Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1855-06-14

f and could no, cnnneciedlv drew back, can
no. be ascertained. a. oil events, he here
brought bis sddress 10 an abrupt iermina.
tion with s-'',hs.'s all have 10 say; sir,
and took his seat somewhat uncertain
whether he had been silly, or had made
the bes, speech Of the evening; enc
he scarcely knew whether the applause
which followed his effort was intended in
commendstion of the speech, or was called
forth by the dilemma which fastened its ter
minatiou. .....
! Deacon Ficksom rose. "He had been
reques.ed," he said, SO take some part. in
The meeting, and he had come Tor the pur-
pose. He thought i. was good cause, il
ptuden,ly followed, and not overdone. He
approved The zeal OF his young friend from
The city, bn, though, nothing ough. 10 be
done in haste. He supposed there were q
good many people who drank too much,
and he wished they would reform. People
would be grea. deal better off If they were
only willing to spend less money in drink.
He was glad ,ba. people were giving more
attention to in,empersnce. Some people
thought total abstinence WAS the only rem-
deal of difference between Temperance aud
total abstinence. There was no need of
drinking so much. He was no, prepared to
say that all drinking Of fermen,ed liquors in
every form ough, to be given up. There
was ertainlv difference between temper
ance and total abstinence. Temperance was
certainly a virtue, the Bible commanded it,.
Bu' il was hard TO SOW iha, total abstinence
was duty. 81. Paul himself said that we
should 'iake li..e wine for our s,omach's
sake, aud our often inirmites'"
Here the Deacon made pause he was
not qnite certain whether he had quoted the
tex, srIghi. He had an idea, in which he
seems TO be supported bv some modern
commentators, thar it should read, .,ske Of
ten wine for your slcmsch's ache, end your
lille in6rm'ies." But no, feeling quite
clear upon this point, he proceeded:
''He thought that the only means was
moral suason; every man should endeavor
to persuade his neighbor to be temperate
moderate-''
10y. Deacon, who did you ever persuade,
eh -
81 have the floor, believe, eaid the Dea.
con. -t!
"Ha ha ha who now? Tell u.s."
"Please address The Chair" in,erposed
the Moderator, tapping that article oil furni-
lure upon The arm.
81 tell you,' cried The wild voice, 10 still
wilder tones, with no laughter now, bu,
with terrible earnes,ness, 81 tell you, the
man that talks about moral suasion 10 soIs
and dtunksrds, is fnol.'
The whole room buzzes with astonish-
men..
els a fool" the voice repeats.
A speakerrose He stood somewhat un-
s,eadlly. leaning now back against The wall,
and now reaching forward in the emphs sis
Of his ut,ersnce, and leaning half over the
desk before him. His dress was very poor.
his hair disheveIled end maued, end III"
Deacon. turning round To see him. rrcog-
nised The red nosed man he had often me'
ENJOYING the hos pi.sliv "f GREGORY Don"e's
store. The Deacon said nothing, but he
turned upon The assembly mud but impa'
,isl look, ,ha, seemed to sun up c"nc'seiv
The law upon disturbances of religious meet.
iugs, and 10 express the opinion mat lei,
low who would pu. out Deacon, ough! to
be snmmarily pu, out himself,
"Morsl sussion to drunkuds it's no use
and IT'S worse than no use. 1 kno,o IL.
tell YOU ! am one Of 'em: am, by the
--, am. And KNOW"
The whole room is startled int" per'ec
silence. In 'he pause, the very fire seem:
TO hold its breath.
1--WE been drunkard these ten years
You know it,. You've seen me loafng ab"n
your streets len years, aud you've ma"
chance To uy your morsl suasi"n-anh
ain, The only chance, God knows. Yes
and you have tried il. too. Y ou know uset
to wan, to knock "ff. You haven't failed Il
say kind words, and try your suasi"n. Y"'
| ell try it. BY -, the very man iha! sells
me rum, saws, when he pours me out glass
Come, come, Jerry you'd better moi d''nE
any more"
His profanity was terrible, but the equal
ly terrible earnestness Of his speech suffered
no. even The Desc"n to rePr"ve II.
"You think drunksrd needs persuading
There's no, drunksrd in the Slsle-,hs1'
worth saving-who doesn't wish, Two hour
ou, Of three, every day of his life, that b'
could knock off. They've got moral sus
sion. Wba. they want is help help Coco
God! HELP! FORCE! FORCE! TO back
up"
"You've seen me-you see me every dal
sitting lound-loa6ne. You thought rv
been asleep. thinking Of no.b'ng. Outside
I've been dead as o heap of ashes. Inside
I've been s-6re!
"When a mans s-goiog to sell himself tt
the devil, cool aud essy-money down
and vents 10 drive sharp bargain, like yo'
um-selIers, it may do 10 talk Of moral sua
!. sion to him. But when the devils csugh