The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-08-12
Scientific Temperance Instruction in
the Public Schools.
BY FRANCES E. WILLARD.

gu pose lOu TAKE u WdbcOss 4uii Jewell
ed, of finest Geneva workmanship, and
put it in case made of gold, then in
one of silver, then i'll one made of por-
celain, you will find that it keeps just as
good time in cheap case as in a costly
one, because there is no inter-dependence
between the watch and its environments.
But God has wound up watch in this
snug, round box on top of your heads
and mine, warranted, with good usage,
to tick right on with thoughts for eighty
or hundred years. A watch with the
handspring of reason, the balance wheel
of Judgment, the fine jewels of imagina-
ton and fancy, the dial-plate of
human face divine, and the pointers of
character thereon; and this wonderful
watch, the human brain, cannot keep as
good time In a coarse case as in fine
one; for there is the closest inter-de-
pendence between the brain and its
environments; between the tissues of
the body and the temper OF the soul.
just as Theodore Thomas controls an
orchestra with his baton, or an engineer
his engine with the throttle-valve, or an
operator his telegraph line, so the won
derful prisoner in the brain controls the
boys intricate machinery. Given so
much clear thought and you will get so
much clear action. Given so much
crazed thought, and you will get so
much crazed action. There is not an
axiom of mathematics more fixed than
this physical law The man who can't
think his own thoughts, though nobody
hinders him; can't speak his own words
though everyb wishes that be could I;
can't use his own fine senses, though
| they were given him for that specific
purpose whose cruelty is greatest toward
those he loves best, presents natures
supreme illustration of the law that
alcoholic stimulants have no business in
the economics of a well-ordered physi-
cal life; and the time to teach this law
| Is Just so soon as chiid's brain can
take it in. Alcoholic beverages are the
only ones on earth that have no power
of self-limitation. One glass saws two,
and two says three, until as general
rule, from thepower of self-perpetnation
in this appetite, the life of drinker of
alcoholics has but two periods: In the
/ first of which, he could leave off il he
would, and in the last he would leave
off If he could. But how. shall the
young and thoughtless avoid this
supreme peril of their youth unless
they know about it, and how shall they
learn without teacher, and how shall
they teach except they be sent? This
then is the rationale of scientific instruc-
ton in the public schools
As Christian and as a patriot do
advocate most earnestly as basis of
our public school system the teaching OF
natural law concerning the bodily habits
OF those who come to be taught. The
decalegue of health, the ritual of the
Holy Spirits most sacred temple, must
be learned in our public schools, or they
are In the deepest sense, what might be
termed goddess. As the beginning of
this vital education. | would teach en-
scientific grounds the unrcasenableness
of using alcoholic drinks.
/ believe this systematic education
which both forewarns and forearms
them, to be the road out of bondage for
the children Of America. No other in.
stitution of the Republic reaches them
all. Powerful as are the forces of pull
pit and press, the former does not attract
all ears, and the latter is largely infIu-
enced By the saloon in finance and tue
house door come white and black, nxtive
invested their formative years, and the
laws Of their being, as set forth By
science, must appeal to their self-Iove,
m attribute upon which We may always
j. confidently base our calculations! The
father who learns the laws Of nature
take hides with total abstinence, will
gradually cease the cry fanaficism. =
His boy comes home from school and
Il X1 - - H.