The herald., 1896-12-28
CLEANLINESS AND GOODNESS
Some Terse Remarks From the Cougre.
gationalist Pulpit
DR.. Mclean Makes Some Comments on the
Laws Of Los Angeles
0r. Wilson Considers the Condescen
sion OF the Saviour-Thoughts Of
City Congregations Directed to
the First Christians.

At the Universalist church yes
terday morning Rev. Mr.. Rice took for
his text, "Be thou clean"-Luke ", 13,
the subject Of his address. which, in
substance was as follows, being A Clean
Sweep Of Evil:
Overindulgence Of repugnance at un-
clean men and places is not for our
profit or their betterment. That our
disgust for such is often so great as to
make them more unclean and our bur-
den greater Is we'll illustrated in the late
action Of parties in Boston, Mass, who
by law desired to relegate the saloon to
the North End, or the slums. and thus
depraved humanity be made doubly de-
praved. History everywhere records
that mans mandate to his less fortu-
nate brother is BE thou filthy" All the
more clearly ring out the words of Jesus:
BE thou clean" Filthiness, ignorance
and immortality form an unholy trinity
and have ever been boon companions.
Regarding the first of these, it is in
variably found in excess among the
lower classes, and must be removed ere
we can proceed to greater reforms. How
ever Illogical, yet we believe it true, that
then f1lthiness Is akin to devilishness
A low grade of life inevitably follows
uncleanness of person and surroundings.
To abolish the slums, which are de-
scribed as dirty back streets in a city,"
there must be a cleansing from their
cutters to the very person of him whose
home Is adjacent. Dirty streets are not
a necessity, when for a little pay, brig
ades of shovels and brooms would spirit
the dirt away. Clean houses would be the
rule and not the exception, were taxes
remitted or prizes given for weekly
cleansings> Free baths, erected and
made popular by right methods, would
go far toward making cleanly the deni-
zens Of the slums. These and other
agencies would clear the way for our
second and greater duty of purifying
the mind.
The great burden lies upon us because
of both lack Of mind power and wrong
trend, OF mind in the downfallen, and to
change their tendency we must first
close the old avenues of education. The
saloon and its kind strike straight from
the shc'4lder at mans brain and lead
him an ignis fatuus chase into the dark
ness Of animalisin. The night affords
covering for unholy thoughts and gives
liberty for a wrong bent Of mind. Why
not ring curfew bell? To replace these
wrong agencies, is there no virtue in the
Kindergarten, the manual training
school and the reading room?
But the moral cleansing is paramount
to all. Idleness is the progenitor of i'm
morality; idleness is the chief industry of
the slums Satan finds some mischief
still for idle hands to do" Who shall
buffd manufactures for the employment
of these idle? What force compelled
them to daily labor? Saloon once more; /;
breeding place of all evil; instigator of
all misery; center of hell's universe. May
it be consumed by its own fire. In it's
stead may other places Of resort exist,
to hold all appetites in normal condi-
ton. When such reforms are made per-
manent in heredity, the victory is COM
plete.