Connecticut western news., 1899-08-10
lGOSPEL'S TRIUMPHS.
,pR. rAlMAoE DEPICTS VICTORIES OF
 CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

! Power of Chrfst's TeachinEs. Drankards Reclaimed and Thieves Made Righteous.
 ], rCupyright. Louis Klopsch. lsoo.l
 WARRINGTON, Aug. 6.-The antago- nists of the Christian religion are Ia this sermon of Dr. Talmage met In a very unusual way, and the triumphs of the gospel are depicted. The text is Ezekiel xxi, 21, "He made his arrows bright, he consulted with images. be looked in the liver"
 Two modes of divination by which the hing of Babylon proposed to find out the will of God. He took bundle of arrows, put them together, mixed them up, then pulled forth one, and by the inscription on 1t decided what city he should first assault. Then an ani- mai was slain. and by the lighter - darker color of the liver the brighter or darker prospect of success was h. ferred. That is the meaning of t1s text, He made his arrows bright h consulted with images, be looked N the nver." Stupid delusion! And yvt all the ages have been filed with deau- sions. It seems as If the world lovRs to be hoodwinked, the delusion of tss text only . specimen of a vast numb9 of deceits practiced upon the human race. In the latter part of the last century Johanna Southcote came forth pretending to have divine power. made prophecies. had chapels built in her honor, and 100000 disciples came for ward to follow her. About five years before the birth of Christ Apollonius was born, and he came forth, and aft CT five years being speeches.. accord Ing to the tradition, he healed the sick, and raised the dead, and preached vir- tue, and, according to the myth. having deceased, was brought to resurrection.
 The Delphic oracle deceived vast multitudes of people; the Pythoness seated in the temple of Apollo uttering . crazy jargon from which the people guessed their individual or national fortunes or misfortunes. The utter ances were of such a nature that you cOuld read them any way you wanted to read them.
 Myrfads of "Dupes."
 So the ancient auguries deceived te people. The priests of those auguriils by the flight of birds or by the intonl- ton of slain animals told the forum, s or misfortunes of individuals of nl- tons. The sibyls deceived the peopl,. The sibyls were supposed to be inspi f cd women who lived in caves and WI Q wrote the sibylline books afterwal q purchased by TarQuin the Proud. So late as the year 1929 a man arose ,n New York, pretending to be diviE e being. and played his part so we'll thi.t wealthy merchants became his dts- ciples and threw their fortunes into hs keeping. And so in all ages there have been necromancies, incantations, witchcrafts, sorceries, magical arts, entertainments. divinations and delu- sioas. The one of the text was only a specimen of that which has been oc- curing in all ages of the world. None of these delusions accomplished any good They deceived, they pauperized the people, they were as cruel as they were absurd They opened no hospi- tals. they healed no wounds, they wip- ed away no tears, they emancipated no serfdom.
 But there are those who say that all these delusions combined are as noth- ing compared with the delusion now abeoad In the world-the delusion of thD Christian religion. That delusion has today 100000, 900 dupes. It pro poses to encircle the earth with its Sirdle. That which has been called a delusion has already overshadowed the Appalachian range on this side of the sea, and It has overshadowed the Bal kan and Caucasian ranges on the other side of the sea- It has conquered Eng land and the United States. This cham pi0n delusion. this hoax, this swindle of the ages, as it has been called, has gone forth to conquer the islands of the Pacific, and Melahesia and Micro nesia and Malayan Polynesia have al- ready surrendered to the delusion. Yea, 1t has conquered the Indian archipela- 70. and Borneo and Sumatra and Gel ebes and Java have fallen under it's wiles. In the Fiji islands, where there are 10000 people. 102. 900 have al- ready become the dupes of this Chris tan religion, and if things go on as tAey are now going on and if the in- fuence of this great haAucination of tAe ages cannot be stopped 1t will swallow the globe. Supposing. then. that Christianity Is the delusion of the centuries, as some have pronounced 1t, propose to show you what has been accomplished by this chimera, this f6Aacy, this hoax, this swindie of the ages.
 And. in the first place, remark that this delusion of the Christian religion has made wonderful transformations of human character. will go down the aisle of any church in Christendom. and win find on either side that aisle those who were once profigate. pro fane, unclean of speech and unc,ean of action. drunken and lost. But by the power of this delusioa of the Christian religion they have been completely transformed. and now they are kind and amiabls and loving and useful. Everybody sees the change. Under the power of this great hallucination they have quit their former associates, and, whereas they once found their chief delight among those who gambled and swore and raced horses. now they find their chief joy among those who go to prayer meetings and churches, so com plete Is the delusion. Yea, their own families have noticed 1.-the wife has noticed 1t, the children have noticed it. The money that went for rum now goes for books and for clothes and for education. He is new man. All who know him say there has been a won- derful change. What is the cause of this change? This great hallucination sf the Christian religion. There is ss
 much difference between what he i
 now and what he once was as betweel . rose and a nettle, as between a doy, andsa vulture. as between day ant night. Tremendous deiusion!
 Admiral Farragut.
 Admiral Farragut, one of the mos nF ha n nQ