When one turns from a view of the magnitude of these giant evils,
fostered by our social conditions, to a contemplation of the great
moral power resting in the hands of the Christian ministry, he may
well ask whether the nineteenth century clergy of the palatial, stone,
heaven-piercing, turreted temples are not _materialists_, on whose
souls the life and teachings of their reputed Master work no greater
spell than they did with the Sadducees of old, who regarded that great
life, burning at white heat with moral enthusiasm and holy love, as a
troublesome interloper, a disturber of religion and society worthy of
death. With a few noble exceptions,--who are bravely battling for
justice, for the poor, and for the light to be thrown into the dark
places, our city clergymen merit arraignment at the bar of
civilization for burying their talents, for trifling away the power
which has been given them as standard bearers of the cause of human
brotherhood and universal justice; for truckling to wealth and
cringing before a cynical and supercilious element who, by an unhappy
chance, wield some influence and succeed in making the superficial
imagine they represent popular sentiment and culture. It is a crying
shame to-day, that with the magnificent intellectual power and
influence swayed by the great divines who preside over the wealthy
temples of Boston, there should be such frightful wretchedness within
cannon shot of their churches and the homes of their wealthy
parishioners; or that with the brilliancy and power represented in the
pulpit of Chicago, there should be such iniquity flourishing
unrestrained as depicted in "Chicago's Dark Places." Whether the
clergy can be aroused to recognize its duty and be touched by the
world of wretchedness and sin sufficiently to dare to assail our
present evil condition, is a question of vital importance, inasmuch as
it wields a vast moral influence. Unto the clergy much has been given,
and if its members believe the impressive declaration of their great
Leader, from them much will be demanded. _Their responsibility is as
great as their apathy is marked_; an indifference which springs from
timidity or ignorance. If from timidity or fear that honesty of
thought and a brave unmasking of evil conditions would cost them their
positions, they have no right to bear aloft the banner of Him who
rejected all life's comforts, all honor of the rich and cultured,
respect, power, and popularity; who, turning His back at once on ease
and conventional thought, chose to live without a roof, save the azure
dome, that by mingling among the poor, the sin-diseased and miserables
of his people, He might ease their suffering, bring sunshine into
their darkened and wretched abodes, and lift them from the sewers of
animality into the pure health-giving and soul-inspiring atmosphere of
true spirituality. If on the other hand (and I believe this is the
chief reason), our clergymen are _ignorant of the deep degradation and
the dire want_ which is flourishing within cannon shot of their homes,
they are treating with culpable contempt the life and teachings of
Jesus, who constantly mingled with this class, never weary in seeking
to aid them, and who taught so solemnly and impressively that His
mission was "_to seek and to save those who were lost, to preach the
Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach liberty to
the captives, and opening the prison to them that are bound, and to
comfort all that mourn_."