Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-08-01
HOW TO CONQUER.
THE POWER OF EVIL HABITS
Calmage Tells OF a Campaign TO Re
cover Lost Ground.

TEXT: "When shal Iuualsef Iviu seeh
@ yet d9disL"-Prov. xxiii., IS.
With an insight into human nature such az
no other man ever reached, Solomon, In my
tsxt sketches the mental operations OF one
Who, having stepped aside from the path Of
rectitadA, desires to return. With wish for
something better, he said: "When shall
awskef When shall I come out Of this horrid
nightmare Of iniquityf' But, seized upon by
meradicted habit, and forced down hill by
bis passions, he cries out: ~ will seek it yet /.
again. will try 1t once more"
Our libraries are adorned with an elegant
literature addressed 10 young men, pointing
ont to them oil the dangers and perils OF life
-ooD:plete maps Of the voyage. showing all
The rocks, the quicksands, the shoals. But
suppose a man has already made shipwrock;
suppose he is already off the track; suppose
he has already gone astray. How is he to
get backs That is field comparatively uIl-
touched. I propose TO address myself to such.
There are those In this audience who, with
every passion of their agonized soul, are
ready to hear such discussion. They COM
parc themselves with what they were ten
years ago, and cry out from the bondage in
which they are incarcerated. Now, II there
be any here, come with ON earnest
purpose, yet feeling they are beyond
sermon can hardly be expected to address
them, then, at this moment, ! give them my
right hand, and call them brother Look
up. There Is glorious and triumphant hope
for YOU vet. / sound the trumpet Of Gospel
deiverance. The church Is ready to spread
q banquet OF your return, and the hierarchs
Of heaven to fall into line Of bannered pro-
cesSinn at the news Of your emancipation.
SO far as God may help me, ! propose to
show what are the Obstacles Of your return,
and then how you are to surmount those
yor return is the force Of moral gravitation.
Just as there is a natural law which brings
down to the earth anything you throw into the
ain, so there Is corresponding moral gravi-
tatson. In other words, it is easier to go
down than it Is to go up; 1t is easier to do
wrong than it Is TO do right. Call to mind
the comrades Of your boyhood days
some of them good, some Of them bad
which most affected your Call to mind the
anecdotes that you have heard in the last
five or ten years-some Of them are pure
md some OF them impure. Which the
more easily sticks to your memoryP
During the years Of your life you have
formed certain courses Of conduct-some of
Them good, some of them bad. To which
s.yie Of habit cid you the more easily
yield? All, my friends, we have to take but
4 moment Of self-inspection to find out
that there is in all our souls q force OF
moral gravitationl But that gravitatiou
may be resisted. Just as you may pick up
from the earth something and hold it in your
hand toward heaven, just SO, by the power
Of Gods grace, soul fallen may be lifted
toward peace, toward pardon, toward heaven
us, but power in Gods grace to overcome that
%o,Hco ~ moral 0ravitafi0n
The next thing in the way of your return
Is the power of evil habit. know there are
those who say it Is very easy for them TO give
up evil habits. do not believe them. Here
is a man given to intoxication. He knows Il
is diHracing his family, destroying his prop
erty, running him, body, mind and soul
II that man, being ON intelligent man
and loving his family, could easily
give. up -, that habit would h
1t up proves that it is hard to give it up. l
is very easy thing to sail down stream, tn
tide carrying you with great force; but sup
pose you turn the boat up stream, is itso cas-.
than to row it? As long as we yield to tn
evil inclinations In our hearts, and our bat
habits, we are sailing down stream; but tn
moment we try to turn, we put our boat Il
the rarids just above Niagara, and try t.
row up stream. Take q man given to tn
habit Of using tobacco, as most Of you dc
and let him resolve to stop, and he finds
very difficult Twenty y-seven years ago l qui
that habit, and would as soon dare to pu
my right hand In the fire as once to indulg
in 1t. Why? Because it was such
terrific struggle to get over it. Nov
let a man be advised by his phys
clan to give up the use Of tobacco
He goes around not knowing what to
with himself. He cannot add up line (
figures. He cannot sleep nights. 1t seen
as If the world had turned upside down.
feels his business going to ruin. Where
was kind and obNging he is scolding ar
fretful. The composure that characterize
him has given way to fretful restlessnes
and he has become complete fdget. VIII
power is it that has rolled wave of w
over the earth and shaken a portent in Il
heaYensp He has tried to stop smoking
chewing! After while he says, II am goii
to do as please. The doctor doesn't unde
standmy case. Pm going back to my o
habit" And he returns Everything assum
its usual composure His business seems
brighton, the world becomes an attract
place to live in. His children, seeing t
difference, hail the return Of the
fathers genial disposition. What wa
of color has dashed blue into the sky, a
greenness into the mountain foliage, and
glow of sapphire into the s1nset?, What
chantment has lifted world Of beauty a
s3 Joy on his soulp Ho has gone back to
bacco! -.
coward the eternal plunge. Oh! how hard
70 toarrest them. God only can arrest then
Suppose man after five, or ten, or twent
yearsof evil doing, resolves to do righti VIII
all the forces Of darkness are allied again
him. He cannot sleep nights. He gets dow
on his knees In the midnight and cries, "Gt
help mer' BE bites his Lip. BE grinds b
teeth. he clenches his fist in his determin
tion TO keep his purpose. He dare not lot
Hwas one long, bitter, exhaustive, hand
hand fight, with infamed, tantaliMng al
mercfleSs habit. When he thinks he Is 9
tirely free, the old inclinations pounce up
him like a pack Of hounds with their muzzl
tearing away at the fanks OF one poor rel
deer. In Paris there is a sculptured repl
sentation Of Bacchus the god of revelry. ]
isriding on a panther at full leap Oh, he
suggestivel Let every one who is speedil
ON bad ways underosand he is not riding
docile and well-broken steed, but he is ridil
atmonster, wild and bloodthirsty, going at
death leap.
experience, that habit is Q tasiImaster:
long as we obey It, it does not chastise u
butle us resist, and we find we are to |
dashed with scorpion whips and bound wit
ship cable, and thrown into the track
bone-breaking Juggernautsl During the W,
Of 1912 there was ship set on fire Just abo'
Niagara Falls, and then, cut loose from
moorings it came ON down through thenigl
and tossed over the falls. It was said to ha,
been scene brilliant beyond all descriptio
Well, there are thousands of men on fire
evil habit, coming down through the rapi
and through the awful night Of temptatic
How many there are who resolve ON q be
ter life and say: "When shall I awake
But, seized on by their old habits, cry:
Will fry IL nrca mora. I will rnnlr it ~