The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-06-26
THE PAST AND THE PRESENT
THE FORMER DAYS WERE NOT BETTER
THAN THESE.


Published for the Benefit and In.
struction of Dyspeptics and Other
GrumblerS.
say not then, What is the cause that the former
davs were better than these? for thou dost not inquire
wisely concerning this. Eco. viii 10.
There are people who are ever decrylpg the
present and glorifying the past-croakers anu v
pessimists who think everything aoout tnG G
former days to be right and gooa anu a al
about the present times 10 oe S evil ue 'S saws OF
ihem here in tho text that they take q hasty,
superficlal view. Theirs is wrong 1u9sLne
it is o reflection on the wisdom ano go0u,
ness Of that Providence that governs rus, :, 'ne is
world. And this, intimates the wise man, Is Is
not only a mistake, an error OF Judgment, out
a wrong principle that affects dlsastrousiy i tie
characters and conduct Of men, opposes Ine
truth of God and dishonors ms gracious ,smarts
propose on the subject, IA Hundreu 1eaiS
Ago and Now" +hoso
that have gone before--looking at Wnat Is ~
the light of what has been-that we can oe
brought to have an appreciative view OF our
mercies and privileges, see the progress the
world is making in all that is true anu rlghl
and good and cherish hopes for those VINO are
ocome after us l WI connne LUIS reiin}ons
things, for indeed material, social ana Ietis, i
iOus things are so interwoVen Win eacu ociei !,
that it is not always possible TO marx alsC M, !,
iy the dividing lines that separate them. Ihs
illustrative facts here used have beeh galhereo,
from various sources; it Is, however, DGl
proper to say that several of them nave peen
taken from an article by DR.. Herrick Johnson
in the January NUMBER OF the FTeSog'e' t'N'
(Princeton) Reuie,O. .,,,,,,
The worlds progress in material thines
in the last century has been amazing. Inc
spirit of invention has been Wonoerluly pro-
litc For facility Of travel. commu nlcatioi,
49,, f0r
and convenience, for the multiplication OF
Industries that promote the welfare and Wealtn
of men, the advance has been marVellous.
sixty wears ago there was not o rallroad IN
the world: now there are one hundrea anu
forty thousand miles in our own land. i ana
they are being built at the rate OF a9oui
5000 miles year. A century ago II lequlreu
sixty days to 60 from New York 10 Boston Dy
COACH starting at three In the morning morn ane t,s
riding till ten at night. This, with al ils
discoin forts was thought splendid achieV-
ment in travel. Now, in five days the passen-
ger can 60 from New York to San Francisco
In q palace car. eat In 1t, sleep, reaa, "rite'
lounge with as much ease as IN MS own par
lor at home. ,,, a.
Look at electricity, hundred years ago IT
was q scientific toy. None then dreameo oI
utilizing it for any purpose. NOW IL si,ses
light to private dwellings, ana iaiHe es eeI, even
across the ocean and may soon supersede
steam and become the worlds great motlVe
power. BY this agent the human voice is car
ried hundreds of miles and people IN In nhan GiSies
sitting around the same fireside. Inc Iarmer
Of the Revolution ploughed his gronno VIII. VIII
q wooden plough, sowed his grain oroadcast,
cut it with sickle, threshed II on ms d Uapd
in the rudest mill, and q light biscuit that
weak stomach could digest was seldom found
on the tables, even of the wealth1est. house
hold conveniences have been multiplied pc
81, ro10t X.
ing stoves, sewing machines, that help amaz-
ingly to answer the question, us lie worth
living?"
These embody the current sentiments OF JUS
tice and humanity and are valuable eyi-
dences of national progress. When Back,
stone wrote his Commentaries, one hundred
and sixty crimes were punishable with death.
The whPptbpgPPoStd PPand aWd With hot iron
penalties inflicted in all the States OF TINS
Union. In 1867 negro women was executed
in New York for stealing, In l1sI man was wa,
executed for burglary. Women were pnoiicly
whipped in Massachusetts, for theft. 1t has
not been fifty wears since imprisonment for
debt was abolished IN the United States. AS
late as 1880 there were thousands OF men, ana
women too confined in Jail for no other crime
than owing money they were noI aole 70 pay
doom man to a lifelong imprisonment"
And the prisons were simply horrlDle. a
writer says "eyery county nad lalls Ihat
would now be regarded as unfit for the Vllest
and most loathsome of beasts" In many OF
the prisons no provision was made for sick
ness or ordinary cleanliness. The chiei quail
itication OF jailor then was heartless brutal
ity. s,.os l., c.oo.
Britain were worse than in this country.
Those guilty of high treason were to be cut
down when half hung, disembowelled and
their bowels burned before their faces. The
law authorizing the burning or women LOT GER
tain offences was not abolished till less than
century ago. Say not then, that the former
days were better than these.
English legislation in favor OF the Estab-
lished Church and against dissenters is
among the most shameful on the statute
books. Fifty years ago non-conformists
could not get degree at the University OF
Cambridge and was not allowed to enter
any OF the colleges of Oxford until eight
or ten years ago in thousands of rural parish
es they could not bury their dead with their
own religious rites. Only twenty years ago,
they could be committed to prison for not
supporting the Established Church. A GEN.
tury ago, no dissenter could hold q commits
sion in the English army or navy. He was
barred from nearly all civil service. A man
had to be memberof the Establ lished Church
and had to receive the communion from the
hands of minister who was often caro-,
player and fox.hunter before he was qualified
for guaging beer barrels and soap tubs. The
repeal Of this law was attempted 17S7, but was
not accomplished till forty years later. ''Say
not then that the former days were better
than these"
Certainly the Intolerance and cruelty i'm.
bedded In law at the close OF the last century
would be abhorrent 10 the public conscience
of today. The brutal punishments that were
then common are now Impossible.
Let us turn to another field, the games and
sports of the people. The prize-fight, the
cock pit, the bull.fight, and other cruel and
brutal sports were patronized by royalty and
the aristocracy: and advertised in the public
Journals. The lottery was patroniZed by the
best people. The best colleges, even Presby-
terrain Princeton, did not hesitate to raise
money in this way. Many Presbyterian
churches in Philadelphia were built by lotter.
les. The Legislature of Rhode Island in l79i
granted lottery "for the advancement of re-
ligion." McMaster says of this period: Bet.
ting, gambling, were with drunkenness anc
dueiling and running in debt the chief sins OF
the Carolina gentlemen" And yet there are
people who tell us that the former days were
better than these.
Take another point of mparson-intem-
pcrance. This is in our time the giant curse,
but it was far worse huadrea nun years years, ago, go
drunk, and what is for wonder, no one
seemed to realize that there was any danger
IN the drink habit. The Temperance Reform
in any of its phases was not then thought OF.
Everything was then done with liquor. There
couldn't be q marriage, or birth, or burial,
or house raising or log-rolling. or quilting, or
corn n-shucking, or sale, or muster, or amy sort
Of gathering, without rum or Whiskey. The
man who called at his neighbor's house and
was not asked to take drink was insnltcd.
Rum was in the poor mans cupboard while
he lived, and when he died it was placed near
his collin that mourning friends might take a
little as a token of respect for the departed,
and that respect was often so great that they
took more than q little. The wakes In the
days of our grandfathers sometimes presented
the most disgraceful scenes. At the first OF
4, Il nj
total abstine ence and no one had the faintest
conception of Prohibition. Don't say, then,
that the former days were better than these.
The prevalence Of infidelity was q marked
feature in the condition of this country "a
hundred years ago" Tom Paine's "Age OF
Reason" was read by all classes, and his hor-