Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-05-21
is TEMPERATE DRINKING sAFE9
THE late GOV. Biggs of Mass

The late GOV. Biggs of Mass
At a certain town meeting in Pennsyl-
vania, the question came up whether any
persons should be licensed to sell rum
The clergyman, the deacon, the physician,
strange as it may now appear, all favored
it. One man only spoke against it, be-
cause of the mischief it did. The ques-
ton was about to be put, when there
arose from one corner of the room a mis-
cradle woman. She was thinly clad
and her appearance indicated the utmost
wretchedness. and that her mortal career
silence and all eyes being fixed upon her
she stretched her %attenuated body to its
utmost height, and then her long arms
to their greatest length, and raising her
voice to "A shrill pitch she called to all
to look upon her.
"Yes!" she said, ''look upon me, and
then hear me. All that the last speaker
has said relative to temperate drinking
as being the father of drunkenness, is
true. All practice, all experience, de-
clares its truth. All drinking of alcoholic
poison, as a beverage in health, is excess.
Look upon me-! You all know me, or
once did. You all know | was once the
mistress of the best farm in the town;
YOU all know, too, | had one of the best
the most devoted of husbands. You
all know | had fine, noble-hearted, in
l--..... la.- NIl,a,n o-n thnr- ,,ntx- =
Doctor, where are they now? You all
know. You all know they lie in a row,
side by side, in yonder c~hurchyard; all
every one of them filling the drunk
ards grave. They were all taught to
believe that temperate drinking was safe
that excess alone ought to be voide
and they never acknowledged excess.
They quoted you, and you, and you
(pointing with her shred of a finger to
the minister, deacon and doctor) as au-
thority. They thought themselves safe
under such teachers. But | saw the
gradual change coming over my family
and its prospects, with dismay and hor-
ror. | felt we were all to be overwhelm-
ed in one common ruin. | tried to ward
off the blow: | tried to break the spell.
the delusive spell, in which the idea of
the benefits of temperate drinking had
involved my husband and sons. | begged,
| prayed; but the odds were against me.
''The minister said the poison that was
destroying my husband and boys was ii
good creature of God; the deacon who
sits under the pulpit there, and took our
farm to pay his rum bills, sold them the
poison: the doctor said a little was good,
and excess only ought to be voide
My poor husband, and my dear boys fell
into the snare and they could not escape ;
and, one after another were conveyed to
the sorrowful grave of the drunkard.
Now look again. You probably see me
for the last time. My sands have almost
run. | have dragged my exhausted
frame from my present home-your poor
house-to warn you all to warn you,
deacon. to warn you, false teacher of
Gods word.'' And with her arms flung
high. and her tall form stretched to its
utmost. and her voice raised to an un-
earthly pitch, she exclaimed, II shall
soon stand before the Judgment seat of
God. | shall meet you there, you false
guides, and be IA witness against you
all:'
The miserable woman vanished. \
dead silence pervaded the assembly the
minister, the deacon and physician hung
their heads; and when the president OF
the meeting put the question, shall any
licenses be granted for the sale of spirit
uou liquors." the unanimous response
was, "No!"