Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1871-06-01
Opr Stumbling Brother.
BY REV. t. L. cUYLER.


dies but have no moral right thus
to commit self destruction 1 have a
legal right to attend habitually thea
ter, even though ever play there acted
should be surcharged with moral pot
son, and every tier we're thronged with
harlots. There is no written Law to
forbid my going there, and no officers
stand guard to repel me. But I've
no moral right to 90 there-not mere
ly because l shall hear what is snari1S
and po1luting to myself, but because
that whole garnished and glittering es-
tablishment, with its sensorious attrac-
tions, is to many of my fellow men a
chandeliered and crimsoned hell-a
yaWning maelstrom of perdition. The
dollar that i give at the entrance is my
direct contribution towards sustaining
an establishment whose dark founda-
tions rest on the murdered souls of
hundreds of my fellow men. What
right have 1 to contribute my money
and give the sanction of my example
to the support of a perfect slaughter
house Of character and IF immortal
souls?
Now, on this same principle-not
merely of self lf-preservation. for of that
| am not now speaking-what right
have to sustain these magazines of
moral death where poisonous drinks
are yended? What right have I 10
sustain traffic which is simply deal
ing out death by measure? What right
have 1 to abet the drinking usages Of
cciety? If a glass of intoxicating
drink on my table (be it sparkling Ma
deria or Bourbon whisky will entrap
some one of susceptible or excitable
temperament into dissipation, what
right have to set that trap for his
life to tempt him to his own ruin and
make myself the pdrticepS cT,inlnis in
his destruction? If the contents of
the glass which I gave my brother
cause him to stumble he stumbles over
me. If his moral restraints are bro
ken, helped to break them. am an
accOmplice in his sin. If he departs
from my table with an increased thirst
for the bottle I have helped to make
a drunkard and, to that degree have
helped shut him out of heaven. The
words he may have spoken, the blows
he may have struck, the excesses he
may have committed under the stimu-
lation of my offered glass, are, to
certain degree, my words and deeds
of folly and wickedness. But for me
he would not have uttered the words
nor done the shameful deeds The
man whom the language of the
Scripture-''puts the bottle to his
neighor," is partially and largely re-
spOnsible for all the havoc that bottle
makes, and for the dark damnation
which may follow in its train Of
coarse this principle makes fearful
work with the willful traffic in intoxi-
eating liquors as beverage. and when
society Furnishes the drunkard for his
outrages, and licenses the drunkard-
maker, it simply Furnishes the effect
and protects the cause!
We might say a thousand things here
on the woes of the dFunkard, on the
guilt of the dramseller, on the poison
Gus nature of the most popular alco-
holic drinks, and on the frightful hav-
oc which the bottle is working in the
army, IN the households, and even in
our churches: but we prefer now to
speak on this point, namely: The
3 duty of all conscientious people to alb
stain from drinking and offering strong
drink, while that drink makes Others
, SGllIuDICs II 10 IlIC SLuAAIOiGIS LldN VIZ
: are now pleading for. 1t is for tbose
whom your wine cup-offered in mis-
taken hospitality, or under the tyranny
of fashion-may precipitate into per
! dition by drunkenness. Oh, those
= stumblers Who are they? ! hardly
dare tell, for it would touch many o
us too tenderly. 1t would tear oper
: too many secret wounds which prid,
and affection are attempting, bat il
vain, to conceal. 1t might reveal poo
7 wrecks that angels might weep over
! 1t would open afresh some tomhs tina
: the charitable green turf now hide
7 out of sight what surviving friendship
would love to have forgotten.
= For the sake of my stumbling brotl:
, er, am hidden to abstain. Is thi
> asking too much of me? Let singh
= incident answer. In certain conven
! ton of temperance philanthopists.
= clergyman made plausible defense o
: the moral right of even good men t
= drink and to offer alcoholic liquors
y Teetotalism he denounced as fanataca
= and unscriptural He talked glibl
/, about the wine used at Cara, of Cali
lee-though not very understanding
ly-and insisted that for one he shoul,
i claim the right to use liquors at hi
\ own table and at social gatherings
= :; When he had concluded his sophisti
: cal argument, an old man arose unde
= much emotion, and his voice tremblin
- with grief. Turning to the conver
:, ton, he said in substance to them: "a
know young man that is fast becom
ing an inebriate. Ifear he is ruined
- When urged to give up the wine-cuI
' 'J he always pleads the example of cel
y tain popular clergyman. He says tbs
= while the minister takes his glass an
- defends it, he means to do the SAM
" Gentlemen, that poor Incorporate bo
of is my son and the clergyman who's
- ~ evil example he is followingis the yer
- one who has just addressed the COZ
= vention."
= How to Kill Them.