Litchfield enquirer., 1878-02-28

appeal in that Masters name and to that Mas ters example.7e.sfsBea ye one another E. bur- dens,' writes St. Paul. ;and, 50 fulfill the law I of Christi The law of Chris" What is that I law but the law efa life that loved not itself, l but gave itself for you and mel dmasvolun1es for which l. am, indebted to the kind thought fulness of our host of this evening, occurs the, testimony of a man, who, in a neighboring city. in consequence of the labors of Mr. Moody, had been won from life of intemper-s ance to one of self-respecting total abstinence 1 He was speaking of his experience since his refofnf, and with touching simplicity he con cluled: z'sThefe are some here who have spo-a ken of their craving for drinksa as having since, l their conversion, wholly ceased: can not say that have trust, learned to love Christ and to believe that He1Aeves ms; but che old 4 old craving sornetimes but by theu grace of ] God, and the help of my brethren. Ihcpe o resist 1t. The help of my brethren. Dear Friends, let us try and make the world, your l intimates and mine, the men and women l whom we know and whose rule of life in this matter is not ours-let US try, 1 say, to make these understand that there are multitudes of weaker ones who can only hope to triumph as they see Christ's pity, Christ's compassion, Christ's self-forgetting love and help incarna- ted in ''the help of their brethren. Let us ask them frankly and fearlessly, ''What is your i personal indulgence worth to you compared with the inestimable privilege of strengthening the steadfastness and steadying the feet of some l. weaker brother? Let who will come to you on other and lower grounds We ask''you to take this stand, because it is the noblest and most unselfish, and most Christ like stand" Believe me, such an appeal will not be made in vain.
 | And in the spirit of such an appeal, let me | add may mt we yvh0 tho frionda 0f Total Abstinence, especially among the poor neglect ed, and with more thoughtful consideration, tenderer sympathy for their many-sided hu- manity? Who thatknows thelives and homes of the poor can wonder that they drink I confess that when have come out of one of those wretched tenement-houses in which l some hundreds of thousands more or less of the people of New York are lodged, my wen- l der has been, not that the poor creatures who live in them drink SO much, but that they drink so little. It is not hard for you and me to practice Total Abstinence. We have so | many things to make home bright, and to re- ieve the monony of life. Books and pictures, music, cultivated and congenial companion ships, these are within the reach of us all | Above all, our dwellings are not devoid of sunshine and pure air and abundant water and light. But poor mans home, what is it ? too often but at best two or three rooms, with
 
 ! utter absence of wholesome conveniencieS Is | it any wonder that men, and sometimes wo- men, too, turn from such. places to sa- looms and dance-halls, not, first, of all, for the drink that is dispensed there but learning to drink, quite as often as other wise, because drinking is condition of admis- sion to them ? It is well to make the labor ing man take pledge also-a pledge to build better tenements with 8 less exclusive fo 1itovo ooI humane reference to the Well-being of those who are to live in them. If we hope to make man permanently temperate, we must recog- nize that wisest economy which aims to di- minish his motives for intemperance. Drunk enness means crime crime means the destruct- ion of property and the increase of pauperism. The destruction of property and the increase of pauperism mean increased taxation and shinking values. It ought to be a tolerably easy sum for the capitalist to reckon how largely and genuinely improved homes for the poor stand for improved habits of the poor, and so for dimished taxation and increased secur- ty for the accumulationS of the rich
 Again, the Temperance movement should aim to give men more sunshine. It was an Indian, driven from his old hunting grounds, and pursued from place to place by the ever encroaching white man, who justified his use or the fire water" by saying that he took it
 
 His life was cold and bare He had exchang- ed the freedom and exhilaration of life on the pralrles for the wretched dependence of bas- tard civilization. What wonder that he drank lie had learned from the white man to long for the false and feverish glow that comes to the brain from strong drink; and drank and drank again to drown his poverty and misery. It is not an exceptional experience. There are men all over the country whose lIu6S 1 and 1ool~ +lo ,oIo element in their natures, which is just as d vine in it's origin as the work element. And Ii we want to make men temperate-if we want to save them from seeking in opium or strong drink the eXhilaration which they can command in no other way, those who have wealth and taste and influence must meet the question. How shall we brighten the lives of such persons with wholesome and simple pleasures? The annual consumption of op- um has increased in this country seye1aty per cent. in ten years Have we reflected upon the dismal meaning of such fact Are we ignorant of the mental and moral ruin that it stands for Surely it is worth while to arrest 1t, not by prohibition, but by the way of coun- ter-attraction. You can not seal up certain instincts ofhuman nature by VOW, whether of celibacy, or monasticism, or total abstinence without recognizing the healthy want-the want of companionship, of variety, of health tul and innocent recreation, which intemper- ance 80 foolishly and wrongly aims to gratify
 And what IS this but to say that our efforts to promote the cause of Total Abstinence must be saturated with the spirit of personal sympa- thy ? We must, somehow, come closer-those of us who have wealth and culture, and in- huence and personal gifts-to that vast major ity who are less favored Our life in America IS too isolated, too unsympathetic. We have tine scorn for the feudalisns of the old world but the distance, among us, between the rich and the poor, is often far greater and more impossible than the distance between peer of some European realm and the humblest peas ant upon his estate. In such relation there IS, oftener than otherwise, much ot the old pa triarchal familiarity and mutual interest But with us the relation between the rich and the 1 poor, the prosperous and the unfortunate or in- temperate, is too often one of mutual suspicion and alienation. We think too little of the lives which the poor lead, and we do too little to brighten those lives. The remedy does not lie in organizing societies for reform or for relief There must be an individual endeavor to un- derstand our fellow linen and women, to feel, not for, but with them and in those thousand minor ways which love will most surely dic- tate to do what we can to improve their homes, to brighten their work day lives, and to win their confidence and affection. Doing this, we may hope, sooner or later, to persuade tHeln that there IS WOrthler use to make Of their powers than to drug or infame them with drink: and best of all that temperate and self-respecting life has purer and nobler joy to offer them than is to be found in the stupor of beer or the mad delirium of gin
 Snch are some of the ways in which, may we not confidently believe the Total Absti hence movement may most effectually be strengthened and extended. May those who are it's friends have the faith and patience and courage that are needed to make trial of them.
 CosT OF HATS, BooTs, AND FEATHERS IN EDWARDS TIME.-The account of the ward robe keeper in Edward IV.'s reign has been preserved, and quotes, as the market reports say, these prices Hats, i shilling; ostrich feathers, 1O shillings each; Spanish leather shoes, double-soled, 1 shilling, pence; black leather boots shillings pence per pair feather beds, with holsters, 16 shillings 8