824
 

The   Record   and   Guide.
 

March 13, 188?
 

officers, who have no interest whatever in any expenditure by the
overamanc.
 

The Sun says that it has "never advocated bimetallism, but has
always insisted that the two st;mdards of value cannot be used side
by side," which shows that t\v^ editor of the Sun does not know
what he is talking about, and should never again venture an opinion
on this subject until he has become acquainted with the facts in
the case. If he reads any standard work on the subject he will
find that bimetallism obtained in the commercial world for over
seventy years: that is te say, up to the time when Germany demone¬
tized silver in 1872 there was a free coinage of both metals in the
principal States of CiTitiaenuil Europe at the ratio of 153^ of the
white metal to one of the >eUow metal. Duringthe seventy odd
years in which this ciHnncM wenton there wasgreat disparity inthe
production of gold anl sJver, the latter being in excess early in
the century while i\\c oulpit of gold was enormously swollen after
the discovery of th- yyllu-v metal in California and Australia.
But during all tlnise \e;ns the gold and silver coins did not vary an
iota in market vuiue. U \^as the German demonetization of silver
in 1872 and tlie Ameiican demonetization in 1873 which upset
bimetallism, practically established gold monometallism, depressed
prices  and  has injured   the   trade  of  the world  for  the  last

sixteen years.

..---------e-----------

After showing himseli! entirely ignorant of the most obvious
facts in the history of currencies the writer in the Sun advocates a
single silver rather than a gold standard right in the face of another
fact about which ho seems to be equally ignorant—that all exclu¬
sively silver-using comuiunilies are poor countries, as witness
China, India, Mexico and .Rusf-ia. We have in this country over
1660,000,000 of gold and Jess than $400,000,000 of silver. Practi¬
cally both those metals are in nse in our currency. Were we to
demonetize gold it wouid ruin *very business interest inthe nation.
It would give us a year of Bitick Fridays. It is hard to say which
are the more foolish, the silver theories of the^S'tm or the illusions
about gold with which the other New York daily papers are
bewitched. The commerce of the world needs both the precious
metals.
 

Our Prophetic Department.

Interlocutor—The death of Henry Ward Beecher and the Dr.
BIcGlynn case suggests a new and somewhat different topic for
discussion this week. What strikes you as noteworthy respecting
tbe career .of the great Brooklyn preacher?

Sir Oracle—The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher was the most remark¬
able member of an exceptionally brilliant family; and the first
observation that occurs to me is the loss to the race which takes
place when a breed of men and women die out who were capable
of evolving vital and brainy people, such as the members of the
Beecher, Adams, Washburne and similar families. The second
generation mix their blood with inferior families, and the progeny
become as commonplace as the mass of mankind.

Int.—There you touch upon a rather large subject. Sir Oracle ;
had we not better confine ourselves to the impression made by the
dead Beecher upon his church and his time ?

Sir O.—I think that the press and the public just now is disposed
to overrate Mr. Beecher's influence. He had a marvellous person¬
ality, which so impressed all who came near him, that they are
disposed to think him a greater man than will the coming and
succeeding generation. Mr. Beecher has written books, delivered
numberless lectures, has published articles in newspapers and every¬
thing he uttered in speech or print showed imagination, thought
and wit; but I venture to predict that none of his works will be
read five years from now. Mr. Beecher was not a creative genius.
He formulated no creed, laid the foundation of no sect, and he will
leave no one to carry on his peculiar work. His infiuence will be
like that of Theodore Parker, Mr. Frothingham and similar religious
reformers and iconoclasts. These men helped to liberalize the
religious thought of their time, but when their life was done their
work was ended. Plymouth Church has no future. Its past alone
will be memorable.

Int.—I recall that in former conversations you predicted that the
Catholic Church would try and conciliate Dr. McGlynn and the
poorer members of that religious organization who sympathized
with that priest. You said this at a time when the daily papers
were all declaring that Rome would indorse everything done by
Archbishop Corrigan. I see from the conferences of the American
bishops with the Pope that you were right.

Sir O.—It did not seem to me that so politic a body as the Roman
Propaganda could afford to come to a a open quarrel with about
one-fourth of the acDiv*^ '~'                      *lv- country.    The moat

earnest r^--  '                                                          "'^v     re very poor

p'-                                                                                                   -"dices

"-he
 

apostolic benediction the Pope bestowed upon Dr. McGlynn and his
ex-parishioners.

Int.—Is it not curious that the press and the organs of the
Protestant sects did not try and make more of this quarrel, so as to
wean the disaffected Irish Catholics from the faith of their fathers ?

