The Last Outlines Filling Up.
The alarming increase of iniquity at the present day is arresting the attention of the observing everywhere. To those who have not listened to the voice of the prophets, it appears strange. They cannot see why wickedness of every name and new and unheard of kinds, should be so much more prevalent now than in former years, or why men should be so much more inclined to evil. But the student of prophecy looks upon these things far differently. To him it would appear strange if it were not so; for he knows that by a hundred different chains of evidence the word of God gives unmistakable proof that we have reached the last days; and when the last days should come, the same word tells us that evil men and seducers should wax worse and worse, scoffers should multiply, iniquity should abound, and that it should be as in the days of Noah, when violence filled all the land. He therefore looks for such things, and expects them to increase more and more till the end; for the word of God never fails to connect. The following items give a little glimpse of the state of things upon which we are entering. Says a Hartford (Ct.) paper: "One of our Hartford policemen recently had occasion to arrest, in an adjoining town, a fellow who had been concerned in a burglary, and whom he had known in boyhood, the two being schoolmates and intimate friends. The person told the policemen that there was likely to be a great increase of burglary in Hartford and other cities from this time forth. He stated that the thieves and burglars were banded together in a secret organization which extended throughout the Union. These burglars, he said, have, in many cases, for the last three or four years, had no occasion to ply their avocation, having obtained all the money they needed in another way—as bounty-jumpers and substitute-brokers in large cities. Now, however, the war having ended, these fast gentry begin to find themselves getting short of funds, and this fellow's opinion was that they would return to their old business of house-breaking, and with their number doubled by the state of things existing for the last four years. In confirmation of the truth of this theory, our police say that they have had double the usual number of such cases during the last ten or twelve days. And we see the same marked increase of burglaries by armed and desperate fellows in various parts of New York State during the past fortnight. It would seem that with the close of the war a swarm of villainous desperadoes has been let loose upon the community." Says the Chicago Journal: "Crime is rampant in Chicago. It is impossible to doubt the fact, and it is folly to disguise it. Indeed, we could not conceal it if we would. . . . There is something for us to fear nearer to us than any rival city, or any envious commercial competitor. It is in our own midst. Our enemy is within our own walls. He is powerful, and as industrious as he is powerful. His name is crime. He loves darkness better than light, because his deeds are evil; but he walks abroad by day because he has learned audacity from success." "Our local columns teem with highway-robberies, house-breakings, pocket-pickings, and the marvelous achievements of the 'confidence' sharpers. The curtain of night is scarcely down before the villains are abroad and busy. In the early grey of the evening, on the most frequented avenues, the honest and unsuspecting citizen is hugged to silence in the arms of one garroter, while the fingers of another lift his watch from its fob, and his purse from its pocket." "A school was recently opened near Zanesville, Ohio, where burglary, pocket-picking, tricks in gambling, counterfeiting, &c., were actually taught. Quite a class of young boys had been organized when the existence of the 'institution' was discovered and at once terminated." Bribery and corruption stalk shamelessly in the community. Says an exchange: "Montreal—the headquarters of the rebel conspirators in Canada—must be a city of nice morals. On an examination into its police affairs, it appeared that some of the councilmen were under pay by the houses of ill-fame, and a fund was raised by the keepers of these houses to fee the police authorities to prevent arrest. Other members of the city government were paid to connive at various infractions of the laws." To obtain money, the most horrible outrages are committed. The atrocities of the inquisition are equalled, if not excelled. The Natchez Courier has particulars of a brutal outrage on the person of Mr. Henry Spann, living near Harrisonburg, La. It says: "The desperadoes demanded of Spann his money; when on being told he had none, they 'bucked' him, and procuring willow switches, a villain stood on each side, and whipped him until they extorted all his money, amounting to $1,600. They again made another demand for money, which was refused by Spann, on the ground of his having none. They then took the unfortunate man, 'bucked' him, and placed both his feet in the fire, literally roasting them. After this hellish deed they left, without procuring any more money. The next evening these villains returned, set fire to Spann's house, burning the same, as well as all his household effects and other property."