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14
THE WOELD OF MAGIC
Mysteries of Jugglery in India and
Theosophy in America.
OPIKIOSS UPON MME. BLAVATSKY.
A Tarietj of Expressions From Patient Bta
dents of the Occult.
FEATS OP THE HINDU MAGICIAXS
pitrrAKED roR thk disfatch.1
This article consist ol .the answers of
scientists and students of occultism to the
following; questions:
First What havo you seen and what do you
know of the Hindu or esoteric marvel workers?
Of the Buddhist miraclo workers? Do you be
lieve they think themselves inspired by a spir
itual or supernatural force?
Second What do you think of Mme. Blavat
sky and her school of Theosophists? Do you
believe Mme. Blavatsky has done the wonder
ful things related of her? Have you ever seen
or known of any theosophic or esoteric
marvels?
Third Do you know of the Hindn fakir who
buries himself alive for nine months? Of the
basket and sword trick? Of the boy who
climbs a tree and disappears? Of the rod
tnrned into a snake?
Fourth What is the most wonderful thine
jou ever saw a Hindu do?
Fifth Whom do you consider the best living
"magician?-'
THE WOELD HEEDS HUMBUGS.
MadBm ItlaTntsky Quoted at Sayius Half
the TbeoiuphUts of America Are Iluty
Fsollnc the Other Half and Vice Term
The Hindu Psrclioloetzei Bis Au
dience. First Aside from some very particular
and private sources of information, of which
I beg to be excused from speaking openly,
lay knowledge is little more than any one
might inquire from intelligent study of
Indian occultism, coupled with some per
sonal experiences in the effects ot Yogism
as laid down in the works of Fatanjali, for
example. The Hindus, as a race, seem
temperamentally better fitted than most
other persons for the operation of natural
magic, and many of their subjective hallu
cinations, as well as the objective phenom
ena they exhibit by psychologizing crowds,
' and thus inducing collective hallucinations,
are certainly as wonderful as anything in
the "Arabian Nights." The true adepts
not only believe, but know themselves to
possess so-called supernatural powers, and
the professional conjurers simply understand
their own business.
Second I have thought agood deal of Mme.
Blavatsky ior several years. She is the most
picturesque personage I ever knew. Virgil
describes htr best in the words, "Varium et
semper mutabile." She is dauntless, incor
ricible, tempestuous, resourcelul, impera
tive, unique. "God moved in a mysterious
way His wonders to perform" when he in
Tented Blavatsky. Whether He has re
pented or not I do not know. Everything
about her is gigantesque. But people make
a great mistake when ther take her too
seriously. Blavatsky should be taken in a
Pickwickian sense: she should be humored
in her amusing eccentricities, but be neither
too much believed in, nor denounced, nor
held up to ridicule. She is iuil of fun and
mischief, with that keen sense of humor
which is the best touchstone of genius. She
knows people are "mostly fools," as Carlyle
says; she knows that this'is a world of lies,
of delusions, of Maya; she is sure she can
humbug it a great deal more effectually and
dramatically than it can humbug itself,
and her scorn for those who believe in her
miracles is boundless.
IT TICKLED BLAVATSKX'S FANCY.
It tickled her fancy to set upon the stage
of the world the most colossal hoax of
modern times; and it must have surprised
even Blavatsky to see with what avidity
Asia, Europe'and America, to say nothing
of Australia and the rest of the globe, sought
admittance to the drama. How well the
play drew may be judged from this sentence
in the last letter I have seen from her pen:
"Half the theosophists of America are busv
fooling the other half, and the other half are
busy fooling themselves."
Blavatsky needs no defender, being abun
dantly able to take care of herself; and to
accuse her of anything wrong, except before
a mock tribunal, would be sheerly fatuous.
Sometimes I think she half believes in her
2Iahatmas; let us kindly agree to think so.
She certainly believes "in herself, which is
more to the point. "When the"cosmicdust"
she has raised has subsided, and people have
rubbed out of their eyes the cayenne peeper
she has thrown into them, the world will be
wiser, it not also sadder and better, for
2f ellie Blavatsky.
Third Yes, I have heard of that Hindn
individual. The other exploits you ask
about are familiar. The gist of such things
lies in the power of the periormer to psych
ologize bis audience, aided by a few simple
accessories to the illusions he produces. It
is mainly a matter ol mesmerism on a large
scale. Any good mesmerizer in 2few York
can make his sensitive subject think and
say and act and perceive as he pleases. I
have seen Carpenter operate on a dozen at
once, victims of identical hallucinations
produced at his will and pleasure. It is
only nn extension of the same process to 100
or 1,000 persons. The resources of the oper
ative occultist are boundless. I draw a
broad line between, the sleight-of-hand
tricks of the prestidigitator, which depend
for their success upon dextenty in deceiv
ing the natural sense of sight, and those far
more subtle procedures of the real magician
which cause the mind of the persons opera
ted upon to take any desired lorrn.
WOJJ'T GIVE TJP THE SECRET.
A person may be deprived temporarily of
theuse ol his natural senses; his judgment,
volition and memoir may be elTiced;"his
mind becomes a blank, and while he is in
that "psychologized" state his individuality
is merged in that of the mesmerist, who
may do with him as he pleases. The secret
is one which I consider inexpedient to make
public, because not all personB are fitted to
receive it uadcrstandingly. Social chaos
would be upon us if the resources of opera
tive occultism were at the disposition of
every knave, fool and coward.
Fourth That depends on what you mean
by ''magician." Il you mean professional
conjurers on the stage their names are as fa
miliar to you and to the public as to myself.
