The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1888-10-04


mountain; but II there be ons weak spot,
that one point unlocked after may be the de-
struction of everything. And what multi.
tudes have gone down for all time
aud all eternity because in the
chain bridge Of their character there
was lacking a strong middle bolt. He
had but one fault and that was avarico
hence, forgery, He hal but one fault and
that was burning desire for intoxicants;
hence, his fatal de5auch. She had but ono
fault and that an inordinate fondness for
dress, and hencs her own AMI her husbands
bankruptcy. She had but one fault and that
quick temper; hence, the disgraceful out.
burst What we al want Is to have put
around us a strong chain of good Influences
Christian association is a link Good litera-
tnre is a link. Church membership Is link
Scripture research is a link. Faith in Col is
link Put together all these influences
Make chain
Most excellent is It for us to get into CON-
pany better than ourselves. II re are given
to telling vile stories let us put ourselves
among those who will not abide such utter
ance. II we are stlngy let us put ourselves
among the charitable II we are morose let
US put ourselves among the gocd-natured. II
we are given to tittle-tattle 1T us put our
selves among thos, who speak no i'll of their
neghborS. Ii we are despondent let us put
ourselves among those who make the best of
things. IL evil Is contagious, ] am glad to
saw that gool Is also catching People go up
into the hill country for physical health; so
1t you would he strong in your soul get
Yourself up off the lowlands into the alti.
tudes of high moral association. For many
of the circumstances of our life we are
not responsible. For our parentage we are
not Responsible. For the place of our
nativity, not responsible, for our features,
our stature, our color, not Responsible; for
the family relation in which we were born,
for our natural tastes, for our mental
character. not RESPONSIBLE. But we are re-
sponsible for the associates that we choose
and thu fiioral Influences undef which eput
ourselves Character seeks an equilibrium.
Let them now voluntarily choose each
othef's society A. B, will lose part of his
goodness and Y. z. a part of his badness, and
they will gradually approach each other
in character and will finally stand on the same
level One of the old painters refused
to look at poor pictures because he
said it damaged his style. A musician
cannot afforl to dwell among discords, nor
can writer afford to peruse books of Inferior
style, nor an architect walk out among dis
proportional structures And no man or
woman was ever so goo1 as to be able to
afford to choose evil associations. Therefore
! said, have it rule of your life to go among
themi Then what pink of perfection you
mist be! Whsn was your character COM
plets1. What a misfortune for the sanity
and angelic of heaven that they are not en-
Joying the improving influence of your
society! Ah, if you cannot find those better
than yourself, it is because you are Ignorant
pf yourself. Woe unto you, Scribes and
pharasees, hypoefites!
But, as l remarked iii the opening, in
- Ill t,,1. s. -
m eaus not only adornment and royalty of
nature but sometimes captivity. And | sup
pose there are those in that sense deliberately
and persistently making d Chain. Now here
is a young man of good physical health, good
manners AMI good eiucation How shall he
put together enough links to make chain
for the down-hill roads | will give him some
directions. First, let him smoke. If he can
notstand cigars, let him try cigarettes Think
cigarettes will help him on this road a little
more rapidly because the doctors say there
is bore poison in them and SO he will be
helped along faster, and l have the more
confidence in proposing this because about
hfty Of the first yodng men Of Brooklyn dur
ing the last year were, according to the doc
tors reports, killed by cigarettes. Let him
drink light wines first, or ale or lager, and
gradually he will be abe to take sonle-
thing stronger, and as all styles of
strong drink are more and more adulterated,
his progress will be facilitated. With the old,
time drinks man seldom got delirium
VI iciitouo uoIuro uutpVy IUruy years VI age;
now he can get the madness by the time he is
eighteen. Let him play cards, enough money
put up always to add interest to the game
Ii the father and mother will play with him
that will help by way of countenancng the
habit. And it will be such pleasant
thing to think over in the day of judg-
ment when the parents give account for the
n in x.-tlio how h,,, sol
their children. Every pleasant Suntay
afternoon take carriage ride and sop at
the hotels on either side the road for Sabbath
refreshments, Do not let the old-fogy preiu-
dices against Sabbath breaking dominate
you. Have membership of some cub
where li5ertnes go AMI tell about their vic
torious sns, and lau III as loud as any OF them
in der sion of those who belong to the same
sex as your sister AMI mother. Pitch your
Bible overheard as old-fashioned and fit only
for women and children. Read all the maga-
zine articles that put Christianity at disad-
vantage and go to hear all the lectures that
maiign Christ, who, they say, instead of be-
ing the Mighty One he pretended to be- was
an impostcr and the imp.anter of great de-
lusion. Go, at first out of curiosity, to see
all the houses of dissipation, and then go be-
cause you have felt the thrall of their fasci-
nation. Gel ting along splendidlv now!
Let me SEQ what further can I suggest in
that direction. Become more defiant of all
decency, more loud-.nonthed in your atheism,
more thorough alcoholized, and instead of
the small stakes that will do well enough for
games of chance in a ladies' parlor, put up
something worthy, pat up more, put up all
You have. Well done! You have sue
ceedsd. You have made chain-the
tohacco habit one link, the rum habit one
iinS, the impure club another Ink, lnfi iellty
another link, Sabbath desecration another
LINK uncleanness another link, and altogether
they make chain. And so there is chain
on your hand and chain on your foot AMI
cha n on your tongue and chain on your
eye and chain on your brain and chain
on your property and chain on your
soul. Some day you wake up and
you say: II am tired of this and
am going to get loose from this shacKie-.
You pound away with the hammer of good
resolution, but cannot break the thralL
Your friends join you in conspiracy OF
help, but fall exhausted in the unavaillng at
tempt. Now you begin and with the with.
ing of Laocoon to try to break away, ana
the muscles are distended, and the great
and the eyes stand out from the sockets,
and with all the concentered energies
of body, mind and soul you attempt to get
loose but have only made the chain sink
deeper. All the devils that encamp in the
wine flask and the rum jug and the decanter
-for each one mas devil OF 1tS OWn-cOule
out and sit around you and chatter. In some
midnight you spring from your couch
and cry: II am fast; o God. let
me loose! o ye powers of dark
ness. let me loose! Father and mother
and brothers and sisters, help me to get
loose!" And you turn your prayer to bias
phemy ead then your blasphemy into prayer.
and to all the din and uproar there is PLAYED
an accompaniment, not an accompaniment
by key and pedal, but the accompaniment IS
rattle, and the rattle is that of chain. For
five years, for ten years, for twenty years,
you have been making chain.
But here | take a step higher and tell YOU
there is power that can break any chain
chain of body, chain of mind, chain of soul.
The fetters tnat the hammer of the Gospel
have broken off, if piled together, would
make a mountain. The captives whom
Christ has set free, if stood side by
side. would make an army. Quicker
than ship cbandler's furnace ever
melted cable. quicker than key ever
unlocked handcutf, quicker than the bay
onets of revolution pried open the
Bastile, you may be liberated and made
free son or a free daughter of God. You
have only to choose between serfdom and
emancip ation, between a chain and a coronet,
between Satan and God. Make up your
mind and make it up quick. When
the King Of Sparta had crossed the
Hellespont and was about to march through