Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 7, Number 42, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 14 April 1877 — Page 1

Vol. 7.-—No. 42.

THE MAIL

A PAPER FOR THE PEOPLE.

SECOND EDITION".

Town-Talk.

COULDN'T TELL A LIK

"Is this imitation or genuine?" asked alafy of a dealer the other day. T. T. will not mention the name of the dealer, nor his line of goods. To do the latter would be equivalent to giving his name and as the readers of this column well know, T. T. endeavors to avoid b^ing too personal. The salesman, hesitating and stammering, replied: "Ye—s—no, madam—that is—it was genuine till Hammond came, but now it is imitation." This Is the way it has been told te T. T. If the work of such men as Hammond and Munhall makes men really more truthful and honest, so truthful and honest chat they will rot even tell the lies permitted by custom, nor sell an imitation for genuine, then it must be set down as a work that bears the severe test of good fruits. There is very little gained by "converting" a whole city, if the converts remain the same as before conversion in their business—that is, unless they have been all right there before. Christian people are judged more by their general conduct than by their prayers, or their talks, or their professions. Now T. T. is not saying this by way of cavil against religion, as if it did not generally make men more honest and honorable. There have been and there probably always will be hypocrites, and some of them get into the church, though there area great many more outside than inside the churches. There have been and there probably always will be people who will make a great cry over very little wool, and some of them get into the church, though of those doing a large business in boasting on a small capital of merit, T. T. will put ten men outside the church against every one such found inside. Still it is true that the men aud the wo men who have been converted here during the past winter and the church members who have been workiug and praying for the conversion of their friends and neighbors, will be Judged chietiyby their method ot doing business and treating their fellows ia society. And the judgment which thoy will receive will generally be honest. There doubtless are some who willsje faults beoauso they want to see them, and what a man wants to see in bis fellows he can almost always find. But the great mass of the Judges are honest and candid. People generally, and in the long run, get the reputations which they deserve. There is good eld uucle who is always truthful, always kind, and the friend of every eno who needs a friend, though be is not perfect, has his faults, ne on*3 doubts the genuineness of his piety, nobody wants to doubt him. When a man really means and tries to live out his religion, the fact is genorally recognised and admitted. T. T. has been surprised at the oharlty whloh the world generally has for the faults and mistakes of men who show that they are trying to live right. But if a man is not truthful in business, if he takes advantage of those with whom he deals, he ought net to be judged charitably, and he will not be. The revival is over now. The testimeny of the lips has been given and listened to. And now the time has come when we are to see what it is all worth. T.T. believes it will prove to be worth much. But the testing tlma has begun. The question now is whether the article offered for sale is to be called genuine, or be, as it really is, only Imitation, and that too, though the admission may spoil a sale.

Now that T. T. is on this subject, he wants to free his mind aboat THE LOAN or THK BAPTISTRY, or, as one good woman in this city pats it: "Rev. Mr. Henderson loans his wash-tub, bat he dont take in washing" —that Is, he allows the use of the water reoeptacle, but each minister must do bis own washing. First the Congregational ists were offered and accepted the

use

of the baptistry--then last Saturday Mr. Abbey, of the Seoond Presbyterian used it, and it is said that Mr. Darwood, •f Centenary, will probably do so. It was really a kind and neighborly thing for theBaptist church to offer the use of their facilities lor the rite of baptism. It

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wab proper and polite for the Congregationalists to thank the Baptists for their kind offer and the use. T. T. could not sbe the necessity of rushing into the palmers with preamble and resolutions of thanks. Mr. Abbey's folks are equally thankful, no doubt, but have the good t^ste to keep out of print. But T. T. is not censuring anybody. What he wants t^ say is, that more ado has been made oiver this than it deserves. He did not niiind talk about it here in the heat of brotherly love born of the revival. But of the numerous accounts which be has seen of the revival in the papers, north, sonth, east and west, this loan of the baptistry is the one thing that has never been omitted, and it has been dwelt upon*as if it were one of the marvels of this wonderful work. T. T. does not believe it was in any way the result of this winter's work. T. T. believes that at any time within the past ten years, certainly at any time since Rev. Mr. Henderson came here, the Baptist church would have gladly loaned their baptistry to any church which should chance to need it. T. T. objects to all the fuss that has been made about this act of neighborly kindness, the prominence which has been given it in the papers elsewhere, because it contains a false implication in reference to f.he spirit heretofore existing between the churches engaged in the rec°nt revival —and especially between the two neighbor churches on the corners of Sixth and Cherry streets. When a great ado is made over such an act it implies that it is out of the ordinary course of things. It is not very common for persons who think they ought to Le immersed to join a Congregational church, but when such a thing does occur, T. T. believes there is a spirit of unity and a fraternal feeling generally which would make almost any Baptist ohurch glad te serve almost any Congregational church in this way. It is not complimentary to either church to make this thing so prominent. So T. T. thinks, and if anybody differs from him, suoh a body is welcome to go on talking and writing about it.

