The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1901-08-03

societies, secret and open. by their
fruits We shall know them Bad
societies make bad men. Good socie-
ties make good men. A bad man will
not stay in a good society. A good
man will not stay in a bad society
Then try all secret societies by two
or three rules.
Test the first; Their influence on
home, If you have a home. That wife
! soon loses her influence over her
1 husband who n~ervously and foolish
ly looks upon all evening absence as
an assault on domesticity, How are
| the great enterprises of reform and
ar, and literature and beneicence
and public veal to be carried on il
every man is to have his world bound
ed on one side by his front doorstep
and on the other side by his back
window, knowing nothing higher
| than his W attic or lower than his
own cellar? That wife who becomes
Jealous OF her husbands attention TO
art or literature or religion or chart
| ty is breaking her W scepter OF
coniugal power. l know an instance
where a wife thought that her hus-
band was giving too many nights to
Christian service, to charitable sery-
ice, to prayer-meetings and to reli-
gious con~vocation. She systematical-
~ %decoyed him away until o he
attends no church, waits upon no
| charitable institution and is on a
rapid way to destruction, his morals
gone, his money gone and, l tear, his
soul gone.
Here are six secular nights in the
week. what shall l do with them?"
says the father and the husband. II
will give four of these nights to the
improvement and entertainment Of
my family, either at home or in good
neighborhood. / will devote one to
charitable institutions. l will devote
one to my lodge" I congratulate
you. Here is a man who says: "0ut
of the six secular nights of the week
l will devote five to lodges and clubs
and associations and one TO the home.
which night I will spend in scowling
like q March squall, wishing l was
out spending it as | have spent the
other FIVE" That mans obituary Is
written. Not one u of ten thou
sand that ever get so far on the
wrong road ever stops. Gradually his
health will fail through late hours,
and through too much stimulants he
will be hrst-rate prey for erysipelas
and rheumatism of the heart.
The doctor coming in will at q
glance see il is not only present dis
Ease he must fight, but years OF fast
living. The clergyman, for the sake
Of the feelings OF the family, on the
funeral day will only talk in reli-
gious generalities. The men who got
his yacht in the eternal rapids will
not be at the obsequies. They have
pressing engagements that day. They
will send flowers to the coffin, will
send their wives to utter words OF
sympathy, bu. they will have engage
ments elsewhere. They never come.
Bring me mallet and chisel, and I
will cut that mans epitaph: BLESSED
are the dead who die in the Lord?"
"No," you say, that would not be
appropriate" "Let me die the death
of the righteous and let my last end
be like his?" "No," you say, shat
would not be appropriate" Then
give me the mallet and the chisel, and
/ will cut an honest epitaph: Here
lies the victim of dissipating associs-
tions!"
Another test by which you can find
whether your secret society is right
or wrong is the effect it has on your
secular occupation. 1 can understand
how through such an institution a man
can reach commercial success. l
know some men have formed their
best business relations through such
a channel. II the secret society has
iadvantaged you in an honorable call
ing. il is a good one. but has your
credit failed? Are bargain makers
now more anxious how they trust
you with a bale OF goods? Have the
men whose names were down in the
commercial agency Al before they
entered the society been going down
since in commercial standing? Then
look out. You and l every day know
of commercial establishments going
to ruin through the social excesses
of one or two members, their fortune
beaten to death with ball players bat
or cut amidships with the front Prov
Of the regatta or going down under
the swift hoofs of the fast horses
or drowned in the large potations OF
cognac or Monongahela. That secret
society was the Loeb Earn. Their
business was the Vile de Hayre.
They struck, and the Vile de Havre
went under!
The third test by which you may
know whether the society to which you
belong is good or bad is this: What Is
its effect on your sense Of moral and
religious obligation? Now, IL l should