The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-06-24
WOMANS TEMPERANCE COL.
UMN.
The Danger'of Drinking Habits.
EXTRACTS FROM SERMON by REV W. II.
II. MURRAY.

priced by others, as the habit Of drinking
intoxicating liquors. 1t affects him on
all sides OF his nature, and affects him
only for evil. There is not one redeem.
ing or alleviating influence 10 it. 1t is
destructive of every interest which man
should hold dear. There is no danger
that statement can be framed so broad
as to be chargeable with exaggeration,
which sets forth the evil Influences Of
drinking habits on the man, or on the
community.
You may take man in business life,
an able man, even a gifted man one who
is ripe with the matured experience of
long commercial career one who stands
in the prime of life, universally respected.
whose word is as good as his bond
master 10 the great craft Of trade. Now
you would think that such a man 20 sur.
rounded, so sustained, could not be over
thrown. You would say "There is a
man whose position is secure his power
is high, but there is SO much base to it
that, like the pyramids, nothing can
overturn it. What fortune be has be.
fore him ~
Well, now, you watch that man. lie
begins to drink. Occasionally, at drst,
in a gentlemanly sort of way. "He is
all right" people say. "lf he loves
glass of wine occasionally, hasn't he a
right 10 take it7" Undoubtedly. Bat
observe He begins to love his wine. He
begins to long for 1t. A thirst for it is
being born in him. Without any alarm
in his mind, he yields to it. In q year
or so he is no longer an occasional, he is
an habitual drinker. From wine. as his
appetite grows by what it is fed on, be
passes over and on to the use of stronger
stimulants. These begin to affect him
They interrupt the digestive organs in
the fu6lment of their functions. They
vitiate his blood, the great nurse of Wig
orous thought. They cloud his mind.
They parade their evidence in his face
They weaken his memory and he becomes
forgetiul. He makes promises and doesn't
keep them They sap the foundations of
his veracity lie begins to lie, to excuse
his mistakes and cover up his blunders
Whispers begin to float in the air. He
begin. to lose money. lie companions
sili fast men. The bills of his folly
multiply against his bank account. The
thing goes on awhile; goes on ss time
goes on, before the earthquakes shock
Men feel that II is coming, and wait for
it. At last the crash comes The great,
strong, evenly balanced business man
prince among princes, is dashed from
his eminencc down to the level Of com.
mon men Aye, down TO the level of
the pauper and sot.
You know, merchants aud professional
men, that this is not fancy sketch, in
that it cannot bo duplicated in real life
for you know that it can be duplicated.
1t is not picture at ell, go much as q
frame prepared for a picture and out
Of your own knowledge Of men, cut OF
your memory of business associates. you
can recall face after face which you cau
put in this frame aud write q rosl name
under it.
Ii were well if the disastrous results
Of drinking habits were only seen 10 such
connection as We have suggested bu.l.
ness connection. Ii we're well If they
cost man nothing but his property. and
brough; 10 disaster to society but fuan-
cial disaster But this is not the case
1t affects more than the mans business
1t destroys more than his property; il
affects aud destroys himself. And this
is the solemn thing touching the matter
Property can be lost and regained TEN.
pests might sweep every ship from the
seas, aud in twelve months those seas
would be as white az ever with sails.
Fires can consume your storehouses, melt
your iron blocks, and granulate by their
excessive heat, your structures Of stone
and yet out of the ashes shall rise new
walls the melted iron be replaced, the
crumbling granite be restored, and com.
merce rejoice with more adequate equip.
ment for her necessities, than before the
destruction came. But when a man is
wrecked when the pillars of his virtue
are cast down and broken into fragments
when the torch Of imAammable appetite
has kindled flames within his bosom.
which feed on the strength and integrity
of his soul when this is done a ruin has
been wrought in this city, greater than
winds make when they pile mp wrecks.
greater than fire makes when It reduces
warehouses 10 ashes.
To bring against drinking habits the
charge, that they destroy not only pros.
erty, but men, is to send forth into ihs
air, warning against their formation.
solemn enough TO make IDIOTS look grave
A ruined mani A man who has been
great, has been wealthy, has been good
has held and administered large trusts:
c man with an immortal soul with ross
bilities in his nature which only eternity
could realize such a man, rninsi, in
estate, in mind, soul Bring him to
me, with or without his coffin, and will
take the wreck and remnant Of what wss
once glorious being, ont TO the center
Of that common, and will call the city
together | will call Ia the Governor Of
the State; will call to sl who love
Boston and the Commonwealth, high and
low, and say, "Come, gather round me
here and let us mourn a loss greater
thsn il our property had all been swept
into the center of the sea the loss Of s
man. - Yea, and with you all gathered
around me there, thousands of us so
that the enclosure would not hold another
human form, it would be allowable for
me, voicing your sense Of loss, 10 cal
on tho angels, and the mercy of the great
God, to mourn with US over the loss Of
what earth cannot give, nor heaven with
all iis powers Of ministration restore tho
loss of soul. For never is the sky so
blue never is the sun so bright, mover
are the clouds so dense above me, that
cannot see, written in gigantic letters.