The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-02-27
Corrnption. pn.t and Present.

magnitude tnAu those Which hie A"i VII,
and the revelations OF contemporary ras-
cality unduy dwarf in our estimation |
that OF which we are informed only by |
history. A complete survey OF the past |
sho VS. plainly that mankind are no worse |
now than they always have been, but, OH
the contrary. rather better; and that
wckednpss in high places, although more
widely known than formerly, is, in reality,
no more common.
Whether we accept tho book Of Genesis
rs II myth, or as n narrative OF facts, IL
equally demonstrates the early period at
which corruption began. The fall OF our
first parents, and the subsequent wicked
doings of their posterity, which brought
upon them the catastrophe of the Flood,
whether regarded as allegories or rs real
events alike represent TO us evil us pri-
meval element of human nature. When
we come down to 1rmcr ground we mud
the Bible still more explicit in its testi-
mony on this point. ABRAHAM on two
occasions beguiled his hospitable enter
tainers with lies about his marital relation
TO SARAH. His grandson. jacob, aided by
his mother, practiscd n shameful decep-
ton upon his blind father, and, when
IOIffu W nee lnf country utlutIN eoNEuN
to bribe the Almighty himself to take his
part by an offer of ten per cent. of his in-
come. His children, in turn, after selling
his favoritc son, JOSEPH, into slavery, de-
ccived him with IA cunningly concocted
falsehood OF his death. The later career
OF the Israelites IL fun of similar instances
OF fraud and violence. Their forty years
wandering in the wilderness were attended
with frequent sins and rs frequent pun
ishments Their entrance into the prom
ised land was marked by ACHASs cmbcz-
element of the plumber of Jericho, and
soon after we find JOSHUA deluded by the
wiles OF tho Gibeonites. The pages of the
book of Judges are sullied with accounts
of crimes which would scarcely be printed
In modern newspaper The sons of ELI
robbed the worshippers who came to
make offerings at the Lords altar. How
DAVID misbehaved himself and SOLOMON
after him, has too often been related IN
illustration of Henry WARD BEECnEns
downfall to need repetition, ana the
reigns of their successors are with rare
exceptions, one long tale Of evl-doing.
Among other thing, we are told how for
twenty-thrce years the priests in the time
Oh lut EOou N lilR JLnOASt Ntlk w ltf'lN .
ing the taxes laid for the repair of tho
Lords house, aud put the money into their
pockets without performing the work. So
complete, at last, became the demoraliza-
ton of the whole people that as Il nation
they ceased TO exist.
The history of the Christian Church ex-
hbits equally saddeuing proof of human
frmlty. OF the twelve original disciples of
JESUS CHRIST one was bribe-takcr aud q
traitor. Among their earliest converts
were ANANTAs and SAPPHIRA, embezzlers
and liars, aud SIMON, the eX-sorcercr,
who tried to buy Office with presents. The
epistles of PAUL show him TO have been
hindered and thwarted In his mis- .ionary
work as much by the quarrcls and in
tngues Of his brethren as by the open hos
tility of the Jews and heather. And rs
Christianity has spread and developed it,
self. its progress has been attended with
crimes among both clergy and laity, Of
which bribery, lying, aud treachery are
the least repulslve. During what are
called the dark ages, the church seems TO
have been given over to the dominion OF
lust, cruelty. and extortion, ana to have
drawn its life as much from hell as from
DtuNtn. w lltl us tonulAlbD vas III tOtil-
paratvely modern times is shown by the
testimony OF JOIN WESLEY In England
the invectives OF BossUET in France, and
the palnly sis OF faith which has overtakeI
Germany.
Profane history abounds no less in tn,
evidences Of human wickcdness. The an
nails OF every nation that has ever existed
consist mainly OF accounts Of murders ant
treasons, and of wars undertaken either I,
inaict or to avenge wrongs. Wipe thos,
out, and the record becomes almost {
blank In respect OF the official and
private dishonesty which Just now most
presses itself upon our notice, numerous
parallels can be found in bygone times
The great THEMIsroCLEs accumulated al
immense fortune by selling the aid o
Athens TO foreign States. DEMosTHENE
publicly charged his rival EsCHINEs wit
being bribed by both ALEXANDER an
PHILIP, and the charge was no
denied, while he himself was 500
after tiled, condemned, and exiled fror
Athens for similarly accepting from Han
PALUs pay for his influence with the Gov
eminent of the republic. Throughout tn
intestine troubles of Greece, bribery an
treason are conspicuous agencies. Rom
was subject to the same plague. TIL
crimes of CATTLINE aud of VERREs hav
been immortalized by the splendid Gle
quenoe Of CICERO, and the wit OF the SAITH
lists OF the early Empire was unoeaslngl
exercised upon the venality of men In bot
religious and secular authority. A littl
later the ovll increased, and went on In
creasing till the whole odince Of Roma
power fell to pieces from the want Of sui
hciont Integrity in its rllers to hold it to
Eether. "n1,o provinces We're pillage
by their governors, rich and poor alik
robbed OF their property, and the imperi,
crown itself was, at times put up for sal
at auction by those who welded the mil
tarY power. 1t was the same to II grco
extent throughout Europe for oenturi
afterward. An ambassador was expecte,
as matter Of course, to use money on b.
half OF his sovereign in corruptiug u
court to which he was accredited, n