The Progress., 1894-01-06
FLAGS AT HALF MAST.
REV. THOMAS OlXON'S SERMON ON
WORLDS FAIR PROPHECIES.

New YORK, Dec. 31.-Rev. Thomas
Dixon, Jr., preached at Association hall
this morning. the last of the series of ser
mons on The Prophecies of the Worlds
Fair" The text chosen was from Jere-
miah vi, II: Saying, Peace, peace;
when there is no peace"
1t had been planned that the last day
of the great Columbian exposition
should be "A day of supreme triumph
Ii was fit that it should be so. Its man
agement had been magnificent sue
cess. The people of America had join
ed in making it n success. They had
opened it in unprecedented splendOT.
They had given their hearts enthusi-
asm to it. They had given their money.
And they rejoiced in its success. Its
magnificent achievement in art and in
architecture and in the celebration of
the progress of the world was the attain
ment of n victory for which the nation
rejoiced with a peculiar national pride.
Ii was a sad and tragic disappointment
which met them on the day of the close.
Instead of a day of fcstivlty, of mcrri-
ment, of grand music, Of rejoicing, it
was day of gloom, sadness, silence,
foreboding. The flags on the buildings
were all at half mast. The mayor of
the city of Chicago had been stricken
down by the hand of an assassin. In
stead of music, there was silence. In
stead of laughter, there were tears. And
the nation felt it. 1t was as if in the
midst of our rejoicing we were brought
sharply and suddenly face to face with
the fact that there was a skeleton in
the closet, a skeleton of grim and terri
BILE mien-One that could not be down
ed at the bidding of any man or any
power.
It is perhaps as well that this grand
worlds exposition should have closed
with the flags at half mast. 1t would
not have been worlds fair had we not
in some way celebrated the exposition
of our social disease. No celebration
in the closing days of the nineteenth
century that shall recite its achieve
ment, its progress, its present position
and its promise would be complete with
out these dark lines drawn in the pic
! ture.
THE WORLD $ DISEASE.
We are brought thus face TO face
with the fact of worlds disease in the
midst of our celebrating a worlds tri-
umph and progress. Restlessness, an
archy and social disorder are facts of
which we would like to remain uncon-
scious, were it possible, but it is no
! longer possible. The mob that surged
through Haymarket square and explod-
ed their bombs some years ago, the
grim monument that marks the spot
today, the mob that swayed through
the streets of New Orleans and held
the city in its grasp until its deeds of
murder were wrought, the lynchings
that have disgraced the south and the
west and the north of late, the noto-
rious lawlessness and mob rule and slum
government of our cities-all these are
sharp reminders of the fact, that we,
too. of late, must enroll our nation
among these that suffer from this social
disease.
In Europe there is not nation that
does not shiver today at the thought
of possible social revolution. Anarchy
is rampant throughout the civilized
world.
Spain attempted to crush the wretch
that had made an effort to kill one OF
her great men. What was the result
The result was that in Barcelona, while
a great theater was packed with help
less and innocent and unoffending men
women and children, from the top gal
lery fiend hurled a dynamite boml
into the orchestra. If both the bomb
hurled had exploded, the entire theate
would have been demolished, and per
haps thousands would have been man
pled to pieces. AS it was, the horro
was enough. Thirty lives were lost
and hundreds were wounded. Th
depth of deviltry and fendishness t
which n man must descend to be capa
bile of such a crime may be said to opel
a new chapter in the history of our civ
ilization.
France is reminded within the pas
few weeks of the same great disease.
bomb is exploded IN the chamDer o
deputies, with the evident dramatic III
tention of emphasizing the irrepressl
BILE conflict between law and law less
ness, between anarchy and government
1t was only the merest accident tha
: prevented this bomb from doing tn
, terrible work intended by its thrower.
Officials in Germany have recentl
received mysterious packages whic
contained explosives sufficient to kill.
Russia has been in condition
chronic anarchy for generation.
England is reminded from day to da
a of the fact of this disease in her soci'
4 body.
Z The government of Italy now fac
the possibility Of a social revolutid
g which threatens to destroy the empil
Y itself. The recent accession of Crispi
( power again has done little to allay Il
feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty
Crispi is the avowed enemy of Il
L Il. nett