A PROPHET OF TERRIBLE TIMES.

Waikato Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 2614, 13 April 1889, Page 6 (Supplement)

A PROPHET OF TERRIBLE TIMES.

The Rev. Mr Baxter, editor of the Christian Hearld, lias been trying to terrify the people of Birmingham. In the Grand Theatre, in which he lectured to a crowded audience of both sexes, the drop-scene is stated to have been decorated with a painting of an enormous winged dragon, " with ten hor.is and many heads." In the centre was another picture pourtraying , " the woe of demon scorpion locusts stinging men for twice five months" ; and adjoining this was a representation of " the woe of two hundred million fire-breathing horsemen slaying a third part of mankind" ; while to the right appeared a picture showing the people of the earth worshipping images with a scaffold in the background, on which Christians were being guillotined. Besides these stirring symbols, " horrible images of black horses spreading famine and desolation, and white horses mounted by skeletons ornamented other portions of the house. Nor did the discourse fall short of the rich promise of these displays. Mr. Baxter, says the Daily News bade his hearers prepare for stupendous things preparatory to the Millennium, which he was good enough to fix at tho conveniently early date of 1901. Tho leading item in the fatefull bill of fare appears to have been a " tremendous tragedy in Europe," in which Bismarck, Moltko, Boulanger, the King of Italy, and tho Czar will be prime movers. All the European nations are to be ultimately involved. Austria is to lose her Danubian provinces, and Great Britain will only be let off with the loss of ludia and Ireland. At the same time Mr. Baxter was carefull to warn " Parnell, Tim Healy, and Michael Davitt" that separation would not be attributable to them, "but to the fact that Ireland did not form pirt of Ciesar's Roman Empire.'' Up to this point the lecturer's hearers appear to have been thrilled and attentive ; but uuluckilj M>. Baxter went on to describe, in rather minutes detail, ' the horrors that are about to overtake mankind,' whereupon his hcae s aie epr rted to have given vent " to lound expressions of disapprobation.' The report concludes with the significant observation that " in the evening he continued his lecture before a very much diminished audience."