Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1872-08-02


/ Merino, Cottswold or South Down?
Give the varieties ot hjfe, i4ci-i.aS the
/ hop waltz.
Surprising spades are t-d.ap-, ~has would
be the lel5 bower?
Had you been in John Baayan's shoes
would you have drained the Slough o. Des-
| pond?
Was Joaah's gourd male or female?
Was or was not the Garden OF Eden ever
snbsoilcd?
/ How many eanker worms does it take 10
ruin an apple orchard2
Have vou ever read What ] know about
Farming ?' and do you think IL proiane to
/ dam brook because it runs down hill?
Would You feed square root or cube roo.
| to milch cows 10 excite the h0w Of milk?
| Do you think the general use Of sorghum
syrup in family likely g. improve the milk
Of human kindness?
/ Spell 'disgruntled' witl)ut grunting.
TuE WISE QUEsrIoS IN S)clEr-It Is
universally admitted among sensible and caa-
dii people that drunkenness is the great curse
Of our national life 1t is not characteristi-
cllly American, for the same may be said
with greater emphasis Of the social and IA
ti5nal life Of Great Bcitain; bat IL is one Of
those things about which there Is no d)ub5.
Cholera and small pox bring smaller fatality,
and almost infinitely smaller sjrrJw. There
are fathers and mothers, and sisters and
wives, AMI innocent and wondering children,
within every circle tha- embraces hundred
lives who griove to-day over some hopeless
victim of the seductive destroyer. In the
city and in the cJuntry-N0rth, East, South
and Wcst-there are men and women who
are conscious, too, that they are going to
destruction, and who have ceased to fight an
appetite that has the power 10 transform
every soul and every home i: occupies into
he'll. Oh, the wild prayers flr help that 20
up from a hundred thousand desparing slaves
OF strong drink to-day Oh, the shame
the disappointment, the fear, the disgust.
the awful pity, the mad protests that rise
| from q hundred thousand homes And still
/ the smoke of the everlasting torment rises.
and still We discuss the "winc question and
/ tie grape culture, and live on as if We had
/ no share in the responsibility for SO much sin
and shame aud suffering.
Society bid- US furnish wine at our .cast=
and we furnish it Just as generously as II We
/ did not known that a certain percentage 0f
I all the men who drink it will die miserable
drunkards, and inaict lives Of pitiful suffer
Ing upon those who arc closely associated
wiki them. There are literally hundreds of
thousands Of people il petite life in America
who would not dare TO give a dinner, or a
IaItv, without wine, notwithstanding the
fact tha. in many instances they can select
the very guests who drink too much on
every occasion that gives them an 0pV0ltGui-
tv. There are old men and women who IN
vito young men 10 their fcasts. whom ;hcy
know cannot drink the wine they propose 70
furnish without danger To themsoiges and
disgrace tl their companions and friends.
They DO this sadly, often, but under the CON-
pul-i1us of social usage. N5w wc under
stand the power of this influence. auI every
sensitive man must feel it keeaiy. Wine
has stood SO long as an emblem and repre-
sentative Of good cheer and generous hos
p;ralitv. that It seems stingv TO shut i- away
irUa GUY festivities, and deny it % our
guests. Then again it Is So generally otere !
at the table OF our friends, and il is 50 diff
cult, apparently, for those who are accustou-
ci 20 j, % make a dinner without II, that We
hesitate % ul,. q them. l. has q ui-- ily
-aimcat an uniricndly Yet wha;
shall q man do who wishes o. throw what
influence be has on the side OF temperance
TIE question l. not new. IL has been ny
for an answer every year and every moment
since men thought or talked about temper
ance AZ all. We know Of but one answer to
If. man cannot, without s-ultii7ng and
morally dchasin- himself, fight in public
that which hc t1lCratcs In private. We
have heard Of >uch things rs wrIJin. temper
auce addresses with q domiilhu under the
table, and society has learned by heart the
Oh talk against drinking too muca-'the
excess lf the tAine, You know by those
who have the power of drinking iittlc, but
who would sooner part With their right eye
tian with that ll.tic. \ man who talks
temperance with q vino gass in his hand i,
-imI ly irving % brace himself So t.a; he ear
h.It tlt without shame. We lJ mo-; deny
that many mcn have scll-controi, OK that
they can drink wine through life without
suffering, 10 themselves or others. It me- :
seem hard that they should be deprived Of q
comfort CT pleasure because Others are les
fortunate in their temperament O7 thcu
power of viii. But the question is whether
mau }, willing 10 sell bis power % DO good
to a gIcat multitude i5r glass -f wine "a
di ncr. That is the question in lis PLANES
terms Il he is, then be has very littl,
bcnevolcnce. or a very inadequate apprehen
sion Of the evils Of intcmJcrancc.
" hat We need in eur metropolitan society
, is q declaration Of independence. There art
a great many good men and women in New
81. a. L
society most sincerely. let these all deciar
that they VIII minister no longer at th'
2 social altars Of the great destroyer. Lei
, them declare that the iudiscriminatc olsr o
wine at dinners and social assemblies is no
only criminal but vulgar, as it uudouh,edl,
Is. Let them declare that for tho sake O
, tic Young, the weak, the vici0us-iJr th
/ sake Of personal character, and family peace
and social purity. and national strength
, they will discard wine from their fcasts from
this time forth and forever, and the w0rl
Will be done. Let them declare that Il shal
be yulgar-as it undeniably is-for a man {
| quarrel with his dinner because his host fail
: TO furnish wine. This can he done now
and it needs to be done now, for it Is bec1m
4 ing every day more difficult to do it. Th
habit of wine-drinking at dinner Is quite PFC
yalent already European travel is doin
= much TO make it universal; and if We 20 O.
extending it at the present rate we sha
soon arrive at the European Indifference {
x the whole subject. There are many clergy
r men in New York who have wine upon thei
tables and who furnish it to their guest,
We keep no mans conscience, but we ar
compelled TO say that they sell influence at
C ehamefully cheap ate. What can they &
T in the great fight with this tremendous evil
e They can do nothing, and are counted upo
e to do nothing.
C If the men and women of good society Wis
r 70 have less drinking 10 excess, let them st0
c drinking moderately. If they are not WI
e ling to break off the indulgence Of a feebl
n appetite for the sake of doing a great goo
y to great many people, how can they e,
e pect POOR, broken-dOwn wretch to deny a
It appetite that is stronger than the love
q, wife and children. and even life itself? III
&C punishment for the failure to do duty in th
c business is sickening to contemplate. II
The sacrifice of life and peace and veal
y will 20 on. Every year young men vi
10 rush wildly to the devil, middle-aged mC
n will booze away into apoplexy, and old nj
h will swell up with the sweet poison and b
j. come disgusting luiots. nat VIII oecol
10 Of the women? We should think that tn,
= had suffered enough from this evil to hold
| under everlasting ban, yet there are drunk,
| wcmen as well as drinking elergyme
Society, however, has great advantage
to the fact that it is vulgar for a woman to drin
re There are some things that a woman mi
re not do, and maintain her social standin
le Let her not quarrel with the fact th
ar society demands more of her than it does
i men. 1t is her safeguard IN many ways.
is DR.. J. q. Holland, IN ScriJner's TOR Argu
THE GREAT MIsTAKE.-The grelt mists
which Democratic and Republican Office seek
or made when they put forward Greeley for Pre-
h. dent, WAS the superstition that the Old readers
10 the Tribune, particularly the farmers, men "
~ hsve taken tbs; paper for ten, twenty, or thii