Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-07-15
MISS CLEVELAND ON THE SMITHS
aI.Playful, HaIf.Earnest So.
c'ai Essay From the White
House.
From the Christian at Work, JuIv ID ,

"a o5nlIh myself, and not having an
friends by that name, Lady Mary's NON
eiciaOure comes to me as very nanny !
lAiy need OF an appropriate designation fo
species OF creature very much in IN
way OF every good cause undertaken h
cnurch, State or society.
everybody knows the Smiths. even tb
smiths themselves Though the Smith
are not anybody. Any pastor who read
my words can call to minds eve n row
long or short, of these non-entical emf
TIES. They are never lacking from tb,
ranks OF any good cause, ecclesiastical n
secular. They fall in numerously whe,
the cause is popular, and fall out nuner
DUSTY when 1t is unpopular Their char
acterlessness gives them character. Thei
lndistlnctiveness is always distinct anr
thelr impredicability of position is alwav,
to be predicated. AS species they mr.,
s1a generis, and may be very precisel,
Classified as the nobodies of the cause.
Now, men and women do not want
Smiths around, but Smiths are especial,
qualified to fulfil this one function O.
beng around. 1t is their peculiar Sphere
OF activity. They are gifted with leyita
ton, as opposed to gravity. They are
Ike certain of those encountered by
Dante-though they cannot be encoun.
tered-in the Inferno, very definite tc
the eye, but wholly impalpable to the
touch. You can see them as clear cut as
any other dark object between YOU and
the light, but YOU can walk right through
them. Like AHlton's Michael in his fray
with Satan, you can get up close, and,
careful to cut nothing else, slash right
through them with that sword ''no solid
| might resist, - and, after all, cut nothing
There is not a drop of blood to be spilled.
They
Cannot but by humiliation die:
Nor IN their liquid texture mortal wound
Receive no more than can the liquid air.
These elusive Smiths come to be we'll
known after while, and nothing what
ever is TO be expected from them. They
are wholly useless to any cause, and save
Tor the sad persistence OF that memorable
law by which no such thing as moral
neutrality is possible in Gods universe,
would be wholly harmless as well. But
because this law persists-becausc she
that is not for me, is against me"-there-
fore it's that these useless shadows on
the right side become, with no change of
base, useful substances on the wrong
side.
There is nothing good friend of these
ignes .fdtui Smith can, rs 4 friend, do for
them, but to cut them off from the ranks
of fighting men and women, and remand
them to an abstract space where they
may huddle with their own. Give them
space for repentance, the benefit OF
clergy and then swing them from the
pillory of the worlds high scor1h, to mix
hereafter with their bloodless hearts
content with their elemental kindred in
the thin air of mortal non-commitment
Give them only just time for repentance.
Do not delude yourself with any hope
that, having repented, they will be any
thing to the cause they have so long
clogged. The first Whit of influence
from any quarter will blow them from
that place they have sought carefully and
with tears. Do not dream it wise or kind
to "give them another chance" The
only wisdom for the cause they disgrace,
the only kindness to them is to hurry
them away finally from any contact with
anything whatever These people are
too ethereal for this world. They are
like certain dazzling creatures who swing
from nodding blossoms on a summers
day, held in this sunny oscillation by the
power of suction. We never see their
feet, if they have any. 1t is their nature
to not stand, but swing. Milton says
they cannot but by humiliation die; but
they can be ignored out of moral exist
ence as impediments to a good cause.
and they should be. In the stress and
strain of the battle we are set to wage
with "real folks" We are not called to
fight, like Tennyson's Prince, with
shadows.
You, dear pastor, who are seeking to
win men and women to the cause of your
Master, cannot afford to be deceived and
exhausted by the Smiths Have you
prayed and labored in your cold and life
less Zion for revival of pure and unde-
filed religion in your midst, and is your
heart cheered by full lecture room and
a crowded church? Beware of the
Smiths in this crowd. Do not count
them They will always and numerously
put in an appearance at the meeting. 1t
is their mission to put in appearances.
Are you seeking to set the temperance
ball rolling in your dull, indolent little
town, whisky and world besotted? Do
not put too much faith in the large audi
ences at those lectures that seem to
promise men and women for the work.
The Smiths are there. Substract the
Smiths. When you come to call your
committees, the places that know them
now will know them no more forever.
Under its columns OF "Facts and
Theories in the World of Science" a late
Cristian at Work had an item descriptive
of a Frenchman's theory to account for
the mysterious disappearance" notices
which we so often see in our news
papers, and which cause so much trouble
to friends and SO much employment to
the police. "He maintains that death is
occasionally actual dissolution. Persons
attacked by this form Of disease suffer no
previous illness, and without warning
suddenly ceased to exist, and fade from
SIGHT. He thinks people do actually now
and then melt into thin air. He was
discussing a political situation with a
friend once who thus melted, and he has
meyer seen him since. At the moment
of his friends disappearance a strong
srlnh,lrous odor was to be observed, but
nothing besides that was remarkable:
He thinks the phenomenon worthy OF
medical investigation.
a GOOD many besides the Frenchman
have witnessed the same phenomenon.
The Smiths are all liable to attack by
This form of disease. No occasion is bet
fer adapted to develop a "fade" than
POLITICAL situation. We have seen some
thing of melted Smiths lately outside OF
France Franc But we would not take the time
of the police for their search. An ord a,
nary pointer would do as well the smell
Of snlphur would be sufficient suggestion
as to their whereabouts. "a
Is there, then, no hope for the smiths 81
Leave that question open. Probably
some one knows, if he has mind TO tel,