American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1865-02-01
hNi 'iS N'''"Sh'
CENTREYILLE, Jan. 80.

CENTREN Lille, Jan. OU. .
Mr. Editor AS | again take up my
pen for continuation of the subject OF
Intemperance; thousand thoughts re-
volve through my mind of such dark
and horrid nature, as makes the warm
blood curdle in my veins, to think, while
| write this, how many. of my fellow be-
ings are in drunken revelry, and wicked
mirth, how many families beggard and
suffering all the pangs of want F? How
many noble souls to-day, not only filling
dfdnkards graves but filling our poor
houses, our jails and our Penitentiary's $,
all though the influence ofthis monster OF
vices, 1ntemperance.
All Brandy Brandy bane oflife,
Thou cause of much strife,
Could but half thy curses tell
The wise would wish thee safe in hell.
But then, the drunkard not only des-
troys himself, and unfit him for society,
but he throws whole communities into
uproar and disorder Those midnight
yells, this cursing and swearing on our
streets, how it shocks our senses Oh
young man, did you know as you stood
by the bar swallowing the poisonous
draught, what wonderful distorted pic
ture you would make in few minutes
me thinks you would dash the accursed
cup from your lips for ever, but on the
unconscious young man will go till too
far fOrany hopes of recovery. Oh pause
friends, and don't be the laughing stock Of
the whole community.
And while I would warn the young
men of our land against the use of this
great evil, l would say to the Retailer
that he has responsibility resting on him
that will weigh down his soul at the last
day cf accounts. When he contemplates
how many murders and suicides he has
committed through the influence of liq.
uor sold at his bar, and standing written
out in letters of blood upon the pages Of
this dreadful Record, is the Retailer gull
ty? Certainly he is accessory to all the
evils arising from his sales, and response.
BILE for them, and God will hold him foI
his share in all the crimes originating from
| his sales. Beware then, as you press the
cup to your neighbors lip, that you may
receive his last dime, perhaps his family
need it for bread, and you deprive them Of
their last morsel Of food
Perhaps some may think this doleful
picture, but what think you of the awful
reality, as the Retailer and drunkard stand
face to face in the last day of accounts
and try to throw the responsibility upon
one another. Where then will the Land.
lords boasted wealth be? Will it save
him from the curse of broken law, il
may, but then as they look in upon them.
selves, there conscience enlightened by
eternal truth, they must confirm the doom
of Heaven and usher their unsheltered
spirits down to the dark dungeons of des-
pair, prey to the endless tortures, the
clamorous reproaches and unbridled rage
of the ghost of murdered victims, whose
undying shrieks of woe, are heard to re-
sound throughout the dark caverns of the
damned in consequence of selling and
drinking distilled spirits. Such then be-
ing the effects produced by the traffic in
liquors, and | challange any sane man to
prove the contrary; who will be willing
to undergo such fearful responsibilities ?
Retailer, the next quart you sell, may be
the means of committing murder; the
next gill may give the topper his last stroke
ere the liquid FIRE cools in his yitals, he