The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-04-18
Is Temperate Drinking Safe ?

AT certain town meeting in Pennsyl.
vanla, the question came up whether any
persons should be licensed to sell rum.
The clergyman, the deacon, the physician.
strange as it may now seem, all favored
1t. One man only spoke against it, be.
cause of the mischief it did. The ques-
ton was about to be put, when there
arose from one corner of the room mis-.
erable woman. She was th;nly clad, and
her appearance indicated the utmost
wretchedness, and that her mortal career
was almost closed. After a moments ST.
lence, and all eyes being fixed upon her,
she stretched her attenuated body to its
utmost height, and then her long arms to
their greatest length, and raising her
voice to shrill pitch, she called to all to
look upon her.
"Yes !" she said, "look upon me, and
then hear me, All that the last speaker
has said relative to temperate drinking, as
being the father of drunkenness, is true.
All practice, all experience declares its
truth All drinking of alcoholic poison,
as beverage in health, is excess. Look
upon me- You all know me, or once
did. You all know | was once the mis-
tress OF the best farm in the town; you
all know, too, l had one of the best-the
most devoted of husbands. You all
know | had fine, noble. hearted, indus.ri-
Gus boys. Where are they now? Doc
tor, where arc they now? You all know.
You all know they lie in row side by
side in yonder churchyard all, every one
OF them filling the drunkard's grave
They were all taught to believe that tenn
perate drinking was safe-that excess
alone ought to be avoided and they nev.
er acknowledged excess, They quoted
you, and you, and you pointing with
shred of finger to the minister, deacon,
and doctor as authority They thought
themselves safe under such teachers. But
| saw the gradual change coming over
my family and its prospects, with dismay
and horror. | felt we were all TO be
overwhelmed in one common ruin.
tried to ward off the blow; | tried to
break the spell, the dclusive spell, in
which the idea of the benefits of temper.
ate drinking men had involved my hus.
band-and sons. begged prayed out
the odds were against me.
"The minister said the poison that was
destroying my husband and boys was
good creature Of God the deacon, who
sits under the pulpit there, and took our
farm to pay his rum bills, sold them the
poison the doctor said little was good,
and the excess only ought to be avoided.
My poor husband and my dear boys fell
into the snare, and they could not escape;
and, one after another, were conveyed to
the sorrowiu! grave of the drunkard. Now
look at me again. You probably see me
for the last time. My sands have almost
run. | have dragged my exhausted
frame from my present home-your
'poor-house-to warn you all to warn
you, deacon to warn you, false teacher
of Gods word !" And with her arms
flung high, aud her tall form stretched to
its utmost, and her voice raised to an un-
earthly pitch. she exclaimed, 81 shall
soon stand before the judgment seat of
God. shall meet you there, you false
guides, and be witness against you all -
The miserable woman vanished. A
dead silence pervaded the assembly; the
deacon and physician hung their heads;
and when the president Of the meeting
put the question, Shall any licenses be
granted for the sale of spirituous liquors2"
the unanimous response was, "No ~
Memoir Of George NJ Briggs, late Err
GOrsrnor Of Massachusetts.