Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1893-04-26

more than offset by the difference IL
lstrictness with which the rolls have beer
kept. What is true of the Baptist de
nomination is true of every other evan.
tgelical denomination in this city.
81 The truth is. the city Of today. the
modern city, whether in the east or in
the west. is a seething hell, in which the
manhood of the nation is daily being
consumed Materialism is rampant. The
god of the city is the god of mammon,
the god of power. More and more have
the strong fallen into this fetch wor-
ship. Their motto is, Money by all
means, by any means, fair or foul" The
hot breath of this scourge soon burns
out the ideals, the faiths, the appes and
the love born into the heart Of man I'M
der normal conditions. The sum total
of the forces that affect life in our cities
today is overwhelmingly against the de-
velopment of righteous character The
pressure of work is insane. Men are in
fever. They do not stop to think.
Things high and holy and noble are
brushed aside in the wild, mad scramble
of the hard, modern business world.
Men are driven to such an intense speed
that the moral point of view is lost. The
reaction from this results in dissipation
rather than amusement.
In the reaction from this debauchery
of body and soul sane amusement seems
almost an impossibility; hence the deg
radiation of our amusements in the cities
today. Our theaters wallow in filth.
They pander TO the gutter. They pander
to the Bowery. They pander to the vi
cious in high society and in low society,
and there is scarcely an exception. Gam
bling is rampant and opens its Thousand
doors to allure the young and to abso-
lutely destroy In this horrible pressure
Of life the social evil is intensified. Wom-
anhood in degradation becomes a mod
ern power for evil Saloons have null
tiplied not only in numbers, but in their
power for evil, in their attractions, in
the free table which they set, until it is
next to impossible for man with hon
est intentions in the lower walks of life
TO live in modern city and keep out of
these hell holes.
VILE LITERATURE IN OUR CITIES.
The reading matter which is provided
for this population is Of the most degrad-
ed character. 1t is thrust under the nose
Of the passing crowd. 1t is nailed upon
the bulletins in glaring colors. 1t is cir
culated among the young and the foolish,
the ignorant and the thoughtless, TO bear
its fruit of death from day TO day.
The influence in the higher circles of
society is irrational, materialistic, and
tends to destroy reverence, faith and the
stability of home and home ideals. The
people in our cities live in tenements,
live in overcrowded novels in which
dogs and hogs could not breed, and ex-
st through many generations. 1t is sim
ply physical impossibility for rational
and womanhood TO be born and
reared in such houses. in such streets,
md under such conditions as exist in
our modern cities. This fact is shown
N the deterioration of the working peo-
Die of the cities.
1t was found recently in London by
IN investigation that the Submerged
enth" of the population was not the ru-
al population which had come into Lon
Ion, but it was the population born in
london under modern conditions The |
who come in to fill the lower
walks Of life in our cities contain enough |
-igorous blood to fight their way over
he bodies of the weaker men and women |
# the city. Official corruption grows
pace in such life. In the midst of |
his the church is corrupted by the power
f the rich and conservative and is
sleep with its traditions.
am not pessimist do not believe |
n the triumph of evil. have not drawn
his dark picture because am in de-
pair, but we must face the facts. The |
ity today is destroying the character
nd the manhood of the nation. The |
modern city as at present constituted
oes not produce men and women cap
BILE of really fighting the battles of life
eriously and to successful issue. The
MODERN city cannot exist but for the
lood that pours into it from our rural
istricts, and this blood is consumed
rom day to day in this fiery furnace of
corrupt and corrupting life. You can
ot point out to me today in single
reat city of America a solitary man
orn under the conditions of modern
ity life whose influence counts for any
hing in this nations life today.
Phillips Brooks was born in Boston.
ut he was born in Boston fifty years
go, and Boston was struggling coun-
" village at that time as compared with
ne Boston of today. The modern city.
5 at present constituted, does not pro-
uce men. 1t cannot produce men. If
ley are born within it, they cannot be
Jared to vigorous manhood. The forces
nat destroy character are overwhelming
J compared with the forces that build
The doors that open to de-
ruction are hundred to one that open
II life. do not believe that there has
zen enough manhood born and reared
our modern cities within the past gem
.at io,1 fo save a Si1aula ono of them, f,.n,,,