New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-03
THE PARSONS STUDY.
MEN AND THINGS.

| MEN AND THINGS.
Good morning Glad to see YOU Take chair
Represent both religion and politics Well them take
! two chairs. Have a clgarl oh. You don't smoke
Neither do but keep few cigars on the mantel so
that If should feel so "dispoged." la the i'm
mortal sairey Camp. Well, what Is it this morning
OH the political campaign and the part the parsons
are taking in IT, Yes. OF that Is live topic
But really the gamblers hcelers and rumselers have
made more Of IL than 1t amounts to. For consider
there are. say, about 200 ministers Of religion In TINS
| town. OF these perhaps $50 sent In their names as
sympsthizng more with the aims Of the Peoples
| Municipal League. And Of these not more IMAM
seventy-fve found themselves In place where they
could take any active part in helping the League 20
there you are. Seventy-fve cergymen out OF 700 In
this great city lifting up their voice against theft ana
political corruption. Only seventy-hve and yet to
read some the papers you would suppose that every
parson in town turning his church into a campaign
club To me the strange thing is not that these few
| clergymen have taken part In the campaign
| but that so many have refraned from doing
| So For the issue Is purely and distinct
| IL moral one. involving. moreover, the future
destiny of the greatest city I'm America. Why il IL
that GOO odd cIergymen in New York have had nothing
to say on this burning question Why Is 1t that some
OF the most influential and revered pastors. whose
names | shall not mention have been apparently In
| total ignorance Of a movement to drive thieves and
| rumseers ont Of the city government Why is 1t
that so far as I know only clergyman Of great
and ancient Church has considered II his duty 10 say
anything on this question: won't try 10 answer these
questions least OF all will say anything that might
| impugn the motives Of these silent non political par
| sons. | ony point 10 them an amazing and mex
plicabe fact. and living proof OF the difficulty of
getting AL good men together in any united movement
| against moral evil.
| could easily imagine another type Of poiti-
| cal parson who. perhaps, doesn't exist, and OF
whom. therefore, have heard nothing in this
| daVOn nCf pnl
rascaty because it to be found in his own political
marty or because the wealthes and most influential
men in his parish belonged TO the party OF tricksers
and riscals or even because his sect benefited by
The rascaty and thevery Of the party in question
Perhaps this would not constitute him political par
son, but only polite parson BE it so; won't
quarrel over an adjective. will only remark that II
ever any large body Of clergymen should fail to de
nounce wckedness for such should feel very
| sorry for the churches OF which they members
And IL there should happen to be snc parson IN New
York hope that he will speedily the error Of his
| ways.
All YES YOU say 1t is very easy for the parson in
his study to utter great swelling words about duty ana
| principle. But just down to. concrete case
Here is little Meekheart. pastor Of the limestone
Church. He has wife and children and GETS
barely enough Just 10 feed and cothe them. In fact
he can hardly do that without running in debt Well
them Meekheart you know, is no preacher and NOT
much of hustler. II he TO lose this church, the
| Lord only knows when he would get another Maybe
he might git something to do after few months but
in the meanwhile what would his wife and children
| cat? Where would they live, You don't know
Very we'll then: for the point I am making
Meekheart is terribly in earnest about the curse OF
drink: a loved brother fills a dITnkards grave lie
would like TO tell his people to avoid the saloon but
if he did he would MORALLY offend the two biggest
| men in his church, who made their money IN the
tvfI,t nf
for the support Of the church. lie knows that if he
should offend them he might well send in his re'ig
nation and then he looks at the wife and little ones
and keeps silent. You right it is wondrousy
easy 70 tell the other fellow what lie ought to do But
yon dent realize how much that little word ought
involves until YOU yourself are the other fellow
picked up the other day that queer book Caesars
Column which purpors to show how the masses rose
I'D against the classes in the twentieth century and
DESTROYED Them together with every vesge Of civlza
ton The writer is evidently a Christian who sees
only evil in the present social tendencies There are
many powerful and true things in the book but good
many Of his forecasts simply fantastic; what he
describes as existing hundred years hence could not
possibly spring Of any conditions that exist to-day
Take for instance, the chapter describing service
in fashionable notwithstanding church in NewYork
CITY, Archtecturally and artisticaly is gorgeousy
beautiful it is the perfection OF luxurious and
sensuous comfort Uniformed funkeys stationed
at the doors 10 keep out the poor. In the vestbule
are beautifully executed nude statues. The preacher
is an immoral of great oratOrlcal ability, whose
sermon is simply brilliant Of the scientific
speculation OF the week lie repudates any belief in
Immortality exuts the fact that millions Of human
beings are tong and starving for the benefit Of the
rich and exhorts hi exquisitey refined but morally
unclean parishoners TO enjoy life the more because
they know that the canale is cut off from all the
Joys Of life. Finally, after throwing overheard
.hp Of y,
he delivers imprisoned eulogy on sensual
love the whole OF religion. And after the sermon
a number OF the who, be it remembered, belong
TO the very highest and most exclusive circles OF
society publicly him to show their appreciation
of his glowing periods. Now when you reflect that
this supposed to be the natural and necessary evo-
luton OF such wealthy and fashionable churches as the
Fifth Avenue PRESBYTERIAN ana 1T. Ihollas,s' inc
picture is simply grotesque. Any one outside OF a
Innate asylum nows that may o pc rd tine de to
produce such DEVILS fruit as that III the course OF
hundred years
\ glance history shows how idle i IS to pre-
det what VIII DC tne cC vea 81 hence The average
intelligent New England christian of one hundred years
religion today-the old Puritan ideals. which to him
were the whole OF religion either dead or elerslns
system Of the ChufGh thrown aside in the lumber
room of antiquity. the Roman Catholic Church becom-
ing one of the strongest religious bodies In tile country
the ridiculous little Episcopal sect taking RANK as one
Of the most influential Protestant denominations;
Methodism winning millions by preaching a Gospel
the antithess OF Calvnism. many Of the churches
Of New England in which the pure word was
prearhed becoming Unitarian In their creed liberation
Of all creeds and OF creeds taking its place as an
accented principle of ethics, science assuming to ques
fio mauy the traditional views of the Church and
theologans giving up those views In Difference to
science and the world with It's material and
activities taking the place In mems thoughts once
held n By sSe of VIZ to e d
century Christian Of whom have been speaking he
,vnud have denounced the man an mpOus bias
,nboraa- and ten to one lie would have had him
burned No prophesying Is risky business. and
,s ,rho NAV read Caesars Column and Locking
TacEward- hundred years hence will laugh heartily
over the crotesque mistakes IN the forecasts Of the
clever authors.
COCRr CALENDARS FOR TODAY.
sup-eme Court-General Term-Reeess until Monday
November ~ hers-Refore O,Rien Mo,lon