Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-05-05
TEMPERANCE COLUMN.
Contributed BY THE WoxES's TEMPERANCE USIos

| CONTRIBUTED BY THE WonEs's TEMP FRANCE USIosI
TnE CouNrRY's GREATEST Evu-In an
address delivered some time ago at Chica-
90, Vlce-President Wilson thus urged the
ssity for active effort in aid of the tenn
peranee cause, By all Christian men and
women:
Forty years ofexperience and observation
have taught me that the greatest evil of our
| country, next. at anv rate. to the one that
has gone down in fire and blood to rise no
more, Is the evil of intemperance. Every
| day : experience, every hour of reflection.
| TEACHES me that 1t Is the duty Of patriotism,
the duty OF humanity, the duty of Chris
rlanity, to live Christian lives. and to exert
temperance influence among the people.
Thtre was time when | was Younger than
| am now. when hoped to live long enough
to see the cause which my heart loves and
my Judgment approves stronger than it is
to-day. | may be mistaken. gentlemen, but
1t seems TO me that the present is a rather
| dark and troubled night for that cause. and
1t l. because IL so seems to me that believe
it to be the duty of every honest. conscien-
| tIOus, seit-sacrIhcing man of our country
TO speak and to work for the cause in every
legitimate and proper way and my reliance
for the advancement of the cause of tenn
peranee is the same reliance which have
for the spread of tho Gospel of our Divine
Lord and Master. The heart, the con-
science, and the reason must be appealed to
continually and Christian men and women
must remember that the heart OF Christian
Ity is temperance. Ii it costs sacrifice,
give 1t. What is sacrifice to doing good
and lifting towards heaven our fellow men?
We have got TO rely On appeals ard address
es made to the heart OF this nation. to the
conscience of the people and the reason Of
the country. We have got TO train up our
children in the cause from infancy. We
must teach il in the schools and every y here
by word, and above all by example; and 1t
seems to me that Christian ministers. in
this dark hour of our country, when they
see 50 much intemperance. and what looks
to some of US like u reaction, should make
the voice of the pulpits of this land heard.
Members of Christian churches should re-
member that they have something to do in
this cause. If anything stands in the way
of Christianity it is the drunkenness in our
land. A word for temperance at this time
Is the strongest blow against 1.-THE Kingdom
of Satan and TOR the cause of our Lord and
Master. Suppose you have been disappOlnt-
ed. Suppose that many of your views have
failed. We know that We are right. APP
plauss. We personally feel and see it. The
evidence i around and about Us that We
cannot be mistaken in living total absti-
nenee lives and recommending such q course
to our neighbors. Wien it costs something
u stand by the temperance cause, then l.
the hour to stand 10y 1t. II could be heard
to-iav by the people Of the land. hy the
patriotic young men OF this country, full OF
f.a Nd |
among the first, the highest and grandsst
duties which the country, God, and the
love of humanity impose. to work for the
cause of total abstinence.
The RIGHT PosIrI0N Let it bot occo re
forge tten that our hostility l. towards II
traffic. Not towards any class OF men, a.
such. They are our neighbCrs ana fellow
citizens, but they are doing, as We believe
and can abundantly prove, a very bad bust
ness And whether they intend 1t or no.
they are engaged in a traihc which lays upon
society lncOnceIyable evils. We have htsrd
their talk about their rights IN TINS thing
Now let the right of the taxpayer be
heard, and above all let the cry of suffer
ing humanity long suppressed, be heard.
Bat let there be no bitter denuneiatIon.
bat rather earnest prayer that they may be
u
| Let the church put itself right IN this
matter by eOmILg honestly ard thorough
| IN on to temperance ground. | believe DIR.
| Humphrey said truly, " the common sense
| of mankind decides that this evil cannot be
| checked and suppressed only BY the entire
| il<use of ardent spirits In the moral and re-
| ligious community' And Rev. Albert
| Barnes. OF santed memory. once said 1t
i Just because intemperance i upheld by
the rich and respectable, and By proie>sed
| Christians. that the reform drags 20 heavi-
| w. Every church OF ChrIst, the world over
should be, in very deed. an organization OF
pure temperance, under the leadership and
! patronage of Jesus Christ. tne friend and
the model OF purity Tie pulpit must
speak out, and the press must speak. and
yud. fellow Christians. are summoned by
the God OF purity 10 take Your stand and
cause your influence to be iell.' And what
manly words have from time to time ap-
ueared in Scrlbner's Monthly. Read this
for instance, IN - DelusIOBs OF Drink :"
- The habits neither Of Great Britain nor
America will improve until men ut inhu-
ence in every walk OF lite are willing 10
dispense with their DIR hiking customs. There
is nothing in sanitary considerations as they
relate t. the moderate drinker. and surely
nothing in the pleasures OF the moderate
drInker. 10 mitigate tins curse. IL Is all q
delusion. The water drlnker il the healthy
man and the happy man. Spirits. wine,
beer, alcoholic beverages Of all sorts are a
burden and a bane, and there is no place
where a good man can stand unshadowed
by u fatal delusion except upon the sale
ground Of total abstinence. Until that
ground is taken and held by good men
eyerywhere, there can be no temperance re-
form. The wine drinkers of England and
America have the whiskey drinkers in their
keeping"
These are sound strong utterances to which
the church OF God and all right-minded
people ought to take heed. .-Rev. III. T..
Haydn.