Show THE GOOD OLD OID OI D TIMES A german contributor to landl land und meter meer quoted by the literary digest has found it impossible to designate any particular time in the history of men as the good old time the supposed loss of which so many bewail he finds that every age has its own aches and pains as well as its comforts and pleasures and that the advantages of our time should not be underrated the author takes hla his readers back step by step and shows by literature of the past centuries that the present admittedly deplorable conditions are by no means peculiar to the close of the nineteenth century A quarter of a century ago the Evange lische kirchen wrote every one Is anxious to get rich quickly and without working in our times this craving after wealth rapidly acquired demoralizes society more than anything else fifteen years earlier some philosopher exclaimed now at last when immorality i increasing at such a frightful rate a reform movement is begun to reduce the evil it is terrible carnal pleasures are followed by every one and they all want to make money no matter how in 1846 lashman complained about the materialistic tendency of the time and in 1822 a freiherr von stein said the country is overpopulated our industries are too rapidly progressing there is much overproduction and we live too well in 1807 it was stated that the feverish chase after money and profit rules our times frederick the great complained that he was tired of ruling people with the minds of slaves and in 1739 albrecht haller haher wrote that the hearts A of our citizens the very marrow of the state is hollow and rotten during the thirty years war it is no surprise to learn that murder highway robberies bloody feuds and arson are defiling the country but it is less known that at the time of the reformation close observers found the people blind to their own good with the lust of gain increasing A picture of those times Is given in the legislation enacted an ordinance of the city of magdeburg 1605 1505 begins thus in consideration of the fact that the manners and the appearance of the people have of a verity changed much it is further gathered from this ordin ance that the people indulge in filthy habits want of order a desire to make a show irreligiousness violation of the sunday laws disregard of the sacredness of an oath and disobedience generally to the authorities similar conditions seem to have existed all through the dark age As early as A D calvian writes lowthe How the wealthy of our times rob the poor and ruin the country Is best known to the spanish provinces of whom the name alone remains and to the african provinces which axe are ruined and gallia which has been devastated va 1 ancient history too abounds with testimony of a similar character imperial rome soon found agriculture declining superstition rampant and bad f morals pre prevailing vallin cato thundered against the im immorality of his time Poly polybius blus the grecian complained of corruption and the waste of public funds of poverty of childless marriages and the ruin of the country suggests that colonies be founded where tramps may be employed demosthenes declared would not believe a famous general even under tinder oath and us charges his co temporaries with greed and immorality As am fax far back as history goes similar expressions are on record proving that the good old time always existed as a conception of an ideal rather than as a reality unless before the fall different conclusions may no doubt be justified from these statements they seem to imply that mankind remains morally pretty much at the same level and that whenever a downward tendency becomes too apparent moral forces are set in acteon to counteract it and restore the equilibrium our age is not worse probably than former ages there Is some borne consolation in this but it is not entirely satisfactory the possibility of progress towards a higher plane Is apparent to all and its realization has ever been the exalted theme of mor alises the aim of reformers the vision of seers the lesson of history however is that such an elevation of th the e tace race to ia possible only when educational efforts shall be directed towards the Te generation of the individual by no other means is it possible to redeem deem the race from the conditions complained of in every age since the days aya of the hieroglyphics of ancient egypt |