The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1865-08-11
The Lost Ring.
BY REV. THEo. l.. CCYLER-


of our clothing stores. and asked for sew
eral articles to repleniSh his pretty thor
oughly exhausted wardrobe. He was on
his way home with his regiment. The
marks of hard service were on his sun
burnt face and threadbare clothing his
old blue Jacket had been through the fires
for LIBERTY.
When he came TO pay for the articles
purchased. he drew ont wallet containing
three or four zone hundred dollar" bills.
He Had just been paid off by Uncle sam
His rather bOasiful manner of paradlng
his money, and his loose tongue. made the
clothier suspect the soldier had been - TAX
ing a drop" from the serpent's cup. He
therefore said kindly to him, . Hadn't you
better leave your money with me over
Sunday, till you 90 home? ;" The blunt
reply was. g | have taken care of myself
for three years of fighting, and | guess |
don't need no one to take care OF me nor
my money now
On Monday morning the poor fellow
came into the store again. with hrulse
on his face that bore none of the glory of
the battlefield. 1t looked like an ugly
autograph of the dram shop or the dance
house '.Well, my friend" inquired the
clothicr. :. how are YOU now " The sol
dier took him aside. and. with inlescrbable
; shame. :. See here | haven't got one red
cent left. My pay is all gone. And that
amt the worst of it. My wife sent a ring.
nice one too, for me 10 get fixed here iii
town That Is gone too. What shall tell
her has become of it
Poor fellow, we cannot recall the incl
dent without starting the tears. And will
there be no other tears shed when. at hls
own home. he is forced TO make the hu-
initiating confession that all the ayail> OF
his long perilous campaign. that all the
hard earnings of the weary march. the
, lonely picket duty, and the bloody fight
that every treasury note which his grate-
tul country paid him-were all squander-
ed in single days di>gracciul dehauch
The rins too-pcrhapS jewelied with the
memories Of early love-wlio stole that
The accurS,d cup. You say. Very true
,, but who Offered him the cup! The liquor
1 seller. Then was the liquor scller an ;,c-
complice in the plumber. iiut who lioen>,
ed the dram seller to sci his villalnom'
trap for hmap appetite! Who gives him
the LEGAL permission 10 offer 4 deadly hii
20 our returning heroes. and rifle them. 4,
" the hod,.- OF iEir w"an,le;l cs'lIr-:.'e
I were rici Oh the hattlc-iicil! We
J the people" liccm>e him IL Deal ont d";sil
bv measure. And - there are MANY ;.c-
: completes in rnl,limg the soldiers rin"--
n, The tempted IMAM himself. the liquor ven
der. the ;llRttor- of the drinking u>a%e> o
J society. each hal their relative share il
the shameful deed.
u That man WIS only one of many thonS
t ;nds He Is moi the only one who has -
capped the deadly rebel shell only 10 fall h,
!, the drailcr glass that i> proiicred TO iiinl
IL on hi> every homcwar,i step, Men ;tn'
!, brethren. We owe debt 10 these g;ill.n
=" >aviur> of our nations life. We owe then
every effort We can make 10 give then
Il Immediate employment. They gave ul
their employment 10 protect the flag ie
no one OF them he left To Sue In vain 10
an honorable chance for >elt->upport.- t.
They will lie the especial Objects oi grog
, shop temptation. They have ready mo
ID ney to spend. exciting stories 10 tell II TN
= fresilc OF the drinking saloon. and u GRAY
h ing for excitement too. Can tempcranc
d societies do nothin" for these men Can
=, not the good i'll every community "pcI
lg their own social circle 10 them. and draw
Is them away from the pittall OF the drali
ID shop! Thousands OF our gallant soldier
lie have come home better. manlier, richie
lg than before. But there is vast numbc
lt Just like the poor fellow who lost his green
is backs and his witc's ring. For their sake
le Christianity and patriotism should reylv
le the temperance work. &" ii by any mean
,d they may save some.
As Nor do the home coming soldiers onl
k. need looking alter There is a 4 host ,
N tipplcrs larger than all the armies tn;
E. were huzzaed through Washington on til
" day of tile grand review, Scarcel Y Il ian
~ ily circle but contains one or more scare,
Id ly congregation but has 4 score of then
is Not far from me to-day sits Il lovely VIE
owed wife whose living husband is * dc:'
n in this sin :" her wedding ring is tca
ed stained by that husbands shame. ma
ly ried him. What is worse to think oi.
st once received him into the church Z
he Christ. and for Il time he ran nolly.-
de There is another ring Which he has lost
ST. the ring of acceptance which The DiyiI
lis Master put upon him when the ''dea
n was alive again. and the lost was found
ne That young man has had 4 fearful stril
nc ole with his conscience and his God. Ii
lat there were ten TO tempt him where the
he was one to labor for his rescue. Ii
an perishes at last, he will add but another
H. the stupendous mass of victims to Ill
lis frightfully increasing vice,
ed Every year only adds to my convictll
De- that in temperance the ''ounce ofpreve
es- ten -" is worth a whole Ton of cure. Il
len fraction of confirmed drinkers are ev
me reformed. This is the tremendous arg
zen ment for total abstinence. This Is the 4
md gument for renewed effort 10 save f
ut young. This fact should point every *
md mon and every appeal from the pulpit
os- This fact should caution the physician
The keen away alcoholic medicines from eve