gas wells which has been used on the line suddenly turned into an oil gnsher. It Is In a territory where there have been blit very few traces of oil found. Prices on leases went out of sight. It is thought there will be a stampede of ol< men for the new field. Mysterious Death of n Child. Tessie Mefford, a 0-year-old girl, who lived with her grandmother, Rebecca Derriekson, four miles east of Sheltiyvillo, was found dead in bed, nnd, at tho suggestion of George Derriekson, the funeral was made private. Mrs. Mary Ayers nnd Nancy Collins happened in and took part in dressing the body without an Invitation. These Indies Indulged in much talk since regarding the child’s condition. This, with the fact that the little girl was burled without undertaker or clergyman, has caused so much excitement that Coroner Bodher exhumed tho body. No report has yet been made. All Over tho State. Dr. A. H. Coble, of Clinton County, has been arrested and placed under SSOO bond for alleged attempt to buy votes on election day. Ross Bryan, 10 yenrs old, son of P. T. Bryan, treasurer of Lebanon, was fatally hurt at Brazil by jumping from u Vandalla freight. His father was telegraphed for. He said his son’s mind was affected at intervals nnd mental ntllletioh euiised him to leave home. Misses Eva Place and Emma Blatchley, teachers in the Anderson public school, were placed under arrest, ehnrged witli Introducing a horsewhip into the regulations of their schools. The affidavits were! made by Francis Eads, who sets forth that they have* been using the whip on his son. Ho claims the punishment was most severe. The eases are attracting considerable attention. The teacher* gave bond nnd will tight tiie eases. A desperate bnttlu between a posse of officers headed by Marshal Franz, of Berne, nnd a gang of thieves took place in the southern part of tho county Monday morning. Two of the officers were slightly wounded, and-one of tho thieves instantly killed and two others mortally wounded. From'papers found on the person of the dead man his uaino is supposed to bo Gotlhert Brown. The wounded thieves were taken to Decatur for treatment, but they cannot live. The rest of the gang escaped, and officers from adjoining counties hnve been usked to assist in the chase. Thieves entered the house of Sherman Baker, living near North Webster, and while the inmates were asleep robbed it. They then poured oil on the carpets nnd applied a match, which burned the house to the ground. Mr. nnd Mrs. Baker were aroused and escaped from the house just in time to save their lives. The neighbors who were attracted to the scene of the fire gave chase to the desperate men, and should they be caught a lynching is in store for thorn. It is supposed to bo the work of an organized huml which has been torturing farmers to reveil tho hiding place of their money. William Phillips disappeared from Kokotno several years ago. Friday a man named William Phillips died suddenly at Huntington. The bo ly lay four days without identification, when A. F, Phillips, telegraph ediror of the Kansas City World, believing hhn to be his brother, took charge of the remains, ordered them shipped to Kokomo anti the relatives assembled for the funeral, for which all preparations were made. At the last moment the surprising discovery was made that -lie remains were not those of the Kokomo man and the funeral was abandoned. Mr. and Mrs. Simon Pate, an aged couple, wlio resided near Sunman, huve been murdered in cold blood. They were discovered Monday morning in a dying condition, and the husband lived long enough to give an account of the affair. A stranger called at the house Sunday claiming to bear verbal messages from friends across the water, hut the suspicions of the couple were aroused and they refused to entertain him for the night. Shortly after 7 o’clock their door was forced open and they were assaulted with clubs, being left for dead. No demand was made for money, nor does there seem to have been any effort to rob the house. The absence of apparent motive makethe crime extremely mysterious. Indiana will have a candidate for Pres-ident-elect McKinley’s Cabinet in Aaron .Tones, of St. Joseph County. A movement to secure his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture has already assumed formidable proportions. Frederick Clark, a member of a wellknown Wheatfield family, was found bruised and bleeding at a point near the railroad. His injuries are serious. Clark left home with a large sum of money, but when found his pockets had been rifled. His condition is such that he has been unable to give an intelligent account of himself. Ms C. H. Over, senior member of the firm of C. H. Over & Co., Mnneie window glass manufacturers, and George J. Vincent, night watchman at the factory, worn horribly and perhaps fatally burned in a natural gas explosion. Vincent struck a match while repairing a gas pump, causing the explosion. Representative Woodruff will introduce a bill in the Legislature prohibiting tne sale and manufacture of cigarettes in this State. Heavy penalties will be prescribed. Tiie Woman’s Christian Temperance Union throughout the State is obtaining thousands of signatures to petitions urging the passage of such a measure.

