Blue-grass blade., 1892-09-03

lieYc In all the talking snakes and talk
ing iaclzasscs from Genesis TO Rcvela-
tions as to believe the cock and bull
stories that Flower offers, in the July
"Arena" in support of hypnotism.
But the beauty of our religion is that
any man can believe what he wants,
just so he does right, and is tuging to
do something to help humanity.
You recollect that Catholic priest, |
Mahoney, from Minnesota that gave
hundred dollars to the Prohibition natl
onal executive committee ut the Cincin- |
natl convention. That's the only |
priest that | ever'called Father or |
spoke of as Father" except Father
Mathew. | would just as soon call the |
devil Father as the average beet-nosed |
priest with n bay window on him that |
looks like he just swallowed keg of
beer and forgot to take the keg off of
it. But never. in all my life, met
man that my heart warmed up to more
cordially than it did to Mahoney. The
papers stated that when Father Maho-
ney opened the session of one days con
vention with an eXtemporaneous pray
er it was the second instance on record
in America where any priest had done
| it. We accidentally sat side by side at
the table at the Palace hotel in Cincin-
natl, the first time we met, and he said
to me that he had thoroughly made
martyr of himself in making that pray
er. | had Il seat near him. on the plat
form when he was praying, and could
tell that it was an entirely new busi-
that God hasn't done any talking to
men since he wrote the Hebrew Bible
and the Greek New Testament, and
superintendad the translation of the
Latin Vulgatc, and they are not exact
| ly certain about Gods understanding
English and Dutch or any of these
modern languages, and the priests aint
willing to fool with them when they
have any praying to do. I should not
be surprised if there was something in
it. | was in France once. had learn
ed French according to the Allendorf
method, / don't believe that God
would have underst TODD what meant if
l had said my prayers in French l
know the French could not understand
my French; but none of them had ever
studied French; they had just sorter
picked it up at home. l never was, in
my life, so touched by prayer as /
was by Father Mahoney's English
prayer, with just little suspicion of
Irish brogue to it. If there is anything
that makes me tired it is to hear one of
these dandy preachers get off prayer
so as to have the newspaper reporters
say of it that it was one OF the finest
prayers ever delivered to an American
sudicnec.
NIahoney was too much of scholar
make fool of himself by saying any
thing that was silly, but lie was evil |
IDENTIFY, rs he said, martyrizing himself |
for conscience sake, and it more i'm
pressed me with the goodness of the |
man than any prayer ever heard any
man make.
When we met at the hotel dinner
table and were talking about it, and
was expressing to him my appreciation
of his prayer, he stopped suddenly and
looked at me and said, "Are you the
man they put in Jail in Kentucky?" l
said ''yes." ''Give me your hand" said
he, and he shook it with u warmth and
earnestness that made the tears scoot
up in the corner OF my optic.
To see one of these Lexington Catho-
lie gin singers come into church and
bow down to plaster of Paris Saint
Peter with n couple of big smoke house
Keys under one arm, and ledger with
his fish accounts, under the other, ere
ates just about as'much religion rever-
ence in my mind rs it does to see lot
of Chinaman stick little sticks in a
flower pot of dirt, and worship them,
ike they do in their Joss houses. But
between Father Mahoney and me there
is four times as much religioussympathy
as there is between any two preachers
Y.
l reckon have written more against
Sam Jones than any other man in Ken
tuclly. The time heard him preach
before, thought he was the most un-
mittigated bore that had ever heard.
He made slam at all infidels; said
they were "all mouth" and that they
reminded him of the pictures of the
"hippopotamuses" on the circus bills.
Barnum had been through the country,
and had pictures of hippopotami pasted
around every where, with mouths so
big and SO wide open that in the front
view OF them that was given you could
not see much but the inside of the ami
NAL. For several years could not see
one of those pictures without thinking
Of Sam Jones who spoke his own Ian
guage ungraminatically talking about
such men as Alexander Won Humbolt.
Guiodano Bruno, Thomas jefferson and
Ben Franklin rs being "all mouth"
But | must now say that the sermon
or talk, or whatever it was, that Sam
gave us yesterday, Saturday, July so,
at High Bridge Camp meeting was one
OF the most unique and original and
truly witty things that ever heard. 1t
had some coarseness in it, and yet it
seemed the necessary thing to impress
spon the minds of his hearers the terri
Uly important things that he was say
.ux. lie made me feel ashamed of
some of my impcrfections and made
me want to try TO do better. when the
sermon of a big distinguished Metho-
dist preacher who spoke before Jones
had put me to sleep. It perfectly un-
fits man to listen to the conventional {
platitudes of one of these elegant city
preachers. ,
Sam Jones is not IL consistent man:
nor, Tor that matter, is any man.
called to see him at his cottage, before
his sermon. lie got out sinking old
pipe and lighted it, while | was his
CUES, and without even going through
that empty form of asking me If it was |
disugrcable 10 me. If he should some 5
day CONS to sec me. aud should pull ,
out :. raj energetic and entecpr!sing ,
pole ca and begin TO perfume the room t
with him, Bro. Jones would be Offend
ii nd vat N,-bnp II ,Ip,.c ,>,,s,,,.. | ,