Litchfield enquirer., 1878-07-25
The Voyage of Life.

I think himself safe, though he saw his cOnsorts every moment sinking round him; and no sooner had the waves closed over them, than their fate and their misconduct were forgot ten; the voyage was pursued with the same l iocund confidence; every man congratulated l himself upon the soundness of his vessel, and believed himself able to stem the whirlpool in which his friend was swallowed, or glide over 1 the rocks on which he was dashed nor was it often observed that the sight of wreck made I any man change his course :: if he turned aside 1 for moment, he soon forget the rudder, and left himself again to the disposal of chance.
  In the midst of the current of life was the gulf of Intemperance, a dreadful whirlpool I interspersed with rocks, of which the pointed l crags were concealed under water, and the l tops covered with herbage, on which Ease l spread couches of repose; and with shades where Pleasure warbled the song of invitation. | Within sight of these rocks all who sailed on the ocean of life must necessarily pass. Rea- son, indeed, was always at hand to steer the passengers through narrow outlet by which they might escape: but very few could, by her entreatles or remonstrances be induced to put the rudder into her hand, without stipula- ting that she should approach so near the rocks of Pleasure, that they might solace themselves with short enjoyment of that delicious re-
 
 pursue their course without any other devia- tion. .sssE zs =zr
 Reason was too often prevailed upon so far by these promises as to venture her charge within the eddy of the gulf of Intemperance, where, indeed, the crcumvolutien was weak, but yet interrupted the course of the vessel, and drew it, by insensible rotations, towards the center. She then repented her temerity, and with all her force endeavoured to retreat; but the draught of the gulf was generally too strong to be overcome; and the passenger, ,hav- ing danced in circleswith apleasing and giddy velocity, was at last overwhelmed and lost. Those few whom Reason was able to extricate, generally suffered so many shocks upon the points which shot out from the rocks of Pleas ure, that they were unable to continue their course with the same strength and facility as before, but foated along gtimorously and feebly, endangered by every breeze, and shattered by every ruffie of the water, till they sunk, by slow degrees, after long struggles, and innu- merable expedients, always repining at their own folly, and warning others against the first approach of the gulf of Intemperanee. .-Rana- bier, No. 102
 The foregoing picture of mans heedlessness in view of one of the greatest dangers that be- sets his voyage of life, is almost as true to the life of the latter half of the Nineteenth, as to that of the middle of the Eighteenth century. We do believe, however, that there has been some improvement. We are not quite so prod igal of happiness, of health, of life, as were those ancestors of ours for whom Dr. Johnson wrote in 1754 A careful comparison of sta tistics by those directly interested in the cong putation has proved that the span of human life has been considerably increased during the past century; and we may safely Attribute a large share of our increase of years to that dis trust of alcoholic settlements which is charac- teristic of the latter half of that century.
 Granting, therefore, that we have gained much by Temperance there still remains the whirlpool of Intemperance, just as dangerous as of old, though more dreaded, and oftener avoided, It is q little off our natural course, too, we must remember, for the love of strong drink is fictitious, not natural appetite. Why not close up so dangerous by-way, alto gether and at once, by Total Abstinence Sim ply because some can and do navigate it suc- cessfully; can come out of it without ma- terial injury. It is their success which tempts their weaker brethren to ruin. It is not the example of the drunkard but of the temperate" thinker that tempts our youth to drunkenness. Setting aside the few cases in which drunkenness is an inherited disease, the children of drunkarda of the reputable classes are oftener than otherwise the strongest advo- cates of Total Abstinence. They have been saved from ruin by the awful spectacle of their own ruined and degraded parents. What temperate" drinker, on the other hand, is not uneasy when he sees his sons following his ex- ample He knows the risk they run, and often advises them against the indulgence he is not himself willing to forego. They say nothing to him; but they say to themselves, "Why does he imagine that we are weaker than he ?" and then many of them go down to drunkard's graves. a ....
 But it is the collective rather than the indi- vidual example that sets the tone of society. Let the best men of a community dine togeth- CT, drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages, and they inevitably accomplish enc of two evil results: they either shock the public sense with rumors of their drunkenness; or they tempt youth to their ruin by the reputation of their temperance. . '5
 Suppose that oot-bridge could be built across the cliffs below the Falls of Niagara, affording the grandest view of the sublimest spectacle known to nature Nine out of every ten men can walk this bridge in safety, but io 1,ol to long would the law allow the thousands of OUT population so dangerous qualification at the expense ofthe hundreds? What man who could successfully walk that bridge would dare cp- pose it's destruction because 1t had not proved fatal to him? Yet in what would his position differ from that of the temperate" drinker whose escape from destruction tempts others to venture on an experiment that will surely prove fatal to them?
 Let us avoid bigotry, of all things. Liquor ! drinking is not the only nor perhaps the chief evil of modern society, Some of the grandest Americans known to history have been drunk ards. Some of our best and k1ndest, and most exemplary people are temperate" drinkers. Are we wrong to importune men-perhaps our superiors in all other moral respects-to give up this single practice of theirs that is of evil example,? The times are so opportune; the moral sense of the public is so thoroughly awake to the necessity of reform we cannot believe that those who are willing to sacrifice anything for the good of their fellow men, and who will give the subject anything like 2 fair consideration can much longer hesitate to take the pledge of Total Abstinence.
 On Friday last saysthe American, ''the rec tory of St. Michaels church in Naugatuck, oc- cupied by Rev. J. L. Scott, caught fire from 8 defective fue and was completely gutted. The