The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-10-25

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table wonderfully refreshed"
TALaAeE or GENERAL W. 7. SHERMAN.
The conversation here took q shoot into
Renaissance, and DR.. Talmsge spoke Of
General Sherman. Said he:
81 noted your interview with John
Sherman Of week or so ago. You repre-
scented him rightly. The world does not
know what social and lovable side there
Is TO his character and the virtues of GEN.
eral Sherman are not appreciated as they
should be. l had close friendship with
him and I have many letters from him.
His blutfness and rugged good nature
blinded people to his extraordinary liter
airy ability. His letters were models Of
good diction. Even his speeches. though
he spoke extemporaneously and some
times haltingly were well worded. and
there was no more delightful talker in pri-
yate, ] remember a night | spent with him
in ST. Louis. General Sherman was not
well enough to attend my lecture, but he
sent me note asking me to come to his
house after was through. / did so and
We spent long evening together. During
this time he gave me ideas Of the war that
/ never had before. He went over the
whole Of it. criticising this man and that,
and giving me much unwritten history.
He uttered things, which, had they been
given TO an INSCRIPTIONS person, would
have furnished big newspaper sensations
and would have brought high prices in
the literary newspaper markets. He was
most lovable man in his family relations
and he had a gentle side to his character
which was very charming"
THE WORLD GROWING BETTER.
"Dr. Talmage." said I, 'don't you think
the world grows worse as it grows older?"
NO." replied the preacher, ~ do not. l
think the world is growing better instead
OF growing worse, and | am in all things
rather an optimist than a pessimist.
often hear the mechanical inventions, the
reapers, the mowers, the electric wires, the
steam engine, ETC., spoken Of as the great
wonders OF modern times. The greatest
marvel to me of modern times is the true
Christian spirit which grows more from
day to day. Our greatest wonders are our
good men and good women. In the ages
OF the past there was one great philanthro-
pist in half dozen centuries, and for the
next ten or twenty generations be was
the only wonder Of history. The people
placed a halo around his head and
they worshiped him and wondered at him.
Now We have great philanthropist in
every town and dozen in every city. 1t
took so wears to produce a George Pea
body, and Peter Cooper would have been
an lmpossibilIty in any other age than
ours. That mans work is the wonder of
modern times. His institution has moth
cred a thousand other institutions. From
his example have sprung hundreds Of free
libraries, hospitals and schools and the
work of charity grows in an ever increas-
ing ratio as the times go on"
OUR WONDERFUL WOMEN
"Look at the men and women of today"
DR.. Talmage went on. There has never
been such generation. Take our women
A few years ago, soft flesh, a slender waist,
polite languor, a do-nothing air, were
the elements of the so-called beautiful
woman. Now our girls pride themselves
on being strong. The roses of health
bloom in their cheeks. They stand firm
upon their feet and swing their arms from
the shoulder. They have strong frames
and healthy, well-trained minds. They
are the apostles of physical culture, and
every town has its woman's gymnasium.
1t Is the same with our young men. We
are developing stronger race and a better
race. This Is mentally and physically. The
Old saying that there is no royal road to
learning is a thing of the past. Our
children have such a road, and it Is an
asphalt pavement compared with the
rough corduroy of my childhood. When
| was boy children had to be whipped to
make them go to school. Now they cry
If they can't go. / spent my school days
in a country school. We had one hundred
children in one room, and we sat on rough
benches so high that our feet dangled SIX
inches above the floor. The rod was not
spared and the rule was one of terror
rather than kindness. | remember the
school was always opened with prayer.
The teacher prayed. He held his hands
with hfa finOara onraaA vida
his eyes as he prayed, and he kept his
eyes on the school to see that the scholars
preserved a decent reverence and atten-
ton. When he saw one of US doing other
wise. he dropped his hand, suspended his
prayer, came down and thrashed the
and then went back and finished
the prayer. We had no music but the
crying OF the children when whipped We
had no drawing, and our studies were of
the most arbitrary kind forced out of US
ID the most arbitrary way"
FREE THOUGHT AND CHRISTIANITY.
"How about religion and free thought,
doctorP" said 1. "The churches seem to
be growing more liberal every year. In
fidelity is growing in all religions the
world over and the tendency seems to be
the breaking down of all faith"
You are right in saying that the
ANhto a. q bCCOl1iilR LiOTE LIBERAL. re-
piled DR.. Talmage. "We are getting closer
and closer together every year, and re-
ligion is becoming more and more a re-
llglon OF sympathy and kindness We
have thousands of real Christians now
" no hardly know they are Christians.
They cannot be called intellectual Chris
tlans. and the purely intellectual Christian,
the Christian OF reason rather than faith.
Is OF little account in the world, anyhow.
lie Is an Iceberg and he is of good neither
10 himself nor 10 anyone else. You speak
OF the growing inHdeIity among the be-
Levers OF other religions the world over.
The tendency OF man when he gives up
the God of his fathers is for q time to he
lieve in no God whatever, and it is ONLY
after time that he comes around To
study and believe in another re-
ligion. | believe that any religion
is better than no religion, and be-
lieye that the Christian religion is destined
10 conquer the world. People are sur
prised that the church does not advance
more rapidly. They forget that the world
has Just been discovered. Our hemisphere
is but a few hundreds of years old. and
Columbus only discovered its shell. Asia
and Africa have been practically unknown
10 US until now and they are still to a
great extent undiscovered. 1t is the same
with the world IN other respects as in its
geographical ones. We are just beginning
20 know 1t and its possibilities. Modern
inventions are coming in TO help US. and
We are now ready FOR the first time to be-
gin 10 work in earnest.
The railroad and the steamboat have
been invented 10 carry Us TO our fields, and
the monograph has come in TO do its great
share in the missionary work of the future.
believe the monograph IS going 10 be
our greatest preacher. When the manager
Of the board of missions can say: send
500 sermons TO as many towns and cities
In Japan" or Send 800 lectures TO out-of-
the-NAy places IL China End see that n