The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1875-11-09
An Address,
Delivered in the City of Philadelphia in Octc
ber, 1875, by G. w. PARMELrr.

Mr.. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen
If | should offer an apology for appear.
ing before you this evening, and attempt.
ing to address you, with a protext Of
difhdence, you might perhaps suspect me
Of afectation as q declination or a non.
acceptance of your invitation, would have
avoided all such attempt, whether feigned
or real. And although | confess to not
being insensible to the compliment ex.
tended to me, yet | assure you | feel my
incompetency and an inability to say
anything that can arrest the attention,
expand the intellect or enlightcn or in-
struct the consciences of those before me
for the double reason, first that | am un.
accustomed to addressing public meetings
or audiences, and secondly that the topic
or subject we are here to consider to.
night, has been discussed and re.discussed.
dissected and re.dissected, and dgested
to nearly an impalpable state, as the
chemist would say, and TO an extent that
it would seem that every thought had
been utilized and smpl6ed, and that no
loophole could be left into which a new
thought or idea could be thrust or pro-
] jected if SO, what is to be done, or not
to be done ? Shall we unharncss Shall
we close our lips and cease to speak
Shall we let fall the right arm at our
side; shall we step aside and surrender
the roadway Of virtue to this colossal
juggernaut Of rum and iniquity, and
discontinue bombarding that mark in its
forehead; while at every revolution of
It's ponderous and bloodstained wheels it
Is adding numbers to the condition Of
widowhood, and perhaps reducing scores
to helpless, an unprotected, and a cruel
orphanage? If we should thus do, the
very stones would cry out. Just so long
as this blighting curse of intemperance is
upon US and about US; just so long as
this viper is emitting its poison into the
body polite; and just SO long as the
witherlng gales of this sirocco of death
are sweeping over this fair heritage of
men, just so long should the philanthro.
pist, the patriot, the moralisL, yea, the
Christian, raise his voice trumpet tongued
and grid his right arm for the conflict, and
say to this great higbwayman "Thus far
and no farther" and do all in our power
to enforce the declaration.
Sir, if there be personal devil, it
would seem that ever since that arch de.
mon prevailed ON our maternal ancestor
to appropriate the forbidden apple, and
the consequent fall Of our federal head he
has continuously been ensnaring, caioling
and tempting the sons and daughters Of
men into all manner Of forbidden and
thorny paths. and to committing excuses
that whelms the pathway of night, and
sets the principles and practices of virtue
at defiance but, as if to cap the climax,
his satanic majesty whispers to the yield
log and unwary "In the day thou
drlnkest thou shalt not die" and as if
magnetized by the syren song of no dan.
ger, and placarded by the flattering an.
aHspsG"tG isa o. IS ttSt h lJ"ah dt thGy
er. and in most cases stumble on morally
hoodwinked, down to the chambers of
death. Alas for the weak, the vacil.
lating, and the yielding moral stamina of
man. 1t would seem that if precept,
and line upon line, were disregarded and
set at naught, that example would at least
claim consideration from any one of ordi-
nary common sense and observation
but the reverse seems to be the rule in.
stead of the exception. If not, why is it
that no more take warning and 'Aee the
wrath to come" when they are daily
cognizant Of the wrecks of fortune, OF
reputation and respectability, and the SO.
cial misery that environs SO many hearth.
stones, and the pandemonium that has
supplanted the once happy home where
the first Of that household was once
model man, honored, respected and trust.
ed, but now reeling inebriate. But l
will not attempt to describe the social
misery engendered by King Alcohol. No
RFuis q arst M pSp RQrc rc qnS va5sc ars
of any speaker depict the woe, the an.
guish experienced at the drunkard's des-
olated home; it can only be overmatched
by the "horrors Of the second DEATH"
But it may be asked is there no rene.
dy, is there never repentant one
Stern law rigidly enforced, and fully sus.
tanned by an enlightened public opinion,
will furnish n remedy. and panacea, in
any community and | concede there is
an occasional reformation when those ap.
parently dead are made alive their so--
row finds solace in the kept resolution,
and despair may be lifted into hopes 1t
is not to be supposed that many that
have become confirmed inebriates will be
reclaimed. Can the Ethiopian change
his color? We instinctivey and logical.
ly turn to our young men for hope, for
courage, and anticipated consolation,
Sir, | am glad to say that our division
has large number Of young men at.
tached to it, and although | am not per.
sonally acquainted with many of them,
yet | judge by their appearance, demean-
or aud conduct they are true to the cause
they have formally espoused, and have
kept the vows they have made on this
floor, in the presence Of heaven and these
witnesses. Young men, although l am
not "sir oracle" among you, or for you,
yet | know you will excuse me for com.
meuding the step you have taken, on the
side of God and humanity, and l pray
you never dishonor your position but
let a light beam forth, that will illume
your pathway, and present such an ex.
ample to your fellows, that they may be
induced to go and do likewise, and may
you hereafter hear the welcome plaudit
"wel done" In a city like this, the
tempter stands at nearly every corner,
ready to allure the thonghtless, entrap
the rnwary, aud deceive, if possible, the
very elect; be spreads his moshes, and
reaches forth his graphing tentacle, to
entangle and draw within his seething
maelstrom the weak, the hesitating and
the vacilatinG; the gilded saloon beck
ons, and the low groggery looks forward
to an ultimatun; but stand fast, acquit
you like men, lace the tempter, and say,