Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1895-08-23

AGAINST rich men, while he himself keeps two
dogs. and chews and smokes. and is full to
the chin with whisky and beer. wilkins Mi
cawber said to David Copperaeld, "copper"
field. my boy. one pound income, expenses
twenty shillings and six pence; result
misery. But, Copperaeld, my boy, one pound
income, expenses nineteen shilllngS ana SIX
pence; result, happiness" But, . working
man of America, take your morning dram,
aud your noon dram, and your evening dram,
and spend everything you have over for to-
bacco and excursions. and you insure pow
erty for yourself and your children forever!
ii by some generous fiat Of the capitalists
of this country, or by now law OF the Gov
eminent of the United States, twenty-five
per cent, or fifty per cent, or ono hundred
per cent were added to the wages OF the
working classes of America, IL would be no
advantage to hundreds Of thousands OF them
unless they stopped strong drink. Aye, I'M
ill they quit that evil habit, the more money,
the more ruin, the more wages, the more
holes in the bag.
NV plea this morning is to those working
people who are in discipleship to whisky
bottle, the beer-mug, AMI the wlne-hask.
And what 1 say to them will not be more APP
propriate TO the working classes than to the
business classes, and the literary classes, and
the professional classes. and ali classes, AMI
not with the people OF one age more than
Of all ages. Take one good square look at
the suffering Of the man whom strong drink
has enthraled, aud remember that toward
that goal multitudes are running. The dis
ciple of alcoholism suffers the loss of self
respect.
Just as soon as man wakes up and finds
that he is the captive Of strong drink, he feels
demeaned. L do not care how reckless he
acts. He may say, II don't care" he does
care. He cannot look a pure man in the eye
unless it is with positive force OF resolution.
Three-fourths of his nature is destroyed
his self-respect is gone; he says things ne
would not otherwise say; he does things
he would not otherwise do. When
man is nine-tenths gone with strong
drink. tho first thing he wants to do isto
persuade You that he can stop any time hs
wants TO. He cannot. The Philistines hava
bound him hand and foot, and s1orn MS
locks, and put out his eyes, and are making
him grind in the mill of a great horror. H9
cannot stop. 1 will proveit. Heknows thai
his course is bringing ruin upon himself
He loves himself. II he could stop he would.
He knows his course is bringing ruin upon
his family. He loves them. He would stop
| if he could. He cannot. Perhaps he could
three months or year ago, not now. JUST
ask him TO stop for a month. He cannot; hJ
| knows he cannot, so he does not try.
I had a friend who was for fifteen years
! going down under this evil habit. He had
| large means. He hui given thousands OF
dollars to Bible societies and relormatory
institutions of all sorts. He was very
| genial, very generous, and very lovaple, ana
whenever he talked about this evil habit he
would say. III can stop any time" But he
kept going on, going on, down, down,
down. His family would say, ~ wish you
would stop" "Why." he would reply, 81
can stop any time il want to- After a
| while he hal deliriun tremens; he had it
twic ': aud yet, after that, he said, 81 could
stop at any time if wanted to-" He is dead
now. What killed him? Rum! Rum! Aud
vet among his last utterances was, IL can
Stop at any time" He did not stop it, be-
cause he could not stop it. Oh, there is
point in inebriatiOn beyond which ii man
goes he cannot stop.
One of these victims sail to Christian
man, "Sr, if were told that I couldn't get
a drink until tomorrow night unless had
all nv fingers cut of, would say, Bring
the Ratchet and cut them off now" Ihave
a dear friend in Philadelphia whose nephew
came to him one day, and, when he was ex-
horted about his evil habit, said, "Uncle, L
can't give it rp. II there stool cannon
and it was loaded, an a glass OF wine were
|
that YOU would fire it off as | came up an
took the glass, would start, forl must
have ii"
Oh, it is q 50 thing for MAJ to wata W
in this life an1 feel thlt he is a captive! Id
saws, 81 could have got rid OF this at once,
but can't now. 1 might have lived an hon-
orable life and die a Christian delth but
there is no hope for me now; there IS NJ
escape for me. Dell, but not burie1. l a n
walking corpse, 1 am au apparltlon OF wnat
l once was. an cage i'm n 0rtal beating
AGAINST tbe wires Of my cage in this direc-
ton, beating against the cage until there Is
blool on the wires AMI blool upon my soul.
vet not able to get out Destroyed without
remedy.'
90 on. aud say that the disciple OF run
suffers from the loss OF health.
The older men in he congregation may re-
member that some years ago DIR. Sewell wen'
through this country and electrified the pep
pie by his lectures. in which he showed the
effects of alcoholism on the human stomach.
He had seven or eight diagrams by which ne
showed the devastation of strong drink upon
the physical system. There were thousand
of people that turnel back from that ulcer
Gus sketch, swearing eternal abstinence iron
everything that could intoxicate.
God only knows what the drunkar SUI
fers. Pain files on every nerve, and travels
every muscle, and gnaws every bone, anl
burns with every flame, and stings WITT
every poison and pulls at him with ever.
torture. What reptiles crawl over his creep
ing limbsl What hends stan1 by his MID
night pillow What groaus tear his ear
What horrors SILVER through his soul! TAU
of the rack, talk OF the Inquisition, talk o
the funeral pyre talk Of the crushing jug
cernaut-.he feels them all at once. Have you
ever been in the ward of the hospital wher
these inebriates are dying, the stencil Of the
wounds driving back the attendants, thel
voices sounding through the nightH In
keeper comes up AMI says, "Hush, now, b
still! Stop making all this nose! Bat
is effactual only for a moment, for as 500
as the keeper is gone they begin aS un
ooh. Coil Ga, Goal Help! Help Ram
Give me ruml Help! Take them of me
Take them off me! Oh, Gol!' An then the
| shrek, and they rave, and they pluck on
their hair by handfuls. an1 bite their nail
into the qui *, and thsn they groan, an
thew shrek, and they blaspheme, and the
ask the keeper to kill the n.-"Stab ms
; Smother mel Strangle me- Take the devil
| off mel" Oh, it is no fancy sketch! Tna
thing is going on now all up and down tn
l land. and tell you further that this Is g
ing to be the death that some OF you WI
l die. l know it. 1 see it coming.
Again, the inebriate suffers through IN
8 do not care how much he loves his wal
= and children, if his passion for strong drin
has mastered him, he will do the most GU
. rageous things; and If he could not g
S drink in any other way. he would sell n
8 family into eternal bondage. How man
t homes have been broken up in that way Il
t one but God knows. Oh, is there anytnin
. that will so destroy a man Tor tnls 5''9 t W.