The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1893-09-09

Nation.
New York, Sept. 3.-Rev. Thomas
Dixon returned to his pulpit in Associa-
ton hall today after spending his vaca-
ton hunting and fishing on the eastern
shore of Virginia. He opens the fall
work with series of morning sermons
through September on The Panic-Its
Causes and Cure" He discussed this
morning its ''ImmediSte Causes, giving
many points to show the utter absurdity
of the present scare. The text chosen
was from Matthew XIV, %, And l was
afraid and went and hid thy talent"
II is a pitiable sight-a strong man
stricken with fear! The husky breath,
the lettering knees and weak cry place
man, the king, in sorry plight before
the animals that must look on with a
smile. Fear is an ignoble passion.
1t never lifts up. 1t always degrades.
To see a whole community, a whole ma
ton, quake with pusillanimous fear in
the hour of national prosperity is a sight
as much more ignoble as the nation is
greater than the man.
But the ignOminy of a panic is the
smaller part of its disgrace. 1t is the
hour in which the brute asserts itself
Man at once returns to the original herd
principle. He becomes an animal pure
and simple.
A great theater building was packed
one night with people. a fool raised the
cry of fire. 1t was false alarm. There
was no fire. There was no danger Of
fire. There was not even the smell of
fire about the building.
But a panic ensued. That is to say,
rational men and women suddenly went
mad with animal fear Strong men
knocked weak women down and tram
pied them to death. Shrieks, groans
and curses, like the growl and snarl and
howl of cage of enraged apes, rent the
air. Great broad shOuldered brutes
leaped upon the heads and shoulders of
the surging mob and crawled and
fought their way to the pavement. One
wretch drew his knife and cut his way
through the struggling mass of men,
women and children. He'll reigned SUI
preme.
Panic had reduced all to the level of
the brute, and with his superior intel
hgence man outdid the brute, for to his
claws he added the use of steel.
A sorry spectacle for humanity! And
yet this is precisely the case in our panic
in the business world. That scene in
the theater is just as sane, just as hui
ta -. L.
change in the hour of a money panic.
A hundred such theater panics are as
nothing in their results as compared with
one week of commercial ruin. Let
Christian nation understand it.
a panic is a relapse to borbdrism. 1t
is more. 1t is a relapse to the forrest ele-
ments Of bdrbaric life.
] CowARDICE.
! First-It is the yielding to cowardice
, Man was created king.
Man is savage in proportion to the do
minion of fear over him.
The savage fears everything and ev-
erybody. His condition is one of pure
agnosticism.
He does not know. He does not know
anything. Hence he fears everything.
Some people are proud of agnosticism.
They spell it with big A and bow down
and worship at it, altar. We are just
now afflicted commercially with pure
agnosticism. Let our agnostic friends
take note. The simple trouble with ev-
cry man is, he says he don't knor. 1t is
a case of II don't knOW." What is the
matter he don't know. What he is
afraid of he don't know. If pure agnos-
ticism ruled the world, we would be in
hell already.
/ 1t is the hour of the coward.
| No coward can inherit the kingdom
either the kingdom of heaven or earth.
The children of Israel went over to spy
out the promised land. They brought
back marvellous reports of its beauty.
They said it flowed with milk and honey.
They described its luscious fruits and
bore back on their shoulders marvellous
specimens from its vineyards. But the
spies declared that the land was inhabit-
ed by giants. They were fond of grapes
and milk and honey, but if there was GO
ing to be a fight they preferred onions
and garlic plain. And they cried for on
ions. They said shey were grasshoppers
compared to tbs men who owned these
magnificent vineyards. And they were.
They We're afraid. They were stricken
with panic. And the only use God
could find of them was to use their bones
to fertilize the soil of the wilderness
while he raised up a new generation of
men who knew not fear.
Banks boast of their strength-they
boast of their high use to the communi-
ty-and yet in this hour of a riotous need
they have been the first to sneak under
cover. With pusillanimous whine of self
preservation, they have been among the
first to crawl into their vaults and tell
their patrons and creators TO look out
for themselves.
A FARMER AND HIS CORN.
On the eastern shore of Virginia there
stands today one of the few beautiful old
homesteads of the past. Its fences are