THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL.

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 56, 28 June 1884, Page 5

THE WORLD, THE FLESH, AND THE DEVIL.

Mr Barnum's idoas concerning the future stato are worth hearing. "Suppose," he says in his pithy way, ,," suppose a poor man goes out on Saturday night, gets drunk, and spends his week's wages. The next morning lie may sincerely repent for what ho has dono, but that v/ill not stop his headache or bring back the monoy lie has squandered. If his repentance is sincere, perhaps he will not do it again ; but whatever ho doos he has to pay ior in this world or the next. In many instances I have no doubt the payment is made in the next world, which I think will be found much the same as this, only that there wo will not be surrounded by so many temptations. I do not believe in an etornal contest between evil and good, in an infinite dovil and an infinite God, but believe that God will do that which ho demands of man, ' overcome evil with good ;' so that eventually, after evory one has received proper punishment and chastening— disciplinary, and not vindictivo — all will becomo good, and holy, and happy." Ho thinks tho "doctrine of re-pent and ye shall bo saved" to be bunkum, and illustrates his argument thus :—: — A pirate, who has killed in cold blood a hundred men, is caught, repents on the gallows, and says, " I'm sorry for what 1 done, and am going to Jesus." A certain proportion of those ho has killed, say 50 per cent., having boen cut ofFin their sins without time for repentance, aro supposed to 1»p damned. Is it conceivable, as consistent nil tho justice of God, that tho repentant pirate shall look over the battlements of heaven down upon those fifty whom he sent to hell, and complacently congratulate his redeemed soul upon his luck in having had time to repent before he was hanged ? "No! no f says Mr Barnum, "that won't do for me. Fear is not tho proper thing to incite people to do good. It reminds me of the chap who was caught by a deacon in tho act of stealing a piece of silk. ' Don't you know you will have to pay for that silk at the day of judgment?' said the deacon. ' I'd no idea you gave such long credit, or I'd have taken two pieces,' replied tho thief." Mr Barnum has "donated,'" as he calls it in the polished argot of tho States, largely during his useful career. His show has always been conducted on an admirable principle — business plus Christianity plus philanthropy. Resultdollars, almighty dollars. "Impurity, vulgarity, and profanity," have been purged from his exhibitions, to which, to quote the old man's words, "a Christian mother can take her daughter with a blush combining amusement and information." — "Pall Mall Gazette."

Albeit aged and wealthy, Barnum, it appears, is open, through his agents, to " trade "—as his countrymen say for any good thing in the shape of "a draw." A Paris correspondent tells how that one of his (Barnum's) emissaries there offered an engagement to an Arab girl named Kadondja, who sings in a Parisian eaje chantant, to travel with one of the old man's shows, but they could not come to terms. If they had, the agent told the correspondent, " it was Barnum's intention to have advertised her as one of the wives of Arabi Pa«ha, who, owing to the ill-treat-ment of her famous master by the British Government, had been forced to go on the stage in order to earn an honest living." " What do you drink ? " was recently, so we learn from an advertisement, asked of Miss Ellen Terry by an American interviewer. " Tea — with me it is tea or death," she promptly replied, apparently unconscious that the phrase, "What do you drink ?" is in America an invitation to take something, rather than an inquiry as to your special "wan My." On second thoughts, however, it is possible that Miss Terry was aware that her alternative of "tea or death" by no means overtaxed the resources of an American bar, for the interviewer might have suitably replied by ordering a " Sudden Death " for the lady and a "Corpse Reviver" to bring her round again. Following her husband's essay upon jam, Mrs Gladstone is about to publish a little manual entitled "Healthy Bed- rooms mid Nurseries." A short essay on tho feedingbottle, its use and abuse, would make a capital series complete. The oldest inhabitant of Detroit is aged 105 years. He took an active part in the Irish rebellion of 1798, is stout and healthy, and attributes his prosperous longevity to the " persistent andjudicious use of whisky and tobacco." "Persistent" is good. For the sake of his health, this devoted person could never be deterred from tobacco and alcohol. Nobleman! deserving, at least, ot an obituary notice when he should happen to die in the "Alliance News," Sir W. Lawsons organ. The traditions of the Ist of April are evidently not yet dead. Some ingenious person has taken advantage of tho date to start the report that Madame Patti, "tired of being beaten and ill-treated by Signor Nicolini," has requested to be reinstated in the conjugal domicile. The tourjours semillant Marquis de Caux, questioned on the matter, replied that he had heard nothing of the request, that for seven years Madame Patti had not written to him, and that she had become a total stranger, to whose proceedings he was indifferent.—" World." It appoars that a dynamite gun has been constructed. It may be seen at some ironworks at New York, and is expected to sink, on occasion, the largest man-of-war afloat. Of course, it is also expected to annihilate the crew. The projectile of the gun weighs about lOOlbs., and is an ordinary dynamite cartridge encased with leather. It would appear, from the description, that the gun is likely to be much more dangerous to those who use it than to those against whom it is used.—" Echo." The newest of New World newspapers is the "BadLands Cowboy." In the Badlands its title will be by no means against its success, and it promises, so says the "New York Herald," to be the leading cattle paper of the North- West. At present it is " not published for fun, but for two dollars a year;" but, from all that we have heard of him, the typical "Bad Lands Cowboy" would be dear at the price.