Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-10-21
Moths in the Candle.

Every moth learns for itself that the can
lie burns Every night, while the candle ,
lasts. the slaughter goes on, and leaves its
wingless and dead around it. The light is
and warm, and attractive and,
unscared hy the dead. the foolish creatures
rush into the flames, and drop. hopelessly
snged. their little lives despoied
1t has been supposed that men have rea-
son. and a moral sense. II has been sup
posed that they observe. draw conclusions,
and learn by experience. Indeed, they have
been in the habit Of looking down upon the
animal world as q group of inferior beings
and a. subjects Of COMMUNICATION on account
of their defencelessness, yet there is a large
class of men, reproduced 10y every passing
generation, that do exactly what the moths
do, and die exactly as the moths die, They
learn nothing by observation or experience,
They draw no conclusions, save those which
are fatal to themselves. Around a certain
class Of brilliant temptations they gather,
night after night, and with singed wings or
lifcless bodies, they strew the ground around |
them. No instructions, no expostulatons, !
no observation of ruin, no sense of duty, no /
circumstances OF conscience, have any effect |
upon them II they were moths IN fact they |
could not be siller or more obtuse. They |
are, indeed. 50 far under the domination of |
their animal natures that they act like ami |
mails. and sacrifice themselves in flames that |
the worlds experience has shown To be fatal.
4 single passion, which need not be named,
further than TO say that, when hallowed 10y
love and q legitimate gift Of life TO life, it is
as pure as any passion OF the soul, ---isone of
the candles around which the human moths
lie in myraids Of disgusting deaths. If any
thing has been proved by the observation
and experience Of the world it is that liccn-
tiousness and all illicit qualification of the
passion involved in it, are killing sins against
mans own nature,-that by 1t the wings
are singed not only, but body and soul are
/ degraded and spoiled Out of all Illicit in-
| diligence come weakness, perverted moral
| nature. degradation of character, gross beast
| illness. benumbed sensibilfties, disgusting
/ life and disgracful death Before its bale
| full fire the sanctity of womanhood fades
away, the romance of life dies, and the beau
tful world loses all its charm. The lives
wrecked upon the rock of sensuality are
strewn in every direction. Again and again,
with endless repetition, young men yield to
the song of the siren that beguiles them to
their death. They learn nothing they see
nothing, they know nothing but their wild
desire, and on they go to destruction and the
devil
Every young man who reads this article
has two lives before him. lie may choose
either. He may throw himself away ON a
few Legitimate delights, which cover his
brow with shame in the presence of his
mother, and become an old man before his
time. with all the wine drained out of his
life, or he may grow up into pure, strong
manhood, held in healthy relation to all the
JOYS that pertain to that high estate. lie
may be beast in his heart, or he may have
a wife whom he worships, children whom he
delights in, self-respect which enables him
to meet unabashcd the noblest woman, and
an undisputed place in good society. He
may have a dirty imagination, or one that
hates and spums all impurity as both dis
gushing and poisonous. In brief, he may be
a man, with a mans powers and immuni-
ties, or sham of a MANA whited sep
ulchre,--consciou that he carries with him
his own dead bones, and all uncleanness.
1t is matter entirely of choice, lie knows
what one life is, and where it ends. He
knows the essential quality and certain
destiny of the other. The man who says he
cannot control himself not only lies, but
places his Maker in blame. lie can control
himself, and. if he does not, lac is both a fool
and beast. The sense of security and pu-
rity and self-respect that comesof confluence,
entertained for a single day is worth more
than the illicit pleasures of a world for all
time. The pure in heart see God in every
thing, and see Him everywhere, and they
are supremely blest.
Wine and strong drink form another can
! die in which millions of men have singed
themselves, and destroyed both body and
= soul. Here the signs Of danger are more ap
parent than in the other form of sensuality
u because there is less secrecy. The candle
y burns in open space, where all men can Sc,
!, ii. Law sits behind, and sanctions its burn
/ ing. 1t pays princely revenue to the gov
I eminent. Women faunt their gauzes in it
= Clergymen sweep their robes through it
i Responsibility uses it to light its banquets
u In many regions of this country it is highly
respectable candle Yet every year, sixty
thousand persons in this country die of in
" temperance; and when we think of tn,
: blasted lives that live in want aud misery
' of wives in despair, of loves bruised and blot
ted out, of children disgraced, of alms-house'
:, filed, of crimes committed through its in
fluence, of industry extinguished, and Of
! disease engendered, and remember that THU
:, has been going on for thousands of years
It wherever wine has been known; what ar,
y we to think Of the men who still press into thu
fire ? Have they any more sense than tn,
!
y, mans faith in immortality to learn that h,
Il belongs to a race that manifests so it'll
sense and such hopeless recklessness.
Il There is just one way of safety, and onl,
one and young man who stands at the be
ginning of his career can choose whether h
viii walk in it, or in the way of danger
e There is notion abroad among men tina
n wine is good,-that when properly used i
has help in it,-that in a certain way it i
n food, or help in the digestion Of food
" We believe that no greater or more fata
d hallucination ever possessed the world, ant
N that none so great ever possessed il for ST
e. long a time
IS Wine is medicine, and men would taxi
N no more Of il than of any other medicine if i
Ie were not pleasant in its taste and agreeabl,
le in its first effects. The men who drink it
" drink it because they like it. The theorie
A. as TO its healthfulness come afterwards
d The world cheats itself, and tries to chea
< itself in this thing; and the priests VIII
Is pirate of using this world as not abusing
IA it, and the chemists who claim sort 0
L. nutritious property in alcohol which neye
n adds to tissue - and the men who make
it Jest of Understanding, all know perfect,
X well that wine aud strong drink always hav
II done more harm than good in the world, an,
" always will until that millennium comes
:" whose feet are constantly tripped from un
h. der it by the drunkards that lie prone il
As its path. The millennium with grog-sho
le at every corner is just as impossible as Sc
Is curity with burglar at every window, or il
" every room of the house All men know
Is that drink is a curse, yet young men spor
j. around it as If there were something yer
in desirable in it, and sport until they ar
o. hopelessly singed and then join the great
sad army that with undiminished numbers
presses ON TO its certain death.
We do not like TO become an exhorter il
these columns, but, if it We're necessary, W
h. would plead with young men upon wear
ly knees TO touch not the accused thing. Tota
il abstinence, now and for ever, is the onl
" guaranty in existence against drunkard
ID life and death, and there is no good that ca
IN possibly come 10 man by drinking kee
IL out of the candle II win always SINCE you
Is wings, or destroy you.-Scribaer's Magasin
m A FRAsK ADMssIoS.-The Rev. Nj
st Sturgeon comes out boldly in defense G
: smoking. lie thinks good cigar is o thin
m TO thank God for" for he says, "when Ihay
= found intense pain relieved, weary brai
III soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep obtaine
d. by cigar, ! have felt grateful to God an
IL | hava blessed His mama ~ Tho anti-tnha