Evening journal., 1892-02-01
SOCIAL CLUBS DENOUNCED
Father Birmingham Throws the Re.
Onsibility Upon Parents.

He Says that Homes Should BE Made So
! Pleasant that Children wan Not Want
10 Frequent Saloons and social club
Rooms They Should BE Open to Police
Inspection.
Rev. w. j. Birmingham preached a
powerful sermon against the evils Of
social clubs at st. Pauls r. @. Church
! last night. The church was crow ded
and It is estimated that 1880 persons
heard him.
Ills text was from Matthew vii. 16 IL:
'Ye shall know them bs their fruits. Do
men gather grapes Of thorns, or figs of
! thistles2
Even SO, every tree that briLgeth not
forth good fruit Is hewn down and cast
into the fire.
He said The more consider the
perlls Of youth the stronger my eonvic-
tlon IS that 1t Is necessary for mind to
receive early impressions Of virtue from
parental care in order to escape perdi.
ton. Youth is the sprinetime
OF life and the season OF our enjoyment.
That | admit, but too frequently it Is SO
abused that 1t becomes source Of sorrow
and spreads a baleful gloom over the re
naming years OF the natural life. To the
young men and women the world displays
It's charms and by meat Of these charms
ruins them before they are aware OF IL
Criminal pleasures are surrounded with
alluring blossoms. The youthful imagi
nation reveals long vista for enjoyment
OF the pleasures of vice ia the present and
prudence and repentance In the future
lnhdels, libertines, impious publications,
seduc i've examples ana all Of the powers
OF hell combine In order to bring about
the destruction Of youth. Fear Of God in
the breast Of tbs youth is the only safe.
guard against these evils. He must de-
test vice, and this detestation must be
deeply rooted. Religion must have sunk
deeply into his heart. He must know the
principles of moderation and self govern
ment, and learn TO view every sensual
pleasure, he wever Innocent 1t may appear
with q distrusb that there Is danger
within 1t. Even with these prerequisites
he will find it very hard to preserve his
Innocence untainted.
"a child without religious education Is
like vessel without a pilet and must
soon suffer shipwreck But little hope
can be entertained for one whose natural
tnclinRtions for evil have not been offset
by parental instruction. The sins OF
youth will prepare him for every
enormity as the years advance. Iniauity
will grow with him and exercise Its bad
influence In every stage Of his earthly ex.
istence Il will penetrate the very mar
row Of his bones, and descending with
him to the grave, continue to be his
torment In the endless ages before
him.
The voluntary depravity Of the human
will Is the cause Of crime. IL we would
lessen the crime Of the world we must
strengthen the will by removing the
causes Of sin and surround the soul with
Christian virtues The soul has two
habits-yice and virtue. Virtue inclines
men to good; vice inclnes men to evil.
Where the parents and the home Of
the child are pure and strong, there is
hope for much The child viii come into
he world free from inherited disorders.
enfeeblement and innate tendencies to
crime, which are the accursad birth
marks Of many children. If the springs
are poisoned the streams must be tainted
The children bear the vices Of the parents
when these are Of long standing The
evils Of original sin ere inteus fed and
the undesirable evil effects OF criminal
hsbi are transmitted to the offspring.
There is no work given BY God to man
more delicate and more difficult OF per-
Torrance than to strlighten a warped
human disposition and reeast a human
character. Such infrmities render the
unfortunate man deficient and deformed.
The law Of punishment OF the human
race is that the sins of the father are the
evil inheritance Of the children.
Men and women who by their home
"a anf -
social clubs for enjoyment cannot avoid
the penalty Of their sins
1.-THE men whose time and thought are
engrosssd in the accumulat on of wealth
who think more of the dollars they can
save and more Of the houses they can
build by mpovelishins their homes, by
deFriving themselves and their children
of the refining influences, beautifed > nd
elegant homes, will find these dollars
these houses marked with the blood of
their children, in the balance in which
Divine justice weighs human motive
and action. Wealth gained by such
methods is stolen from the children
whom God gives to mems care. Il does
not suffice that this wealth goes to the
children after the parents death. 1t
then is too oftena curse. The impoyer-
ished soul, the mind Of misery instincts
cannot use Il the profligate can only mis-.
use it because Of his meAtal and moral
poverty
Tie responsibility for evil social clubs
not only rests on parents who neglect
their children, but upon Christian people
who close their houses, who ignore the
claims Of the children Of the church to
social life and culture They win not bs
guiltless when judged with their neigh
Dor. Social cir os, such as are being con
tinually exposed, are an inexcusable evil:
no language IS strong enough to express
the contempt wnichidecent people havelfor
them. Every social club and other places
Of the kind should be open to police in
spectioA at all hours.
Youthful Burglars at Work
Sometime before 9 o'clock last night
burglars entered the candy and bakery