Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-04-18

B"iopiN vi lnt kODu NdllliTllHIl. To pass
by on the other side of any duty. God
holds us responsible for our action. or
want of action, touching sin in every
form. We may differ rs to the wisdom
OF other mems actions. but this does not
excuse us from present duty. We
ought, in community as circumscribed
as this in which we dwell, to present bet
ter record than that which is being written.
There is no valid excuse under the law
or in the gospel for some of the scenes
that have been witnessed in this village
recently. There is reason for humlia-
ton, when from the very centre of our
| village squads of men come forth to
pollute the air with their breadth and
defle the very soil over which they
walk. Brethren, does the necessity for
endurance of such disgrace exist in this
community today? Is there no help for
us! Must we submit, while law and
Jehovah are on our side? | care but
little for names or parties in the presence
of sin and vileness, resulting in DEATH
| do believe in obedience to law and i'm
prosecution of offenders thereof. Upon
transgressors let the consequences of
sin fall, whether their position be high
or low.
| despise the spirit that coddles viola
tor of human or divine law, that coddles
|
has been and is too much of this kind of
action in this community.
know that difficulties multiply when
we attempt to deal with evil, but let us
remember that they will continue to in
crease as time goes on if we remain in
active, avoiding present duty, hesitating
because the path of duty is not alto
gether plain.
Do we honestly believe that there is
not power enough under the law, power
enough in respectable and order-oving
citizens of Middlebury, to drive this
evil as well as others, to ''the hole in
the WALL where the enemy will be
shorn of his power, or at least be made
comparatively powerless? Brethren,
have we measured our strength with
this crying evil? Must we submit and
suffer on and on, and leave the fatal re-
suit of our suffering as Il heritage to our
children? God forbid.
God is on the side of truth and purity;
one man with God is mightier than our
strongest foe. Are we willing to pay
the price of being on Gods side, and
thus share in the triumph of purity over
impurity? of temperance over intemper-
ance? of virtue over shame? of God over
the Devil and his host, with all their ap-
planes? Let every one answer this
question in full view of possibilities.
The EVIL One uses many Opportuni-
ties and means for the ruin of the body
and soul of man. Judge that a control
ling influence is being eXerted upon
more lives today by impure thoughts than
by any other evil. Intemperance num-
bers its thousands, RIGHTEOUSNESS its
tens of thousands. Says one writer,
"Intemperance quickly hangs out its
red flag, as warning to parents and
friends. Eternal bemish marks its
course. Ii is not 50 with those whose
minds are inoculated with the virus of
the Devils printing press. By this
, agency the canlier worm secretly does
its work. and the bloom of life withers,
before friends discover that the silent
foe has been busy" 1t is the task of "a
, comparatively new society, called The
Society for the Suppression of Vice."
to find, destroy and utterly suppress OBJ
scene and criminal publications. pictures
, and articles for immoral use. Ignorance
leads many people to doubt the necessity
for such work us this society endeavOrs to
perform. But listen to what has been
done in the limited time since this special
+ work was commenced, and then Judge
f concerning the necessity for this kind
, of effort. Obscene, infamous and dam
nab!e matter has been traced to the
. possession of youth belonging to our best
} families. attendants on our best institu-
lions of learning. The society has
seized over 80 tons of obscene books,
, pictures, plates and other articles, be-
sides about 10 tons of gambling, lottery
and fraudulent paraphernalia. The par
! ent society alone has made about 100
arrests. The plates and engravings of
2lO different books have been seized and
| destroyed. Who can estimate the harm
q that the circulation of single vile book
p or picture is capable of doing: Multi
\ ply this by hundreds of thousands, and
| then what of morality among our youth
| What of our future prosperity as a ma
ton, if our youth are debased and ruin
3 ed by such influences: The facts along
: this line of evil are simply appalling {;
: yet how little effort is being made for
. the suppression of secret vice-vice that
= is hiding in once pure minds and hearts,
g breeding ruin in its victims.
: The resistance to reform along this
. line of suppression of vice has been we'll
5 nigh superhuman. Inch by inch the
: ground has been contested by The enemy.
= While it i a matter for shame and humil-
J. iation that such evils have been allowed
5 for so long time to do unmolested their
/ damnable work, yet we may thank God
t today, even in our humiliation, that
i such persistent effort is now being made
to drive this enemy from the field, and
thus free our sons and daughters from
l. the insidious foe that waits to bind and
o destroy both body and soul for time and
# eternity. We ought to take low place
S before God at this hour because we have
e been so little on the watch concerning
{, evil in every form. and have allowed
# the enemy to pass on in his work, with
II at best only feeble remonstrance.
:. Our sins of omission are many. We
S must give answer for them by and by,
It As we sow, so we shall reap in due sea.
!, son. Evil carries high hand, but God
e will yet triumph. All sin and every
: evil will be brought into subsection; the
e world is to be brought back to God
n Let us, as ''workers together with God,
Y humhle nursnlyeS in Wow of nest ne;