While T. T. is on revival matters he would like to suggest "NO CARDS." Emma Westfall—(whose real name, by the way, is Emma Jacobs)—again carded the papers last week, and Mattie Saunders does likewise this week. Wouldn't it be just as well for the women reclaimed by the Hammond revival to step down and out" of the daily papers. Their "cards" are altogether too frequent and are generally uncalled for. And at the same time T. T. suggests that tbs papers "give them a rest." Let them subside from this unhealthy excitement, and tken if, for a time, they keep the faith, there will be more hope for a substantial and permanent reform.

T. T. is sorry to hear of some backsliders among the Hammond converts. Hold fast, boys—it will do you no harm and power o' good.

There, T. T.didn't intend to occupy so much space on revival matters. Really, come to think, be has had nearly half a dozen kindred articles in the last dozen weeks. Readers will begin to think that he must be one of the new converts—that he is getting too much of a saint—tec goody-goocy. He must get on some other tack—say something outrageous. He hasn't been called hard names, and nobody has demanded the name of the author for so long that, really he feels neglected. However, so long as the publisher of The Mail keeps T. T's full length portrait at the head of this column, perhaps T. T. bad better keep 011 his good behavior.

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Husks and Nubbins.

No. 249.

A WORD ABOUT CLERGYMEN.

I thiuk it must be true what an eminent and fair minded writer has said, (speaking of the advantages and drawbacks of various trades and professions,) that "of all the professions the ecclesiastical one is that which most decidedly and most constantly affects the judgment of persons and opinions. It is peculiarly difficult for a clergyman to attain disinterestednees in his thinking, to accept truth just as it may happen to present itself, without passionately desiring that one doctrine may turn out to be strong in evidence and another unsupported. And so we find the clergy, as a class, anxious 1 ather to discover aids to fklth, than the simple scientigc truth and the more the special priestly character develops itself, the more we find them disposed to use their intellects for the triumph of principles that are decided upon beforehand."

I think the observations of this writer are true because I have never yet beard a clergyman speak fairly and impartially of scientific men and their work, though I have heard a great many sermons more or leas directly upon this theme. The latest instance was that of a minister of high standing and a man of unusual ability and fairness. I had heard and greatly admired his liberal and progressive ideas and his elegant and logical presentation of them. His sermons often times strongly resembled from Emerson's essays. TL era

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was no milk-and-water method in them. They Tang clear as a bell with thought and reason. They were real meat for strong men, to be carefully chewed and leisurely digested. Having had this experience with the preacher I was somewhat surprised and disappointed at his first arraignment of the men of science. I had begun to think that here was one exception to the general rule that here, at last, was one olergyman whose mind was not biased by his profession who could think calmly and impartially on all manner of subjects. But I was mistaken. I soon found him imputing wrong motives to the leaders of scientific discovery and charging them with sins they have never committed. He said their science moves too slow for him, that both he and they too would be dead long before their tower reached to Heaven and hence he could never go up by means of it. He compared science to a foot-worn traveller and religion to the lightning express that shoots by him the traveler is envious of the railway train. He said science was intolerant, going out of its way to break up a little Methodist prayer meeting, insisting that it holds the keys to all knowledge aud seeking to cram its theories down every man's throat .whether he will or no. Yet, in spite of this assumption of wisdom, its teachers cannot agree amon themselves about such a simple thing as how a fly walks on the ceiling one professor proves that it is by atmospheric pressure another, that it is by means of exuding glue from bis feet. They measure the distance between the earth and s)in and afterwards have to correct their measurement. Max Mueller and Prof.* Whitney have exactly the same materials from which to discover the true origin and method of growth of language and they arrive at exactly opposite conclusions. Such, and a good deal more in a similar strain. Plausible, all of it and entertaining, but not true, or at most only partially true. It migbt, however, easily be received as the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, by persons wholly unacquainted with the works of scientific men.

