Iuka reporter. (Iuka, Miss.) 1888-1894, 1888-08-09
The Religious peadbeat.

how to talk 'plous.' They are a
very shrewd set-their religion ia
to be smart. They are missionaries.
for after a while they teach the ber
nighted clergy to be as quick to de-
tect them as they are quick to find
the city address of their intended
victims. Some times they are Jews
with a strong flavor of garlic and
that want to become christians; and,
being ruthlessly pursued by several
rabbls, they must have 'yust little
helpup.' Sometimes they are hand
somely dressed ladies, members of
the Rev. DR.. - parish, in the
distant city of --, they are so
unfortunate as to have had pocket
BOOKS stolen on the train, with tick
cts, money, etc., and here they are
stranded. They will always return
the triding amont necessary to take
them home just as soon rs they reach
there Any clergyman who has
ever guilelessly listened to such
stories will testify that he has SUBJ
stantlal reasons for believing that
they never reached there. Some
times they are pert young men, sons
of leading reotors, or of Bishop This
or That, victims of the thieves that
infest the sleeping cars with SO much
ifhpunity a nd without detection.
The sense of smell ordinarily re-
veals the fact that these unfortunates
have sought bourbon consolation for
their losses. Sometimes they are
Roman Catholic priests who have
been savagely tyranniaed by their
Bishops, because they could no
longer hlod to the lntallibility' and
would like to protestantize to the
extent of handling a few Protestant
dollars. Sometimes they are people
with dreadful cough and haggard
counteDance, burdened with sick
wives and eight children. They live
at number blank, Blank street, al
tho u gh subsequent investigation
shows that there is no such nun ber
onBlank street. Sometimes with a
charming naivete they own up to a
bad life and now want to assume the
role of the penitent prodigal, nothing
would so minister to the comfort of
their wearied souls as baptism and
small loan. Sometimes they assume
a tragic air; they once had faith, but
their misfortunes have soured them.
they cannot believe there is a God,
in fact, sir, ] contemplate suicide,
and my last resort is this appeal to
you? Sometimes they have books
OF deeply moral and religious
character to sell and would like to
get the names and addresses of the
leading parishioners with a letter of
commentator from the rector.
There is sad contrast between their
energy in getting up subscription
and their energy in delivering the
books. Sometimes--but why un.
dertake to describe a generation of
vipers whose name is legion? What
is more important is that we should
open our eyes vide to the fact that
religious dead -beatism is one of the
evils of tho day. In one of the
courts in Chicago it was ghown that
a woman had been baptized five or
six times by various bodies 10 which
she professed repentance. A wom-
an IN New York is exposed as hav-
ing cheated a shrewd lawyer out o.
his property by spiritnalism. The
same woman was a few years since
a trophy Of grace, surrounded by re.
joicihg prieets and nuns in the. Ro.
man Catholic church. The mex,
thing she may turn up as candidate
for confirmation in some distant city
and astonish the rector by her zeal
and afterward astonish him still
more by the use she has made q
his namo to help on her schemes o
fraud and robbery.
! These people exhibit positiv.
genius in their trade, If they wer,
as bright along legitimate lines, the,
would have, no need tc lie and atea
Tho Church.
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