The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-02-02


Cor. Klll's Llorun1.-On Taesday
evening, Col. Chas. D. Kerr unraveled to-
large audieaue, at tho Congregational
church, ..Ths Riddle Of the Sphinx = AN
are familiar with the my theological story ..
the Sphinx, half lion and half woman.
which sat ~ the sea shore. propoundine
to all passers-by the riddle. .'What ami
NAL Is II that walks on four feet in the
morning, on two feet at noon. and on three
feet in the EVENING"" Those Who failed to
give the proper answer were instantly de-
voured. When The correct reply Was Civ
en-that this animal Was Man, who in the
morning of lite ,orept upon hands and
knees, Walked ersot in his prime, and
passed to his grave leaning on his STAFF
tho Sphinx plunged into The sea, rhil
riddle, the lecturer said, should teaoh 'us
to 60 live through the first two perioda that
the third would find 10 with ( true staff
upon which to lean. but that in this age
few read the lesson Alright. Taking the
first two perisds-the one representing
youth, the other manhood and womanhood
Tho unsparingly attacked. through them.
society a. at present constituted. The
young men he divided into two classes
the mice young man" and "Young Amer
ica." The former never smoked, swore,
told stories. or played hook when sent to
school was . devoted knight Grant to his
little sister gave all his money to the
missionaries, and helped about the family
housework. dc was, as he grew older, an
essential at parties 81 q master of non
sense, and in all things mad just such idea 8
as somebody else had prepared and fur
nished him. II hs died young, he went
right straight into-a Sunday School book ;
if he grew to maturity, he became aunky.
''Young Ameriea" filed the other scale !;
had all the small vices, and vas offended if
any doubt were thrown on his thorough
acquaintance with all the greater ones /;
was empbatioally man of the world, dis
solute. dissipated and prodigate. "A third
class included the "Girl of the Period"
He described her as brought up to be
merely creature of show with no habits
Of usefulness, or ideas that usefulness and
industry were in any way, desirable; put
through . French; boarding school to oh.
tain French ways il not French vices fed
on the writings Of George Sand; and from
infancy educated to believe that the one
thing desirable in life was husband.
These three classes, the lecturer affirmed,
represented fairly the great majority Of the
young men and women Of the present day,
and he could not stop to 'deal with exoep-
tions. -. ..,. ...
Under the second period, he first pro-
duced the "Croaker," who could see no
good in anything that was not old;5 Who
Ioarped At al things live and fresh; who,
in the church, refused 70 heed, the divinity
which is always speaking within us, but
demanded that NO should 80 for our be-
liefs to his musty creeds and Who made
dogmatie assertion serve for intelligent
reasoning. The ''Flunky" was the wor-
shipper of his own and other mems wealth;
measured his religion by the size Of his
purse and his house had neither ideas nor
opinions Of his own, and did nothing which
might cause him to lose. caste. The "Poi-
tician'' was meroilessly handled, while
the dishonesty, trickery and corruption Of
politics were pictured with no relieving
touch. Turning his remarks to woman, he
said that as queen Of society che could
blame only herselffor the many wrongs Of
which she complained. That as she was
but . grovn-up "girl of the PERIOD" she
was giving to her daughters the same edu-
cation she had herself received; to remedy
these evils with the suffrage would be like
athousand weak and frivolous creatures
undertaking to redeem weakness and friv-
olity !; that their work was in themselves,
upon society that conventions and laws
could not change the order of the universe.
He inveighed against the tyranny of fash
ion, in its dress and amu,ements; against
the system Of white slavery which made
girls articles Of merchandise to be disposed
Of by shrewd mothers to wealthy hus--
bauds; aud against the disinclination OF
wives to give to the world the priceless,
jewels Of healthy and plentiful children
the women Of to-day being Rachels who
mourned, not because their children were
not, but because they were. He affirmed
thai there was NO wrong of which woman
complained which she could not herself
cure through the means already in her
hands. The lecturer concluded by remark
ing that none Of us could expect to purify
whole world, but We had each absolute
control over one individual, and as society
was but an aggregate of individuals, W
could thus, by self:purifcation, DO our
work toward purifying the whole. J., ~.
The lecturer spoke with considerable
feeling-the substance Of the lecture be-
ing evidently the result Of mature and
honest convictions-and although laboring
under the difficulties of q recent. sore
throat, he made himself distinctly heard in
all parts Of the house. His ideas were
gracefully Is we'll as foroibly expressed
there was humot mingled with the sarcasm
and invectiv e-and tho audience manifest.
ed their APE recitation. of the sentiments
uttered by frequent applause. We cannot
but think, however. that he took: Alto
gether too gloomy : view Of the cond,-
ton Of American society. ,Magnifying the
few blotches, the hero and there lines Of
folly, the occasional faults of contour, he
overlooked the beautiful face, the vigorous
frame, the warm blood, and the full. strong
soul which make up what, to u Us, seems to
be the real figure Of American society.
There are defects, We admit readily and ~
regretfully, but the best that this world
can produce falls, through some defect, :
degree short of perfection. We, believe