The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-05-15

Rev. A. r. Hussey Declares II Gauss
OF Church's Weakness.

IIulAIu1uSss III EHSL uuCpCA0rAl
Christ;s Church, Charles and Franklin
streets last Sunday morning, he said
in part:
The basis of society is mutual trust.
and confidence. The keystone OF the
social arch is good faith. Our national
success and prosperity would be inn
possible if the vast majority Of our fell
low-citizens were o honest and up
right. If fair play were not the rule
IL transactions were not chdrac-,
terized by probity and honorable deal
ings on the part Of all concerned, q,
collapse of business would everywhere
take place. It is because the majority
of Americans are fair-minded and vsr-I
acious that n lapse from the stand-l
ard Of customary morals becomes at
once conspicuous.
Yet the old order chargeth, givingl
place TO new The passing years make
constant readjustment necessary. And
jim the struggle and contention OF
new occasions there is always danger,
Of progress bringing with it the neg
lect Of virtues hitherto we'll proved. The.
American of today lives at a pace so
GREATNESS; his zeal for money making.
is so intense, while his disposition.
is so tolerant and easy-going that he is
apt TO become selfish, and INSCRIPTIONS:
and material. And this self-same spir-I
it of materialism is apt to show itself
in the habit Of growing untruthfui-,
ness.
ITO many persons are in the habit
of telling polite lies, and SO growing
accustomed to blurring the vision OfI
the actua truth. AS life becomes
more complicated our powers Of dis
elimination tend 70 weaken. b lncli-
nation toward falsehOod will creep III.
Only think how the custom haSI
spread! How many letters are written!
which contain not one word of trutnl
beyond the date and signature! How
many condolences and congratulations
are exchanged, which are not worth
| the paper they are writer on! How
many persons there are whose words
are most agreeable, but who from
knowledge we instructively distrust!
And the chief Of evils of all such in
truthfulness lies in its furtherances of
great evil. Habitual falsity of this
kind leads inevitably to laxity and
moral decay. 1t vitiates the entireI
moral system.
Something of the harvest of lies
from this sowing of moral indifference
is already appearing in our midst. The
man who has never learned to make
nice distinctions between right and
wrong is the man likely to swear false
ly before custom-hOuse officials O. keep
much of his property from the know
ledge Of tax assessors.
HDyI 70, auxr fhin1 Of rho riGi.l
culously small taxes paid by persons
Of gJea wealth in proportion to what
they actually possess To the shame
of cur civilization be it said that the
expenses of government are to a great.
extent paid out of the pockets of theI
small taxpayers and persons of mod
crate means while through favoritism|
or Sinking of responsibility the large
property owners and great corporations
escape substantially scOt-free.
And this same habit Of unconscious
perjury has also the effect of creating
a spirit Of contempt to law. The law
breakers of America are not all found
among the roughs and footpads and
lynchers who shun the light of day.
Many of them are most respectable
gentlemen, who sit in gOrgeously aD-
pointed Offices and loot the public a.:
their leisure from any quarter under
heaven.
Not long ago one of these men,
summoned to testify in a Federal Court
exhibited cool insolence and contempt
for law beyond belief. He plainly
showed that of the nature of an oath
he had no devereHce whatever; his
perjury was open and candid through
out.
And another sphere into which this
sane habit of dishonesty has pene-
trs al is the church. The custom OF
cree subscription is of an evil
than my of us realize. The greater
part o. he churches comprising Amer
lean Christeldom are burdened with
creeds made many years ago, regarded
as permanent and Interchangeable safe
ments of truth. Nothing can be added
to them Or taken away. And h re-
suit is that the natural progress and
expansion of human thought produces
in these churches a sensation of wide
spread discomfort. Among clergy and
laity the habit becomes general Of
making mental reservations, of saying
one thing and meaning another, until
the condition is reached wherein con-
sistency and intellectual honesty are
no longer sought for.
"Clergymen take upon themselves
vows which they cannot literally obey;
while laymen repeat together cTeeds
which they can only acknowledge by
rejecting all meaning which their lang
uage plainly intended them to convey.
In the letter. 10 all outward appear
ances. they are good churchmen, and
strictly orthodox. In their hearts
| they are liberals and hetradox. They
are engaged in the sorr business of try
ing to be conservative and progressive
at the same time.
And just here we put our fingers
upon the real cause of the churcn'sl
present weakness. The modern church
exerts but a small part of its influence,
because so many Of its adherents find
themselves in this uncomfortable TO-