If vou mean real psychists, I suppose the
Indian adepts in occultism now take the
palm. Next after these I should be dis
posed to place some of our genuine Ameri
can mediums through whose organisms cer
tain very real and very startling phenomena
are continually manifested. It yon will let
my thoughts take another turn, I may say
that Helen P. Blavatsky and Pone iLeo
X1IL are two of the most remarkable ma
gicians now before the public. The chief
difference between them is that one is the
Pope and the other uould like to be.
HELEN HAS THE BEST OP IT.
Considering their respective resources, I
think the woman in the case the greater
magician. She has nothing but the weapons
characteristic of her sex, backed with an in
Tincible pen tor the benefit of those who
are beyond the reach of her tongue, while he
has the ponderous and almost irresistible
machinery of a church militant at his back,
with a tremendous traditional authority.
Helen is modest She only claims to be the
infallible mouthpiece of certain majestic
Hindu personages whose will she wishes to
be done on earth as it is in the heights of the
Himalayas. Leo bees her game and goes his
whole pile better. He claims to be the in
fallible spokesman. And I think the smiles
with which the old Bomau avgnrs are said
to have always greeted one another would
yield to a broad grin if Her Bussian High
ness and His Boman Holiness should come
to a tete-a-tete in the Palace of Truth. Does
the world like to.be humbugged? Like itl
Humbug is meat and drink and clothes and
a house and carriage to the world!
Eliot Coins,
President of the Gnostic Theosophical Society,
and Author of Many Notable Scientino
Works.
PROPOSITIONS OP THEOSOPHY.
The Pplrliual Nnmrc Is na Susceptible of
Culture as the Body or Intellect ftlndam
Illnvanliy Accomplished What Seen
Wholly Incredible.
I know little of the "Hindoo" or ''esoteric
marvel workers." But a man who is wise
enough to be a "marvel worker" would not
only be too wise, but also would have to do
work of a more important nature than the
performing of cheap tricks for anybody's
amusement or mystification.
I think that Mme. Blavatsky has been a
very effective blister or irritant upon the
pate of many a sleepy divine, and that the
ideas which she has launched into the world
have quickened liberal thought to a degree
not generally realized. The fundamental
propositions of Theosophy are:
First That the spirit in man is the only
real and permanent part of his being; the
rest of his nature being variouslv com
pounded, and decay being incident to all
composite things, everything in man but his
spirit is impermanent. Further, that the
universe being one thing aud not diverse,
and everything within being connected with
the whole and with every other, of which
upon the upper plane above referred to
there is a perfect knowledge, no act or
thought occurs without each portion of the
great whole perceiving and noting it Hence
all are inseparably bound together by the tie
of brotherhood.
Second That below the spirit and above
the intellect is a plane of consciousness in
which experiences are noted, commonly
called man's "spiritual nature;" this is as
susceptible of culture as is his body or his
intellect.
Third That this spiritual culture is only
attainable as the crosser interests, passions
and demands of the flesh are subordinated
to the interest!, aspirations and needs of the
higher nature; and that this is a matter of
both system and established law.
Fourth That men thus systematically
trained attain to clear insight into the im
material, spiritual world, their iuferior
faculties apprehending truth as immediately
and readily as physical faculties grasp the
things of sense, or mental faculties those of
reason; and hence that their testimony to
such truth is as trustworthy as is that of
scientists or philosophers to truth in their
respective fields.
Fifth That in the course of this spirit
ual training such men acquire preception of
and control over various forces in nature
unknown to others, and thus are able to per
form works Ubuilly called "miraculous,"
though really but the result of larger know
ledge of natural law.
Sixth That their testimony as to super
sensuous truth, verified by their possession
or such powers, challenge candid examina
tion from every religious mind.
The first object ol the Theosophical So
ciety is, so far as possible, to induce men to
study and understaud these laws and the
real meaning of the interdependence oi
man upon man.
So far as Mme. Blavatsky is concerned it
seems incredible that a woman who is a
foreigner, speaking English indifferently,
should have been able, without money,
recognized position or apparent influence, to
found a new school of ethics in Kew York
City, which, in 13 years, should have repre- I
uicu uiauvucB ju ujusl ui me otaies, in
Great Britain, on the Continent, nearly 200
in India, others in Australia, in Japan, in
Ceylon, and an independent uiembership-at-large
representing nearly every civilized
section of the globe.
John Ransom Bbidoe,
President of the Boston Theosophical Society.
THE W05DEKS OF INDIA.
Madame Blarnnky nt Simla ainde Flowers
Drop From n Solid Ceilluc for. the Wife
of Colonel Gordon Mystery of the Whirl
Ins Dnncrri.
The Buddhists' claim that by fasting and
meditation, and by leading a pure and holy
life, they develop a wonderful power the
power of faith, a power born in every human
being, but which, through lack of exercise,
becomes almost extinct This is the power
mentioned in the New Testament: "And
the Lord said, if ye had faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye might say unto this syca
more tree, be thou plucked up by the root,
and be thou planted in the sea, and it should
obey you." And again, "Jesus answered
and said unto them, verily I say unto yon,
if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not
only do this, which is done to the tig tree,
but also if ye shall say unto this mountain,
be thou removed and be thou cast into the
sea, it shall be done."
I have no faith in Mme. Blavatskv as a
wonder-worker. 1 knew Mrs. Gordon, wife
of Colonel Gordon, of Calcutta, India, very
wen. aae reiateu to me mat on one occa
sion she visited Mme. Blavatsky at Simla,
and after lunch, in broad daylight, the two
ladies were seated at the table, when Mme.
