, 1899-12-18
THE SOCIAL EVIL
SERMON BY REV. F. T. KRUGER
ON THIS SUBJECT SUNDAY
MORNING.
Delivered at the Methodist Church to
a Large and Interested Audience
Rev. Kruger Deals in a General
Way with this Evil, It's Causes and
Effect and Suggests Remedies.

The New Testament standard Of so
cial purity.
Eye have heard that it hath beeI
said by them Of olden time, thou shall
not commit adultery; but l say unit
you, that whatsoever looketh upon
woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart.
Matthew 5-27,2S
1t was only after much hesitation ant
more prayer that I decided to presen'
to my congregation this theme thi!
morning. But in the light Of the re
cent agitation regarding the bawdy
houses, / have concluded that its pre-.
s%entation was a moral necessity. Or
the other hand, no man Of culture ant
refinement can mediate upon the sub
ject, to say nothing Of presenting 1t tt
a mixed congregation, without feeling
the deepest pain and most awful re,
sponsibility. This movement touches
not only those poor outcasts, whose
place of existence is on First street; II
touches the entire community, and not
only this community and county, but
homes that perhaps are thousands OF
miles away.
AS DR.. Kerr B. Taper has said: at
is a painful theme, beneath it is always
a ceaseless undertone of sadness and
sorrow. 1t is a broad theme, touching
the broadcast circles, relating as it does
to body, mind and spirit, to family, ma
tion and church, to life, death and eter-
nifty. 1t is a high theme. reaching up
to heaven, where, by and by, In Gods
mighty presence. all Of us gathered
here, and all men OF every kindred and
tongue, and tribe and people. the world
over, must give an account for the
deeds done in the body. 1t Is a deep
theme, reaching down to hell, where
whatsoever of sin a man has sown
here shall be reaped, unless he change
his harvest before death changes his
relations. Indeed, in all the realm Of
human thinking l know of no subject
that requires more sympathy and care
in its thought and treatment than does
that which this moment arrests our at
tention and demands our %considera-
ton.
But few times before have l presented
this great theme from pulpit or plat
form, and then always with fear lest
II one un-Christian Or unguarded word
were spoken, more harm than good
should result. To speak upon this sub,
ject with manly precision, and, at the
same time, with original modesty re-
Quires the wisdom Of a SocraOs and
Solomon, the inspiration Of an Isaiah
and Paul, and the authority Of the Mas
ter. / therefore need your careful at
tention and earnest prayers that l may
stand here this morning in Christ's
stead, beseeching men, and that the
word may be his and not mine.
Many Of the largest cities through
out our union have carried IN cam
paigns against immortality and vice
similar to the one Just begun in our
city. New York city, even after the
Herculean work reformed by DR.. Park
hurst and secretary, Colonel, General.
Governor Roosevelt, is cursed with po-
litical corruption and Tammany ring
rule. Chicago is still the hot-bed Of
anarchy and Haymarket riots: MEL
waukee and Cincinnati are the seats
Of the home-blighting, soul-destroying,
God-cursing breweries, while all the
land is cursed with the curse of curses,
the sin Of sins, social vice. Nor is the
curse confined to one class and to the
young men Of city and county; those
who at the marriage altar took upon
themselves the most sacred and bind
ing obligation, are among the guilty.
want this morning to consider three
phases of the problem. The crime, the
auses and the remedy.
THE CRIME.
In the light Of Gods word, unchas-
tity is a most heinous crime. On Sinai's
cloud covered peaks, God gave to his
people Israel, In words not to be mis-
understood, this commandment, Thou
shalt not commit adultery" But lest
they forget" lest the law be destroy
ed, he took from the foundation of the
everlasting hills the tables Of stone,
and upon these he wrote his law. Open
any portion Of Gods word and the
thunderings Of Sinai are repeated In the
fullest and most awful measure. In the
light Of scripture and of reason there
is no sin among men thai is 80 brutal
and so british, none 80 sensual and so
%sensuous, none 80 inexplicable and in
excusable, none bearing such a blight
to society at large, and the individual
in particular, as that OF unchastity."
Look II you will at the condition Of
France before the revolution. The
Merrgau of Argenson, said to have been
one Of the most estimable. men Of his
time. wrote marriage, that monstrous
obligation, which will surely 60 out of
fashion" He wished that marriage
should become like q lease-contract
which could be entered into In Octo-
Der and given up In January. free I'M
ion being much more favorable to the
race" I firmly believe that this low
plane of morals was one Of the chief
causes of the revolution. To this same