St. Paul daily globe., 1895-12-01
BAD ADVICE FROM THE PULPIT.
Exceptions Taken to the Recent
Remarks of Rabbi Hess.

To the Editor of the Globe.
The daily papers make reports of
lecture by the Rev. z. l.. Hess, of this
city, in which he pleads that the tired
and exhausted toiler should be allowed
to indulge in strong drink, temperately,
in orGer that he may thereby forget his
sorrows. He also approves of furnish
ing beverages stronger than tea and
lemonade" at social gatherings.
Now, as one among the thousands of
laboring men in this city who are often
tired and exhausted after the days toll,
[ desire to express my great surprise
that advice of this character should
come from the lips of a minister of
religion. However tired 1 may be,
or however burdened with the cares
and SORROWS inseparable from human
life, L trust my good sense will always
lead me o-reject, with perhaps a touch
of scorn, such pusillanimous advice.
When. sorrows and troubles crowd
upon me, L much prefer to confront
them. with a clear brain and a stout
heart, trusting in God.
This Clergyman is doubtless man of
kindly impulses, but. in some of the
finer matters touching the proper con-
duct of life it would appear that our
advancing civilization has left him
stranded far behind. This may fairly
be inferred from the fact that he ad-
YiSeS us to- use StimUlantS in our
families, in order that our children
may early become accustomed to their
temperate use, and in this way we
can make our homes more attractive
and pleasant to the younger members.
L venture to say that in the best
society of this city-and probably the
country-such advice, coming from any
quarter, would be regarded as an echo
from a social condition long outgrown.
And it would be regarded not only as
antiquated. but as gratuitous, unbe-
coming, and mischievous
A German poet has said 1--WE should
encourage the beautiful, for the useful
will take care of ITSELF and by the
same token we should enjoin. the prac-
tice of every manly virtue that leads
tendencies toward self-indulgence will
naturally assume the force of a con-
stant pressure, and need pot he invited
OF all men, our spiritual guides and
religious teachers can least afford to
place themselves in the position OF
'procurers to the lords of hell" The
theory of their high office binds them
to urge their fellow men to choose on
every occasion the better part-to fol-
low the safer path. not one beset with
perils. And In this case the clergyman
comedies that the habit of using in
toXicat1ng drinks is one that begins
In pure self-indulgence, and often encs
in CHASTITY shame and degradation. AS
student of human life, as scholar
accustomed to careful observation and
reflection, he must surely be aware
that even the temperate use of stimu-
lantS does not in any degree tend to
equip the young man for a noble
career in the struggle of life. or tend
to aid him in the attainment of A
more symmetrical manhood. He must
know. too, that certain percentage
of those who in their youth and mid
die life have used stimulantS modrate-
ly and temperately inevitably become
confirmed drunkarcs. Careful statis-
ties have placed this number at II in
each, 109.7
Advice of this kind, coming from a
clergyman, appears very much like a
confession on his part that for the
laborer exhausted by toll and burdened
with sorrows.. the consultations or reli-
gion and philosophy are inadequate:
that the resources of manly fortitude
and self-respect are not available in
his case; that the tender affections of
home and family afford no refuge
and there is nothing left for him to do
but to forget his troubles by indulging
in strong drink. Harvey Russell.
ST. Paul. Nov. 90.