The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1874-10-04
Is THE WORLD GROWING BET
TER2
by REV. H. II. THAYER, D D.

For The Bulletin.
This Is much mooted question, admit.
ting of great ATTITUDES of thought, and
variety of opinion. Men differ widely
aod honestly Ia regard to IL. Some sdvo-
cate the affirmative, very positively 9TH
crs, the negative, equally as positive.
In looking at the various opinions OF
men upon this question, some considerable
allowance must DO made for modes of
thought, peculiari.ies Of Temperance nt, and
stand -points of vision.
Some men are tho unfortunate subjects |
of melancholy moods, and therefore see
the dark, and gloomy side of things. Others
are afflicted with chronic hypochondris,
which quite efIoc,ually disquslifes them
from taking an unbiased view of this mat
ter.
The man who Is the victim Of asiaggra-
waited type OF dyspepsia thinks the world
is rapidly growing worse and there are
mental as well as physical dyspeptics.
Individuals who are very moody are
not the persons to look to for counsel and
authority upon this subject lie who for
gets to tako his "msntle OF charity"
| with him, or has none to take, cannot DO
a safe or reliable judge in tho matter I'M
| der review. A man who lie of very NOR
bid cast Of mind Is apt to take the mega.
tive of this question, and this arises more
from the state of his own beslouded mind
than from any array of facts in his pos
session.
Before attempting TO answe: the ques-
tion propounded, there must DO arst a
somewhat accurate discrimination be-
tween the real aud apparent. Much ap.
pears to be actual, that lie only seemingly
so.
Not only the surface, but the undorcur-
ronh of society must be examined. This,
it said, If done, would tell powerfully for
the negative of our question, because the
substrata of society, il is claimed, will not
bear close examination. The surface Of
society may appear calm and serene, while
underneath them arc alterations, hear
aches, strifes, discords, bitterness, desor-
ton, cruelty, neglect, hatred, revenge and
misery. Ono needs to 60 down to tho foot
of the hill, beneath the deep shadows of
human lips, to know how tho world fares.
Second, In answering the question:, Is
the world growing be.ter7 a comparative
estimate of the facilities for carrying out
good and evil intents must DO duly con-
sidered. The actual amount Of good and
evil wrought must not DO overlo oked.
The kind of goo1 aud the charac Ter
| OF evil Is to be taken into the account.
The increase of population, and the m cans
OF transmitting intelligence are factors to
DO considered in making an estimate. A
careful inquiry must be instituted be
tween the present and pas. condition OF
the art, and sciences, inventions and dis.
eoveries. The whole subject OF progress
in religion and morals must pass under
review. No "pent-up Utica" can hold
him, who proposes TO answer this question
Ho must be familiar with the records and
statistics Of nations, both near and no.
mote.
If combining ourselves to tho little pres
emit, we look steadily at certain class OF
evidence, read mainly the sickening re-
cords of crime,-gazs chiefly at the dark
ness of human depravi.y, We may be in =
duced to affirm, that the world Is fas,
growing worse and worse. If on the
other hand we mako another class of evi.
dence our study,-busy ourselves in col
lating Christian intelligence, --examine
closely tho moral philanthropic and mis-.
! sionary enterprises of the day rs thoy
arc heralded 10 the world,-look at the
good that men are doing and their facil-
tiles tor executing it,-familiarize our
selves with the moral and christian hero
ism of the world, We may go to the other
extreme, and declare that the world is
growing better, as it grows Older. But
neither Of these courses alone will pre-.
pare man to judge wisely and sccur-
ately.
A comprehensive, and somewhst ex-
hsustive study of the main facts in the
case,-the pros and cons, the good and
evil,-right and wrong, retrograde
and advance movements,-s compai ison,
between the past and tho present
and last but not least, an examination
Of Gods word touching this matter.
These only will prepare one to pronounce
an intelligent opinion upon the question
we have asked.
We cannot render a just verdict, and
base such verdict upon what may have
happened during the past thirty years.
The great moral and social problems of
the age are very slowly solved.
"The mills OF God grind slow,
But they grind exceeding small.
As for ourselves, although we do not
profess to have all the data at hand, still
We incline to the belief that, upon the
whole, the world is growing better. Our
reasons for this will appear in a subse-
quent article.
CRITICISMS OF REV. DR..