Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-05-11

/ lAACLC lIldll YOU pun lhLo ti.t
l--terrogatory Why" answer, First:
! Because Our Christ was an Asiatic,
| Egypt gave TO us its monuments, Rome
| gave 70 us its law, Germany gave to us
its philosophy, but Asia gave 10 us its
| Christ. His mother an Asiatic; the
] mountains that looked down upon him,
| Asiatic; the lakes on whose pebbly
| banks he rested and on whose chopped
| waves he walked, Asiatic: the apostles
| whom he first commissioned, Asiatic:
| the audiences he whelmed with his IL
! luStrationS drawn from blooming lilies
! and salt crystals, and great rain-falls,
| and Believing tempests, and hypocrites
/ long faces, and croaking ravens-an
| those audiences Asiatic. Christ during
his earthly stay was never outside OF
Asia. When he had sixteen or eighteen
years TO spare from his active work,
instead of spending that time in Eu-
rope, | think he goes farther toward
the heart of Asia, namely, India. The
| Bible says nothing of Christ from
twelve years Of age until thirty, but
there are records in India and tradi-
tons in India which represent a
! strange, wonderful, most excellent, and
! supernatural being as staying in India
about that time. l think Christ was
| there much OF the time between his
twelfth and his thirtieth year. but how
| ever that may be, Christ was born in
! Asia, suffered in Asia, died in Asia, as
! cended from Asia, and all that makes
| me turn my ear more attentiyely toward
! that continent as hear its cry Of dis
| trcss.
Most interesting are the people OF In
/ dia. AZ Calcutta. l said to one Of their
| leaders. who spoke English well:
Have these idols which | see any
! power OF themselves to help or de-
stroy?"
He said: "No; they only represent
! God. There is but one God"
When people die, where do they go
to-"
That depends upon what they have
been doing; If they have been doing
good, to heaven, and if they have been
doing evil, TO hell"
But do you not believe in the trans
migration Of souls aud that after death
we go into birds or animals of som c
| sCrt?"
Yes; the last creature man is
thinking OF while dying is the one into
which he viii 60. II he is thinking OF
bird, he will go into a bird; il he is
thinking of beast, he will so into a
| beast"
II thought you said that at death the
soul goes 60 heaven or hell"
He goes there by gradual process.
1t may take him years and years"
Can any one become Hindoo?
| Could | become q Hindoo?"
Eyes. you could"
How could l become a Elndoo?"
by doing as the Hindoos do"
! From the walls of one Of their mu-
seums at Jeypore had translated for
! me these beautiful sentiments:
The wise make failure equal to sue
! cess.
Like threads of silver seen through
crystal beads, let love through good
! deeds show.
Do not to others that which If done
70 thee would cause thee pain. And
this is the sum Of duty.
! a man obtains proper rule of action
| by looking On his neighbor as himself.
From that continent OF interesting
! folk, from that continent that gave
the Christ, from that continent which
! has been endeared by SO many mis-
sionary hcroics, there comes a groan
! of eighty million people in hunger.
/ More people are in danger of starving
to death In India to-day than the en-
! tire population OF the United States.
In the famine in India in the year 1877
/ about six million people starved to
| death. That is more than all the peo-
/ pie Of Washington, OF New York, Of
! philadelphia, of Chicago, put together.
! But that famine was not tenth part
! as awful as the one there now raging.
Twen.% thousand are dying there of
/ famiCe every day. Whole villages and
| tow nave died-every man, woman
/ and calid none left to bury the dead.
/ The Yultures and the iackals are the
! only palibearers. Though some help
/ has been sent, before full relief can
reach them l suppose there will be
! at least ten million dead Starvation,
! even for one person, Is an awful pro-
! cess. No food, the vitals gnaw upon
| themselves and faintacss and languor
| and pangs from head TO foot, aud hor-
| ror and despair and insanity take full
| possession. One handful of wheat or
! corn or rice per day would keep life
! going. but they cannot get handful.
The crops failed and the millions are
! dying. Oh, ii is hard TO be hungry In
n world where there is enough grain,
| and fruit, and meat. TO MI all the hun
| cry mouths on the planet; but alas!
that the sufferer and the supply cannot
be brought together. There stands In
! dfa to-day Look at her! Her face
! dusky from the suns of many centur-
| ies; under her turban such achlngs OF
brow as only dying nation feels; her
eyes hollow with unutterablc woe; the
! tears rolling down her sunken cheek;
! her back bent with more agonies than
! she knows how 70 carry; her ovens
! containing nothing but ashes. Gaunt,
| CHASTITY, wasted, the dew Of death upon
her forehead and pallor such as the
last hour brings, she stretches forth