Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-03-13
EVIL COURSES.

ted abomination? Nay, they were not at all
ashamed, neither could they blush.-JBRE-
MIAH Wis.
The tendency of an evil course is to
callous the hearts and consciences of
men. II deadens the sense of right,
stills the warnings of conscience, obliter-
ates all sense of shame. Pope condensed
an essay on the subject in the quadrain;
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien,
AS to be hated needs but to be seen,
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace"
Men are often found just beginning a
career of vice. At first their sins are of
small degree. They tipple a little on the
sly; then become holder and drink in pub
lie; after time they practice other vices,
first secretly and then openly; finally they
are lost to all sense of shame and pursue
their downward career in the broad light
Of day, regardless of public opinion or
the laws of God or man. When they
reach this stage they have passed beyond
redemption, and may as we'll be abandon
ed to their fate.
There are thousands of men who man
age, during their whole lives, to keep
upon the borders of responsibility, only
occasionally dipping into forbidden pleas.
ures and quickly retracing their steps.
They pass for respectable men and good
Christians, and few know of their trans
gressions. They may be found in the
habitations of the godly, and loudly de-
claim against the very vices that they
themselves are guilty of. They are lead
ing pillars in the church, and for this
reason are far more dangerous than those
who are openly wicked. If they are
found out they always have some excuse
to offer for their misconduct-an excuse
that charity compels their brethren to &C
cept as sufficient. Thus others are in
duced to less care as to their conduct
than they would otherwise exercise, being
convinced that when their exposure comes
they viii be enabled to square themselves
with the church and with the public in
general as others have done
The tendency of all evil, of whatever
degree, is towards debasement. A per-
son cannot handle fire without being
burned, nor can he daily with Goals with
out being blackened. Little sins
prepare the way for greater ones.
He who violates the moral law in one
particular will, unless restrained, violate
it in many other respects, for sin is ever
aggressive. 1t takes asecond lie to cover
up first-a larger defalcation to cover
up one of trivial consequence, and step
by step men degrade themselves until
they are in full communion with all that
is pernicious and abhorrent
Ifpeople would avoid reaching that
point in which they become dead to
shame-when no blush mantles their
brow when they are detected in crime
they must guard against the first lapse
from the path of rectitude. While the
| church should be charitable and forbear-
ing towards those who fall without IN
tent and are sincerely repentant for their
sins, it should punish with severity those
who, with their eyes open, commit an
offense against morality. 1t is too often
the case, however, that this treatment is
reversed. He who is ready with his ex-
cuses for ungodly conduct finds ready
forgiveness, especially if he be a man of
standing in the church and the world,
| while he who unwittingly offends comes
in for an unmerited share of reproach,
particularly if he is poor and without in
fiuential friends. These things cannot be
too severely deprecated. They are at
variance with every precept of the mas
ter who, though forgiving the faults of
those who had been debased by circum-
stances, was unsparing in his denuncia-
tons of those who, having eyes, saw not,
and having ears, heard not the law of
God Those who deliberately transgress
sh ould not be permitted to claim the
same consideration for their faults that
is accorded to those ignorantly guilty of
wrong.
Thekbeginnings of career of vice are
found in almost every household and
every church congregation. Parents who
are Incorporate in their appetites and
language at home, lnculcate the same
faults in their children. These grow and
developiin the young with frightful rap
idity, and result frequently in shame and
disgrace. In the churches the little foxes
of tattle, malice, perversion of the truth
in greater or less degree, evnyings, strife
for pre- eminence, chickering's, all of which
destroy that harmony and fellowship
that ought to exist in the church of
God, find Judgement. The results
are seen in divided congregations, cold
ness between pastor and people, lethargy
in works of charity, stagnation of effort
in the direction of missionary work, and
a general state of either open rapture OF
pronounced hamilton. An occasional
revival sometimes awakens the church
members to a realizing sense of their
past. dereliction, but after the temporary
excitement has passed away they relapse
into their former condition of lassitude or
decided hostility one towards another.
These contentious and scandals bear fruit
in lower degrees of sin, and often start
people on the downward road to that
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