PULSE OF THE PRESS

THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE. New Tork. So he preseats a heaping peck of troo« bles with scarcely a hint as to how they may be leveled to the rim of the measure.—Press. His Conclusions show beyond a doubt that he will leave to his successor the honor of taking the first step to assure Cuban liberty.—Journal. We should mind our own business, restore domestic prosperity, faithfully comply with the neutrality laws and let Ouba alone.—Commercial-Advertiser. The message writes the history of an administration and writes it with dignity and calmness. It is one of the most instructive documents ever prepared foi perusal.—Brooklyn Eagle. The only political value of the document is in its incidental disclosures of Mr. Cleveland's frame of mind as indicating his probable course during the brief period of power remaining to*hlm.— Sun. Tho message as a whole is a creditable document. Its style is open to criticism, but it la evidently animated throughout by a sincere desire to avoid offense without a sacrifice of personal dignity.—Mail and Express. As to Cuba, it is noteworthy that tho hypothetical condition which be sets forth as one that would justify and compel American intervention is wholly ' indistinguishable from the conditions now actually existing as described in the message itself.—World. Chicago. His threat to Spain will present to the European power a very clear view of this nation's attitude.—Record. The intimation that the United States will be compelled tt> protect American interests in Cuba and the interests of civilisation and peace is Important in its significance.—Chronicle. Most Americans believe that the situation is at hand and they will be Incensed rather than placated by the fatuous negotiation which the administration has undertaken In lieu of decisive action.— Journal. Reduced to its essence, he has given Spain until March 4 immunity from intervention by the United States or any other power nnd permission to continue its hideous work of murder uud ruin.— Tribune. Of the prospect of armed Intervention, in case of all other means of pacifying Ouba fall, the President epenks with the utmost frankness and good sense. It is a contingency that, however deplorable It may be, lias not* bo on overlooked by levelheaded people.—Times-Herald.

London. Spain had better accept Mr. Cleveland’s friendly counsel its Mr. McKinley is not likely to bo less exacting than Mr. Cleveland. Altogether, it is a dignified and able message.—Standard. President Cleveland's argument is clear enough. No country possesses tho right to foster a perpetual source of trouble, and Spain must cither grant autonpmy or sell. Spain, however, will probably refuse to do anything of the kind.—Daily Npws. Wo believe the timo has passed when the Cuban insurgonts will accept any solution placing Spanish offidalsPover them, even nominally, There is no mistake, however, about the warning President Cleveland addresses-to Spain.—Chronicle. The tono and of the message are worthy of all praise. It is a pity that the moderation and balance of inind which Mr. Cleveland has just displayed were not more conspicuous last year, when hs startled two continents by a menace of war.—Times. In General. On tho whole, tho message will be regarded as rather commonplace.—lndianapolis Journal. President Cleveland adds to his wellearned reputation as a sound financier in his attack on our financial methods.—St. Louis Star. Mr. Cleveland’s last message will add nothing to Ids fame, and will be a source of gratification to his enemies.—Kansae City World. It is characterized by the same strong common sense that has been such a marked feature of all his state papers.— Peoria Herald. President Cleveland’s message is a forcible reiteration of views that he has long held in most of the subjects treated. —Indianapolis Sentinel. The President gives very little encouragement for any hope thnt this Government, under his administration, will favor the annexation of Cuba.—Minneapolis Journal. It maintains (in regard to Cuba) a calm judicial attitude, which disregards neither facts nor obligations founded on them. Sentiment is acknowledged, but not admitted as a ground of action,—Milwaukee Journal. Mr. Cleveland is in accord with public sentiment in the United States when ho declares that this Government should object to any other nation interfering la Cuban affairs or acquiring tho island.— Toledo Blade. Until the inability of Spain to end tho war is mnnifest, until her sovereignty ia Cuba is extinct, or until “the situation ia by other incidents imperatively changed,” Mr. Cleveland will do nothing. This is the true policy.—Milwaukee Sentinel.. In every feature and detail of the message Mr. Cleveland maintains the invincible loyalty to the American public which he has manifested from the first moment of his advent into public life—■ Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune. President Cleveland’s last annual deliverance to the Congress of the United' States is a sober, thoughtful and statesmanlike survey of national affairs.— Detroit Free Press. Especially noteworthy is his statement that “by the course of events we may be drawn into such an unusual and unprecedented conflict-as will fix a limit to our patient waiting for Spain to end the contest, either alone and in her own way or with our friendly co-operation.” Spain cannot fail to understand the warning conveyed in these words.—Duluth Herald.

Notes of Current Events.

The'packing house of the Sioux City Stock Yards Company is said to be haunted by a ghostly pig-sticker nine feet tall. Loren H. Hixon, one of the best-known* men in Northwestern Indiana, died of Bright’s disease, aged X 8 years, at Valparaiso. The schooner Red Wing, of Philadelphia was lost sixty miles south of Pensacola, Fla. Her crew and passengers were saved. The two factions which have been, dividing, St. Stanislaus’ Polish Catholioi congregation in Bay City came together Sunday in a pitched battle, in which! clubs and missiles were used and nearly % score injured.