The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1895-12-13
woe under the uplifted hand Of the
drunken monster towhom she had passed


the fascinating cup Oh New Years day.
If we want to go to ruin, let us go alone
and not take others with us. Can we
not sacrifice our feelings if need be!
When the good ship London went down,
the captain was told that he might
escape in one of the lifeboats. "No. "
he replied. "I'll 60 down with the pas.
sengers." All the world applauded his
heroism. And can we not sacrifice our
tastes and our appetites for the rescue
of othersi Surely it is not very great
sacrifice Oh, mix not with the innocent
beverage Of the holiday the poison of
adders Mix not with the white sugar
of the cup tho snow of this awful leprosy
Mar not the clatter of the cutlery of the
festal occasion with the clank of mad
mans chain.
Pass down the street and look into
the pawnbroker's window. Elegant
watch, elegant furs, elegant flute, ele-
CANT shoes, elegant scarf, elegant books,
elegant mementos You sometimes see
people with pleased countenances look
ing into such window. When I look into
a pawnbroker S window, it seems to me
as if I had looked into the window Of
hell To whom did that watch belong
To drunkard. To whom did those furs
belong? To a drunkards wife. To
whom did those shoes belong? To a
drunkard s child. l take the three bra
zen balls at tho doorway of pawnbro-
ker's shop and l clank them together,
sounding the knell of the drunkard S
soul. A pawnbroker shop is only one
of the eddies in the great torrent of
municipal drunkenness. "Oh," says
some one, 81 don't patronize such
things. | have destroyed no young man
by such influences. / only take ale, and
it will take great amount of ale to in
toxicate - Yes, but tell you there is
not a drunkard in America that did not
begin with ale Three X's-I do not
know what they mean. Three KS Oh
the brewers dray, three KS Oh the door
of the ginshop, three KS on the side OF
the bottle. Three KS. asked man.
He could not tell I asked another what
was the meaning of the three KS. He
could not tell me- Then made up my
mind that the three KS were an allie
gory and that they meant 30 heart
breaks, 80 agonies, 80 broken up house
holds, 80 prospects of drunkard' g
grave, 80 ways to perdition. Three KS.
If l were going to write story, the
first chapter I would call "Three KS"
and the last chapter 1 would call 1.-The
Pawnbroker Shop" Oh, beware of
| your influence.
| Winter Temptations.
The winter season is especially full
of temptation, because of the long even
ings allowing such full swing for evil
indulgences. You can scarcely expect a
young man to go into his room and sit
there from to 1 ! o'clock in the even
ing, reading Motley Clutch Republic"
or John Fosters essays. 1t would be a
very beautiful thing for him to do, but
he will not do it. The most of our
young men are busy in offices, in fac
tories, in banking houses, in stores, in
shops, and when evening comes they
want the fresh air, and they want sight
seeing, and they must have it, they will
have it, and they ought to have it. Most
of the men here assembled will have
three or four evenings of leisure on the
winter nights After tea the man puts
on his hat and coat and he goes out.
One form of allurement says, Come in
here Satan says: 1T is best for you
to go in. You ought not to be SO green.
By this time you ought to have seen
everything" And the temptations shall
be mighty in dull times such as we have
had, but which, l believe, are gone, for
l hear all over the land the prophecy OF
great prosperity, and the railroad men
and the merchants, they all tell me OF
the days of prosperity they think are
coming, and in many departments they
have already come, and they are going
to come in all departments, but those
dull times through which we have
passed have destroyed great many
men. The question of a livelihood is
with vast multitude the great ques-
ton. There are young men who expect
ed before this to set up their household,
but they have been disappointed i'll the
gains they have made. They cannot sup
port themselves, how can they support
others? And, to the curse of modern So
ciety, the theory is abroad that man
must not marry until he has achieved
fortune, when the twain ought to start
I at the foot of the hill and together climb
to the top.
That is the old fashioned way, and
that will be the new fashioned way if
society is ever redeemed. But during
the hard times, the dull times, so many
men were discouraged, so many men
had nothing to do-they could get moth
ing to do-a pirate bore down on the
ship when the sails were down and the
vessel was making no Roadway. People
say they want more time to think. The
trouble is, too many people have had too
much time to think, and if our mer-
chants had not had their minds divert
ed many of them would long before
this have been within the four walls of
an insane asylum. These long winter
evenings, be careful where you spend
them. This winter will decide the tenn
poral and eternal destiny of hundreds Of
men in this audience.
Attractive Homes.
Then the winter has especial temp
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