The untruest thing of it all is that men given to scientific research are intolerant and seek to impose their theories on others and endeavor to oust Christianity from the hearts of its believers that their tentative theories may take its place. This must be the cruelest charge that the church makes against science, as it is one of the most frequent. Now the writer does not pretend to any extensive acquaintance with the works of scientific men but he has read

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the writings of Darwin, Huxley, Tyndall, Spencer and Renan, enough at least to feel that this charge is utterly unfounded. Instead of their being an air of bravado and intolerance about their works there is an atmosphere of humility. They feel too keenly the smallness and narrowness of the realm they have conquered, (if indeed they have conquered anything fully) to boast of it. It is really surprising how little they are concerned about whether the world receives their doctrines or not. Men like Humboldt and Faraday, the one spending his large fortune and the other cheerfully foregoing the equally vast fortune be might have made and living in narrow circumstances in order to devote their lives to scienti tic research such men have a nobler ambition than to break up prayer meetings or proselyte the multitude. Religion or irreligion is of small consequence to them the truth is everything. Men may never, indeed, go to Heaven on the tower they are building but to say that they are opposed to their going to Heaven in what other way they can or please, is to misrepresent them so sadly that it is impossible to express the degree of the misrepresentation. I follow Darwin through his painful, patient twenty years study of birds and beasts, observe him as he carefully and witb infinite pains chronicles the results of his long labor, not dlaingeneously putting down only Buch facts as help his theory and omitting the rest, but with noble manliness giving the facts that throw doubt and discredit on It as well, and telling it all in wdrds of frank simplicity, as if he cared not whether any other being in the universe would believe it or not, and concerned alone for its truth, and I am lost in amazement at the audacity of him who can stand up before an audience of intelligent men and women and boldly assert that Darwin is trying to cram the solution theory down their throats whether they will or not! I seek in vain in Huxley, the most aggressive of all the scientists, for anything worse than this: "Why trouble ourselves about matters of which, however important they may be, we do know nothing and can know nothing? We live In a world which is fall of misery and ignorance and the plain duty of each and all of us is to try to make the little corner he can influence somewhat leas miserable and somewhat less ignorant than it was before he entered it. To do this effectually it is neoeesary to be possessed of only two beliefs: the first, that the order of nature is ascertainable by our faculties to an extent which is practically unlimited the seoond, that oar volition eonnts for something as a

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TERRE HAUTE, IND., SATURDAY EVENING,"APRIL 14,1877. Price Five Cents

condition of the course of events." And yet I am told that Huxley1 is bent on tearing down the temple of Christianity and leveling it in the dust. Rather a tame manifestation of his strength, is it not? The truth is, It Is npt the sclen tific man who attack the church bat the church which is constantly attacking them. It is not Huxley going out of his way to break up the Methodist.prayer meeting, but the prayer meeting going out of its way to break down Huxley! The church is very much in the condition of the Irishman who was anxious to find somebody to tread on his coat tail it is always ready for a fight and when fighting the Levi I grows monotonous it conjures np some men of straw to demolish for pure pastime. This, it seems to me, is the true explanation of most of the sermons that are preached on the subject of science and scientific men.

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Shows and Show Folks.

