, 1880-12-12

II know Of no woman who would be will
ing to share this kind OF ie, and the wor}
must be done."-
ENGINES OF EVIL.
ALCOHOL, THE THEATRE, AND THE ATaE
1ST1C PRESS
| Tho Interior
The most discouraging aspect Of the pres
ent time is that which is sen in the varied
yet combined forces OF evil which are per
petually at work in our mos, civilized Chris
tian society. Every effort which good met
are making, or can make to reclaim ant
save society in the education of the young
and the reformation of the vicious is at ever,
point resisted, and in part thwartcd and neu
tralized By powerful agencies Of destruction
The Church Of Christ has now, as 1t has al
| ways had from the beginning, a ceaseIes.
and unco1npromising battle against these
forces Of evil. But there can be no doub1
that with the advancement Of our Christian
civilization under the influence of 'Gospe
| truth, the agencies of evil so far from giving
! way are only intensified and multiplied
Ungodly men to-day are as much opposed to
| the Gospel as they ever were; and the God
! of this world, who is the prime source Of the
opposition, is certainlynot less opposed than
he was ct the beginning Of the war
| The question is often asked, why does moi
the Church accomplish Its work? Why
does it not, with its multiplied agencies OF
good, its pulpit, its presses, its Sunday
schools in evey town, and city, and hamlet,
| its educated and wide-awake ministry, its
| thousands of educated men aud women train
ing the young, and its active evangolists
the Church with all theSe heaven-appOinted
means and agents make greater headway In
educating, evangeliziflg, and Christianizing
the whole population? The answer is, that
piled and as fully organized aud as deter
mined on carrying the day as are the agents
for good. And in world like this, where
the human heart is naturally allied with
evil, all history proves tllat it IS much easier
to pull down than to build, much easier to
pervert and destroy than to reclaim and save
men.
For example, see what efforts the churches
and all tue temperance societies have put
td f1fth d dfardng the last X years to stay the
have made. to the public, what facts and
demonstrations they have published, what
ceaseless endeavors have they not made to
rescue the adult population, and to save the
young from the destroyer! These exertlons.
sufficient to reform the whole nation,
and to save us from the unmitigated
ealan,ities of vice -sand crime engen-
dered by strong drink. Why have they
rested the onward march Of this great de-
stroyer? In the face Of all the arguments
and all the appeals from earth and heaven,
why have its victims only increased, its pow
ers OF destruction only become stronger and
more multiplied? 1t is simply because self
isll and unprinciplcd men, ilnpelled by the
love Of gain, and backed By the money power
created by unlawful gain, have banded to-
gether in leagued opposition to the yirtnous
mined that the liquor traffic. in all its hid
eous proportions and iniQ1lities shall be sus-
tained,-yes, sustained, though it tranlplc In
the dust the sacred day Of rest and worship,
and with it every law Of God! For this end
the Christian sentiment OF every town and
city in the land has been openly detied. For
this end Sabbath laws have been repealed or
nullitied aud ignored III almost all our ere at
cities and the whole legislation in many Of
our States has been so changed It's to ind0rse
supreme authority. instead Of throwing its
shield of protection around the young and
unwary, and conserving the highest public
veal, has become, in Chicago and other great
cities, what the Bible calls a throne of in-
iquitty which frameth mischief by law;
and THUS the law, which the judicious Hook
er so beautifully called the voice of God'
and - the harmony Of the world" has grown
to be with us the dlscofd of society, the
friend Of violence, and the prolific parent Of
crime
Is this the language Of metaphor and ex-
aggeration 1t is the language OF soberness
and truth; and We defy any man to deny it
who will follow the victims. of drunkenness
in thousands Of licensed Sunday saloons to
their once happy homes, now blasted and
ruined with a dread harvest of wo and de-
spair, Of which those saloons have soweu the
seed It requires no voice Of prophecy and
Io illdex-fnger Of the future to point out
the places where this kind Of seed has been
long sewing, aud where this kind of harvest
is already reap!ng. Some mems sins, says
the Bible, *'are open beforehand, and 60 be-
fore to the Judgment" 4snd III The friends and
liuuor-tratIic, should consider this. There is
q higher law which is not repealed, and c:ll-
not be always evaded; and it is rs much a :
law Of nature az it is Of tile, Bible. st. Paul
has stated it: g Be not deceived, God is not
Knocked, for whatsoever man soweth that
shall he also reap"
Another tremendous engine of evil con-
sta1ltly ut work in our great cities, and send
ing its deterioratng influence far and wide
Sunday theatre. It is claimed By some OF. OF
its admirers that the theatrc is an educator
of the people. Unqnestionably it is q most
potential educator. Probably its direct and
Indirect influences, especially upon the
Gated classes, is not much inferior to
those OF the pulpit or the press. But then it
is an education which at best is wholly secu-
lar, and often extremely vicious 1t is OPP
posed to everything like spirituality and god
illness. 1t is opposed in its whole influence
to Christianity and the Church. Its influence
perpetualIy counteracts all the lessons and
teachings Of the Church, the Sabbatl,-school,
and the Bible; and so strong is that tendency
that wherever men and women, boys and
girls. come fully under it, and from the
habit OF constant theatre-going. they cease
to attend the Church, or read the Bible, or
respect the Sabbath. There may be few
exceptional cases, but as for the whole class
OF theatre managers, actors, and habituai at
tendants, what do they care for those sacred
things? So far as they are concerned, the
Church, the Bible, md Christianity might
become extinct Their whole education and
training are for this world alone, and they
moral or adorn tale. The very fact that i'll
our great cities the theatres. not only Ger
man but American, are now opened TOR
gain and amusement OH the Sabbath evening
Just as on other days, Is of itself enough to
show their aninlls, as it regards religion
and their downward tendency. The esiuca- |
ton of the theatre is. at the best Of the earth.
and wholly earthly; it is often extremely
approaching to indecency, lewdness,
and vice; and it is not ltntrequcnt1y, III its
lowest and most popular representations,
deyilish. ...-
1t il perpetual feeder Of the sensual and
vicious passions. To the pure and the good
It may sometimes do good by showing how |