Blavatsky told Mrs. Gordon to ask for some
manifestation of the power of Koot-Hoomie-Lal-Sing.
the great High Priest of Theoso
phism,supposed to be a hermit 2,000 years old,
residing in the Himalaya Mountains. Mrs.
Gordon requested some roses brought h'er
from the garden. She had scarcely ex
pressed the wish when a mass of roses seemed
to sift down through the ceiling to where
she was sitting. If this was a trick, it was
a remarkably clever one, as Mrs. Gordon
is a brilliant woman and not easily hum
bugged. "When I was in Lucknow, India, I became
acquainted with Colonel Jenkins, Secretary
of the Chuddermunzi Club, who related
that be had seen one of these fakirs buried
and a guard of soldiers placed over him, and
the guard was changed every six hours for
40 days.arter which they exhumed him and
the fakir's companions resuscitated him.
Before he was buried he threw his tongue
back into his throat, his face was covered
with a bandage, and his companions chanted
a monotonous "liam-ram-ammer-ram," and
repeated this chant until nearly all the
spectators were in a drowsy state, and the
fakir himself became rigid like a corpse.
The most wonderful feat I ever saw per
formed by a Hindu was in Calcutta. "We
entered a long vacant room, which we were
permitted to examine in every part There
were four fakirs present Thev requested
us to seat ourselves on benches" about half
wav down the room. They lighted a cencer,
from which exuded a sickly, sweetish smoke,
tilling the entire room." The four fakirs
then began a. wild whirling dance, all the
while chanting and beating tom-toms, when
suddenly the dancers appeared to increase
in number, until a few dozen were dancing
and whirling about These then decreased
until but one dancer remained, an old man
with flowing beard. "What became of the
other dancers we could not tell, as we again
examined the room and could find no secret
exits or entrances, places of concealment or
any means by which glasses such as are
used ii the ghost illusion could be smuggled
in or out of the room. The whole perform
ance is still a mystery to me.
Kellae, the Magician.
SIMPLY EXAGGERATIONS.
The Performances of the Hindus Not What
Ther Are Claimed to Be Duplicated and
Excelled on the American Staee A
Snake Trick.
I have been all through India and have
seen a good deal alike of Hindus and
Buddhists. Their performances are ridicu
lously exaggerated. They simply play on
the gross credulity and superstitions com
mon to all Eastern people. Many of these
Eastern marvel-workers are shrewd knaves.
Others are sincere and really believe them
selves endowed with supernatural powers.
But the latter are all more or less loose in
the head, having become crazy by the fasting
and general mortification of the' flesh laid
down by their peculiar code of ethics.
As to Mme. Blavatsky, I certainly am
not idiotio enough to believe that she ever
THE
performed those dematerialization feats
ascribed to her; I regard her as simply a
very clever, very ingenious, very brilliant
humbug nothing more.
The sword and basket trick and the ser
pent and rod trick are illusions which
have been very often shown on the modern
stage. Upon one occasion, however, now
I come to think of it, a Hindu did per
form quite a wonderful trick in my pres
ence. At Bombay, some years ago, a na
tive called one morning at my rooms. After
some conversation he performed the follow
ing feat: He divested himself entirely of
his clothing, and then advanced into the
center of the apartment, holding a small
silk shawl in his hand. He placed the
shawl on the floor. An instant later a live
snake, two feet long, writhed from beneath
its folds. Taking the shawl, the Hindu
threw it over the snake. An instant later
he raised the little strip of silk, and, be
hold! the snake was dead. Again he took
the shawl and threw it over the snake. Once
more he lifted it. The snake had vanished.
This is certainly the most wonderful Hin
du trick I have ever seen. It perplexed
me sorely at the time, but in these later days
I think I see through it, and I am confident
that, if I took the trouble, I could dupli
cate the feat Heemank, the Conjurer.
THEY FOOLED BLAVATSKY.
SIio Wns Induced to Pronounce n Fabrica
tion of nn Ancient and Reranrknblo
Manuscript Genuine A filnda Anions
Methodists.
There was a company of young men about
ten years ago, most of them living in Brook
lyn, who used to have conversations with
Mme. Blavatsky for the purpose of finding
out what they could learn of her lore.
Among these were ex-City Chamberlain
Ivins, Charles Frederick Thomas, now of
"Washington; F. "W. Hendricks, also of this
city, and, if my memory serves me correctly.
Mayor Cbapin, of Brooklyn, but I am not
positive about him. They enjoyed Mme.
BlavatBky's society and derived much in
struction from her for a time, until it oc
curred to them to test her powers, which
they did by the fabrication of a verv ancient
Boston, which was discovered there, sent to
New York and presented to Mme. Blavats
ky, pronounced by her to be genuine and to
be of extraordinary philosophic import On
her discovery of the fraud she lost confidence
in these young men, and the theosophical
sessions ceased.
The most wonderful thing I ever saw a
Hindu do was to go down to Ocean Grove
and attempt to teach his religion to the
Methodists there. He listened attentively
to what the preachers had to say iu the
auditory, but when he attempted to explain
his religion on the piazza they promptly ar
rested him without a warrant and took him
to Freehold jail, where he was incarcerated,
and where the Judge or Sheriff there,
troubled with his conscience or fearful of
punishment for holding a man on no charge,
let him. go. This was Gowiuda Bowsutte,
who has since died.
Daniel Geeenleap Thompson,
President of the Nineteenth Century Club.
ANOTHER TALE FROM INDIA.
A Story About as Easily Believed a Ulnar
Better Substantiated.