Miss Emma Abbotc sang at the Opera House, Wednesday evening, to a discouragingly small audience, and made a decidedly favorable impression. She dresses magnificently, rushes frantically on and off the stage, working her arms and Bhoulders like the piston-rod of a steam engine, apparently propelling herself with them, and has a voice of magical power and wondress sweetness —a pure soprano—having a wide range, and in her upper notes particularly correct. She shows particularly fine pathos of voice and style in her ballads. We did not hear Brignoll in the first part, and in the second be substituted a single verse of an English ballad for one of his songs and positively refused to listen to a recall. Why is it that a fine tenor voice makes a man so unpleasant. Ferranti sang his comic songs with his own peculiar rattling bravura effect that reminds ene of "Dundreary's" comment, "Qood gwacious! it sounds like a fire-works," when the young lady explained to him that it was not a "widdie," but a "r-r-r-r-r-riddle." We hope that at some more auspicious time Miss Abbott—who, by the way is not a Miss, but a Mrs. Wetherell—will bring that lovely, fresh American voice back to us again.

John E. Owens, as Perkyn Middlewick, in "Our Boys," at the Opera House, Thursday evening, lost none of his well earned reputation—still he Is so saturated—as it were—with "Solon Shingle," that /'that bar'l o' apple sass" seems to ooze from every pore, at every speech and movement of the active little body. The company supporting him was "fair to middling"—Miss Minnette Thompson, as "Mary Melrose," being decidedly "cute."

Mr. William Pellissier had a large audience at Dowling Hall, Thursday evening, and, we are gratified to learn, made a fine Impression in his personation of "Rip Van Winkle." "Forbidden Fruit," Boucioault's latest play, was given at the Opera House list night, and will be again presented this evening. The story is excessively funny, the situations are worked up in the most artistic manner, and the text is bright and witty. Every scene is filled with startling situations and the last of the three acts is such a sucession of constant surprises that they fairly tread on each other's heels. It is rare indeed that the general tone of excellence in a company is so remarkable as in this. From waiters up, all seem fitted for their tasks, and most creditably discbarge their duties. The stage scenes were most artistically arranged, and the costumes magnificent. While the comedy is one of the most amusing ever put en this stage, the moral is not exactly one that is needed for the development of sound moral or intellectual growth. Indeed to young minds which do not know the world it presents aside of human nature that bad better be left In the dark. It may not be foreign to the nature of a young Englishman to pick up an easy acquaintance witb a 'woman of still easier virtue, but when the picture is placed upon the stage in tbe facinating guise of gilded trappings, it offer* temptations that it is tbe duty of tbe drama to put down. Cremorne Gardens and the Albambra of 1 or.don hold a reputation equal to tbe Bowery or Harry Hall's of New York, and the portraying of a midnight carouse in places of such questionable repute serve to awaken bad tastes instead of to inculcate a wholesome moral.

Next Monday evening, we are to have the return of Simmons A Slocnm's big minstrel organisation that made such a hit here recently. Since then they have made a successful southern tour. Hear what the New Orleans Picayune says:

The Simmons and Slocnm's Minstrels opened at tbe Academy last night to a large and fashionable audience. Tbe oompany arrived in our city well heralded by tbe press, and fully justified all that had been said of them. Hardly bad tbe overture and first song been performed than the ioe was broken, and the audience burst in tremendous applause.

The first part of the programme, the vocal entertainment, compoeed of new songs, was skillfully performed by tbe 'Messrs.T. B. Dix-

quartette, compoeed of

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Cbas. Storms and E. 8.' Nelson,* baritone. Tbe second part "Variety d'Ethiope proved a source of considerable merriment to the audience, who repeatedly interrupted the performance by the uncontrollable uproars of laughter. Mr. George Thatcher, the inimitable specialty artist, was unusually funny, and won the sympathies of the public. Billy Welch and Johnny Rice, in thAir original songs and dances, and Lew Simmons, in his banjo solos, also came in for a good share of publlo favor. In Act, the entire programme, which was concluded by the laughable burlesque entitled "Twe Tramps," was amusing in the extreme and well merited the applause and encores unanimously demanded after every piece. The company is certainly unequaled in America, and will no doubt draw large houses every night. •"•J' quvnx mw '***:t''

On Wednesday evening of next week, Mr. Charles Pope, of St. Loais swill come over and give us his great character of "Samson," bringing 'with him alf the scenery and accessories neoeesary.for the piece. Of the play and the actor this is what the St. Louis Globe Democrat says:

Those grand old stories which bave come down through the "corridors of time," if they do sometimes detail mighty deeds(whichreasonshrinksfrom, and the faith only 'can believe, have still a greater hold upon oar imagination than all the deedB of derring do." with which these latter days are rife, the light of the gigantic Anaks of mod ern life are pale before that of the biblical Samson, the might man of Israel, he who slew tbe armed forces of the Philistines, and. when captured and sightless, made the Temple of Dagon fall beneath the power of his arm and become the ruined mausoleum of himself and Israel's foes. In all the wide range of history there is no character so heroically grand as that of Samson, tbe hero, "To whom God gave strength, and to show withal to how slight the gift was, hung It in his hair."

