The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-09-07
COMMUNICATION SERMONS.

Most if not all of the clergy who preach
TODAY to their congregations will make some
reference to the holiday which is being kept.
People y no 20 to church this morning will
expect to hear something about the progress
of religion in the past forty years, and
about ,he contrast which the religious ele-
meut in San Francisco presents to that
element as it existed in the city OF 1850,
when the world was pouring its thousands
Of gold-seekers upon our shores 1t would
be a mistake to imagine that the city was
altogether goddess in those days; con-
siderable proportion of theadyenturers who
came here were members Of some church.
But still. the religious element did not pre-
dominate in 1850; whereas, now, in city OF
100000 people, there are no less than 127
edifices n which regular services are held
weekly. That number represents very
large assem- blage Of misunderstanding
a larger PROPORTION Of the whole population
than can be found in other cities; and the
Influence of the preachers must be proper
tionately large.
1t is not the rart of laymen TO advise the
clergy how they should treat the interesting
T. pic of io-dsy's sermon. But a newspaper
NAV. erhaps. lie permitted TO draw atten-
accurate statements of the social condition
of this community, and TO the mischief
which is sometimes unwittipgly done by
distorted pictures of the growth Of vice and
wrong. A good many preachers Of the day
appear to have imbibed their philosophy
from the late Thomas Carlyle, who believed
that everything that was was wrong, that
everything was going from bad to worse, and
10 FL. ,II-d dos IN ne DraVp1 for a
catacIysm in which vile humanity might be
overwhelmed. Carlyle addressed so limited
an audience that his Latter Day Pam
phlets" did little HARM whereas his pessimist
doctrines, when preached from scores of
pulpiis, are likely to produce profound dis
cauIagement and such depression OF spirits
that el ergy is dulled and honest endeayor
quenched.
The diyines who seek to rouse the minds
Of their hearers by drawing exaggerated
pictures Of the growth Of vice draw upon
their imagination for their facts. Statistics
are wanting for exact comparisons; but the
libraries contain plenty Of memoirs and
anecdotal histories which enable us to form
a pretty accurate idea of the social oondi-
ton Of our ancestors. These go to show
that there was more vice and crime in pro-
Iortion 10 population in the world and in
this part of the world forty years ago than
there is now; and that, forty years
before that, there vas more still The
contrary opinion is generally formed from a
perusal of the criminal records i'll the news
papers. Those who form it forget that the
business of reporting has become more
thorough in our day than II was before, and
that the apparent increase in crime is caused
not by a grow tn Of the criminal class, but
by the exhaustive fashion in which the
dpings of that class is now cbroniced. In
tie old days no notice was taken by news
papers of ordinary misdemeanurs. Now, if
a man gets drunk ct has fight in the streets
it is odds his name will figure in print next
day. in the old days haunts Of vice were
constantly the scene of disorders which
shocked decency and often cost life; now,
the least distuIba brings the police on
the scene. In the old days gentlemen thought
il no wrong to get drunk at their own table,
OF to kill each other in duels; men were re-
ceived in society who were notorious card
sharpers; man did not lose caste by setting
at defiance all laws, human and divine. We
have certainly improved since the days
which Fielding depicted in Tom Jones.
Mankind is not perfect-far from it, But
there is steady betterment going on in
both manners and morals, and the clergy, if
they desire to preserve their influence,
should give society credit for the improve
ment. A man is not made better citizen,
nor more worthy member of family. by
being told that he is an irreclaimable villain,
and that there is no hope for him in this
world or the next On the contrary, if he
believes the charge he is apt to conclude that
as his case is hopeless he may as well con-
tinue it. But the preacher who minges
with bis censure of shortcomings which
cannot be denied q little encouragement
for Improvement will do more practical good
than the one VINO sees nothing in the world
but ground for anathemas.