The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-09-21

of their ..lusts.--And- these. slaves
of passion, these robbers of honor
and property; these destroyers of sou
and body, we not only find In Jerusa-
lem and Jericho, but they exist in
great numbers in our very, midst; not
armed with dagger and revolver, but
walking about in fine garments, pos
sessed of pleasing manners, and in
many instances. of fame and houor.
The number of victims must necessa-
rily be in proportion to the number
of these malefactors. Half dead, they
are. scattered along our path. body
and soul, corrupted. In Evansville,
too, we meet with many poor girl
robbed of her virtue, her beauty,
honor and welfare, by seducers OF
either sex; unfortunate wives, i'll
treated by their heartless husbands,
after having sacrificed for them the
vigor of their youth many deplora-
Bile youths who have abandoned no.
bic resolutions, piety, filial esteem,
their respect to the laws of the State,
as we'll as to public morals, In
the society of base companions
poor industrious laborers, who have
been robbed Of their earnings by I'm
considerable spectators Or false
are. suff ring. Unhappy are the vie
tims-more SO the perpetrators. Eve n
if they are not always br, ught before
human justice, they will never eyade
eternal judgment. 1t is horrible to
carry burning sting in ones con-
Science; much more so to fall into
the hands of the Almighty. -
And now, how do matters stand?
Are we ministers justified in explain
ing In the most careful manner the
words, Who is my neighbour" Yea,
that In all our actions we should con-
slider this question rightly. If our
hands are not stained with blood, are
our consciences free from the tears of
mistreated fellowmen? Are our
hearts free from that egotism which
forgets God and his neighbor, that
carnal lust always waring against the
spirit, that lovelessness of which it is
said, Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, Therefore atone for
ali you can by kinder treatment of
your fellowmen, and pray to God for
the forgiveness of your remaining
sins. s.r+s.r ss.,at1 -fse
IL. It was a horrible picture
which was first brought to our view
from the parable, and L fear the Sec
ond will not be much more pleasing.
The characters now presented TO us
are the Priest and, the Levite: Luke
x: 80 to 49, Very respectable peo-
pie they; as servants of the Lord
they necessarily led an irreproacha-
BILE life, and if we would stop to blame
them for passing by the wounded
man, they would find excuses enough
to vindicate themselves. This class
of men are never short of evasions.
Their urgent business permitted no
delay; or, the man is half. dead and
can not be saved or, they had with
them neither medicine nor bandages;
or, the thieves might be in the vicini-
ty and they in danger or, the wound,
has deserved his lot; or, worse than
that, he may not be an Israelite at all,
but merely a Samaritan. These men
never did wrong, but, alasl never any
good. Upon all occasions they do
their duty, but never any more
With the Pharisee, they think them
selves above other people, but if they
should answer the question from the
bottom of their hearts, Who is thy
1eighbor?i' their answer would be
every one" Self is his nearest
1eighbor. ~
Persons sharing the opinion of
hese priests and Levites are not
scarce in this very day. There. are
! great many who manifest their
righteousness by the remark, Il do
10 harm to any one, fnor any good)
fulfill my duty, fbut nothing more j
extend injury to no one, (nor, any
ove.C If they hear of a transgression
hey will manifest great indignation
# they hear of poverty and want they
laye words of pity and regret, But
,e sure not to ask them to give, sacri- |
ice, hel or to suffer for their neigh.
,or; they would have SO very many
excuses. The suffering is not so great
hat those concerned cannot : help
themselves, or it is soigfeat that their |
mite would be of no help, or
heir Donation may fall into wrong |
lands, or viii not be rightly applied. |
Thus all remains in the pocket. |
Should they be called upon to visit |
he poor and sick, they will have a |
latnral aversion to such rights, and |
heir weak nerves will not permit
his. Their ultimatum is, Every
mes self is his nearest neighbor"
Their entire aid iu advice and action
xtends only to their families; but,
las, they only carry out the summons
f natural instincts. The. birds do
be same for their brood; the beasts
be same for their .young-Mat. " :46.
10 they ever extend helping hand
0 a stranger, it is for the sake of