The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-05-02
Young Ladies.
BY MRS. MOSES SMITH.


owe can't do anything for temper.
ance.. We are only set of girls" [
heard no more, only the hum of voices
tand an occasional peal of laughter.
But these words were sufficient to send
me on mental journey over mauv
years, and half around the globe. NV
rapid survey revealed the downright
heresy bound up in the tlioughtess
words had heard. l saw how young
ladies among the fairest and the gayest.
believing that, because they were girls
they had no power and therefore no
responsibility, for the devastating evil
ofintemperaDce, had themselves been
swept by tides of society under the
lava stream. ] saw them as the wives
and mothers of drunkards, with happi-
ness wrecked and life sorrow.
Young lady, be not deceived. You
Lave power in this cause excelled by
none. Whether they know il or not.
whether they wish it or not, Young
ladies centre in themselves many of the
most vital interests of humanity.
welding the eager earnestnessi of
youth, and the subtle power of beauty,
grace and delicacy, they touch myriad
forces which result in good or evil.
Inc evils of alcoholic stimuants per-
meate the very fbres of society, and
every young lady must use her power
for or against.
Young ladies are the centres toward
which gravitate the whole social struc-
ture of society. .f. Ila.II
The moral atmosphere is largely
what young ladies make it. Is the
conversation insipid, or the Jest coarse
or indelicate! Do cigars, champagne.
brandy aboundp 1t is because Young
ladies smile approval. Would that I
could persuade every young lady to
consider for one solemn moment, her
personal relation TO the temperance
cause. There is a thoughtless indifIer-
ehce that amounts TO crime. Many a
Young lady who would not consciously
e,s.pouse any evil, by her thoughtless in
uii1erence puts herself on the side of
this demon drink. The habit so preya-
lent among young men of taking wines
ana beer is not only tolerated but ap-
proved by. many young ladies as
styilsh.~ In our now, the then lies
folded: y, for the diviner's hand to
open the future, when it is no longer
wine, but brandy; when it is no longer
a genteel partaking, but an Unsuitable
tlirst bearing the victim on to poverty,
agony and the bottomless pit. 10
loung woman, l declare unto you a
truth when say, Yours is the hand
that rocks the world. Yours the hand
that may stay this lava stream ofintem-
Peaehce. Yours the voice that may
hush many wailing sobs of woe now
surging through the land. Is there a
trembling responsibility in the thought.
There frln
| pray you lift up your ewes and look.
Mark how, through all ages, Young
women have changed the fate of ma,
tons. The slave girl Miriam. among
the reeds of the Nile. A Grecia1
Helen, at the Court of Priam. Hadas-
sab amid the drunken revellinos of
Ahasuerus' arble palace. Isabelle
CASTLE, to whose memory all America
pays Difference. Following this the in
lex finger which Christ has set mn.
gaze into the future, and behold tie
results of life and the possible
of the hereafter. / think
you will no longer be willing to be
,iphers on the left hand, in the matbe.
natics of existence. -
Do not think that to do we'll your
part yours must be deeds to be herald
I'd of mon.
No! No. The most potent forces of
nature are the unseen and unheard.
The beautiful sunlight that paints the
ky, tints the flowers and sustains the
lie OF the universe utters not sound.
The motive power that swung the
mighty wheels of the great Corliss ell
yine, and set the bands spinning and
he clogs clattering throughout Machin-
'ry Hall, was the unheard vapory
nists. So in life, the in-dwelling prin-
,iple, applying its energies to daily
luties, constantly abiding though un-
heard, is power that exceeds the
of sunlight or the mechanics
If steam. Where God places YOU
here the temperance principle dwell
ng within will find its avenues of ap-
plication day by day. 1t may be only
n word, tone, smile, gesture, but
t will be a force ON the wheels of
society that will produce far-reaching
results, just as truly as the pressure of
steam on the piston rod. fA
In union is strength, therefore organ
ze bands and leagues. Unitedly de-
clare yourself principled against the
use of alcoholic stimulants. ar
Plan and execute systematic work
for temperance.
In action is increasing power: There
fore be not idlers. Circulate temper
ance literature; Seek to elevate the
tone of home principle and practice.
Be ready to teach true Bible temper
ance. Learn and impart, until you can
claim the Revelator's promise: "Be
thou faithful unto death and l will give
l.na g.