Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1889-08-17

by g'ing in and ont Of immoral places.
or by any odor of your breath, or by
any glare Of your eye. or by any un-
natural flush Of your cheek. You can
not afford To do IL. for your good name
is your only capital. and when that il
blasted with the reputation Of taking
strong drink, all is gone.
lie RESPECTS HIMSELF no MORE.
Another loss which the inebriatc
suffers is that of self respect Just ms
soon as man wakes up and finds that
he is the captive Of strong drink he
feels dcmcaned. do not care how
reckless he acts He may say, II
don't care" he does care. He cannot
look pure man in the eye, unless il
is with positive force Of resolution.
Thcefourths Of his nature is de-
stroyed: his self respect gone; he says
things he would not otherwise say; he
docs things he would not otherwise do
When man is nine-tcnths gone with
strong drink. the first thing he wants
to do is Ia persuade you that he can
stop any time he wants to- He cannot
The Philistincs have bound him hand
and foot. and shorn his locks. and put
in the mill Of u great horror. He cannot
stop. will prove il. He knows that
his course is bringing disgrace and
ruin upon himself. lie loves himself.
II he could stop he would. He knows
his course is bringing ruin upon his
family. He loves them. He would
stop IL he could. He cannot. Per
hals he could three months or a year
ago. not now. Just ask him TO stop
for a month. He cannot; he knows
he cannot. so he does not try. had
friend who for fifteen years was
going down under this evil habit. lie
had large means. He had given thou
sands Of dollars To Bible societies and
rcforinatory institutions Of all sorts.
lie was very genial and very gcner.
Gus and very lovablc. and whenever
lac talked about this evil habit no
would say. Il can stop any time"
But he kept going on, going ON, down.
down, down. His family would
say. Il wish You would stop. Why"
he would rcply,'l can stop any time il
| want To-. After "a while he had de-.
lirium trcmcns; he had il twice; and
yet after that lac said, could stop
at any time If | wanted to-" He is
dead now. What killed him, Rum
Rumi And yet among his last utter
ances was. Il can stop at any time.
lie did not stop il. because he could
not stop it. Oh. there is a point in in
cbriation beyond which. il u man goes.
he cannot stop.
THE TERRIBLE CRAVING FOR DRINK.
One Of these victims said Ia "a Chris.
iian man. Sir. il | were told that |
couldn't get drink until TO morrow
night unless had all my fingers cut
~, | wCIld say. 'Brin. the hatchct
ant, cut them of now" have a dear
friend in Philadelphia. whose nephew
came Ia him one day. and when he
was exhortcl about his evil habit.
said. Uncle, cant give it up II
there stood II cannon. and il was load
ed. and glass Of wine sat on the
mouth Of that cannon, and knew
that you would fire il off just as
came up ant! took the glass. ] would
start. for must have it" Oh. il
is sad thin. for u man 10 wake
up in this liz aud feel that he
Is captive. lie says: Il could have
got rid Of this once. but can't now.
| might have lived an honorable life
and died "a Christian death; but there
il no hope for me NOW; there is nn IS.
cape for me- Dead. but not buried.
| am u walking corpse. am AN ap
partition of what once was. am
Gagged immortal. beating against the
wires of my cage ia this direction
and in that direction; beating against
the cage until there is hlosM ON the
wires and blood upon my soul. yet
not ale Ia get out Destroyed. with.
out remedy
z" further. and say that the in.
,briiic suffers from the loss Of his
usefulness. DO you not recognize the
-. I'm; many of those who are now
r..piivCS of stron. drink only little
willie ago were foremost in the
churches and in rcfurniatory instiiu.
tio,mt DoyoI not know that sometimes
they knclt ia the family circlc' Do
you no, know tia, they prayed in pub
lie. aud some Of them carried around
the holy wine on S.cranlcntal duysi
oh. yes. they stood in the very front
rank. but they gradually fell away
And now what do you suppose is the
feeling of S;:ch u inan as that. when
he thinks III his lishonocd vows and
the diSiionorcd sacrament when he
thinks Of what he might have
been and of what ho is nowf
Do such men laugh and seem
very merry! All. there is, down
in the depths Of their soul.
very heavy weight Do not wonder
that they sometimes see strange things,
aud act very roughly III the household.
Iou would not blame them at all il
you knew what they suffer. Do not
tell such aS that there is no future
punishment. DO not tell him there is
no such place aS hell He knows there
is lie is there now.
THEIR HEALTH GOES TOO.
30 on. and say that the incbriaic
suffers from the loss Of physical health.
The older men in the congregation
may remember that some years ago
DIR. Scwcll went through this country
and electrified the people by his leci.
urcs. IN which he showed the effects
uf alcohol on the human stomach. lie
had seven ar eight diagrams by which
he showed the devastation of strong
drink upon the physical system. There
were thousands of people that turned
back from that ulcerous sketch swear.
ing eternal abstinence from everything
that could intoxicatc.
Giod only knows what the drunkarl
suffers. Pain files Oh every nerve,
and travels every muscle. and gnawS
every bone. and burns with every
flame aud stings with every poison.
a a pulls at him with every torture
What reptiles crawl over his creeping
limbs. What TENDS stand by his mid
night pillow! What groans tear his
earl Wha, horrors Shiver through
his soul Talk Of tho rack. talk Of
the lnquisiiion. talk OF the funeral
pyr, talk ~ the crushing Juggcrnaut
he feels them all at once. Have
you ever lp.cn IN the ward nf the hos
piial where these incbriaics are dying,
the stencil 81 their wounds driving
l.....f. 81. ..esn...1....sa Ill.