Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-04-25
fur the tll-w orth American
Temperance, Past and Present
rnf WORK or IHr TEACHER


Horace Gr"clcy in addrc>sin. an audience
Of young people once r"markcd that the
children are alt on tn. side of the army OF
temperance; that in that vast army Of CD !
600 drunkar,i> that are annually peopling
the city of the dead" no children arc to be
4 fact that should excite the profuundc>t
>olicitude OF the christian phiiauthropi,t
statesman aud scholar that the future re-
cruits who are 10 swell the tlIrcng 1f ragged.
hoatcd, degraded drunkArl> who are no
luting our ~ocIal au,i civil life. are 10 come
from homes whcr" now angel purity sleeps
in the cradle Of innocence and the atmo>-
pherc i filled with tie sunshine ana glow
OF intelligent child life. that without re-
gard 70 birth or station, beauty or iulrlli-
gcnce, that in~atiatr, hydra headed and
>pulle>> monster in,cmpersnce will snatch
his victims from the hnycl pf the poor and
the palace Of the rich alike.
And while We should spare no effort TO
save by every social moral and legal
means the thousands OF our fcliow-men
who are trcadiug the slippery paths OF in
temperance. with what anxiety should we
turn % the youth who are rapidly ap-
preaching the gateway Of iuirmpcrancc
many of them without parents or fricrd>
tn warn them OF their danger, or direct
their ha>ty steps into paths Of safety and
raj. ~
the pest houses Of inchrirty. quarantine
them with the most eloquent teachings Of
philosophy, history. experience, ob>crva-
tlon and ihe holic>t ptccrpts OF our div iur
religion. Let Us not forget that the work
Of the educator j. vastly more important
than the work Of the reformcr Let a.
not forget that an ounce of advice ami in
>tructiun given in season j. worth more
than ton Of reform administered tuo
late. How much better for nation ~
girdlc it. domain with military offences
at the expense Of a frw millions. than to
allow a foreign enemy in Time Of war ID
gain f"othold on it, territory >lay thou~-
and- of it. bc>, and noble>t men and de-
>troy billions worth Of property
Which i the more hopeful. delightful.
and hcnefcent work. to build the Young up
in the elements Of strong and noble man
hood and womanhood or try to rebuild
shattered weakness, and decayed moral
ity.
Education is the precursor Of all true
enlightened progress. Education builds
men and women, experience toughens them,
reformation IS simply the process of re-
construction. II gathers its strength from
the bitterness of defeat it Summons, the
shattered and di>>ipated moral forces into
united and renc.. ed resistance to the enc
my that routed them OF how little val
ne is the reformed man around whom We
strength of whose life has been spent in
infiicting wounds and ruin upon himself
and friends, compared with the youth
whose crystal life current has never vet
been poisoned by the turbid stream of in
temperance, and whose powers are fresh
and strong for the battle Of life,
For three-quarters OF a century the tenn
perance cause has been in progress on this
continent
If you could roll back the tide of this
great moral movement to the beginning Of
the present century, you would find a state
of society that you could hardly have
dreamed to exist in an infant republic that
mad struggled hard and suffered much TO
solve great problems of self-government.
But few years removed from the then
most terrible and bloody war in its history
to free itself from the grasp Of tyrant
that had sought to strangle its aspirations
for national existence, and reduce it to a
state Of absolute dependence and material
poverty, it found itself enthraled in the
power Of social monster, which was sap
ping the foundations of good citizenship,
and wasting the resources of growing
nation.
1t may be said that at this stage of our
history rum ruled the people with power
Britain had welded over the feeble and
scattered colonies in our early history.
The race was charmed and led or misled
by its subtle and seductive influence. The
most menial service lost half its drudgery
in the charms of the well-filled bottle.
Rum was the giant that imbued men
with strength and courage to undertake
the most Herculean tasks. 1t was the de-
mon that fired them to commit the most
startling and outrageous crimes 1t sealed
contracts, graced weddings, and presided
on funeral occasions. 1t was the god of
genius that lent fire and beauty to the pen
of the brilliant author. 1t assisted grave
judges TO decide important suits and put
thunder and flame into the voice of the pull
pit 1t ministered to the sick, soothed the
sorrowing, and put the rose of health on
the cheek of innocence. Our business, our
politics, our social life, our religion, had
become thoroughly saturated with rum.
One of the primeval songs that angel
voices sung over this earthly ball, as II
came fresh from the hand of the Almighty
Alchemist, water, water 'everywhere-was
changed to the gleeful rendering Of Satan
and sung over our bright Young country,