The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-06-25
The NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

The Observation-Disclosures.
Young men sometimes have an idea
that a man can SOW his wild oats and
get over it. You put your hand in
the hand of a giant, and he brushes it.
He may tear at your hand, and it may
be healed, and by and by, in some sort
ii may be a useful one, but it is mu-
tilsted hand; its beauty and symme-
try have gone forever. We who have
passed through this fire know some
thing of the terrible struggle to get
out Of it.
And God never made mind capa-
BILE of grasping the exit mt of the aw-
ful evil of drunkenness for time and
eternity. You have boy--a bright
eyed, beautiful fellow, round in limb,
with his pearly teeth, ruby lip and
rosy cheek, symmetrical and beautiful !
Oh, how you love him, as he springs
into your arms in the morning and
puts his face to your cheek You
press him to your heart. How you
love him as you say to visitor !:
Have you seen my boy?' and to
him: Come, old fellow" How he
viii spring into your armsi Oh, how
you love him. What would you do
TO save that child from curvature of
the spine 2" "Do anything" "What
would you give?" "All my prop
erty." "What would You sacrifice 7"
" Every luxury under heaven" "What
would you suffer- "Try me. That
boy, so straight of limb, so beautiful,
SO perfect and symmetrical-that boy,
poor, little crawling cripple, de-
formed, upon the -four of my house !
No, no; do not ask me what l would
do OF give or suffer-anything!" 1
was at the house of a family where
there was a crippled child. When
four years ago it had fallen out of
swing backward f; the child was TWEEN
ty-three years of age then. The body
had developed, but it was a very
strange case. Physicians came to see
it. The limbs had grown but very
little; it had baby's hands and feet.
l tell you. to see that little creature
working over the carpet like turtle
made me shudder more than / ever
shuddered to see reptile. The child
once said to the mother: Mamma, /
shan't trouble you much longer"
" Trouble, my darling? Why, you are
the light of our home; we are learning
lessons of faith and trust and patience
from You every day. Why, darling,
when God takes you from me, it will
be a dark day in our home" "Yes,
mamma, but L want to go; because,
when 1 see Jesus, l shall stand up
straight, shan't ], mamma" There
may be some beauty and glory about
a crippled child there may be some
thing lovely and sweet, and something
to be desired about crippled child.
Is there anything about drunken
one? No: not a ray of light, but such
as comes from a lurid hell nothing
you love to contemplate. What would
YOU do to save that child from cpl
lepsv? That is worse than the other.
Do, give or suffer? Anything; do not
ask me. l stayed at the house of
clergyman whom many Of you knew
j. 3. Wakely, noble Methodist min
lister. He had boy afflicted with ep-
ilepsy. While we were cOnversing
we heard strange noise In the corner.
The boy was twisting around, and his
eyes were white. The mother rushed
to the child. and the father kneeled
down and offered one of the most
pathetic prayers l ever heard.
He said: "This is hard to bear,
when / see that child now, and re-
member what he was four years ago
the brightest in the school, and at the
head of his class, and now see him
stand before me with fingers stretched
and shoulders shrugged. l cannot
cannot think the boy is grow
ing idiotic. And yet, sir, as l am a
man, as l am a minister of the Gospel,
his mother and l would rather see
that boy Just like that than to see him
a drunkard."
And so would you. There is not
father or mother in New York that
would dare stand up before God and
say they would rather the Almighty,
in His providence, should smite that
boy, than he should smite himself with
all his responsibility upon him.
/ met Mr.. Wakely on Broadway
some time after that, and asked: SIS
Harry well? Is Harry cured ?" The
minister and father responded: "The
Savior loved that suffering child, and
took him home. / have an anticipa-
ton that by-and-by, in the land where
there is no more signing, no more
crying. no more suffering, no more dy-
ing | shall meet Harry"
Did YOU ever hear father talk like
that of boy who died a drunkard
Did YOU ever hear a man talk COM
fortably of boy who died a drunk
ard No, sirs; / have been invited to
houses. where they have said TO me be-
fore went: "Look here, don't say any
thing about their eldest son. Hush,
hushl don't mention the name"
have known them to take the photo
graph out of their album and to take
the picture from the wall, lest there
should be anything to remind them of
the boy whose beauty was once
glory, but who had passed into the
blackness and darkness of drunken
ness in another world. Do we exag-
gerate the evil of drunkenness Bring
II home: let crawl across your thresh-
hold and sting you to death.-GOGgh.
An Argument for Prohibition.
Below we append an article clipped
from the Bibb Blade, published at