The Sierra citizen., 1854-10-28

streams, to become the unsightly victims
of moral leprosy, which can only be hid
den in the grave? The very streams that
gush from the mountain are contaminated
and poisoned, to pander to the lust fol
gold; and yet the voice Of reform is toe
feeble to break the drunken stupor; every
one is too eager in pursuit of gold, to OBJ
serve his fellows staggering down to death
If nothing else can avail, let our Legis
lature pass "Maine Liquor Law" or by
some enactment check the traffic in ardent
spirits, and its coadjutor in moral death
gambling. Who has the courage to move
first in the matter? That mans name
will become household word in Cali
fornia, and little children will be taught
by their mothers to con over and spell it
as they do the name Of Howard; and the
sound Of the church-bell, and the silence
round the house of God, will suggest the
name to the worshippers.
And not till these measures are taken
will our towns enjoy the quiet of the holy
Sabbath, nor will the more orderly inhab-
itants be freed from the drunken brawls
and blasphemous orgies, which sound more
like the rawlings of enraged fends than
like human voices. Like Lynch Law, Ii
quor selling and gambling must yield to
good influences, and their votaries must
pursue some other calling or be thrust out
of society. Strange it is that good men,
honorable and upright in their dealings,
will embark in business that has made
so many hearths desolate.
How often is ones ear startled by a
brawl in the street, where the young inc
briate is appearing perhaps for the first
time, in state of beastly intoxication.
Here he is free from the stigma which
society elsewhere places on the name that
has been connected with riotous assem-
blages; he has nothing but principle and
self-reliance to sustain him, and if his feet
slip he may recover without being brand
ed as drunkard. In this false security
he goes on, step by step, until that burn
ing, quenchless thirst, eats out his life.
Even in the faces of men of talent, whose
intellects grapple with the subtlest sub
jects, the plague-spot Of intemperance
may be seen; you observe the bleared eye
and faltering voice, yet they are too proud
to acknowledge that they are in the power
of monster that is gradually crushing
them in its folds.
But | must stop this homily, or you
will be advising me to take the stump and
begin a crusade against the prevailing
vices of the day. Do not, however, do
me the injustice to think me one of those
misguided zealots, who would throw aside
all womanly modesty, and rail at the wick
ed world from the rostrum. 1t is only
while seated in front of my own fre-side,
that | would appeal to the better feelings
that still linger round the heart of Califor-
nians-the same feeling that is revived
when the last goodbye recurs to memory.
1t is painful to think how many watchers
there are, watching with hopeful hearts
for the return of the gold hunter, with his
sunburned face and hardened hands, and
sack Of gold, that is to add comfort to their
home. Little does the wife and mother
think that her husband is half demented
vagabond, flinging down his last dollar on
the gambling table or fishing up the last
quarter for rum. | thank God that the
blight has not fallen upon our house, but
cannot forget that many wife and aged
mother will watch in vain for the coming
of their hearts idol and should some good
angel snatch him away now, and set him
down by her fre-side, do you think that
aged woman could trace in his bloated fea-
lures and swollen eyes, the features of her
idolized boy? God pity thee, good wo.
man your son may return, but with crime
and debauchery stamped on his face, try
ing to flee from himself, trying to quench
the fire that is burning in his brain, wild
and unconquerable as the fire sweeping
across the prairie.
Much has been written Of woman's in
Huence, and milk and water poets and lee
turers have beggared their invention IL
praise of her angelic attributes. If sh'
but possess moiety of that influence
surely she can desire no better opportunit.
for its exercise than may be found in th'
mountains of California and when sh,
oversteps the bounds marked out by th,
usages of society, to rescue her HUSBAND
and brother from death in the gutter, lie