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Show stttsaesssa.ssss.ass-.s.ats.ssa.a.sattstttBpBi -- FALSE CI Mm. J Carleu Iastaaets of Dtladeaaaa We take tee following summeflr ofrellgloas "deceptloni.whlch have ocenrred during the pat three yean from the columns of the' New" York Sun. These delusions bave led away not only tbo unlearned and simple bat many educated and experienced men and women. They should stand as warning! to the world: 'The Indian Is not alone la his expectation of an early appearance of a new messiah, as numerous Instances In-stances are on record where, within the last two or three years, the more civilized and better-educated white men and black men of America bave professed to bave received revelation-, and In'some cases to be the Christ Himself. 'It was only in the summer of 1SS3 that one Patterson of Tennessee went around preaching that a wonderful won-derful thing was to happen; and when he thought the times were ripe he declared that the second advent ad-vent of Christ had come In the person per-son of A. J. Brown, who hul served ss Patterson's assistant These two fanatics secured a large following as they went forth preaching their new doctrine, promising to forgive sins and heal all diseases. It was finally announced that Brown must go up into the mountains and fast for forty days and nights In order that he might be fittingly prepared pre-pared for the mission intrusted to hU hands. He suddenly disappeared, dis-appeared, and nothing was seen of bim for many days. When the prescribed period bad passed, on a Sabbath morning In June, bU followers went out toward the hilU and suddenly bo appeared before them clothed in white, with hU hands uplifted. A grta shout went up and the people rushed towatd bim, falling upon their knees and kissing hU feet. Many who were HI declared themselves healed by his touch. So great was the fanaticism fanati-cism of these people that one girl declared she was ready to die to prove her faith, and the non-believers non-believers around the town oCSoddy, where these tilings happened, became be-came so fearful that human life would be sacrificed that they sent for the Sheriff, at Chattanooga, and it required all hU power to compel Patterson and Brown to leave the neighborhood, that quiet might be restored. A year later, In 1SS9, occurred that remarkable series of impositions upon the credulity of the colored people, where one man alter another an-other proclaimed himself as the Christ, promised miracles, drew crowds of excited men and women from their labors and created consternation con-sternation in those portions of the South where their peiformances were carried on. In one case a man nearly white, who gave -his name as Bell, went among the negroes ne-groes who lived along the Savannah river and proclaimed himself as the returned Christ, cryiiig out that those who hoped to be saved must give up everything and follow him. Hundreds believed bim, left the cotton fields, the sawmills, and the turpentine slills, and followed Bell, obeying bis lightest word and ready to fall down at his feet in worship. k great was tho disturbance that the authorities were led to arrest Bell, and when be was taken Ills followers would have torn his captors to pieces and rescued bim had he glsen the word. He told them to be patient, declaring that an augel would come to him and break bis prison doors by night, and that he could not be harmed. As be hail some money In his possession posses-sion he was not held for vagrancy, and although thought not to be in his right mind was soon discharged from custody. He then continued bis preaihlng, followed by even greater crowds than before; announced an-nounced that the world would come to an cud on Aug. 10; that all white men would then- turu black and all black men white, and that he could supply all who wished to ascend on the last day with wings at $3 a pair. "When Bell was finally sent to bU proper place aa Insane asylum Edward James, a colored justice of tbo peace in the same neighborhood, neighbor-hood, announced himself as the Messiah and proceeded to put forward for-ward claims as extravagant as those of Bell. He rccated the declaration of Bell that the end of the world was coming Aug. 16, preached that money was no longer of any use In tbo world, and prevented the employers of labor in that section from obtaining needed help. James was finally arrested and sent to the State insane asylum at MiUedgeville. Yet another negro appeared In Cherokee county with the same pretension; another in Camden, and a woman in Brunswick Bruns-wick attempted the performance of miracles. In each of these cases tho excitement was short-lived, but fanatical ignorauco was provided iu sufficient portions to make trouble while it las'ed. "A very marked example of imposition im-position upon the one side and blind credulity upon the other, the basis being a claim of the visible Cbristhood In the flesh, is furnished In thee ireer of George J.Schwein-furth J.Schwein-furth at Rockford, III. In the cases above cited the claimants were obscure ob-scure and Ignorant nicb, while the dupes wero of the lowest among the frccdmen, who were guided only by their emotious and had no help from culture and education either in themselves or In the community around them. Vastly different was the Itockford delusion, springing up in the most intelligent section or tho Wett, at the behest of the wife of a Congregational Congrega-tional minister, who preached that In her own person were the attributes attri-butes of the risen Lord. Ills some sixteen years since Mrs. Dora Bcek-man Bcek-man advanced this claim, and ber followers wero at first few in number, num-ber, but they were strong In faith, and they located their church at Bryan, near Itockford, and went zealously to work. Mr. Beekman, not believing In the new doctrine, was torn by conflicting doctrines until he found relief In insanity and an asylum. "Among the converts finally cameSchweiofurtb, ayoung Methodist Meth-odist minister of pleasing address and appearance and of some mental power. He was soon installed as bishop and sent forth upon mission labor. After