﻿S6 EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT 



This proclamation naturally drew forth a large amount of com- 

 ment, and our worthy Governor was ridiculed or praised according as 

 fancy inspired newspaper men. As I was myself taken to task by no 

 less a personage than the Reverend Doctor W. Pope Yeaman of the 

 Third Baptist Church of St. Louis, for supposed ridicule and for taking 

 ■" unnecessary pains to sneer at Providence," it may be as well to state 

 that the only sentiment I ever expressed, either by word of mouth or 

 by pen, as to the proclamation, is contained in an article published in 

 the St. Louis Glohe of May 19, where I wrote: 



I deeply an<3 sincerely appreciate the sympathy which our worthy Governor mani- 

 fests for tlie sutferin^ people of our western counties, through the proclamation 

 which sets apart the 3d of June as a day of tasting and prayer that the great author of 

 our being may be invoked to remove impending calamities. Yet, without discussing 

 the question as to the ethcacy of prayer in affecting the physical world, no one wid for 

 a moment doubt that the supplications of the people will more surely be granted if 

 accompanied by well-directed, energetic work When, in 1853, Lord Palmerston was 

 besought by the Scotch Presbyterians to appoint a day for national fasting, humiliation 

 and prayer, that the cholera might be averted, he suggested that it would be more be-ne- 

 ficial to feed the poor, cleanse tue cesspools, ventilate the houses and remove the causes 

 and sources of contagion which, if allowed to remain, will infallibly breed pestilence, 

 " in spite of all the prayers and fastings of a united but inactive nation." We are com- 

 manded by the best authority to prove our faith by our work. For my part, I would 

 like to see the prayers of the people take on the substantial form of collections, made 

 in the churches throughout the State, for the benefit of the sufferers, and distributed 

 by organized authority; or, Avhat would be still better, the State authorities, if it is in 

 their power, should offer a premium for every bushel of young locusts destroyed. In 

 this way the more destitute of the people in the infested districts would have a strong 

 incentive to destroy the young locusts, and thus avert future injury, and at the same 

 time furnish the means of earning a living until the danger is past. The locusts thus 

 collected and destroyed could be ted to poultry and hogs, buried as manure, or dried, 

 pulverized and sold for the same purpose. 



As stated in my reply to Dr. Yeaman, " my intercourse with Gov- 

 ernor Hardin has led me to honor him as a Chief Magistrate whom 

 the State will learn to appreciate more and more, and I hold him in 

 too great respect to have much sympathy with the mere flippant ridi- 

 cule that has been made of the proclamation. Though I may not 

 have overmuch piety and faith myself, I at least know how to re- 

 spect those qualities in others, and however much I believe that the 

 insect which was the remote cause of Dr. Yeaman's sermon is gov- 

 erned by natural laws, which should guide us in understanding and 

 overcoming it, the reverend gentleman forgets his calling, and makes 

 himself ridiculous, in charging, for such reasons, that 1 ' sneer at 

 Providence.'" 



As the most effective and substantial method of observing the 

 day of fasting and prayer. Gov. Hardin on the 2Uh of May, wisely 

 issued a second proclamation, urging the benevolent and charitable, 

 who might assemble on the 3d of June in public worship, and felt so 

 disposed, to make contributions and forward the same to Jesse Chil- 

 ton, Ilarrisonville, Cass county ; R. B. Harwood, Warrensburg, John- 