After tbe weak giants that dramatists of modern times have set to strut their hour upon tbe stage, or the characters of heroic ideality that poets have dreamingly tried to paint, it was a rind thought of" Ypolito D'Aste," to ring down the grand old biblical hero from his niche in the Walballa of Israel's worthies, where he has stood In solitary grandeur, covered with the dust of Olympiads, and present him a living personation before the Gentiles ot the nineteenth century. How well be did his task, and how well that greatest of all living actors, Salvini, carried out his conception, everybody knows who had the good fortuue to witness H. It was a revelation of histrienio power that startled men who thought they had seen actors in the part who had goni and left no one upon whom their mantle was worthy to fall. Salvini was universally acknowledged to be worthy of being ranked with Rachel, and Samson' was undoubtedly his greatest personatien. The colossal genius of the actor was mated to a colossal hero, and the union was the perfection of histrionic art.

During the last week we have seen a Samson speaking In oar mother tongae, the Saxon vigor of which is far better suited to the character than the musical Italian of tbe original dramatic version.

Mr Ho wells, the translator, has ably accomplished his work. He has preserved tbe strong points of tbe story and rendered tbe language into dramatic blank verse which has a heroic ring about it worthy of its theme. Mr. Howells has done some fine word-paint-ing in his contributions to American literature, and his English version ot Samson is equal, if not superior to anything he has written.

So much for the play. Now, for the actor. Mr. Charles Pope has, in bis time, played many parts with varying success but fieither be nor his friends knew what he was capable of until be essayed the character or Samson. Necessarily, bis attempt was thrown into contrast with one that was almost beyond the pale of criticism yet his success is unmistakable. He has evidently studied the part carefully, with no mere routine work, but with an evident desire to grasp the character and thoroughly imbue his personation with the individuality of the hero of Gaza. The result is a grand histrienio picture.

Mr. Pope has every physical requisite for personating Samson. He looks the character to perfection, and the heavy black beard that he wears gives a dignity to his face. There are soineflue points in the play. The carrying of old Manoab is a very effecting scene, and the breaking of tbe shackles is made a fine-point, these two instances being the only evidence of muscular strength shown previous to tbe final scene. The last act is, as it ought to bq, tbe finest in the play. The sightless, helpless giant, shorn of bis strength, is depicted by Mr. Pope with consummate skill. The whole play is full of beantles, and altuoui^h the lines assigned to some characters are very long, the interest in the story never flags from tbe utterance of tbe rythmic prayer by Manoah,in tbe first act, until tbe end, when "Samson hath quit himself Like Samson, and heroically hath finished A life heroic."

Rose Etynge will return the 6th of May and appear in either "Led Astray," or "Miss Multon."'» ia-.:

Charlotte Thompson will give us "Jane Eyre" the last of this month. After the strictly scientific criticisms now running through the papers of Emma Abbott, this hearty notice from the Dubaque (Is.) Times, will be a change of reading: "The last time sho sang in Moline, ILL, was eleven years ago, when she was in sise—in fact she ia yet—only a wee bit of a girl, but with indomitable pluck. She entered the town on foot, with no fortune save ten cents and her voice, and not aMend except those she made there by her honest and earnest waya. She obtained tbe use of the Congregational church free, and the newspapers having been told the troth as to her finances, advertised her with the agreement to be paid therefor ifshe got the money to pay them with. Sho sold

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tickets by personal canvass, and by singing two evenings raised fSO. It is evident that Emma Abbott is one of the most genuine, most lovable, little creatures in the ranks of the makers of melody." The truth of history makes it neoessary to say that had it not been for other resources, she would have been compelled to walk again to get out of this city after the conceit ef last Wed-, nesday evening.