Yes, I have heard of the Hindu fakir
who buried himself alive for cine months,
and of the sword and basket trick. Also of
the boy who climbs a tree and disappears,
and so forth. I have never been in India
and have consequently not seen any of these
miracles performed, but a friend of mine
who was much interested in these mysteries
and made a serious study of them in the
East, once saw a fakir toss a heavy chain
into the air, where it remained upright and
rigid, one end touching the ground, the
other apparently penetrating the clouds.
An elephant then climbed up the inclined
plane thus formed, jumped off at the top
and was seen no more. A second elephant
followed, then a third and a fourth, until
seven elephants had vanished into thin air.
The fakir then took down the chain and
calmly put it away.
Tbe'Mabquise si Lanza.
OPPOSED TO NATURAL LAWS.
A Scientist Who Abjures Blavatsky nnd Ex
plains Away Hindn Dolnss.
I am more or less familiar with the wild
claims of the theosophists, but my faith iu
Mme. Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott is,
to say the least, a very slight one. Their
claims, so far as I know, are utterly incom
patible with our knowledge of natural laws.
All Eastern people, and especially the
Hindus, bring into their religion an
amount of sentiment which fully explains
the belief in the supernatural.
De. Allen McLane Hamilton.
Piercing the Ears.
A writer in an English scientific journal
suggests that the cruelty of piercing young
girls' ears is so palpable that the Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
should take the matter up. He states that in
Paris, after removing the piece of flesh
from the newly-made incision, the hole is
frequently cauterized to prevent it growing
up again, and this arrests the bleeding,
which is often so troublesome. Some Italian
ladies have their ears pierced for a week or
two, and then have gold eyelets inserted.
Gold tubes are put in, the flange put on the
top aud closed with a tool exactly like that
which squeezes a own an eyelet in a shoe. It
requires a good deal of nerve to stand the
pain of this, as the pressure on the ear when
the flange is pressed down is very great The
practice of putting on anything to heal the
ear after piercing is deprecated, and it is
recommended that the ears should be left to
heal of themselves. Some, before piercing,
pinch the lobe to deaden it.but this isfntile.
As to gold or silver earrings, undoubtedly
gold is the best It is a common impression
that piercing the ears improves the eyesight,
and it is stated that beneficial results will
actually follow the piercing if a piece of
worsted is inserted in the holes and worked
at intervals, instead of a ring. It is very
questionable, however, whether many
would be found willing to go through this
painiui ordeal merely as a remedial meas
ure. Operating; Power for Street Cars.
Experts have for some time been experi
menting and estimating upon the compara
tive cost of runuing a line of street cars by
electricity and by horse power. After careful
inquiry and investigation they have re
ported that, taking a line of 50 cars the
averace cost of operating per day with horses
is 5303 75, aeainst a cost "when electricity is
used of $ 08 60 per day. This leaves a bal
ance of $231 25 per day, or nearly ?5 per
day on each car in favor of electric traction.
This means the saving iu a single year of a
large proportion of the amount necessary for
eqnipping the cars with electric appliances
for propelling them.
Cot Rates Via the Missouri Pacific By.,
the Colorndo Short Line.
Notwithstanding the reported boycott of
the Missouri Pacific Ry., tickets via that
line at the cut rates are still on sale at all
ticket offices.
Parties who intend taking a trip to the
West will sajre time and money by insisting
on having tneir ticcets read via the Missouri
Pacific By., the only line 'running free re
clining chair cars between St Louis and
Pueblo and Denver without change. If you
are going to "Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska,
Colorado, Utah, Calitornia or any other
"Western State, ask for tickets via the Mis
souri Pacific By.
For rates, time tables and further informa
tion apply to B. IL Thompson, Central Pas
senger Agent Missouri Pacific By., 1119
Liberty st, Pittsburg, Pa.
200 ladies' capes to be offered on Monday
at $1 90 each. Knble & Shtjster,
35 Fifth ave.
Tho Ace of Clubs.
See announcement in advertisement
Page IS of this issue.
PITTSBURG- DISPATCH,
TWO GREAT CLAIMS.
The Christ Asserted He Was Free
From Sin and One With God.
NO HEED OF HIS OWN" SERMONS.
Teachers Before and After Him Put Forth
Ho Such Doctrines.
EXPLAINED ONLY BI HIS DIY1NITX
."WRITTES FOB TUX DISPATCH. I
"Which of you convinceth me of sin?"
"Before Abraham was, I am."
These two sentences represent two singu
lar phases of Christ's teaching. Here is the
ideal man. Nobody will dispute that
Nobody will question Christ's humility, or
Christ's sincerity. Nobody will think of
finding in Christ's life any stain of self
seeking, any effort after any prize which
wordly men count as worth having. Here
is a life of absolute self-sacrifice. It has no
parallel anywhere.
Think how Christ dealt with men whom
He had healed, sending, them away with 'the
command of silence. Remember how he
put away whatever pointed toward any
cheap and unmeaning popularity. He
cared not for the applause of crowds. He
catered not to the prejudices of His time.
The men who would seem to most people
to be likely to advance His cause men like
Nicodemus who had influence, men like the
rich young disciple who had money, He
made no effort to gain. He set them hard
tests which they could not pass. He chose
12 poor peasants. He had stern words for
the Pharisees, whom anybody with worldly
wisdom would have conciliated, the repre
sentatives of the nation and the Church, the
people in power. He had kind words for the
common people and for common sinners.
There is no trace of "policy" in any
word or deed of Christ. And what sought
He for Himself? Only the privilege of
helping the needy and comforting the sad
and uplifting the (alien; only the position
of one who camo not to be ministered unto
but to minister, with the cross at the end
of it
THE IDEAL MAN.
There is no need of emphasizing what
everybody knows, or of reciting that which
all men, Christians or not, will agree in
saying about Christ Here is the life of un
exampled humility and self-sacrifice. Here
is the ideal man.
