The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1859-09-22
Very Drunk.---WhO is Responsible!

When human body is given over to cor
ruption and becomes perambulatiDg pest
! house, and when human soul is spotted with
an eternal ieprosy. there is a necessary re-
sponsibility that may well appal the stoutest
| heart and startle into tremor the most cal
| lous nature. As the crimes of very drunk
in their nature comprehend all crime, being
an abjuration of manhood and preparation
for any terpitude, reaching to all within their
influence, and forward through all time and
eternity, SO his responsibilities is of the most
fearful and weighty character. 1t behooves
us and him to inquire who bears that crushing
! load. Who shall answer when God maketh
/ ina uistion for blood! Who will be called to
plead at the bar of divine justice, when the
tears and sighs of innocent women and the
suffering of cruelty robbed children. are cast
into the balance. and the heavens. and earth
call for punishment to make the scales even?
Who will account for wasted time aud wasted
talents, for sanandered opportunities and
We are not one of those who paliiato tho
crime of the inebriate. Fearful as. his Of
fence is, it is his own. HIS feet have run in
the way of iniqnity He has voluntarily fol-
lowed the '.paths that take hold on hell. -
Uncon strained and of his own choice, he has
departed from sobrety; unconstrained and of
his own choice he has followed his ruinious
course. At one time, mailed in An impenetra-
/ BILE panoply of virtuous habits, he has will
1 ingly discarded his armor and received in his
unprotected body the poisoned shafts. His
form is bowed, not by age, nor yet By dis
ease, but by conscious shame, and his own
act has brought that shame. His face does
ut speak more clearly the inner workings Of
destructive poison than it speaks the inner
workings of a soul stepped in selfassured and
/ uyan npIarStooH nuilt Ha ms npf,y I'LL
fully and knowingly walked in the way of
certain ruin, but he has defed earnest and af
fectionate warning and frightful example.
/ But he is slave to his appetite. Yes, he
/ is a slave. No man ever was in a more CON-
pete or more powerful thraldom. May be
his will cannot summon strength for his
demption. Perhaps his appetite defes all his
resolutions and all the terrors of future, SO
full of terror that the stoutest heart turns a.
way from its contemplation with horror. Per-
! haps his blurred vision and blunted sensibii.
ties cannot perceive nor appreciate the dam
gers upon which he drifting. Grant it all,
and does not take away or even palliate his
crime. His iron thraldom, the tyrannical
domination OF his appetite, his blindness and
nsensibility are his own work.
Deliberately and at leisure he has forged
his own manacles and rvited them upon his
own limbs. One by one be extinguishes the
divine lamps in his soul. Step by step he
went down into the dark waters, not recoil-
ing even when the inky spray fell upon his
brow. No act can be more entirely the work Of
one man than selfrun is the work of drunk
ard, and he cannot escape just condemnation
by pleading that he had passed the point
where reformation is possible. His respon-
sibility, in all its fearful, endless consequences
rests as entirety upon him. More horri-
bic than ''body of DEATH" it is bound to
him with seven fold cords, and eternity will
not dissolve the union.
Pity him. did you say? Yes; no object is
more pitiabie. His guilt only makes him
pitiable, for it is an assurance doubly sure"
that much more misery is in store for him
But that does not lessen his guilt. He was
as meet an object of pity when be was form
ing his ruinous habits as he is now; for at
that time all discerning persons foresaw his
fate But the inebrate is not the only one
who has responsibility in this matter. His
respons bility is entire, and no one can lessen
1t. Responsibility may be shared without
being lessened. As the merit Of a good act
may belong to a score OF men, and each one
deserve as mGch'praise as though he were the
only actor. SO the guilt of crime may be
shared by many AMI rest as heavily upon
each as though he were alone. This princi-
pie is recognized in law. Accompices 0,
equal degrees are all held equally guilty. and
each guilty as if he were the only one imph
Gated The number of partici pants has moth
ing to do with the degree of guilt attached te
each. II hundred persons engage in criml
each is guilty OF the whole crime. Each man
ifested the spirit and put forth the eIertion T.
make himself the sole criminal There is n
such thing as dividing guilt 50 IS to lessen i
Now. who are the accomplices. peers in gull
of the drunkard7 Ask yourselves the quss
tion.-Hamiltoa Intelzigenoer.