p. 352 | Fierce by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 10, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 22.

"Fierce."

By Editor

A FEW days ago the Chronicle closed an account of a brutal prize-fight in a neighboring city, which was witnessed by a large crowd of people, by saying that a force of police, under the direction of the chief, "kept good order," and that the whole affair was "decidedly satisfactory," "with the exception of the shortness of the time which the contest lasted." In this fight one of the brutes beat the other almost insensible, and then, after knocking him into his chair, "pummeled him, apparently without any resistance." And the only unsatisfactory thing about the whole affair was that it did not last long enough. Meanwhile the "guardians of the peace" kept "good order."

Take another case: There has just been a six-day race in New York between a horseman and two bicyclists. There was not much enthusiasm over the contest until the horse caught his foot in an obstruction, and turned completely over, throwing the rider headlong, and severely injuring him. An account of this matter was given under the heading, "An accident adds interest to the race in New York."

The apostle says that one of the features of "the last days" is that men will be "fierce." And then he immediately adds, "despisers of those that are good." The two are inseparable. Does anybody say that religious persecution would be an impossibility in this country? When men are becoming so brutalized as to find delight in scenes of cruelty and bloodshed, persecution of those who are good is the most natural thing in the world. It is not simply that a few alleged men pound each other nearly to death, but that "respectable" business men crowd to witness the affair, and newspaper men find it to their pecuniary interest to give them the most prominent place in their columns. The land is being filled with violence, a sign that the end is not far off.