A Word About The Chicago Fire

Ñuño of Cho tíieories rcgarding tlio Chicago íl'ro are half so absurd as that advanced by ccrtain ecclesiastieal gcntlcTnen - namely, that it was a divino punishmont for the sins of the unfortunato city. However that may bo, wo tliink that if the Almighty intcnded suoh a pnnishment, he would have chosen some other agent than a cow. If those gospelmongers rcad the papers they ought to know that n certain uueasy cow, while being milked, upset a kerosene lamp, tlio c.mtuiits of which ignited and set firo to a. quantity of hay. Tiius, during a hurricane, the embryo conflagration soon provod the destruction of an ignitible city. We do not recognizo in this any intention on the part of Providence to inflict upon Chicago a niisfortune which, if sin is to bo considered, other citics as well deserved ; and so far from Providence having prompted the cow to upset the lamp, we incline to the opinión that it was the devil instead. In justico to the cow, too, we will say that she could ot havo liad the remotest idea of tho deplorablo consequenoes to follow, or she eertainly would not have upset tho lamp. In plaiu English, this " divino punishment" theory, with all the pulpit cloqwrrce brought to bear in onforcing it, is nothing short of blasphemy. It is a splendid commentary upon the " Christian charity" of some of our ministers. It were nut ouough that tens of thousands of people should bo left utterly destitute, but thoir sufferings must be scoffed at by m ii claiuiing to bo tho choson roprosontatives of the All-Dispensiiig,. Thcir entire harangvics in snppert of so ridiculous a thoory cesa bo1 expresspd in a singlo sentence - " We will tantalize the sufferers, turn a deaf ear to their entreaties, and teil them that if the world were to be destroyud by fire, Chicago would bo fio best plaoe to commencc. ' That there was wickeduess in Chicago no one doubts ; but was tbero more than ia other cities ? We think not. Washington, tho national capital, is only onethinl as largo as the Chicago of a month ago, but has four times the wickednoss (if we credit tho judgmont of public r,inion). Yet Washington was not burned, nor is it likely to be. London, Paris, New York, and a thousand other cities, are vastly more wickcd than Chicago, because so much larger, but they have boen sarod mcritüd chastiseineiit axording to the theory of tSeso wise ditíios. It was easy onough to punish by fire the vicos of Chicago without burniiig the w.hole city. While Peshtigo, Holland, Manistee, and the magniiicent forests of Northern and Northwestern Michigan, had no wickodness at all, comparativoly, they hare been severely punished by fire. Verily, how consistent with common snnse havo some of our divines become '