Sir O.—It can he easily explained. The days of angry controv-"
ersy touching religious matters have passed for good. The Protes¬
tant sects are controlled mainly by the well-to-do middle classes.
The bulk of the members of our churches are employers of some
kind or other. There exists among them a very natural hostility
to the Knights of Labor, and the various organizations which fought
under the banner of Henry George ; hence the Protestant orgaug
hailed with satisfaction the course jjursued by Archbishop Corri
gan. He represented their interests as affecting the working people ;
and they naturally approved his action. This manifested itself in
the editorial articles of our daily papers on this subject. Had they
sympathized with Dr. McGlynn and his'adherents, they might have
succeeded in permanently alienating a large body of poorer Catholics
from Mother Church ; but as it is, with a more conciliatory temper
on the part of the Roman authorities, the breech will be healed,
and the poorer Romanists will remain in the old fold.
 

Concerning Men and Things.

* **

Miss Helen Dauvray has really made a place for herself in the theatrical
world of the metropolis. She achieved a decided success in Suzanna, in
the "Scrap of Paper," in Peg Woffiagton, and, during the past week, iu
"Walda Lamar." This artiste lacks personal charm, her featuz-es are
haid and immobile and her voice is not musical, bufc she is a thorough
actress and brings isxperionce and uuusual intelligence to the interpretation
of the characters she assumes. When a very young girl she hal a stage suc¬
cess in boisterous, hoydenish roles, bufc she retired from fche boards, became
rich by arise ia mining stocks, went to Pai-is and studied her art thoroughly.
The present Miss Dauvray bears no resemblance to the " California Nell"
of fifteen years ago. She is quite a different person. The lasfc piece she has
appeared in contains one powerful scene at the close of tha second act;
otherwise ifc has little merit, bub it gives Miss Dauvray a chance to show a
kind of dramatic power and intensity which was a surprise to her audience.

***

There are two interesting actors besides Miss Dauvray on the stage of
the Lyceum Theatre. One is young Salvini, aad the other E. H. Sothern,
the son of the famous impersonator of Lord Dundreary. Mr. Salvini haa
hardly mastered our language, but he evidently has the possibilities in him
of a great actor. The deliberation in his utterance, of which some papers
complain, is undoubtedly due to his desire to speak correctly what is to him
a foreign tongua. Mr. Sothern is remarkably like his father when the
latter did the leading juvenile i'oles at Wallack's Theatre, when it was afc
the corner of Broome street and Broadway, over thirty years ago. Un¬
doubtedly Mr. Sothern will yet be an acceptable eecentiic comedian. He
is one of the most promising young actors on the New York boards.

* '^ *

It is doubtful if the whole world has anywhere another scene of as great
animal suffering as thafc which exists to-day in the Northwestern States
and Territoriee, among the greafc herds of cattle on the plains and hills.
Driven on day after day by freezing winds, with steaming nostrils and
hides white with frost, until terribly exhausted, and, when the winds
subside, pawing the snow in order to get at a little food, until their feet
are mangled by its hard crust, a large percentage of them fall and perish
in helpless misery at last, and the only question with which their owners
trouble themselves is, whether enough will survive to add as much to their
wealth as in former years. They have become rich by driving them from
milder climates, and gambling on the chances of their surviving the North.
ern winters without being either sheltered or fed. Ifc is with no great
sympathy that one reads of their money losses this year, which will be
suflacient to break up a good many of them in busiaess, and it is especially
gratifying to hear that small owners, who will look after their stock, are
likely to take the places of the cattle kings, from this time on, in some
large districts.

***

The press will now be overrun with the effusions of egotistical liars, who
will publish personal reminiscences of the late Mr. Beecher. Nine out of
every ten of these sfcories will be pure ficfcion. They will attribute state¬
ments to the dead preacher which he never made, and make his memory
responsible for opinions he never held. Tha object ia every case will be
to advertise the writer of the inveation. Abraham Lincoln and General
Grant have had their memories discredited by swarms of literary frauds;
and Mr. Beeeher was so free spoken and accessible fchafc his chance words
will be made texts of to exploit the morbid self-conceit of a multitude of
lying writers. The editors of the country oughfc to unite in declining to
publish such communications, excepfc .under two conditions. In the first
place that they should not be paid for, and in the second that the name of
the contributor should not be given.   This wouid stop the whole business.

* * *

In every college class there are some man who have that splendid
combination of a sound mind with a sound body that goes far to secure
them influence, friendship and leadership. Good-natured as bulls in
peace, brave as lions in any kind of war, and full of that excellent quality,
half moral, half physical, which is often spoken of as nerve, they show the
stuff out of which the great majority of very eminent men are made. Not
that they all take places of eminence, for they do not all have the patient,
persevering ambition and self-control wifch the fortunate opportunities
n.dded which are necessary for that, but they are tha sturdy rank and file
lich the great leaders step forth.   Henry Ward Beecher's over-