Now, let us think what we will do in this
confessedly ideal life with such sentences as
these: "Which of you convinceth me of
sin?" and "Before Abraham was, I am."
These sentences, as I said, represent cer
tain phases of our Lord's teaching. They do
not stand alone. They might be blotted out,
or be shown to have been thrust in by some
piously dishonest interpolator, still the
characteristics of Christ's teaching which
they represent would stand. Indeed, the
only wav to get out of that teaching the two
facts which these two sentences show would
be to leave out all Christ's words from first to
last. Nothing is more absolutely certain
about Jesus ot Nazareth than that He said
not once but many times, "Which ot you
convinceth me of sin?" and "Before Abra
ham was, I am."
But think what these sentences mean:
"Which of you convinceth me of sin?"
That is an assertion of a distinct difference
between Christ and all other men of the
whole race. All the rest of us are sinners.
But noboby can convince Christ of sin.
'Before Abraham was, I am." The Jews
knew very well what that meant They
took up stones to throw at Him when they
heard that. That was the speech of a blas
phemer. It was the assertion of an equality
to God. And these two assertions, of a dif
ference from all other men, and ot a dis
tinct likeness to God, Christ made in one
way and another, again and again, so that
they can be read between the lines of al
most everything He said.
A TEACHES OP MOBALS.
Our Lord was a teacher of morals. He
taught a morality which not only went very
far beyond any instruction in goodnes's
which had ever been given to men,
but which has never been surpassed in
all the centuries since. No religious teacher
after all the progress of these 1,800 years has
gone beyond Christ.or even taught any truth
which Christ had not taught already, and
taught better. It is not a little noteworthy
when we consider how all other teachers
have been outgrown and left behind, that
Christ is still beyond the most advanced of
us. Indeed, it is not even imaginable how
any morality can ever get closer to the heart
of man and to the will of God than
this which touches even the most secret
thoughts.
But through all this teaching Christ never
shows the smallest consciousness of sin. He
never confesses in any way, as every other
teacher must, that He needs His own ser
mons. There is not a hint of the slightest
imperfection in Himself. He is forever on
the outside of the world's sin, speaking to
sinful men. Indeed, He challenges crit
icism. Which of you convinceth me of
sin?
Now here is a phase of religious teaching
which has no parallel anywhere. It is, on
the contrary, true universally iu all the an
nals ot sainthood, that nearness to God and
consciousness of sin go together. The in
different sinner, who has no ideal which he
is striving after, and who never looks at his
own life, may be in a measure unconscious
of sin. But you will never find that true of
a saint
Why, in every department of life the bet
ter a man is the more aware he is of his
deficiencies. The great artist knows a hun
dred weak places in his work which the
petty painter never dreams of, nor could
even recognize if they were pointed out.
The master in music' is conscious of pos
sibilities and ideals and a difference and
distance between himself and them which
are not present to musical mediocrity at all.
To be satisfied is the
SIGN OF FAILING POWERS.
And yet, here is the ideal man, absolutely
unconscious of defect, never admitting it in
positions where no other man could help
admitting it, even putting aside the sugges
tion that He too may be imperfect like the
rest of us, as a foolish thought not for a sin
gle moment to be entertained.
But Christ preached something beside
morality. He preached Himself. He whose
perfect humility all men reverently ac
knowledge, He whoe absolute unselfish
ness has inspired acts of self-sacrifice
unnumbered, and uplifts and
helps us every day, the Ideal of
humility and the Ideal of unselfishness
preaches about Himself. Let us recall some
of the things which Christ said in these
sermons about Himself: He is the light of
the world; He is the bread of life; all that
came before Him were thieves and robbers;
He is the Good Shepherd and all we are
His sheep; no man can come to the Father
but by Him; if ye ask anything of God, He
says, in Sly name, I will grant it; ye are
from beneath. He says on one occasion to
His congregation, I am from above; He
Himself, nt the last day, will raise all who
are in all the graves of all the earth; He is
the King of men, our master, and our judge;
He Himself, at the end of the world, will
personally judge this whole race ot ours.
and send us fight or left into either of the
two eternities; He claims entire allegiance,
nobody may love father or mother, son or
daughter more than Him; the souls of all
men belong to Jesus of Nazareth; all men
are to give to Him the worship which is
due to God.
ms 'WOKDS TO PHILIP.
Philip comes with that strange request of
which I spoke last Sunday, "Lord, show us
the Father." And Christ answers: "Have
Tbeen so long time with you, and yet hast
thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath
seen Me hath seen the Father."
Judas comes also, a little later, to know
how it is that (jurist, as lie had prom
ised, will reveal Himself to the Apostles, but
not to the world. And Christ answers: "If
a man love Me, he trill keep My words, and
SUNDAY, MARCH 30,
Mv Father will love him, and "We will come
and make onr abode with him."
Think what these two conversations mean.
Imagine any other teacher saying as Christ
says If you would see God, look at Mel or,
If yon do as I say then God will love you,
and "We that is, God and I will come and
abide in your heart!
What Christ meant by these and many
other startling assertions of himself, the
Jews understood perfectly well. "I and
my Father are one," He said, and down go
their eager hands reaching after stones to
punish Him for blasphemy, because He,
"being a man, made himself God." "Be
fore Abraham was I am," He says again;
and again there is an endeavorto stone Him.
What Christ said was a distinct claim to be
equal with God. It is possible to read into
these words in these days certain mystical
meanings which would take away all
semblauce of such claims. There is a union
between man and God which might make
such speech possible. But Christ was ad
dressing Jews. He was not speaking either
to pantheists or to mystics, lie had
a certain meaning which He meant
His words to convey. Because that is
what words are "lor to carry the
speaker's meaning to the hearers." And
the words carried just the truth which He
intended. The Jews understood perfectly.
