Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1893-10-20
Both False and Dangerous.

unspotted from the world. l., q.
A certain very rspulsivs theory ofmorals
manages to make its appearance once in
every generation, but is quickly hissed of
the stage by the common sense of honest
men and women.
1t impudently assets that . soul should
make the acquaintance of sinful pleasures
in order to reach high spiritual level;that
lust and even crime are God ordained
gymnasium in which the large hearted
man may become robust and morally mus
cular; that the deeper one has sunk IN vice
the more he would appreciate virtue; that
it is high and solemn duty to explore the
hell of . depraved life in order to get .
true estimation of the value of heaven.
This clownish logic rsappears from time
to time just as comets do, robes itself in
such tattered garments of plausibility as
it can command. sets rogues a-wondering
if they can find therein some excuse for
their vulgarity, brings bushes of shame to
every honorable cheek, and then SINKS
away as q nightmare does when one wakes
up.
Mr.. Oscar Wilde has constituted himself
the apostle of this gospel of filth. In his
ignorance of history he assumes to look up
on tho theory ss startlingly original and
gives utterance to q series of plstitudes
which he chooses to regard as novel ideas
He is mistaken, however, in supposing
that he has made discovery. As well
might the British tourist who visits the
Mammoth Cave for the first time write to
the leading journals Of the country that he
has found something that human eyes
have never seen before; for the problem OF
sin-why in the providence of paternaa
Deity it is permitted to exist-has been
discussed ever since man recognized him
self as q tree agent, and the theological
maniacs of every century have iterated
and reiterated the nonsense in which MI.
Wilde INDUCES.
Sin 10 to be avoided, not cultivated. One
gets all the spiritual exercise he needs in
combating the sturdy and cunning temp
tations of life. 1t is not necessary to spend
ones youth in cesspool in order to appre-
ciate the pure air above ground in his man
hood. The injunction of revealed law is
not to befoul yourself with tar that you
may understand the beauty OF cleanliness
but to preserve your cleanliness by never
touching tar with the tips of your fingers.
Tie man who is reeking with lust is not
acquiring knowledge which will be valu-
able to him by and by. The poor victims
who went to heaven from the Black Hole
of Calcutta would not have looked back on
those dismal days as satisfactory if they
had happened to escape death.
Tell your boys that they will make bet
ter men by indulging in ell sorts of crimi-
nal license, that the deeper down they fall
the higher they will climb in after life, and
the chances are million to one that you
will lose the boys. Tell your girls that sin
is simply school in which to lesrn purity,
encourage them to take long draughts of
immortality on The grounds that God has
put sin into the world for our spiritual ad-
vantage. and your theory will result in
womanhood without honor and broken
heart tor yourself.
We are face to face here with severely
practical theory Of education-namely, that
q sometime indulgence in vice helps one to
be good and heroic and noble. If that be
true, the outcasts of the city need only to
repent and they will become better women
than our mothers and sisters whose souls
have never been soiled. If that be true,
the penitent pickpocket or murderer has q
very valuable experience and will make o
better angel than the man who has kept
himself unspottsd from the world.
The Scriptures tell US different story.
While there is renewing mercy for man or
woman who has fallen into the mire, and
while God looks with plying pardon on
the besmeared soul that is washing itself
with tears, it In thousand times true that
the man who has maintained his personal
integrity in spite of evil environment has
fought the better fight and achieved the
grander victory. We are not here to sur
render to sin, but to conquer it, and the
maintenance Of q white character against
the odds of temptation indicates the lof-
test manhood of which human nature is
capable.
There is but one rule-nsmely, to have
an ideal at the start, and to be loyal to it
to the end; TO put aside evil thoughts and
deeds for the same reason that you refuse
to swallow poison; in other words, to make
q clean record for yourself by doing your
duty in the world and keeping yourself un-
spotted from its stains.-New York Her.
aid.