Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-04-22
YOU for your goodness, Mr.. Tremper 2

by keeping Yum pioiHle0o "tiA NV
getting down in the dust again Rcgener-
ated into yourself once more, erect in your
natural manhood, you will win respect from
those who, mourning over your fall, had
begun to dcspise you. You will be able
to command good position in business and
society
Heaven being my helper, I will try,
said the young man
Then you will have punished your enemy,
Frank Bennett, in the most efficient way.
He evidently has hoped to build up his for
tunes on your ruin. Rising from the dust
he has drawn upon you, you will leave him
overwhelmed in his failure to ruin you.
You are right, Mr.. Temper. | see it
all, and from my heart thank you. From
this hour my course IS taken, shall be up
ward and onward
The good temperance man and Christian
shook hands with James Potter, ard they
parted.
A couple Of hours afterward, refreshed
with bath, clearly dressed, the young man
presented himself before the proprietor of a
wholesale store in Chambers street, from
which he had been dismissed for his neglect
Of business and general habits OF dissipa-
ton.
L come, sir, to ask you once more to en-
ploy me- he said, firmly, but nodestly.
james, were it not for your drinking
habits I would When you are yourself.
YOU are an excellent salesman, and really
need YOU. Butt dare not trust you
Mr.. Pembroke, have taken the total
abstinence pledge, and my name has gone
in to become member of both the Sons of
Temperance and Good Templars "
My dear boy, is this really SO :?
Then come right into your old place at
once, my boy-and mark you, for each
month that you continue firm this year, l
will add FIVE dollors to your old salary, and
as Mr. Harkner, my head bookkeeper, en-
tiers this firm on the first Of next January,
you shall have his place. Only be firm and
true to yourself, and you will find friend
in me who will never fail
L thank you, sir, and will be worthy of
your regard
When James Potter left the store that
evening he was met near the door by Frank
Bennett.
Where have you been, old chum? asked
the latter Been irving to get back into
the old ploce 2?
L am back there, said Potter quietly.
What | thought old Pembroke swore
you should never darken his door again
4 am employed there, Mr. Bennett, at
an increase of my former salary
sWhew! Nh. Bennett? What airs you
put on ! guess you don't know where L
and somebody else saw you this morning
sYesI do. Ard Mr.. Bennett, | know
who plotted to lay mein the dust. have
risen from it, and never again will | fall
Goodnight, MI Bennett. Henceforth your
road is not mine. am free from the shack
les you would have placed upon me. Seek
some other victin-you cannot enthrall me.
The tempter stood amazed, while the
young man whom he had sought to ruin
passed on. At last bitter smile passed
over his features.
1t will not last he said, with mocking
laugh 1T will not last
Did it?
Read
An open meeting of the Good Templars
with the Sons and Daughters joining All
in regalia, all with joyous faces and their
great hall filed literally to overfowing. Not
alone are members Of the order there, but
others friendly to the cause, and some, per-
haps, led there by curiosity
No matter what brings them there-it is
a good place to be in, for the representatives
of Faith, Hope, Charity, Love, Purity and
Fidelity are in force in the hall which has
been solemnly dedicated to those principles.
An immense concourse, unusual even there
is assembled, and for what !?
First, splendid choir is heard singing
the glad Temperance welcomes Of our or
dcrs Then gifted man, who has been
saved by the holy influences of these very
organizations, rises and delivers an address
which thrills every heart.
He paints the misery of the inebriate, the
prostration of manly strength, the debase-
ment of mind that follows the use of alcohol.
He tells of the agony of neglected wives,
the suffering of deserted children, the mis-
erv Of parents who mourn over sons gone
down to degradation and death. He por-
trays the horror of that traffic which can
prosper only as it produces misery. He
points the finger of scorn at those who would
| legslate to license wrong, and increase
crime, pauperism, and consequent taxation.
He pleads with the inebriate to turn from
temptation, the temperance man to be a
acorher, and not an idler. in the cause; the
Christian to prove his faith by work in the
cause which always builds up and never
pulls down.
His address is finished. Those who have
sat spell bound while he spoke now make
the great hall ring with their hearty ap-
plause.
He has not quite done. He rises again.
Brothers and sisters, be says, the con-
Guiding services Of this evening are to be by
far the most interesting. Two years ago,
this night young man who had been liter
ally laid in the dust, through temptation
and intemperance, became member of this
lodge. True to his faith, he has passed ell
the chairs, and risen step by step in our Or
der until his name is enrolled with the
proudest and highest In business, from
one of the humblest clerks in a firm, he has
risen until, this day, he is announced in the
daily papers as its junior partner. This is
not all. He has by his many virtues gained
the affections of one Of our dearest sisters
one of our brightest ornaments. | now give
way to the Reverend brother who in your
presence is about to unite in the holy bonds
of matrimony our worthy Past Chief, james
Potter, to our dearly beloved Sister and
Past worthy Vice Pemplar, Lille Rutger.
That ceremony had to be delayed every
second of ten minutes until the people got
done cheering.
Frank Bennett was punished, What be-