The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-06-20

so unlike the roseate young wife whom
he married that her old schOOlmates do
not recognize her; that his sons are 10
be tainted for a lifetime by the fathers
drunkenness; that the daughters are TO
pass life under the scartticatiOn Of
disreputable ancestor. He is drinking up
their happiness. their prospects for this
life and perhaps for the life TO come.
Sometimes an appreciation of what he
is doing comes upon him. His nervous
system is all a-tingle. From crown of
head to sole Of foot he is one aching
rasping. crucifying. damning torture.
Where is he? In hell on earth. Does 1t
reform him?
After awhile ne has delirium tremens.
with d whole jungle of Kissing reptiles
let out or his pillow. and his screams
horrify the neighbors as ne dashes out
of his bed, crying, Take these things
off me-" AS he sits, pale and cOnva-
descent, the doctor says: Now, l want
to have plain talk with you, my dear
fellow. The next attack of this kind
will be beyond all medical skill and you
will die" He gets better and goes forth
into the same round again. This time
medicine takes no effect. Consultation
of physicians agree in saying there is no
hope. Death ends the scene.
Chances of Reform.
That process of inebriation, warning
and dissolution is going on within stones
throw Of you, going on in all the neigh
borhoods Of Christendom. Pain does not
correct. Suffering does not reform. What
is true in one sense is true in all senses
and will forever be so, and yet men are
expecting in the next world purgatorial
rejuvenation. Take UP the printed reports
of the prisons of the United States, and
you will find that the vast majority of the
incarcerated have been there before, some
of them four, five. six times. With mill
ion Illustrations all working the other way
IN this world. people are expecting that
distress in the next state Will be saliva
tory. You cannot imagine any worse tor
ture in any other world than that which
some men have suffered here, and with
out any salutary consequence.
Furthermore, the prospect Of a reforma-
ton in the next world Is more improbable
than a reformation here In this world
the life started with innocence Of infancy.
In the case supposed, the other life will
open with all the accumulated bad habits
Of many years upon him. Surely 1t is
easier TO build a strong ship out Of new
timber than out of an old hulk that has
been ground up In the breakers If with
innocence to start with in this life a man
does not become gOdly, what prospect is
there that in the next world, starting with
sin, there would be a seraph evoluted?
Surely the sculptor has more prospect Of
making a fine statue out Of a block of
pure white Parian marble than out OF an
old black rock scanned and cracked with
the storms OF a half century. Surely upon
a clean white sheet of paper IL is easier to
write a deed or a will than upon sheet
Of paper scribhled and blotted and torn
from top to bottom. Yet men seem to
think that. though the life that began
here comparatively perfect turned out
badly, the next life will succeed, though
x starts with a dead failure.
M
ought to have a chance in the next life,
because this life is so short it allows
only small opportunity. We hardly have
time to turn around between cradle and
tomb. the wood Of the one almost touch
ing the marble Of the other" But do