The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-07-27
SATURDAY. JULY q.
EDITORIAL.

The sermon of DR..
Ane oeInion Ihis Shutter, of Minneap-
"eeh' oils, which we print
this week was called out by the recent
disaster in that city in which several
brave firemen lost their lives. 1t deals
with the old problem which ever presses
for reconciliation as to our individual re-
lation to general laws. The problem is
fated never to be solved to the satisfac
ton of sufferers or their friends, but i'm
portant helps to its solution are made in
this thoughtful sermon.
500
In the conclusion of
Inc hAao' the report of the Ma
Figures tional Boston 49,
Y.P.C. U. which we give this week, the
exact figures Of the delegate attendance
is given. While they fall below the
original estimate they are nevertheless
remarkable. 1t is something eminently
worthy of record that seven States and
$50 Unions were represented and that the
delegates numbered 500. We do not
want the earth" for the Y. P. G. U. but
we regret that missing Unioner whose
presence would have rounded out the
noble 600. Nearly 1000 names were
registered at headquarters during the
week. In delegate attendance and con-
gregations the Boston '95" Convention
will go down in history as "phenome-
nal" gathering. Jersey City in '96, with
the metropolis and the Empire State to
help, have now the exact figures they
will be required to emulate.
800
The proverb which
Giving the Devil recommends giving
MS Due the devil his due is
made the text for a pleasant and sensi-
BILE little dissertation in "The Point OF
View" department of Scribner's Maya
zine for July. The writer ventures the
opinion that Satan is too highly honored
in the popular conception which makes
him friendly to the common pleasures OF
the world and remarks. ITO give the
devil his due is proverbialiy proper, but
to make such hero of him is not only
inexpedient but very bad morals. John
Milton is partly to blame for it, for he
first made Satan grand and semi-respec-
table, but the work has made great
progress since his day." The opinion
among orthodox religionists that the
Adversary is the discoverer and promoter
of many devices which render life more
attractive to the multitudes. is, in the
opinion of this writer, to confer upon
him an undeserved distinction and to
"giye him credit for host of things with
which he had really very little to do"
The sensible conclusion is reached, that
if a more generous idea of Gods service
we're more generally disseminated. with
due supplementary inculcation of the
truth that all the salutary and truly
pleasant things in life are the gifts of
God and not devices of the Evil One,
Satan would come much nearer to get
ting his due than he usually does come
nowadays. or is likely to come perhaps,
until the final reckoning"
~O%
Elk Congressman l..
The Panama and F. Mckinney, of New
Nicaragua Canals. Hampshire, United
States Minister to Colombia. whom'we
know by dearer name as one OF our
Uniyersalist ministers. now home on
leave of absence, gives it as his opinion
that it would be better to complete the
khoV 70 4, 70 build tho
Nicaragua canal.
He has been over both routes and does
not think the Nicaragua route feasible,
owing chiefly to the difficulty of build
ing harbor at Greytown where the wa
ter is shallow and constant dredging
will be required to keep the channel
open. AS to the Panama canal, he went
over it recently and found from fourteen
to sixteen miles of good canal already
built, leaving about twenty four miles to
build. Mr.. Mckinney omits to mention.
however, that the remaining twenty four
miles of the Panama canal are the most
difficult of all, involving the piercing of
he Cordilleras at fabulous cost. New
ertheless, the Panama canal will doubt
less eventually be completed, likewise
the Nicaragua. At present the Difficult
ties, legal and international, that stand
in the way Of the United States acquir-
ing and completing the Panama canal,
as we'll as the bad odor in which that en-
terprise has been left by France, make
the Nicaragua canal a preferable enter
prise. to say nothing of the great saving
OF distance as a means Of water commu-
nication between the eastern and west.
ern coasts of the United States. The
United States Government is now prac-
ticalIy committed to the completion Of
the Nicaragua canal.