THE MILLENNIUM NOT DAWNING YET.
By Wm. Penniman
The great metropolis of the western continent, with its schools of learning, its churches, its commercial advantages, should be a beacon light, not only to the western continent, but to the nations of the earth; yet it has become so wicked it is a wonder that the judgments of God do not descend upon it as they did upon Sodom. It is only because there are a few righteous in the city that it is not destroyed. The Morning recently speaks as follows of some of its terrible sins:— “New York has its ‘regions below’—regions infernal, down steep, slimy steps, in basements stretching far away under ground, and divided into apartments where debauchery of all forms revels nightly, where the victims of temptation and sin hold loathsome orgies, where robbery is safe from the eye of justice, and where murder leaves no bloody footprints. The glare of gas-light and sounds of revelry come up from these hells; painted, gaudily-dressed creatures flit past the open doors; and unsuspecting youth, gay and thoughtless, reared in the lap of luxury and refinement or in the quiet retreat of country homes, go down those steps into the company of the vile, to be tainted in soul; and to continue to go down, down, the steps of moral depravity till ruin and the grave shall finally end their career. Reckless men of all grades go down there. “There are no restraints of shame or law. The policemen saunter back and forth, well knowing that crime in every form is there committed; they march lazily along, swinging their maces, badges of their official character, stopping occasionally to hob-nob with the proprietors or to dally with a favorite; they make the corners ring the ‘All’s well!’ by a brisk thump on the pavement—and that is all. None are restrained from entering the sinks of pollution, no crime is prevented, no criminal brought to justice. “If any complaint be made to them of robbery, they mockingly inform the victim that he had no business to enter such a place; and so the revelry goes on, night after night, year after year—a disgrace to civilization and humanity, unrestrained by law, and unchecked by the sentiment of the community. No picture drawn from the most degrading practice of barbarous nations could half equal in revolting hideousness what actually transpires in this city of free schools, gorgeous churches, and marble halls of commerce. “The peal of the church bell and the sounds of bestial revelry from these cloisters of shame blend in sad discord—when above are the symbols of enlightenment and Christianity, while below are the insignia of Satanic excrescences. “How long shall these things be? Is there a day of accountability? Is there a just God? When shall the apathy that prevails in the community and the halls of Congress towards the poor and lowly emigrant cease? When shall justice prevail, and just laws be enacted and administered? When shall those who seek our shores be brought over in American ships under the protection of influences and regulations established by a people imbued with humanity and a high sense of the scope of free institutions? Until a radical change takes place in the public sentiment in sympathy with which our law-makers act, these hells will continue to be a link between shame and the grave—a foul blot on our national character, a disgrace to humanity, a mock to Christianity, a king-demon that revels in the ruin of the innocent, and shouts in triumph over the souls plunged downward into darkness and despair.”