Christ was a blasphemer. The Jews were
entirely right. If Christ were indeed a
man like other men, then He deserved ston
ing. He was a blasphemer, as they said.
WHAT LED TO THE SATING.
Take the sentence which we have selected
as indicating this element of self-assertion
in Christ's teaching; "Before Abraham was,
lam." Our Lord has just been telling the
Jews, "If a man keep my saying, he shall
never see death." This, they thought, was
an extraordinary utterance, and they re
plied at once that all the saints and patri
archs of old were dead, Abraham was dead,
and the prophets were dead "whom mak
est thou thyself?" "Art thou greater than
our Father Abraham, who is dead, and the
prophets are dead?" Christ answers, "Your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and
he saw it and was glad." Why. cry tho
Jews, you are not yet 50 years old, have you
seen Abraham? To which, in reply, Christ
answers, "Before Abraham was, I am."
There is a difference, greater than the
difference which appears in the two English
verbs "was" aud "am," between the two
veibs which stand here in the old language
of the gospel. The only variation which
the translation shows is in the person and
the tense. But Christ used two different
words. Abraham, He said, was born (gen
esthai), but I am (eiini). Nor is this dis
tinction all. "I am," we must remember,
was the name of God. There was but one
"I am" known to the men to whom Christ
spoke; any one they knew who could look
back into the past, into Abraham's day,
and say "Even then, I am," and that was
God Himself. This self-asserting sentence
was a plain claim to equality, if not to
identity, with God. And in that sense
the "men to whom Christ spoke,
at once understood it At once also they
made it plain that such was their under
standing, and Christ uttered no word of dis
claimer. That was exactly what he meant
to say.
ALL THBOUGH THE BIBLE.
It is all as clear as day. If it were but a
single assertion we might, perhaps, invent
some ingenious exegesis by which we could
evade it If it were in but a single gospel,
Btill some evasive theory might be possible.
But it is interwoven with the utterances of
Christ, as those utterances are recited by all
the four evangelists. Again and again
comes in this note of startling self-assertion.
Indeed, it was this self-assertion and noth
ing else which brought Jesus of Nazareth
to the death upon the cross. "We
have a law," the Jewish judges said to
Pilate, "and by our law he ought to die."
What for? "Because he made Himself
the Son of God." Read the account
of the trial, and you will
see how plain it is. They asked Christ
point-blank if it was true that he claimed
to be the Son of God, and He gave them a
straight answer. He said: "I do." "Thou
sayest," is the phrase, meaning "thou say
est truth;" "the Son of God I am." Thereat
they rent their clothes, and the high priest
said: "There is no more need of witnesses;
you have heard his blasphemy. What is
your sentence?" And with one rsice thev
answered, "Death." Christ was crucified
for blasphemy.
Consider but one instance more. It is
after the resurrection. Thomas, the doubter,
beholds his Master. There is no room left
longer in bis heart for doubt Thomas falls
at Christ's feet And what does he call
Christ? "My Lord," he savs "and my
God." And Christ permitted that. He
did not rebuke Thomas like the angel
in St John's vision. He did not
forbid him like the apostles by the
gate of Lystra when the people took
them for gods come down to earth. He did
not say, as they did, "I am a man of like
passions with you." No; Christ spoke no
word of disapproval. He permitted Thomas
to call Jtum God.
THEEE STKIK.ING JISSEEXIONS.
Now, here are two facts about Jesus of
Nazareth which are beyond denial. Or
three facts, let us say, which nobody can
really call in question. One fact is that He
was the ideal man, aud the other two facts
are that He asserted a difference between
Himself and all other men, in that He was
perfectly guiltless ot any faintest stain of
sin, and that He asserted a likeness between
Himself and God such as no other sane per
son has ever asserted since the world began,
even to the extent of permitting a disciple
to adore Him as God made visible. These
three facts are not involved iu any
aouDtiui controversy, xney are not
touched by any criticisms of documents.
They are not implicated in any question
about the miraculous. They are so large
and continuous and essential a part of the
history of Jesus of Nazareth that if they
can be denied nothing whatever remains.
Into any discussion of the relation and dif
ferences which some imagine between the
"Jesus of history" and the "Christ ot
dogma" these facts do not enter. There is
no possible divorce between the history of
Jesus of Nazareth and these three facts.
But how can these three facts be made to
go together? "Which of you convinceth
me of sin?" and, "Before Abraham was, S
am." How shall we fit these sentences and
all that they stand lor into -the ideal life?
There are only two ways in which that ques
tion can be answered. If Jesus of
Nazareth was only a human man, as
we are, then here is a puzzle, an
inconsistency, a contradiction, such as has
no parallel in all the records of the race of
man, and to which we can offer no solution.
It must remain forever a strange, perplexing
and unsolved enigma.
But if Jesus of Nazareth was more than
a human man; if He was what the Christian
creed proclaims Him; it He was what we,
with nil onr hearts, believe Him to have
been and still to be; if He was what He
Himself, the ideal man. the hero of heroes.
ana the saint of saints, claimed for Himself;
if Jesus of Nazareth was indeed God made
manifest among men, then the three facts go
together perfectly. All contradiction passes
away. Kverthing is natural and right and
plain. George Hodges.
Well Prolecfed
Is he or sho who, visiting or dwelling in a ma
larious locality, has wisely fortified the system
with Hostetter's Stomach Bitters. Whole com
munities aro thus protected. Digestion pro
moted, biliousness rectified, the blood enriched
and stamina increased what are theso but so
many guarantees against disease? Exterminate
rhnumatism and nervousness with the Bitters.
