Daily Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1882-1893, 1888-09-23

level. One of the old painters re-
fused to look at poor pictures be-
cause be said il damaged his style. A
musician cannot afford TO dwell among
discords, nor can a writer afford 10 Pc
ruse books Of inferior style, nor an arch
itect walk out among disproportioned
structures. And no man or woman was
ever so good as 20 be able TO afford to
choose evil associations. Therefore 1
said, have it rule of your life TO go
among those better than yourselves.
Cannot find them? Then what pink Of
perfection you must be! When was your
character completed? What a misfort-
une for the sanity and angelic Of heaven
that they are not enjoying the improving
influence of your society! Ah, If you
cannot find those better than yourself, it
is because you are ignorant of yourself
Wee unto you. Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites!
But, as remarked in the opening, in
sacred and in all styles Of literature
chain means not only udornment and
royalty of nature, but snmetimes cap
tivity. And / supposetle-e are those in
that sense deliberately anl persistently
making a chain. Now here is young
man of good physical heath, good man.
ners and good education. How shall he
put together enough links TO make a
chain for the down hill rad? / will
give him some directions First let
him smoke. If he cannot stand
cigars let him try cigarettes. / think
cigarettes will help him on this road a
little more rapidly because the doctors
say there is more poison in them, and so
he will be helped along faster, and have
the more confidence in proposing this
because about fifty of the first young
men Of Brooklyn during the last year
were, according to the doctors reports,
killed by cigarettes. Let him drink light
wines first. or ale or lager, and gradually
he will beable to take something stronger,
and as all styles of strong drink are more
and more adulterated, his progress will
he facilitated. With the old time drinks
a man seldom got delirium tremens be-
fore 80 or 40 years of age: now he can
get the madness by the time he
is is. 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 countenancing the habit. And
it will be such pleasant thing TO think
over in the day of Judgment when the
parents give account for the elevated
manner in which they have reared their
children. Every pleasant Sunday after
noon take a carriage ride and stop at the
hotels on either side the road for Sab
bath refreshments. Do not let the
old fogy prejudices against Sabbath
breaking dominate you. Have a
membership in some cluo where
ibertines go and tell about their
victorious 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 fash
ioned and fit only for women and chill
dren. Read all the magazine articles that
put Christianity at disadvantage. and 60
to hear al the lectures that malign Christ.
who, they say, instead Of being the
Mighty One he pretended TO be, was an
impostor and the implanter Of a great
delusion. Go, at first out Of curiosity, TO
see all The houses Of dissipation and then
go because you have felt the thrall Of
their fascination. Getting along splen-
didly now!
Let me see what further can suggest
in that direction. Become more defiant
If all dccency, more loud mouthed in your
atheism. more thoroughly 0lcoholized,
and Instead Of the small stakes that will
DO well enough for games of chance in q
ladies' parlor, put up something worthy,
put up more. put up all you have. Well
done. You have succeeded. You have
made a chain-the tobacco habit one link,
The rum habit one link. the impure club
another link, infidelity another link. Sab
hath desecratiOu another link. uuclean-
ness another link, and altogether they
make a chain. And so there is a chain
ON your hand and chain on your foot
and a chain on your tongue and a
chain on your eye and chain
on your brain and a chain on your
property and chain on your soul. Some
day ypl wake up and you say: II am
tired Of this, and am going 10 get loose
from this shackle." You pound away
with the hammer of good resolution, but
cannot break the thrall. Your friends
join you in a conspiracy Of help, but fall
exhausted in the unavailing attempt.
Now you begin, and with the writhing
Of LAGOON, to try to break away, and
the muscles are distended, 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 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 de-
canter-for each one has devil of It's own
come out and sit around you and chat
ter. In some midnight you spring from
your couch and cry: 81 am fast. o God,
let me loosel oye powers Of darkness, let
me loosel Father and mother and BROTH
ers and sisters, help me 10 get loosei'
And you turn your prayer TO blasphemy
and then your blasphemy INTO prayer,
and to all the din and uproar there Ia
played an accompaniment, not an accom-
panient by key and pedal, but the ao-
compartment is rattle and the rattle Is
that Of chain. For Eve years, for ten
years, for twenty years, you have been
making chain.
But here take step higher and tell
you there is "a power that can break any