Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1872-07-23
a.lSa - 4A.ze3
NUMBER 43.
% For the Spectator rso
Those generous, warm hearted Fellows

1 we very often hear persons express surprise
/ that Mr. So-and- so should engage In the LIQUOR
1 business, and the invariable reason given for
| that surprise is, that .'he is good, warm
| hearted and generous fellow, and would not
/ Wlilngy lnjure any one." Is it so? Is Mr..
So-and-so' and those like him, good, warm
hearted, generous fellows unwilling to iniure
| any one? Let US examine this matter impair
| TALLY examine 1T as we shall wish we had
when we come to stand before Him who Judges
| the heart: A-- =
When the poor man has paid his last cent
| for drink and turned from the rum-shop on a
cold, wintry night, staggering to his home,
where wife and children are shivering for fire
and crying for food, does the rumseller send af-
ter him wood for another fire and bread for an
other meal? Surely he must, for rum-sellers
are good, warm-hearted and generous fellows.
When the subscription paper comes around
for means to keep the family from starving. he
who has taken all for rum, subscribes literally,
Why 2 Because rum-sellers are good hearted,
generous fellowsl egidi iA .sza8a '57-1'
When charity is exhausted and the wretched
sufferers take shelter in the poor-house, and the
tax bill for supporting them there is presented,
he who has oeeasiened their poverty pays his
part OF the bill cheerfully. Surely rum-sellers
are generous fellows F-,-T Ere a3s7eor1sG E
And when the victim of rum, driven to des--
peration, resorts to crime and is thrust into
prison, he who has robbed him of virtue and
driven him to crime will pay his proportion of
the costs OF arrest and imprisonment without
murmur? Why2 Because rum-sellers are
generous, warm hearted, clever fellows 81
And more than this, they (rum- -sellers) help
to build aims houses for poor, and asylums for
lnebrlates, and in addition to their coutribu-
tions in money, furnish more inmates for them
than all other classes combined. Surely. then
mast be generous fellowsl soIr44 4-A
Higher motives than these sometimes engage
their efforts, From the profits Of rum selling
they help to build churches. support the gos-
pei at home, and sustain missions abroad
part of the very money procured in the work
of running men, they conseerate to the work Of
redeeming men. Does the end justify the
means? Upquestionably; for rumsellers are
good. generous, warm hearted men, not willing
to ipjure any one. @o4--o --.s 40 9--5
Again, take down your family register and
run back over the list, You will not go far be-
fore you come to name,r the very sight of
which fills your heart with anguish What
memories are wrapped up in that name-what
struggles with temptation, it re-calls--what
scenes of alternate joy and sorrow-what prom
ses made and broken-what tears of repen-
tance, and bitter regrets and solemn yowsi-
Perhaps the most brilliant In promise of the
whole circle. All you have been robbed of
the most affectiOnate, the most noble the best
beloved, and who but these good, generous and
warm hearted rum makers and rum sellers have
robbed you? Aye, and they will continue to
rob you of your fathers, husbands, brothers,
and precious offspring and consign them to the
drunkards' grave and druukards' hell, so long
as they can maintain their standing in social
life-so long as they are recognized as good
neighbors and generous, warm-hearted friends,
and especially so long as they can retain their
standing In the Church and be acknowledged
as Christian brethren, there will be enough
men eager for the business. But let this be
reversed-let people show them by their con-
duct that they regard them as foes to God and
man-that they regard the man who kills with
the contents of whisky bottle as much mur-
derer as he who kills with the contents of a
pistol, and you will find many who now pursue
it, will abandon it-for the profits, large as they
may be, will not compensate for the loss of
confidence and the respect he must forfeit.
Human laws may condemn the drunkard and
acquit the drunkard- maker, but will He so Judge
who looks at the heart. Let the rumseller re-
member that the case will be reviewed at
higher than human court. He must meet his
fallen brother at another bar-aud how differ
ent Wilt be from the one at which they parted,
| from behind which he dealt out the deadly
poison. Then he must answer the question to
| the Omniscient Judge, Guilty or not guilty"
| What will be your answer-what is the answer
of conscience now2
BE wise while it is called to day."
| No AZ