Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-26
HE FLAYS THE PHAR|SEES Dr. Cunningham's Notable Ad-
 dress to Young Men. HIS SCINTILLANT SARCASM Is Tempered by Spontaneous Eloquence and How Municipality May Sin Sorely.
 Words That Burn

Since man began, whether his begin ming was in the garden of Eden or at the completion of the evolution of pre-his- toric ages, ascending, as we believe in the orthodox view of his creation, or the doctrine of evolution, he has been sick, physically, mentally and morally. To attain for him the highest possible stand ard of health mentality and morality has been the object of all science, philos- ophy and theology. That the achieve ment in this direction is far short of the ideal, or even the essential, is apparent to all. Therefore it follows that up to this time there has not been discovered and provided an acceptable sure cure for his physical, mental and moral abarra- tions. Perfection in this world would be the acquisition by the finite of in- finite attributes. The unchangeable alone is perfect, therefore God only is perfect. All things changeable are per ishable, therefore imperfect. Man changes from the moment of his con- ception until he shall have returned, dust to dust, ashes to ashes. Between these two extremes he is subject to natural law and environment, with such mod.- fications of the latter as the civilization in which he lives works out. What has been accomplished in this direction can
  condition today with what 1t was at the period of primeval man and the virgin world.
 But up to this time there has not been discovered an elixir of life that makes the body immortal philosophers stone" that gives the mind omniscience, nor theology that makes sinless soul. Hence it follows that when we speak of a cure for physical, mental or moral evil we mean a restoration to the highest pos sible standard of physical, mental and moral attainment. That the world is far below this attainable standard is un fortunately too true, and is therefore physically, mentally and morally sick. The last-the moral probem-concerns us alone this afternoon.
 In any case of sickness we want to know: CD The cause; @ it's effects upon structure and functions; (3) the symptoms and signs which demonstrate it; (4) the remedy. Causes of sickness are divided into two great classes, to-wit: CD The predisposing; @ the essential or exciting. Predisposing causes are d. vided into the inherited and acquired. The first is transmitted from our ances- try; the last we bring on ourselves. The essential or exciting are as varied as the desires to which flesh is subject. To ap- ply this classification of causes of phys ical sickness to moral sickness we find that the inherited predispostion is uni versal, for in Adam all die. It stands to reason that this universal predispOsition to moral sickness is equal in each indi- vidual. It would be illogical to conclude that Adams sin is specially and particu- larly inherited in a constitutional form by the different races, nationalities. com munities and individuals. No one has inherited specially poisonous dose of original sin. This being the case, then, we have to look for other causes for the differences that exist in moral depravity that we find in different races, nationali- ties, communities and individuals. That such differences exist is undeniable. The explanation is to be found in the acquired predisposition and in the exciting causes that lead to greater racial, national and individual moral depravity. For them original sin is not responsible. They re- suit from a races, nations or indiyiduafs own doings; therefore such race nation or individual is clearly responsible. These acquired causes may be centuries in forming To illustrate: It is decreed that all must die; hence death is uni- versal inheritance. But it Is not decreed that all will die of tuberculosis, gout or measles, or by violence. These are the results of acquired and special causes operating upon individual cases. Medt- cal science and skill cannot abolish the final end in death of all. but it can and has accomplished wonders in prolongng life and raising the average longevity by preventive and curative measures.
 TO prevent all cadSeS Ol uedti Wohiu be to endow life here with immortality; this of course is impossible. To prevent all sin would be to blot out the inher- itance of original sin, thus creating moral perfection; this is also impossible. There- fore, what we have to consider Is the acquired and exciting causes of moral sickness. These may be generally classed into racial national. governmental. local and individual. Each of them has it's own standard of moral health. What would be considered sound in one would be considered very sick by another. Thus the Turk sees no moral sickness in kill ing Armenian Christians while the Flu ropean Christian saw no moral sickness in stealing Africans and selling them as slaves; the heather Chinaman sees no moral sickness in killing American Chris tians, while the American Christian sees no moral sickness in killing or driving out the Chinamen who come here to com pete with his labor. A great government sees no moral sickness in overpowering a lesser one If 1t can gain by such action more than it would lose in another; or by tariff or know-nothing legislation that specially benefits its own people. regard. less of it's effects upon other peoples.
 A state sees no moral sickness in li- censing traffic that results in drunken ness, at the same time making public drunkenness crime and crimes commit ted while thus drunk punishable by fine. prison or death, or by it's system of crim- inal management means of revenue for itself and the host of court house followers regardless of health or life of its criminals. A city sees no moral sick