Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1872-03-08

iiieI ARMY VI tue OnlCeQ OCaCeS, seeing
the great evils which, of late years especi-
ally. the curse of intemperance has inf1ic-
ted upon people SO bountifully gifted
with all the elements of prosperity and
happiness. send forth their wise counsels
and solemn warnings against this monster
iniquity. No wonder that the distin-
guished Bishop of New Jersey sounds the
keynote of alarm, and that his emphatic
utterances are echoed by pulpit and press
from the centre to the circumference of
the Republic. No wonder that, under
these auspicious influences, new impetus
has been given to the temperance cause.
No wonder that Catholic temperance So
cieties are springing up in various sections
of the country. God grant that wherever
established they may prove to be insur-
mountable bulwsrks to the angry billows
of lntemperance To the Catholic, tenn
perance is no new theory. 1t is as old
as the Church herself. and for upwards of
eighteen hundred years she has inculcated
1t both by precept and example. It is
cardinal virtue and one of the brightest
gems in the diadem of religion. IF all
men were temperate there would be no
necessity for total abstinence societies.
But, unfortunately, human nature is so
weak and temptations are so strong that
comparatively few. amid the present vici-
GUS customs of society, can keep at all
times within the bounds of moderation in
the use of Intoxicating drinks. Hence
for most people total abstinence is the
only security against drunkenness. The
first great danger lies in the allurements
ofthe social glass, and this danger is made
more Imminent by the foolish custom of
reciprocal treating. Hundreds of young
men who were moderate drinkers in 1871
are drunkards in 1872, and there is not
a confirmed inebriate in America to-day
who was not at one time of his life mo-
derate drinker Hence, while total absti
ncnce is essential to the liberation of the
slave of this debasing appetite, it is none
the less eficacious in preventing others
from becoming the victims of an inordi-
nate thirst for drink. The pledge there
fore, is good and desirable for all-for the
drunkard that he may be saved, for the
moderate drinker that he may guard a.
gainst the dangers of excess, and even for
the abstemious man that. by identifying
with this blessed cause, his salutarg
leflaences may be more prominent and
widespread. I
We need not enlarge upon the manifold
evils OF intemperance. They are painful |
ly visible all around US. We see them
alike in the palace of the rich and the
howell of the poor, in the high and low
places of the land. in every city, town,
village and hamlet throughout the wide
expanse of the Republic. The miseries
hat follow in the train of this great curse
ire as countless as the sands of the sea
shore. 1t is the prolific source of poverty,
misery, Wretchedness and crime. 1t fills
'ur penitentiaries, jails, almshouses, re-
ermatory institutions and insane asylums.
It affects all classes: It is the bane of
youth, the blight of manhood and the
of old age. Innumerable pre-
nature graves denote its desolating march,
md afflicted husbands and wives, sorrow
ng fathers and mothers, weeping sisters
nd brothers, mourning widows and or
'hans are the living witnesses of its re-
norseless tyranny over the hearts and
minds. the souls and bodies of its unfor-
unate victims. ~
Such. fellow Catholics, is the gigantic
vii that we have banded together to com
rat, and you will admit with US that its
'verthrow requires not only herculean eff
ort. but is worthy Of the highest intel
ectual and moral energy. We earnestly
ppeal to you, therefore. men and women
# the Catholic faith. not only to encourage
is by your approving smiles. but to assist
IS by your active exertions in resisting
he inroads of this devastating vice We
ppeal to you by all the holy teachings
t your religion. by all the sacred memo
les of the past, by all the cherished con-
lderations. of the present, by all the
'rilliant hopes of the future; We appeal to
ou by every generous emotion of the i
cart, by every noble thought of the mind,
y every lofty aspiration of the soul we
ppeal to you by every motive and i'm +
ulse affecting your prosperity here and !
applness hereafter, We appeal to you by !
ne love you bear for God. for conntry, I
or family, for self-we appeal to you by
IL these and by every other thought and
entlment that can touch the hearts and 9
nduence the judgments of men, to aid us !
. planting the beautiful banner of Tenn
erance in every Catholic household from :
ne icy regions Of the North to the sunny
lains of the South. and from the blue
Iaves Of the Atlantic to the golden sands '
the Pacific. s3 ]
A vote of thanks was rendered Mr..
lerhany. and, on motion, it was deter
'ined to. have the address printed with e
ne Constitution and BYLAWS for distribu-
on ,1 .a.. as
@A muddy stream, flowing into one y
lear and sparkling. for time runs along
U Ifqalf A EffIo f,,. L =