Democratic messenger., 1888-09-22

sense deliberately and pcrsistcntly max.
ing chain. Now, here Is young man
Of good physical health. good manners
and good education. How shall he put to.
gether enough links TO make a chain for
the down.hill road? I will give him some
directions. First, let him smoke. II he
cannot stand cigars, let him try cigarettes.
I 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 he helped along faster, and
have the more confidence in proposing
this because about 80 Of the first young
men Of brooklyn during the last y,ar
were, according TO the doctors reports,
killed by cigarettes. Let him drink light
wines first, or ale or lager, and gradually
he will he able to take something strong.
er, and. rs all styles of strong drink are
more and more adultcrated, his progress
will be facilitated. With the old.time
drinks man seldom got delirium tremens
before 3Oor 40 years Of age; now he can
get the madness by the time he Is 1s. Let
him play cards, enough money pu, up al
ways to add interest 10 the game. II the
father and mother will play with him that
will help by way of counienancing the
habit. And il will he such n pleasant
thing to think over in the day Of judg-
ment when parents give account for the
elevated manner in which they have rear.
cd their children. Every pleasant Sunday
afternoon take carriage ride aud stop nj
the hotels on either side of the road for
Sabbath refreshments. DO not let the old
fogy prcjudiccs against Sabbath breaking
dominate you. Have membership in
some club where libcrtincs go and tell
about their victorious sins. and laugh rs
loud as any ofthem in derision Of those
who belong TO the same sex rs your sis.
ter and mother. Pitch your Bible over
hoard as old.hshiore,l and III only for wo
men and children. Read all the magazine
articles that put Christianity Mt disadvan
tage. and go 10 hear all the lectures that
n.align Chfist, who, they say, instead o
being the mighty one lie pretended to he
was nm impostor and the implanic- Of n
great delusion. Go. ai first out of curiosi
ty, to see all the houses ofiissipation. and
then go because yon have felt the thral
Of their fascination. Getting along splen
didly now!
SOME LINKS THAT ESsLAvE.
Let me see wha, further can l suggest
In that direction. Become more dcfian,
Of all dcccncy. more ou,l.moutLcd In you,
atheism, more thoroughly alcohoiizc,i, and
instead ofthe small stakes that will dc
well enough for games of chance in u In.
dies Brlor put up something worthy, put
mp more, put up all you have. Well done
You have succeeded. You have made q
chain-thc tobacco habit ono link, the rum
rahii one link, the impure club another
link, infideliiy another link. Sabbath dcs
ccraiion another link, unclcanncss anoili
cr link, and altogether they make chain
And so there is chain on your hand, and
a chain on your foot, and chain on your
tongue. and II chain on your eye, and a
chain on your brain, and chain on your
property, and n chain on your soul Some
day You wake up and you say II am tired
Of this and ] am going to get loose iron,
this shacklc." You pound aw with the
hammer Of good resolution, but canno,
break the thrall. Your friends join you
in conspiracy Of help, but fall exhausted
in the unavailing attempt. Now you be-
gin, and with the wrlthing Of n I.aocoon
to try to break away. and the muscles ar,
distcndcd, and the great heads Of pcrspir
alton dot your forehead, and the eye.
stand ou, fiom the sockets, and, with al
the conccntcrc,l energies Of the body ,mint
and soul, you attempt To get loose, hui
have only made the chain sink deeper -
All the devils that cncamp In the wine
flask and the rum jug and the dccanter-
for each one has u devil Of It's own-com,
out and 81, around you aud chatter. II
some midnight you spring from your
couch and cry IL am fast Oh! God, lei
me loose oh sc powers Of darkness, lc,
me loose. Father and mother and broth
ers and sisters, help me to get loose -
And you turn your prayers 10 blasphsmy
and then your blasphcmy into prayer, and
to all the din and uproar there is played
an accompaniment, not an accompaniment
by key and pedal hut by the accompaniment
is rattle, and the rattle is that of n chain
For 5years, for 10 years. for 90 years you
have hccn making chain.
cAPTIvEs SET FREE
But here take step higher and tell
you there Is power that can break any
chain--chain Of body. chain of mind
chain of soul. The fetters that the ham,
mcr of the Gospel have broken of, II piled
together, would make mountain. The
captivcs whom Christ has set free IL stood
side by side, would make an army. Quick.
cr than n ship.chandlcr.s furnace ever
melted cable, quicker than key ever un,
locked handcuf. quicker than the hay
oncis of revolution pried open the liaslilc
you may be liberated and made free son
or daughter of God. You have only Il
choose between serf;lom aud emanclpa.
tion. betwccna chain anda coronet. he
tween Satan and God. Make up your mind
and make il up quick. When the King
of Sparta had crossed the lIellcspont an,l
was about 10 march through Thracc b,
sent word To the people IN the different
regions asking them whether he should
march through their countries as n friend
or mn enemy. "Iiy all means as friend,