The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-05-06
MODERN REFORMERS
The Rev. Charles Vail Tells
How to Better the World
Without Tearing 1t
to Pieces.
SELF INTEREST IN THE WAY
DR.. Scudder Tells of His Trip to
Jordan - Bergen Reformed's
Twenty-first Anniversary.
ELF INTEREST IN THE WAY

The Rev. Charles Vail preached in the
First Universalist Church last evening
upon Reforms and Reformers." Mr..
Veil said in part
"a man will always be a reformer,
that is, a full. complete man, conscious Of
his position and the relation in which he
stands to the past, present and future;
he will always be engaged in some di-
~rection. in some department of life, in
helping the world to be better, in re-
forming and remaking existing things
into higher and finer things. The ideal
III this, of course, would be that there
should be no reform in the sense of tear
ing down and rebuilding. Human in-
stitutions of every kind. il we could only
reach the ideal. would be flexible and
would grow like a tree. A tree being
"a living organism. at least up to a certain
period in it's development, keeps its bark
flexible. so that it can expand from
within, become larger. and at the same
time keep it's old form.
This is a perfect ideal of the balance
between the conservative and radical
forces that underliegthe life of the world
in every department. There must be
enough of the conservatism to keep the
form, and then. if We could have this
SGOttSCI fdtiSAA ASAloAC SitOdSh AAoHS
way for the radical force of growth,
then you would have an ideal condition
of affairs.
stBut this has rarely been attain d in the
history of the world. The conservative
forces forget that there is any place for
the radical, and so do their utmost to
keep things as they are, until the new
life gets so strong as to sweep away all
no rrj oro. q md than fhara 10 q roUQII1ti0n
and what we call reform" MI. Vail then
noticed several human characteristics
n tendencies that help to produce this
condition of affairs-the natural love and
reverence for that to which we have be-
come accustomed. the sense of loyalty
to what has come to b. regarded as
infallible truth. These were amply IL
Illustrated. Continuing he said
SELF-INTEREST IN THE WAY.
ssAnother thing that stands in the way
of reform, not only in religion. but in
the Industrial world. is self-interest. Men
and corporations and institutions get SO
linked in with the existing order that it
is for their interest to keep that order
fixed; so they oppose any change, how
ever helpful it may be to humanity at
large.
And then there is another thing we
need to notice in this connection, and
that is that we are naturally lazy. There
the inertia of the COMFORTABLE people.
We are fairly well off. They do not like
to be disturbed; There may c9me ut to
are in need, but it is SO easy to sit still;
and SO difficult. not only to consent to
6igt dls5ar1e yo;ur nuf 70 I 0 wonder O som ct nes
enabled to take a Step forward. Let Us
note now some of the dangers in this
In the first place the man who becomes
in dead earnest to bring about some new
ing the evils that he attacks. He must
impress the world with the necessity Of
having this particular thing. done, and
colors. He is apt to set forth his belief
that this one thing is the most threaten,
ing and dangerous svi il IN n, the .na,, world Sa a. a tha
road to the millennium. Now, it is pos
sible to carry this matter so far as to
dia n sgR s9s OF Fo TaE REFoRMERs.
Some reformerg are constantly crying
that the world is growing worse and
l Mafse' heart al to Undertake axe to se cure it. I
should feel that the universe was against
me. and that the best thing could do
comfortable as possible and let things
matter Of exaggeration 50 far as to. dis.
sCOQfd&G IA6 WOIlQ Ntid Cte8SC oi @t
pessifnism which makes people feel that
little can be done. Then there is the
stand and misreprssent. M &c ma liz
him, James Russell Lowell a in one
of his letters that he nevsr. knew
guard. And there certainly is q tendency
on the part of most men to mahsn those
There re- is 4 danger ses e fsl hleeonfhtn nina r naF r.
We and God against the world, and all
'oth1r people are either knayes or fo4ls;
people who are opposed to US On even
the most important questions may bs
personally sweet and good and true.
Fight the evil. fight for the principle,
is also the danger to the reformer him
self, the great price he has to pay. It
he who dared to question the institutions
and religious. beliefs of his time has had
to do SO at the price, not only of liberty,
but often of life.
FROM THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY.
From the beginning of historS he
who dared to proclaim a higher ideal of
49, -