The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-12-31
A Statistical Clergyman-The Money
Spent for LuXuries.


Rev. T. M. Thorpe recently preached
stunning sermon at Hoboken, New
Jersey, Astounding in curious Stats
? tics, showing the amount of money
needlessly spent for luxuries, and
demonstrating how this wicked world
could be made a great deal better
than it is if people would only drop
the dimes and dollars they spend for
champagne and cigars into the mis-
sionary box. We make few extracts:
THE LUXURY OF CHAMPAGNE.
Luxury never need plead with her
votaries. Every heart and every
purse is open when the Devil pre-
sents his enticements. Civilized man
drinks every year 30,000,000 bottles
of genuine and 100000 of spurious
champagne; or nearly $200,00e,000
worth. Yet the total expenses of
Christian propaga ton may be roughly
estimated at not more than that sum,
if half as much.
THE LUXURY OF TOBACCO.
Tobacco is nauseous to every unso-
phisticated sense of man, medicine
as strychnine is medicine; but, on
the highest medical authority, the orr
gin of nine out of every ten cases of
real heart disease, original or inheri-
ted-a concentrated drop of whose es-
sential principle, if placed on the
tongue of dog, will cause him to die
of colvulsion. 1t destroys the power
of mastication, by draining the sail
vary glands, and by its exciting pro-
perties is the gentleman usher of in
toxicating drink. So long ago as 1850
there were raised in the United States
199,000,000 pounds, or what would
now be equivalent to about $200,000,-
600 worth, and it is safe to say that
the present consumption is nearly
100000, 600 worth. Suppose an or
binary case: A business man uses
four or sometimes more cigars day,
worth fifteen cents each, or $15 or 500
a pound; this, of itself, leaving out
( pipes, chewing tobacco, lost time and
lost opportunities, at the very lowest
estimate, is $3.50 year. Now thereis
scarcely parish that does not con-.
tain half a dozen such men, who
might, if they would, give hand
some support to their overworked,
accomplishing clergymen.
HOW THE LITTLE DOVE is TAXED BY
SATAN-THE LUXURIES OF PRIDE
AND AMBITION.
Even the little dove for christianity
is heavily taxed by Satan. All the
money together that we contribute for
foreign missionary efforts would barely
commission one frigate for a years
active service. But pride and ambi-
ton have two or three hundred. 1t
is, therefore, not to be wondered at
when we read that there recently sail
ed out Of Boston a ship for Africa,
whose principal manifest consisted of
SO many missionaries and so many
barrels of New England rum
THE sTINGINEss OF CHRISTIANS CON-
TKAsTED WITH MORMON LIBERAL
ITY.
The Mormons, on joining their So
ciety, give up one tenth of their actual
property and ten per cent. of their in
come ever after We contribute $18
per year for each communicate. AL
lowing a due proportion to simple
attendants, the rich might give ten
times as much, or $3.50, and not feel
the deprivation. 50
N THE LUXURY OF WAR. s.a
The expenses of our late war were
about S., 200, 000-that is. twice the
present national debt, for every State,
county, and family has debt of its
own. This would have built 500 900
plain, substantial wooden churches,
costing $4,000, and seating 1000
each, or 520,000,000 people, just one
half the population of the globe,
which would doubtless make the other
half christian also.