The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-05-05
FALLOF ENGLAND
MAY BE RESULT
English Cleric Warns
Against Debauch of
Pleasure
BY REV. DIR. F. B. MEYER
(England's Leading Noncomformist
MiniSter)

..
Minister)
LONDON.-OurF atheriand is toe
dear. to us for any of her children to
tear the veil away from her blem-
ishes and expose them to the public
gaze, unless prompted by the sincere
desire of arousing her to be rid OF
them. 1t is ones love for Britain
and ones sense of her marvellous in.
fluence on the world that prompts
this effort to arrest her further
drift toward that slippery slope
down which all the great nations OF
the past have gone to their perdi.
ton.
Can any thoughtful person calmly
answer the following questions and
not confess that all is not well with
our nation at the present hour? =
Is it the noblest type of woman
hood to patronize, in evening dress,
the degrading brutality of a prize
fight and smoke cigarettes, while
two professionals, for heavy stakes
of money batter each other ito make
Roman holiday" Would Nurse Ca
veil or Florence Nightingale or the
ladies of the court of Queen Vic
toria have dresseI. fas these ladies'
dress and taken pleasure in their ex-
travagances? 49,
Is it the highest type of British
sport to allow it to become the per-
quisite of professionalism, attracted
by vast sums of money, while the
crowds stand round to watch, to bet,
to applaud, to condemn? Does it not
remind one of the gladiatorial shows
of the Colosseum, with the down.
turned thumb as the death signal?
Is it the best style of living which
is so set on gratifying the inveterate
crave for amusement that the mind
is diverted from the serious business
of life, either jaded by the reaction
of past excess or excited by the an
ticipation of the evening unending
dance or the weekend revel?
Was this the temper that made
the men and women of the May
flower, that built our English COM
that honored Words
worth, Tennyson and Rosetti? Is it
we'll, when the daily press teens
with divorce cases which fill the
judges with despair and titillate the
nauseous details?
Is it we'll, when the bulk of the
people appear to have no thought
of religion, no basis of morals, and
no sense of the other world save that
which is provided by "spiritism"
The greatest days of English his
tory--the days of Drake, Frobisher,
Sir Walter Raligh-were character
lied at least by the fear of God,
chivalry for women, and sworn en-
nifty for the devil, whom we mod
erns invoke in seances.
Is it well for vast combines, rings,
profiteers and class-war to hold up
and arrest the entire nation, extract
ing in many cases the life-blood of
the national well-being? That there
should be an equalized share of prof.
it as between capital and labor goes
without saying; but we have had ex-
periences lately which help to prove
that there is mischief in the national
blood which threatens our well-be-
ing.
Of course, there is much to be
thankful for. We have hundreds of
thousands of pure and noble men
and women of all classes who are as
salt in the midst of society 1t
would be bad for us all if there were
not remedial agencies at work. But
when the above questions are fairly
and squarely faced, is there not
room for fear the disease may spread
further through the body polite and
lead to it's decline and fall?