The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-05-05

l. time they should be taughta lesson even
though they may have to learn it, under the
use the discipline.
! How has it been hcrctorore? Every man,
who wished to speculate and traffic in fire
water, might do it as he pleased, and use
what material he pleased. With q dollars
worth of life-dcstroying drugs he could pre-.
pare $500 worth to poison a whole commu.
nifty. And how was this distributed? dealt
outp Were careful trustworthy, dsintcr.
cstcd conscientious agents employed, who
carefully Ioted down the quantity, the quail.
| ity, the person, the object, the purpose for
which they soldr Ali NONSENSE man.
they would laugh to scorn your suggested
scruples. You know well how it is here in
our own community. Ihc Agents Of the
trade as now conducted, at least of the re-
tail trade, are persons, who want to make
money, no matter how, whether the fire.
| water disturbs the peace Of families or Of
communities; whether it di.solves the mar
riage tie, or mutipes widows or orphans /;
whether it leave the unhappy victim without
house or home, spreads dcsolation and black
ruin within and without his cabin door !;
breaks poor wllc's heart with shame and
! sorrow, and clothes her and her children in
| squaIid wretchcdness and rags,-these are
matters Of no concern TO those, who without
fear of God or regard for their fellow man,
have devoted themselves to make money by
! the unhOly tralic Of iirewater
DO the patrons Of this traffic ever take the
trouble to consider that the unhappy indi-
ydual to whom they yend their fire water,
is uniform drunkard, whose habit oflic is
to squander from Saturday night till blue
L.. l.. l.. "A 4 II /
ing days OF the week, and leave his unfor.
tunate family to shift for themselves, as well
as they can to keep from pcrishing from cold
and starvation? Ab, my friends, that is TO
business Of theirs. Their business is to
make money, without troubling themselves
with the foolish inquiry, who is the loser,
the sufferer, or what the consequence,
But reason with them, and say. "What
made you give liquor to that man. Don't
you know that when he drinks he is a per-
feet maniac-that he utters the most horrid
.blasphemies, the most obscene expressions,
he cares not when or where--that he is
ready to fight has own shadow, even to deal
blows with the windmill ten to one but he
may kill his wife, or knock out the brains Of
his children, or stab TO the heart his best
and dearest friend before morning. And
You give drink to such man. Reason
thus with these gentry, what is the answer:
"Oh, sir, never give drink to a man that is
drunk. But, my friend, you do what is
vorse-you give him drink that max him
drunk. 1t is not what he drinks, when al
ready drunk, that does the mischief, but
what you give him to rob him Of his money
and senses, to make him drunk That is
what you do, to the great scandal and detri-
mcnt Of families and society, and to the de-
gradation and disligurmcnt Of once rational
creature, in WHOM, by the operation Of this
iniqui,y, we can hardly now even by great
effort of faith or imagination recognize the
Image of Cod
Now appeal to your calm aud sober
Judgment, does not the abuse demand
remedy: Is not that Law, which goes to
regulate this traffic and check its abuses,
good, humane, even necessary law, emi-
nently harmonzng with the law Of benevo.
!ence and charity? But when we lift up
our eyes, and take wider range Of view and
examine the statistics Of poverty, of suffering
and of crime; when we visit the suburbs,
the lanes and alleys Of our cities and large
towns, the carrcts and the cellars, the crowd
ed tcnements, with two or three families in
a single room, the county poor houses, the
county jailS, the hospitals, the asyum-
the work houses and houses Of refuge, the
public works, the shanties, in fine, when we
look into the state pcntcntarics and the
places Of public execution: when we exam
inc the records Of the Police Magistrate, or
look over the long black catalogue Of the de-
tectiyc police or city constable when we
take view Of these things, and inquire
what has been the cause af this immense
mass Of misery, wretchcdness and crime
what do you find: In almost every in.
stance, will venture to say, in nine.tenths
of the cases, you will find that intenper-
ancc is at the bottom Of them. Yes, the
abuse in the sale, and the excess in the indui-
gcnce Of intoxicating beverages has been the
cause, the little devil at work in producing
all the mischief, that disturb society, and de.
grade humanity, and neutralize even the di-
vine and soul-elevatins principles of the
gospel So that we may set it down as n
''fiyed fact" that the indiscriminate traffic in
intoxicating liquor is one Of the most formid.
able opponents Of jesus Christ and the
Church One Of the most powerful agents
of the devil.
Now, such being the fact,-the undena-
bic fact, which no intelligent man, no man
of common sense, with his eyes open, can
deny, there is, confesSedly, terrible evil in
our midst, that demands u remedy. There
is furious monster unclaimed and at large
amongst us, which is committing terrible
rayages upon society, and which we must
put in fet,crs, if we would have any thing
like security for property or life, for the de-
corum Of civilized society, for the peace of
families, or the harmony and happiness of
society. A remedy is nccded-much need.
cd and long needed. The question is what
shall be the remedy?
proclaim from the consecrated pulpits, the
holy laws of God Publish from the house
tops the tcrrors Of the Lord d,-.makc the
drunkard pause and reflect while he trem-
blcs over the awful gulf that opens before
him say as st. Paul was content to say
'thc drunkard shall not inherit the Kingdom
ofhcavcn." DO this. and you will by means
supernatural, and not by legislative tyranny,
put an end to the lamentable prevalence OF
intempcrancc.'
Very good, my friend, but you must for
got yourself. Have we not already done all
this and a thousand times over, before you
gave us your kind advice? For almost 80
years myself have not ceased to preach the
gospel. Shortly after my ordination as
priest Of the Catholic Church in my Scrip.
tural readings fell upon the. text of st.
Paul-"woe to mo unless preach tho gos.
pei" and made = resolution on the spot
that no Sunday of the year, during my sa-
ccrdotal life, should find mo unprepared to
preach the gospel Whatever may DO my
shortcomings in other respects, have not
much to reproach myself on that head,
have sometimes, as people thought, preached
too much, but had a better authority for
my practice in the person of st. Paul-who
told his disciple Timothy to "preach the
word in season and out of season." and SO
stuck to my resolution. ! have never con-
nivcd at prohigacy. Neither tho drunkard,
nor the trader in the inquitou. traffic have
spared. Nor do speak thus, as claiming
any peculiar merit. have but done my du.
ty. Nor have the vanity to insinuatc that
have done more, or succeeded better, than
others. As far us | know, my Reverend
brethren in the ministry have been equally
Zralous in preachinr apainst tho monstcr