The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-16
The Perquisites Of Sin.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY

BY JOHN d. BARRY.
When / told friend that intended to write
about the perquisites of sin, he was shocked. "You
surely aren't going to say anything that will make
sin seem attractive, are your" he said
Isn't sin in itself attractive?" l asked.
"Of course" he replied, with some uneasiness
But STILL
He did not finish. He was. you see, expressing
feeling none the less strong because it was
vague and hard to convey in words.
We all know that sin is attractive, some kinds
to some people, other kinds to other people.
Its attractveness explains why we are so afraid
of it and why we SO often take toward it what
seems to me to be false attitude.
This attitude we hear expressed in many ways.
One of the commonest is the betrayal among good
people of a certain envy of sinners.
1t suggests that the good people think the sim
ners have acquired something they would them
selves like to have. something they are obliged
to deny themselves by their refusal to sin.
The sinners know better.
They know that sin is not worth the return it
brings
They know that in itself it is penalty without
reference to the penalties it carries in its train
In this knowledge there is wonderful per-
qusite
l know man, who, according to our ways of
thinking would, if his life generally known,
be regarded as great sinner. In his way he is
a modern Don Juan. He has often talked with
quite frankly about his experiences. Once I
asked him, merely from curiosity, if he thought
his way of living really paid.
He looked at me sharply, almost angrily. "Of
course, it doesn't" he said
In spite OF his resentment, l persisted in the
10 e
| asked.
Certainly" he repeated, hardly able to restrain
his impotence at the absurdity of my question.
Another man OF similar habits of life became
seriously ILL., His doctor told him that unless
he completely changed his mode of living he would
die within few weeks. He sighed with relief
Then he said: What deliverancew
He meant that through his weakness of char
acter his vices had fastened themselves on him
and enslaved him.
Only the threat OF death could give him sufi-
cient incentive to fight for his release.
1t is the sinners who know from experience
that sin is slavery.
And they know that in sin there is no peace
and that in the qualification of sin there is dis
appointment and dsillusion.
All these things the good people know from
hearsay.
Many OF these people don't really believe the
reports. They arc among the most abject OF the
earth. They look out on the sins of the world
and they long to sin and they are prevented from
shining, not because they love goodness, but be-
cause they afraid.
They are not afraid of evil. Far from it In
their hearts they love evil They are afraid of
certain consequences of evil, of punishment not
directly related to the nature of evil but forced
into association with evil by public opinion.
One of the perqusites of sin is that it teaches
sinners the nature of evil And by such teach
ing it reveals the beauty of goodness
Often in the hearts of sinners there is deep
love of goodness fostered by the experience of
sin. 1t may persist while the sinner goes on sim
ming
Through shining it may grow stronger and
achieve wonderful humility.
Haven't you noticed how genuinely attractive
sinners often are?
When they frank in their SHINING, free from
pretensc, they are nearly always likablc.
1t is when they are hypocritical or brazen that
they rcpel To such fall none of the perquistes
of sin.
1t is notorious that many people, considered
good by others and by themselves, are the Sc
verest judges OF their fcllow-creatures, the most
ready to condemn.
There are good who in their moral
judgments achieve almost inhuman cruelty
On the other hand, there are sinners, who
through SHINING, have reached a Christ-like pa
lience with others, expressing itself in the kind Of
that can come only from perfect under
standing, from the power to feel with other sim
ncrs.
For they know that the state of shining is not |
Joyous but sad, that it is not to be condemned |
but to be ptied.
And this knowledge flowers into qualities that
n people about them cause amazement and mys-
iication |
These qualities are rare perquisites.
The Gold Import