West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-09-27


fault and that an inordinate fondness for
dress. and hence her own and her husband's
bankruptcy. She had but one fault and that
quick temper; hence, the disgraceful out
burst What wo all want Is TO have put
around us strong chain OF good Influence
christian association Is q link. Good litera-
ture Is link Church membership Is n link
scripture research IL a link. Faith In God Is
a s. INK. TUT together all these influences
Most excellent f. Il for us 10 get into COM
pauy better than ourselves. II we are given
70 telling vile stories let Us put ourselves
ntnong tnose VINO VIII not abide such utter-
ance. IL we are stingy let us put ourselves
among the charitable. IL we are morose lot
US put ourselves among the good -natured. IL
we are given to tittle-tattle lot US put our
selves among those who speak no III of their
neighborS III we are Respondent let us put
ourselves among those who make the best Of
Things III evil Is contagious 1 am glad to
say that good Is also catching. People go up
y, ,nDo the Nil, country for physical health; so
Yourself up on the lowlands into the alti.
tudes OF high moral association. For many
OF the circumstances of our life we are
not responsible. For tho place OF our
nativity, not responsible; for our features
our stature. our color, not responsible. for
tho family relation in which we were born,
character, not responsible. But We are -
sponsible for the associates that we choos,
and the moral influences under which We p,t
ourselves. Character seeks an equilibrium
a. Is. Is good man. Y: z. is bad man.
others society. A. b. will lose a part OF his
goodness and Y. u. 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 afford TO dwell among discords, nor
mFWaaN fU.wl -. ~ =
style, nor an architect walk out among dis.
proportional structures. And no man or
woman was ever so good as TO be able to
ahord to choose evil associations. Therefore
said, have 1t rule Of your life TO go among
those better than yourselves. Cannot find
themi Then what pink Of perfection you
must boz When was your character com
pletsdi What a misfortune for the sanity
and angelic OF heaven that they are not en-
Joylng the improving influence or your
society All, il you cannot find those better
than yourself, it Is because you are ignorant
oil yourself Woe unto you, Scribes and
But, as / remarked in the opening in
sacred and in all styles OF literature a chain
means not only adornment and royalty Of
nature but sometimes captivity. And / sup
pose there are those in that sense deliberately
niic persistently making chain. Now here
is a young man of good physical health, good
manners and good education. How shall he
put together enough links to make a chain
for the down hill roadi / will give him some
directions. First, let him smoke IN he can
notstand cigars. let him try cigarettes think
cigarettes will help him on this road little
more rapidly because the doctors say there
is more poison in them, and so he will be
helpod along faster, and / have the more
confidence in proposing this because about
nifty OF the first young 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 ne will be abe to take some
tnlng stronger, and as oil styles Of
strong drink are more and more adulrerated,
his progress will be facilitated. With the old
time drinks man seldom got delirium
tremens before thirty or forty years OF age;
now he can get the madness by the time be is
eighteen Let him play cards, enough money
put up always to add interest TO the game.
IL the father and mother will play with him
that Will help by way OF countenancing tho
habit. And IL will be such a pleasant
thing to think over in the day Of iudg-
ment when the parents give account for the
elevated manner in which they have reared
their children. Every pleasant Sunday
afternoon take carriage ride and stop at
the hotels on either side the road for Sabbath
refreshments Do not let the old-fogY pre- iu-
dices against Sabbath breaking dominate
you. Have membership OF some club
where loertines go and tell about their vic
torlous sins, and laugh as loud as any Of them
In derision OF those who belong TO the same
sex as your sister and mother. Pitch your
Bible overheard as old-fashioned and fit only
zine articles that put Christianity at disad-
vantage, aud go to hear all the lectures that
malign Christ, who, they say, instead of be-
ing the Mighty One he pretended to be, was
an lmposter and the implanter of a great do
fusion. 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-
nafion. Getting along. splendidly nowl
Let me see what further can / suggest in
that direction. Become moro defiant OF ali
decency, more loud-mouthed in your atheism
more thoroughly alcoholized and instead OF
the small stakes that will do well enough for
games OF chance in a ladies' parlor, put up
something worthy, put up more, put up all
you have. Well done! You have sue
ceeded. You have made chain-the
tobacco habit one link, the rum habit one
link, the impure club another link, infidelity
another link, Sabbath desecration another
INK, uncleanness another link and altogether
they make chain. And so there is a chain
on your hand and chain on your foot and
achain on your tongue and a chain on your
eye ana chain on your brain and q chain
on your property and r chain on your
soul. Some day you wake up and
you say: am tired of this and
am going TO get loose from TINS snecKle."
You pound away with the hammer OF good
resolution, but cannot break the thrall.
Your friends join you in a conspiracy Of
help, but fan exhausted in tho uuavailing at
tempt Now you begin, and with the with
ing OF a LAGOON to try 10 break away, and
the muscles are dstended, and the great
beads OF perspiration dot your forehead,
and the eyes stand out from the sockets,
and with all the concentered energies
of body, mind and soul you attempt 70 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 decantef
for each one has dovil Of its own-come
out and sit around you and chatter. In some
midnight you spring from your couch
and cry: So am fast; God, let
mo lOosei o yo powers Of dark
ness let me loosel Father and mother
and brothers and sisters, help me to get
loose" And you turn your prayer TO bias
phemy and then your blaspheTny 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 n chain.
But here take n step higher and tell You
there is a power that can break any chain
chain Of body, chain OF mind, chain Of soul.
The letters that the hammer Of the Gospel
have broken of, n piled together, would
make a mountain. The captivos whom
Christ has set free, II stood side by
side, would make an army Quicker
than a ship chambers furnace ever
melted cable, quicker than a key ever
unlocked handcuff, quicker than the bay.
ouets 81 revolution pried open tbs
Bastie, you may DO liberated and made a
free son OF n FREQ daughter OF God You
Ia rrIfe 60 aNr ~.sI