TTSU
1838. 1S90.
Holmes, Gibson & Finch whiskies in
bond or tax paid. Prices upon application.
W. H. Holmes & Son,
158 First Avenue.
120 Water Street.
Highest prices paid for ladies' or gent's
cast-off clothing at De Haan's Big 6, Wyiie
ave. Call or send by mail. wsu
200 ladies' capes to be offered on Monday
at $1 90 each. Knable & SursxER,
35 Fifth ave.
The Ace of Clubs.
See announcement in advertisement on
Page 15 of this issue.;
1890.
EVERT DAT SCIENCE.
Outdoor Prison System Adopted by
the Italian Government.
INTELLECT AND SIZE OP BRAIN.
Figures on the Cost of Electricity and
Horses for Street Cars.
THE CDSTS0M OF PIERCING THE EARS
rwnrrTBx tor the dispatch.
A correspondent writing from Italy, gives
some interesting details of the treatment of
prisoners on various Italian islands he
visited while on atrip in the Mediterranean.
Each of these islands contained several
hundred prisoners, who are locKed
up every night at sunset, released at day
break, and locked up again from midday
until 2 o'clock. During the night no
prisoner is allowed to be absent under any
circumstances, but at midday those who
work on farms At a distance from the prison
are allowed to remain out by special per
mission from the director. During these
free hours the prisoners can go anywhere
they like on the island and can engage iu
any kind of work offered them by the
towns people or farmers. Any infraction of
the rules of ordinary life around them, or of
their prison, is punished by seclusion iu
special cells. The Government furnishes
physicians and medicines, a summer and a
winter suit of clothes to each prisoner every
year, and allows each 10 cents daily in
money for his daily food and other neces
sities of life. Danger of escape is prevented
by a squad of soldiers, one to every ten
criminals, aud a swift-sailing felucca,
manned by marines. On account of the
cheapness of labor the islands are so highly
cultivated as to resemble gardens.
The correspondent adds: "As for the pris
oners, the open air makes them the health
iest of any criminals I have ever seen.
There is no sign in their faces and bodies of
that prison blight which strikes every visit
or to ordinary jails or penitentiaries. Fresh,
open, country air, sea bathing and contact
with honest men, women and children,
among whom these criminals must live and
behave themselves properly, remind them
that they are not simply jailbirds, but that,
guided by a feeling of humanity, society
allows them to hang on to its skirts without
utterly casting tbem out The looks of
these prisoners were so different from those
of any I had ever seen before that the ques
tion torced itself on me whether any better
moral izer aud redeemer of criminals can be
found than this fresh, open, country air and
its concomitants."
Size of the Head and Brain.
Dr. Starr, of London, who has been writ
ing very fully on this subject, adduces con
vincing arguments to show that it is impos
sible to draw from the size or shape of the
head any conclusions as to the mental
capacity. He shows the absurdity of judg
ing of the brain surface by either the size
of the head or the extent or the superficial
irregular surface which is covered by the
skull, without taking into consideration the
number of folds or the depth of the creases,
and states that a little brain with many deep
folds may really, when spread out, have a
larger surface than a large brain with few
shallow folds. The phrenologists are not
happy over Dr. Starr's strictures.
Curious Electrical Phenomenon.
A curious phenomenon, which assists the
electric car very materially in the ascent of
heavy grades, is alluded to by Joseph
"Wetzler in his article on "The Electric Bail
way" which in the April Scribner. This phe
nomenon, was especially noted by Leo Daft
in 1882, is, that when the current passes
from the carwheel to the track, it causes an
increased friction or resistance to sliding
between them, the result of which is that
slipping is to a laree extent prevented, and
heavier grades can be attempted. The ex
planation seems to lie in the direction of a
slightwelding action between the wheel and
the rail from the heat generated by the cur
rent. Late (Scientific Developments.
A Sydney, Australia, paper says that one of
the wool companies there has a burring ma
chine, recently imported from America, which
effectually removes all burrs and otheix foreign
matter from sheep skins.
A new industry has been started In Sweden
in the manufacture of paper and pasteboard
from moss. The pasteboard is as hard as wood;
it can be painted and polished, and used for
door and window frames, and all kinds of
furniture.
The fact is stated as a sign of the modern
tendency in the construction of marine enelnes,
that fully one-half of the new steamers built in
England have triple-expansion engines, worked
witii steam at tne nominal pressure of 160
pounds that is, the valves are set to blow off
at that pressure not before.
AT a dental congress, in Paris, Dr. Michaels
used a special cold plate which is very thin and
pliable, smooth on one side and rough on the
other. He obtained an impression with gutta
percha, ran into it a mixture of two parts
plaster to one of sand, and the further steps for
the completion of a gold plate for teeth fol
lowed, the whole process occupying hut half an
hour.
A Russian scientist has by experiment
found that 63K per cent of tho solar heat is ab
sorbed by the atmosphere, and only S63 per
cent reaches the soil. This figure rises in Oc
tober to 41 per cent and sinks to 23 per cent In
January and February. These results goto
seriously shake the belief in the industrial
utilization of the heat of tho sun in our climes.
One of tho latest uses of paper is to replace
wood in the manufacture of lead pencils, and
railroad cars made of paner are more dnrable
than iron. One of the most remarkable illus
trations of the possibilities of paper in the arts
is an organ, made by an Italian monk, in which
the pipes are made of paper pulp, and they
number 1,400,
A MtJNicn firm has made a carriage which is
propelled by gas generated from benzine or
analagous material. The motor, which Is not
visible from the outside, is placed fn the rear
of a three-wheeled carnage over the main axle,
ana the benzine used in its propulsion is carried
in a closed copper receptacle secured under the
seat, from which it passes, drop by drop, to the
generator, and which holds enough benzine for
a journey of 75 miles. A speed of about ten
miles an hour can be attained.
