Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1883-02-28
What VIII You Have?


cold evening, in restaurant, TO wait for
railway car, observed that there was bar
and steady stream of customers. "Wbat
will you have Z" inquired the polite dram
seller of welldressed young man, whose
face showed some ugly tokens OF the havoc
of the bottle already. He took brandy.
You will soon have the delrium tremens,
young man - said TO myself As two la
boring men stepped up, and were saluted
| with the question, "What will you take ?"
| the one ordered ale and the other whskey.
You are taking the bread from your chill
dren's mouths to put poison into your own
mouth" thought !, and yet these rough
sons Of toll paid down the score cheerfully.
| When hurried out 10 the car, the dispenser
of death by the dram was busy in COM
pounding drinks for fresh customers; for,
at that hour, crowd was moving home
ward at the close of their days work. /
have no doubt that large share Of the
patrons of that popular concern (Which
seemed to be chiefly for drinking, and not
for eating,) really believe that their deceit
full drains do them no harm. al feel better
after a good drink :" ait warns me up on a
cold night d" can digest my supper bet
ter after glass of bourbon !" IF l find
that it hurts me III stop" These, and
similar current falsehoods, would have
leaped from the mouths Of all those deluded
people who were swallowing those sparkling
devices Of the devil. The vast majority Of
all the customers of dram-shops, and Of
those who put decanter on their own
tables, are under a delusioD. They do not
intend TO commit suicide; they do. not de-
liberately aim to destroy their own health,
or character, or souls on the contrary, they
defend their practices stoutly, and affirm
that when they find out that glass Of
liquor hurts them they shall quit. No, they
won't for, by that time, they will have be-
come slaves to the bottle.
Now there are three or four undeniable
truths that ought to be constantly reiterated
from the pulpit, from the press, in the Sab.
bath-school, and in the public school. 1t
ought to be made Just as familiar as the
multiplication table, that no healthy man OF
woman ever needs an alcoholic drink. As
medicine, it is rarely required, and the ply
stefan is fool who ever prescribes it, when
any possible substitute can be used. Three
things are true in regard to all intoxicants
be they wine, brandy, bourbon, or by
whatever name the alcohol is labeled.
First-They never feed. Alcohol neither
furnishes warmth nor nourishment. During
the last British polar expedition the two
sailors who were strict teetotalers endured
the arctic cold better than their comrades
who used rum or brandy. A brandy-drinkel
will freeze sooner than coffee drinker, un
der the same circumstances. Alcohol does
not increase the production of animal heat
by its own chemical action. 1t deranges
and in time destroys, the digestive organs
A large amount of the prevailing Bright's
disease " comes from the use of whiskey
Thousands of intelligent business men, az
well as ignorant hod-carriers and day-labor
ers, order some kind of liquor for their din
ners, under the delusion that the wine Of
the whiskey imparts strength, and aids di
gestioD, and supplies flesh, or in some WAY
does them good. l have known people Il
cling to this terrible deusion after their di
gestive apparatus has been burnt out by al
cohol as completely as that Milwaukee fire
trap of hotel.
Second.-Alcoholic drinks never increas,
the enduring power of the human body
Sir Garnet Wolseley, the hero of the lat'
Egyptian war, is strict total abstainer, ant
he has lately been giving some valuable ties
timony in regard to the worthessness O.
liquors to all soldiers who are exposed to Sc
we're service. Like Sir Henry Havelock, h,
testifies that soldiers can march better, figh
better, and stand dangerous climates bette
without alcohol than with it. Tom Sayers
the famous pugilist, once said al am nj
teetotaller, but when have business on hdn'
there's nothing like cold water and the duml
bells" A cent spent in bread impart
more permanent power than dollar spen
in brandy.
Third,-The most overwhelming argumen
against all alcoholic beverages is that the.
fly directly 10 The brain. This is Gods might,
argument against tampering with them
They strike man at the point where reasol
sits, where the mortal touches the immortal
where they can kill both body and soul
All other arguments in favor of abstinenc
from strong drink dwarf and dwindle il
comparison with this one, and we ought l.
burn this into every boys memory and con
science before he ever becomes victim l.
the drinking customs. The DEVILS master
piece is the bottle, for it assassindtes The brain
Now these are some of the vital truth
that we have got to repeat and repea
until we fasten them in every young man
memory. If we want to keep people frcI
the drinking-saloon or the social glass, W
have got to convince their reasons, :
awaken their consciences, and strengthe
their Wills As long as people are delude
by the bottle, they will be destroyed by tn
bottle. "What will you hapef' cries tn
liquor-seller. To this let us thunder back
you will hare the bite of the serpent, an
the sting of the adder you will haze pc
soned brain in this world, and damnation i
the world to come l"-Rev. T. C. Cuyler.