The Belmont chronicle, and farmers, mechanics and manufacturers advocate. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1848-1855, 1853-07-29
THE SOCIAL DEGREE.

band Of sisters and brothers TO aid the pro- :
motion and advancement Of great moral re-
form. Nor is il for the promotion of one
moral reform, alone, but for the Advancement
Of every plan offered for the amelioraiion of
the condition OF fallen man In commencing
this address, do not imagine for moment
that will be able to offer anything new on
90 hackneyed theme as this,nor do expect
to throw any new light on the already glow
ing pathway of the philanthropic Templar;
still, in compliance with that appalling re-
solution here goes for something.
In glancng over our little circle, an out
sider would naturally inquire
"Why are you met together thus in secret
conclave! Have you any selfish motives--any
worldly ends to accomplish that you thus
seclude yourselvesr'
To the doubling inquirer trus: we are all
able to say--ours is not a selfish nor world
ly motive-but as we were coming up TO the
secluson Of our Lodge-room, we saw, lying !
with the swine in the gutter, our father our bro
iher& s. our husband; there he lay with less in
telect than the brute. He had fallen among
thieves and they had despoiled him OF all his !
God-given talents, and left him to perish by
the wayside. The priest and the Levite-the
man of the world and the pretended philan'
thropist--passed him by on the other side
and we are here to pour the oil and wine of
consolation and reformation into his gaping
vounds-raise him from his degradation, and
bid him live once more, in all the glory.
the strength, the virtue and the dignity of a
man.
Another question selfish persons are prone
10 ask;-"Why all this sympathy with the
fallen! Are you paid for it!' Ny ana,hc-
mas on your puny soul!-No! we are not paid
for it; and will tell as near as possible why
we do these things. We do not date our
origin from Ancient Greece or ROme-their
schools Of Philosophy, the archives OF their
Temples present no such noble institution as
ours. Their societies were for the improve
mcnt Of the temporal man--ours goes farther
aud grasps the immortal soul to reacuei it from
its degradation. But our origin does date far
back beyond the golden agG-larther back
than the Age of Brass or lron--back through
the Dark ages--back almost twenty centuries
back over the ruins Of lofty mausolcms and
costly otaphs--through what were once
powerful empires, but now bowling wasies.-
Roll back the waves Of timc--bru,h of the
dust Of centuries, and SEQ from whence we
sprung. In tracing our origin we are brought
to the manger of Bethlehem-that lowiy bed
"whcre our infant Rcleemcr was laid" From
the pages OF inspiration-irom the life, agony
and death Of Christ we draw our chief en-.
couragmcnt. At Christ's advent he gave an
impetus to the human soul never before fcl.
and to that impetus we owe our present or
ganza,on. Let US then always be thankful
that the reflection of his glory has cndurcd
unto our time and that we ore permitted to
bask in It's genial says
As the subject Of my lecture is Temperance
or inieAiEerdRcc if you Wilt would probably
be well to ask--What is intemperance! II
what consists its great evil! All answer
"See the drnnkurd! with disfgured lacc ant
tattcrcd gnrments-he spends his earnings
for rum and thus impovershcs his family
Not SO fast my dear tricnds--that is not IN
temperance--sickness will produce all these
cvls-Sickness often mars the human face
most fearuy--t requires all ones money to
pay for medical attendance and thus the
victim is impoverished This then is not
peculiarly Of indulgence in drinking. There
is something far worse. Intempcrance is
snning against u nober part than the mere
outward man; it Is a SHINING against ia,
inner man--the vital principle--thc dis
tinguishng feature between mun g. brute
After frequent indulgences in strong drink til,
drUnkard sees upon his face Il handwriting
more fearful than that which APPALLED, Bclshuz
zar--and forerunner Of u death more awlu
than that which overlook that an. ut protect
or of profanation. 1t is written in language
too, so plain that "he who runs may reud."
We have all listened to the lecturer wher
he would rouse Us to action, depicting il
feuriully distinct colors the external appear
ance OF the drunkard They conjure up
creature before whose hot and fiery breath
boodshot eyes-blistered lips-and trembling
torterng step, you shrink apalied
You press your fingers upon your starting
oyebulls To shut out the vision, and groun in
very agony at the recital This is all right
it is right that the profNncr OF Gods gifts
should be thus singled out us monument OF
divine wrath. When God made man he
gave him his own image in his soul, but he
also demanded of him that he keep that
image pure and undeiiled, aud that he would
not hold him guiltlcss who would dare pros
trate that image. The waste depicted upon
the drunkard's incc is fearful yet it is only u
feeble type of the spiritual waste within,
Therefore instead of looking at these out
ward evidences as mere effect of drinking
and nothing more--we should look at them
as they really are; as evidence of the respect
God entertains for his own image in the soul,
manifested by destroying that image in the
body.
There Is another matter over which
lecturers are wont TO wax eloquent, That
is the poverty resulting from life of inebric-
~. Now the mere fact of man being poor
Is no very great priyation--certliny no dis.
grace. The cause is not on account of the
drunkard's poverty, but 1t depends altogether
with what spirit man enters his rude hovel
and gathers his rags about him. Ii he carries
with him the lofty spirit, the virtue and the
energies of man, poverty has no effect on
him-but let him gather his shivering children
nrnnnd cold LanrIL stnnn q din. IL IL -.