Sib William Thomson, tho eminent En
glish electrician, says that it may be considered
as definitely settled that the distribution of
electric energy for light and power in towns of
Great Britain shall be by underground con
ductors, and that the postoffice telegraph de
partment has already replaced nearly all the
aerial telegraph wires ot the larger cities by
underground conductors. The telephone wires
alone remain in the air, where they are per
fectly harmless to tho general public, and
where they are much less expensive than they
would be if placed under ground.
AN electrician says that just what takes
place in the human-organism to produce death
rom an electric current seems to be an un
solved problem. One of the theories some
times advanced concerning it is that when a
being suffers death from electric shock. It is a
pure case of internal rapture or explosion
from the generation of gas or vapor. In sup
port of this view the way In which teletrraph
poles are sometimes torn to piecesjs referred
to. Tho lightning follows the moist portion of
the pole, which is the core or heart: in this case
the moisture is vaporised and an explosion oc
curs. Tho high resistance produces heat, the
beat in turn steam, and the steam an explo
sion. An important addition to the data on the
height to which waves attain is reported from
Portland. A fearful storm was recently ex
perienced at the Tallamock Light rock, and a
"dornlck" of basalt weighing C2 pounds was
thrown up by the force of the waves and fell on
the roof of the ligbtkeeper's house. 110 feet
above the sea level, breaking a hole in the roof.
The waves were so high that the water came
down the chimney of the boiler house of the
fog siren in torrents, and poured out through
the tubes of the boiler. The chimney is about
ISO feet above sea level. The spray entered tho
cowl of the chimney over the lamp, which Is 150
feet above sea level, and ran In stream to ths
bottom.
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
TheCoa
That Helpa to Cure
The Cold.
The disagreeable
taste of the
COD LIVER OIL
is dissipated in
SCOTT'S
EMULSION
Of Pure Cod Uver OU with
HYPOPHOSPHITES
OF T.TTvyr-P! .A2TX3 SODA.
The patient suffering from
CONSUMPTION,
BKOXCHITIS, COUGH, COLD, OR
WASTING DISEASES, may take tho
remedy with as much satisfaction as he
would talta milk. Physicians are prescrib
ing It everywhere. It is s perfect emnlslon.
and a wonderful flesh producer. Taheno other
oc2-28oiWFSu
DEAF
INKSS and HEAD NOISES
uujusu or reel's rat. in
visible Tabular Ear G'nsh-
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Ulnrtrated book FREE. Sold onlr br P. HISCOX.
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lfthat.. Jiew York. Itoagents.
nol3-oi-TTSSuWK
307
Pi
iifeii
JWi'BiSwailBSsssswsssfF
Jjtui.itii.
k-'msbss. MPr -i.
A Big Line of Bargains in
CARPETS
Will be offered this week from the common kitchen to the
finest parlor. See our
BEDROOM FURNITURE
Before selecting elsewhere; we'll save you money if you will
take the trouble to look at our goods. You will see the
cream of latest styles in
PARLOR FURNITURE
(of our own make) on our floors at prices that sell in these
goods; being manufacturers, we save you the middle man's
profit We defy any house in the city to beat us in lowness
of prices or quality of goods. We carry all the latest styles
in Dining Room Furniture, such as Sideboards, Extension
Tables, China Closets, and nearly ten styles in the very latest
High Back Dining Chairs.
We will compete with any cash house in the city in prices, at
the same time offering the inducement of our EASY
TERMS OF PAYMENT.
HOPPER BROS. & CO
THE LOW PRICE LEADERS,
SOT "WOOD STEEET.
Come in and see our new line of Baby Carriages and Refrig
erators, and don't forget we will be open until 9 o'clock
every night this week.
Always A
the FPr
Cheapest.
SPECIAL FROM
I
In connection with our EASTER MILLINERY OPENING -we shall display
In our Cloak and Wrap Department, adjoining the Millinery Parlor (on second
floor), the latest conceptions in Mantles, Capes, Connemaras, Walking Jackets,
Misses' and Children's Jersey Suits, cute and pretty Infants' Coats, etc, of Berlin
Paris and home designs. We show now a much larger collection than previou
seasons, including the higher class of goods. Our prices remain
ALWAYS THE CHEAPEST.
DANZIGERS,
Sixth St. and Perm Ave.
NEW ADVERTISEMENTS.
TO THE PUBLIC.
TRY
Hunter's Ketchup
IT IS ZFTTIRIE.
Ideslreto
draw at
tention of
to the
of
Hunter's
Ketchup.
It is mads
from se
lected to
rn a toes,
and is
pare
Sir. Thos.
V. Jenx
lns: DEAR SIR The sample of J. w. Hunter's To
mato Ketchup received from you on Oct. 8. 'W,
has been analyzed, and 1 find it free from all min
eral acids, salicylic acid or artificial coloring
matter.
SljntdJ HUGO BLANCK, ChemUt.
PUUburj.
FOR SALE BY
THOS.
mhlS-IS-ssu.
G. JENKINS.
'-"?
&
w
JF, MgTinsyJf!
HOPPER BROS.&Co's
BABGAW HOUSE!
CASH or CREDIT.
Wood st. 307
NEAB, FOTJBTH AVE.
w'!'JJ
1
307
Always
the
Cheapest.
OUR POPULAR
PrXVa
I .
aft