Just a word to managers of amusement in general. Gentlemen, do please tp observe promptness In the hour of beginning, and reasonableness in tine between acts and parts. The publie will then know what to expect, which is not. always the case as things go. If the managers aforesaid only knew tbe accommodation it wonld afford their patrons to adopt a reform, we feel sure they would bring It about speedily. Much of, ,* the so-called ill-breeding of our aud-iJ ipnees as to leaving before an entertain-^ ment is finished, grows out of this ob-"a jectionable lack of pibmptneas and thetl) long waits. pi

Raymond played Colonel Sellers, at Lynn the other night, and at theoloye an ardent temperanoe man begged him^ to sign the pledge, saying, "you played^ your part to perfection till you got drunk, and then you made a confoundedfool of yourself. "Texas Jaok" is running opposition to Buffalo Bill, and scalping the country with anew play entitled "Texas Jaok in the Black Hills. vm /gib is#®

Lucca here, now, niavn't the'newspa-' pers printed enough gossip concerning'4 the great prima donna?

Now dramatise Tweed's story.—Phil-*a adelphia Bulletin. No stage would hold the lawyers.—Cln. Com. mm'# a*'

Dan Rice will be out with a circns this season, i.sS^.4sd ii Di Murski has had~ seven husbands."

People and Things

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"Nuptlaled" is the, latest^ for newly-u quarried people. .''S The sheriff of New York receives about|50,000 a year. iV iv&v

Two or three Boston lawyers earn ovei* 940,000 a year each. Gath says that the humorous parigrapber is amoral and mental dwarf, that his mind is an ashheap and his la^-„ a

Wendell Phillips said of Abraham Lineoln in 1861: He may be honest. Nobody cares whether the tortoise is honest or not he has neither insight no provision nor deolslon."

A damsel asked one of her fellow boarders, a stylish dry goods clerk, at the breakfast table: "Why is your moustache like my back hair?" He blushingly gave it up, when the answer caused him to blush still more: Because it's all down."

Three hundred years ago forks were unknown in England, and a man conld scoop up all the green peas he could carry on the flat of his knife and shovel them into bis mouth without having his wife stamp on his corns, .or nudge his elbow and spill tbe peas all over where his napkin ought to be and never is, and say in a hoarse, reproachful whisper, "Why, Bartholomew {"—Burlington Hawkeye.

Alta Hulett, Chicago's woman lawyery died reoently. The male lawyers of that city have passed resolutions containing the following incidental encouragement to women in their profession: "Although tbe legal profession has hitherto been almost, if not altogether, considered aa exclusively for men to practice, yet we freely recognise Miss Hulett's right to adopt It as her pursuit in life, and cheerfully bear testimony to the feet that in her practice she never demeaned herself in any way unbecoming a woman. She was always true to her clients and their interests, but she was equally tsue to her sex and her duty and if women who now are, or hereafter shall become, members of our profession shall be equally trne, lbs honor will never be tarnished, nor the respect, good will, and esteem which it is the duty and pride of man to accord to women be in the least diminished by tbeir mem-, bersbip.

VARIOUS VIVACIOUS

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VISIONS?."

Sometime* we catch faint glimpses, In our midnight dreams, Of angels

censers, wafting mist-

wreaths o'er blue streams.—Y.Heraki Then the vapory vestals vanish, and the centers pale and pass, Aad we catch a glimpse of fairies bringing lager In blue glass. —N. Y. Graphic. Or, perhaps, as rise the vapors aad the mlsteatbs circle higher, Tls our wife's voice breaks tbe charm with: 'Now get up and build tbe lire 1" —St. Luu4s Republican. the warning isn't plainAnd we snogiy snooze while she Is whacking up the kindling wood.

And again, perhaps ly understood,

Worcester Preu.

Then the mist-wreaths should waft higher,' o'er such a horrid brute, To let the angel swing its censer, and smack. him on the "sno«t."— Terre Haul* Mail.

THBCIRCUIT RIDER a serial stery, by Edward Eggleston, author of tho Hoosier Schoolmaster," will.be 00m-* menoed in The Mail next week. ^4, ,t i: um iw fciv* ,•* Hv,

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