a time, as in the case of Anu Lee. the founder of Shaker-Urn, Shaker-Urn, Mrs. Beekman's claim of immortal im-mortal life was disproved by ber death, and the shrewd BUbop stepped into the breach, declaring that the divine spirit had passed from their former leader to himself. The claim was allowed, and today he U worshipped by hundreds, not merely aa the Christ returned to the flesh, but as the maker and ruler of the earth as well. These claims, made In the open ILtht of the nineteenth century and allowed by people who have the means of finding out the truth by a little investigation, show that men are about what they always bave been, and furnish an excuse fur the wonderful spiritual impostures of the past. The various performances or the Faith Curtate might also be cited in illustration of the same point. "The Impositions, and vagaries above mentioned bave been the performances of a class, and to enumerate en-umerate all the fanaticisms and delusions de-lusions of individuals recorded in America even in the last two yean would demand an unreasonable expansion of space. One noted Instance In-stance was that of Mrs. Pauline King, the colored woman of Oak-.ridge Oak-.ridge Park, III., who advertised that, aa she bad fasted forty days, she would publicly tarn water Into wine as bad been done at the marriage mar-riage fata at Cana of Galilee. When ths people had gathered- on the appointed day she had a jar filled wKh water from a neighbor-log neighbor-log well;' led in a hymn, and prayed, and then'.tested tnecontenU of the jar and found -nothing but water; and ber leadership was gone, evea though ber faith remained. "A brother and sheer named Bo-laad Bo-laad at High Prairie, Kaa;, became soexcHedataMigteas revival that they west hone and balK a-firs oa kfc. ae.r-el their ber,J itacsd aiouBd H, aad weald bave been butTdeaUihad -?&-boa esses to the rescue. John Kuh-aTawulet Kuh-aTawulet laborer ia a Wkeonsta tessTfcctorji eould "& his roota taSi, aad so fee killed him, because, he would he better dead than aMTe-eut oat bis heart KesirK was Wsckjaad buried It ssfataseiy f roa. the rest of the body, tbatltmlght not cause the whole I ody to go to hell. The people of a cStata portion cfJfortlT&rollna were greatly stirred up early thU year by Ibe preaching ot a number of Baptist mfntoters tSat tbe world would come to an end beroro tne close of the year In Alabama certain cer-tain churches of the BhermanlU! denomination de-nomination bad the end set for a certain day In February, and when it arrived they met at their various places of worship and speBttherore-noun speBttherore-noun in singing and praying, and only went borne when funset showed them that some one had made a serious miscalculation In the date. "Early in ISSSono Silas Wilcox made hU appearance in Western Missouri, preaching but one doctrine the care er tie sick. Of course, he soon gathered a little tend around him, the members of which look unto themselves the name of Samaritans. As hU Influence extended ex-tended bis creed expanded, and he finally declared that tbedrinklng of blood would heal all manner of diseases, because tbe Bible declared that tbe blood was the life. In many cases children were found who bad been bled that their elders might be restored, and the strong arm of tbe law had to be evoked before be-fore the pra-tlre was suppressed. Before tbe Rev. Stephen Nolan of Kentucky died, in January last, he declared that be bad bad three bodily visitations rrom enrtst. i n IndUna, In April, Clyde Long, a boy of 17, declared that be was Christ, and must be crucified. He erected a cross and begged to be nailed upon It, and when refused took a knife and cut himself In a fearful manner. "Another Instance was that remarkable re-markable exodus from Oakland, Cal, last April, when Mrs. Wood-worth Wood-worth prophesied that many cities would be burled by earthquakes and tidal waves on the Uth, and many persons became so Impressed that they packed thelrgoods Into wagons and fled to the hills, where they sat down to wait for the destruction that never came. Pal rick Gorman set out to starve himself In a Connecticut Con-necticut jail because, he said, God had ordered him so to do, and fur many days kept it resolutely up. William Thompson' or Kansas attended at-tended AdventUt meetings In El Dorado to such purpose that he went home and attempted to put hU family out of the world a little before be-fore the end that be believed was near, but was overpowered and kept undir restraint until the excitement wore away. James Bally was arrested ar-rested in Alabama only three months ago for obtaining money rrom the colored people upon the pretense that he was high priest sf tbe Queen of Heaven and could cure any ill by a touch. Mrs. Sullivan, Sul-livan, of Springfield, Ohio, became exceedingly devout, sat up at night and read her Bible, talked and thought of nothing but rellgion.and finally constructed an altirlnbtr house, upon which she prepared to sacrifice ber six-months-old babe. She stripped It naked, placed Huron the altar, and reached for a knife, when the opportune entrance of other persons saved its life. "In October the newspapers told tbe fearful story of that religion-crazed religion-crazed son an I daughtsr In Michigan Michi-gan who determined that their bedridden bed-ridden mother needed to be baptized, and poured water over her until she died. Mrs. Wo'dwortfa, who was responsible for the Oakland exodus, moved her tent to BU Louis and for weeks kept up a scene of religious frenzy, scores falling unconscious each evening, seeing vislon.srecelv-Ing vislon.srecelv-Ing communications rrom the dead, and being cured of physical evils. "None of these events and scores of like character might be aided bears testimony against true and reasonable religion, but they plainly shew what human belief can bo led to, and the barm that cac be done by unscrupulous or misguided men and women. The receot Indian craze is only a portion of that mysterious mys-terious wave that has swept over tbe human emotions from the beginning of time tho Indian showing that he U neither stronger nor wtaker than hU brother of other hues." |