The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1893-08-17


is part of that divine love which the
miniStratiOn so full of loving tender
pity. "Hers but to do and die" for
others. She and her kind are the hero
ines of every day life who charge the
grim batteries of circumstances, woe
and sin, with the quiet, unassuming
courage of the truly brave. Without
her the world would be a vast, dreary
waste. Around her spring oases in this
3" Wilderness of sin." R. F.
Uriah Heep! 1 wonder if you knew,
Charles Dickens, how many of the hui
man race you were so faithfully pOr-
traying when your inspired mind
brought before you such character
How many of us, in this battle of life,
have met, face to face, at least one
Uriah Heep? One of those crawling,
fawning, $50 'umble" creatures that
God hates and even the devil shuns.
One that, unable to understand or rec
ognize the utility of any minor princi-
pie of true manhood, cuts, stabs and
undermines his fellOW-men. How many
of us have trusted, in spite of an in
fallible instinct, and almost placed full
confidence in such, when, as flash of
lightning descending from a clear sum-
mer sky, there comes shock that al
most unbalances all faith in human
kind Aye, Uriah Heep, we have met
thee, but under different name; and,
even now, as we recall thee to mind,
we are nauseated and involuntarily
murmer: go Lord deliver us from
Such." PARIAH.
*.
If there is any force to the theory Of
inherited criminality, the Marchioness
should have blOOmed into GOrgOn of
the first water. The offspring of the il
licit lust Of defOrmed demon and a
female piece of Brass of such malevo-
lent cunning could not but be vicious
on the theory of inherent crime. Reared
on meagre scraps in a dark cellar, and
in constant terror of cruel taunt and
blow, she "growed up" in far worse
atmosphere than the immortal and ire
pressible TOpSy, to be shrewd, sharp,
pilfering little imp. But down beneath
her petty faults lay hidden the divine
seed awaiting the fervOr of love to bid
it spring up and flourish into the noble
ness of true WOmanhOOd. The little acts
of kindness, lightly thrown off by the
light gOod-natured Swiveller
had fallen on no barren ground and
bore an abundant harvest when the OBJ
ject of her silent alteration required
womanly nursing and love. With the
refining, beautifying influence of love
blossomed honesty, truth and devotion
which worked out for herself and her
lover happy salvation from their
troubles. j. B.
Charles Dickens of all novelists, wrote
of the people, for the people. Unlike
most authors, he wrote to introduce sim
pie facts and laid them before thinking
men and women with such force and
in such vivid cOlors that the scales Of
custom fell from their eyes. They be-
came awakened to the fact that they
were existing under wrongful con-
ditions that could be set right, and were
bearing unnecessary burdens. To him,
all that was injurious to the life, pro-
gress and welfare of the people, was
subject of ridicule, sarcasm and invec
tive. His mighty pen did more to re-
move expressions than any other re-
former or clique of refOrmers. Fagin,
Sykes and Mr.. Venus accomplished
more towards cleansing and remodel
ing the heart of London, than all the
daily press put together. Little Dorrit,
PickWick and Bleak House abolished
Imprisonment for debt and swept the
Marshalsea and Fleet prisons out of ex-
istence with their parasite sponging
houses. All of his characters were liv-.
ing, breathing men and women from
the pot-boy to the judge on the bench:
In fact, his books all teach the grand
lesson of how to live and how not to
live. p. A. F.
Allow me to introduce to you Mr..
Richard Swiveller. In him you will
find a character, that one will meet