The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-06-23

BY HENRY MUNRoE, NJ. D., F. L. S.

At a large and influential meeting
held recently in the lecture hall of
the National Temperance League,
s37, Strand, London, DR.. Munroe of
Hull, made the following remarkable
statement:
/ will relate a circumstance which
occurred to me some years ago, the
result of which made a deep impress
sion upon my mind. AT that time 4
conscientiously, though enormously
believed in the health-restoring
properties of stout. A Woodworking,
industrious, GodTearing man, a tee
totaler ofsome years standing, suffer
ing from an abscess in his hand,
which had reduced him very much,
applied to me for advice. / told him
the only medicine he required was
rest, and to remedy the waste going
on in his system, and to repair the
damage done to his hand, he was to
support himself with a bottle of stout
daily. He replied, sT can not take
it, for | have been some years a tee
totaler." "Well," 1 said, elf you
know better than the doctor, it is no
use applying to me-" Believing, as
l did then, that the drink would
really be of service to him, / urged
him to take the stout as a medicine,
which would not interfere with his
pledge. He looked aanxiously in my
face, evidently weighing the matter
over in his mind, and sorrowfully
replied, doctor, I was a drunken
man once; I should not like to be
one again."
He was, much against his will, pre-
vailed upon to take the stout, and in
time he recovered from his sickness.
When he got we'll, 4, of course,
praised up the virtues of stout as a
mean of saving his life, for which he
ought v to be thankful, and rather
lectured him on his foolishness for
being such a fanatic CHATS the word)
as to refuse taking a bottle of stout
daily to restore him to his former
health. l lost sight of. my patient
for ONE months, but l am sorry to
say that on one fine summers day,
when driving through one of our
public thoroughfares, / saw a poor,
miserable, ragged-looking mar lean
ing against the door of a ommon
public house, drunk, and incapable
of keeping an erect position. Even
in his poverty, drunkenness and
misery l discovered it was my
~teetotal patient whom I had, not SO
long ago, persuaded to break his
pledge. 1 could not be mistaken. l
had reason to know him well, for he
had been a member Of a Methodist
church, an indefatigable Sunday
school teacher, a prayer leader,
whose earnest appeals for the saliva
ton Of others / had often listened to
with pleasure and ediication. l
Immediately went to the man, and
was astonished to find the change
which drink, in so short a time, had
worked in his appearance. With
manifest surprise, and looking earn
estly at the poor wretch, l said,
"S-l is this your" With a
staggering reel, and clipping his
words, he answered, eyes, it's me.
Look at me again. Don't you know
me ;" eyes, l know you," l said,
sand am grieved to see you in this
drunken condition. I thought you
were a teetotaler ?"
With a peculiar grin upon his
countenance, he answered, 81 was,
before / took your medicine" &C"
am sorry to see you disgracing your
self by such conduct" | replied; 81
am ashamed of you." Rousing him.
self, as drunken people will at times,
to extraordinary effort, he chafingly
replied, "Didn't you send me here
for my medicine ?" And with a
delirious kind of a chuckle, he hic-
coughed out words l can never for
get-"Doctor your medicine has
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