The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1884-12-13
Balaaal and Burchard.


cuscs hun of having caused the de-
feat of Mr.. Blaine. Such epithets as
TOOL" and idiot" are now hurled at
him with great energy by the very
papers which few days before the
election Constantly spoke Of ministers
Of the Gospel with ,Le utmost respect,
aud took the ground that it was al
most inplous for any one to vote
against candidate who had beeu
formally assured of the support OF
lnes OF snch lufallible political jndg
m.nf as was possessed by the minis
tiers who. IN company with MIR. Bur
cbard. called upon the Republican,
candidate.
The case of Mr. Burcbard is some
what similar to that Ut Balaam. The
latter. it will be remembered, was
sort Ut dissenting prophet residing
among the Canaanitlsh heather
Barak. y magnetic Canaanitish lead
er, being aiNut to undertake u cam
palgn against the Israeliles, requested
Balaam to call upon hlm aud to
curse the Israelltes. BALKAN accept
ed the invitation, assured Barak vi
us cordial support, aud then INSTEAD
Vi curslng tue IsIaelil-s. gave them
his very best kind OF blessing Bs-
rak was naturally astonisbed, aud he
apbraIded BalaSm for having giveu
and aud c. niioit To the enemy. That
Is to say, he reminded the prophet
hat he had been employed to curse
Tie lsraelites. aud that, on the CON
.rar, he had altogether blessed them
But Bafak, altogether heathen, did
mol insult Balsam. He did not call
The prophet q fool or idiot, but be
sent hin, quietly back to his home,
aud mentally resolved that be would
never again ask for the spontaneous
support OF the clergy. The contrast
between the heather Barak aud ih.
Blame press is by DO means to the
credit Of the latter. Mr.. Burchard
WAS employed to bless Mr.. Blaine,
but he altogether cursed him. Un-
like Balaam. Mr. Burchard did not
Intentionally injure bis employer.
On the contrary, be really thought
that when he accused the Democracy
Of beng theparty of '.Rum, Roman
ism aud Rebellion" be was pleasing
and bene6ting Mr.. Blaine, whereas
Balaam knew that in blessing the
Israel,tes he was virtually cursing
Barak. And yet MIR. Bnrchard is |
called names and denounced with |
the utmost violence by the Blaine
newspapers.
The facts Of the case uuquestiona.
bly, are that Mr.. Burchard was
pleased TO be invited to give his
spontaneous support to Mr. Blaine, |
aud that. firmly believing that Ro-
manism is y variety OF rum, and that
rebellion is the offspring. or perhaps
the mother of both. he thought he
could secure Mr.. Blaine's election by
asserting that the Democratic party
is pledged TO support rum, Roman
ism and rebellion. The men who
should be blamed are the Blaine
managers. They should have known
that it is excessively dangerous for
politician to ask ministers to advo-
ate bis cause, aud they shonld have
written out series Of extempore
for Mr.. Burchard and pledge
him to repeat them without note or
Granting. purely for the
sake of argument. that MIR. Burchard
Is an ass, what are We to thiuk of the
clever politicians who employed him
without 6rst carefully measuring his
sars.
In spite OF the abuse which Mr.. |
Bnrchsrd is receiving, be need not
eel dismaytd. 1t is entirely possible
bat be will before long draw u larger
audience than any other New York
preacher. aud it may soon be neces-
'ary to build him q larger meeting
,ouse. Should he prefer to leave
be pulp. for the platform, Mr.. Bur-
hard could undoubtedly make .
ortuDe in short tune BY lecturlnp
lie might write y course of lecture .
say, Rum and Romanism,"
Ale and Angiicsnism," "Gin and
he Greek Church." aud Glider and
;ongregationaIism By tracing the
lose relations between these various
sl'gions and The respective bever-
ges mentioned in connection with
hem. be could open q new field of
biological controversy. and win last
ng fame. He might add TO these
our lectures . 9Th. entitled .sPure
Water and Presbyterianism." and ..
how BY contrast that bis own par
lcular denomination 10 the only one
rec from mixture with ardent spirits
Mr.. Bnrchard ahould not be- cast
own. The meme Of bis great proto-
vpe. BALKAN, has lasted for at leas,
600 years, and il there % any virtue