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Show A DOLEFUL PREDICTION. An English Congregational minister, who has been lecturing before Chautauqua assemblies in this country, has come out in a book unmercifully scoring scor-ing his American ministerial brethren. It is said j to be the most sensational attack upon the American Ameri-can Protestant church ever penned. The Englishman English-man characterizes American preachers as canting hypocrites, and says their influence on the life of the masses is dead. American Protestantism is dying, according to this critic, and he gives it twenty-five years to pass out of existence . altogether. alto-gether. AVe are inclined to think the Englishman's conclusions con-clusions is based upon incomplete data gathered during a rather hasty lecture tour. The waning influence in-fluence of the Protestant pulpit and the breaking away oi non-Catholic Americans from any church connection has been remarked before. That is the inevitable result of Protestant principles, marked since the beginning of Luther's revolt against the church, and coming to its logical conclusion in our age and country. Perhaps the attitude of the Protestant Pro-testant pulpit has accelerated the movement away from church organizations, but, at best, it could not have been long delayed. A few years ago the essential es-sential feature of Protestantism was its opposition to the Catholic church, and, now that this opposition opposi-tion is dying out it is hard to find a cohesive principle prin-ciple around which to rally the mass of non-Catholics. They may not become Catholics bnt Protestantism Pro-testantism has little to offer them in the way of positive pos-itive religion. It is essentially a negation and it is difficult to enthuse over mere denials. Of late years Protestant preachers have gone farther in their denials than most of their congregations congre-gations have been willing to go. They not only deny the authority of the Catholic church, but a large number of them have been denying the authority au-thority of the Bible which their predecessors interpreted in-terpreted to suit themselves and then quoted against Rome. Is it any wonder that their influence is waning? wan-ing? Is it surprising that their people are drifting into - unbelief and passing beyond the sphere of church influence? Yet 44re Englishman who. sees all this as others JhaieSiMyiit?-has Jeitjut.of .accomittfteimjiartaijt -factor from his calculations. Protestant ministers may be all that he says they are; but there is enough latent hatred of the church still in this country to keep Protestantism alive for more than twenty-five years. When that disappears then will the English preacher's prediction be in a fair way to be realized. But the same condition obtains in his own country, so what is the use of his disturbing disturb-ing his American brethren by his doleful wail ? His own linen is not immaculate. Protestantism in England is tarred with the same stick that he uses to blacken it here. Omaha True Voice. THE LAST ROAD. (Ursula Twenty in New York Mail.) Across the silence of the hills, (O distant hills of dream!) The Piper's magic music shrills And ripples like a stream. Beyond the moor, beyond the fen. Thin, tremulous and silver clear, It pierces to the souls of men, It calls and they must hear. The voice of all the crowded'town (O voice of tears and laughter f) The Piper's charmed note shall drown, They turn and follow after. By its wild lure their feet are drawn To walk a way they do not know, Whatever heart be left to mourn, It calls and thev must go. They leave their hearts' desire behind, (O witching tune the Piper plays!) 4 Xone know what they may hope to find, ' What waits beyond the trackless ways; No grief can hold, no love can keep, No wild regret their eyes can dim; Whatever heart be left to weep, - The Piper calls they follow him. HER BAKED POTATO SCHEME. "I know you are wondering what makes my kettle ket-tle so black." Paid she, '"Imt it is like this: I am very fond of baked potatoes, but I have a different way of cooking them from most persons. I learned it myself. One day I put them on in a lot of water, then went in the other room and began playing the piano. I never thought of the potatdes again till I smelled something burning. I rushed into the kitchen kitch-en to find the potatoes, kettle and all burning to a crisp. "You have no idea how nice the potatoes were. A trifle black about the skins, but lovely and mealy once you peeled them, just as if they had been baked in an oven. "Now I do it purposely." |