News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1897-05-26

gospel told me in Iowa that his church
and the neighborhood had been impover-
ished by the fact that they put mortgages
on their farms in order to send their fam
lilies to the Philadelphia centennial. 1t
was not respectable not to go to the CEN
tennial. Between such evils and pauper-
ism there is very short step. The vast
majority of children in your almshcuses
are there because their parents are drunk
en-, lazy or recklessly improyident.
l have no sympathy for skinilint saving,
but plead for Christian prudence, You
say it is impossible now to lay up any
thing for a rainy day. l know it, but we
are at the daybreak of national prosperity.
Some people think it is mean to turn the
gas low when they go out of the parlor.
They feel embarrassed if the doOrbell rings
before they have the hall lighted. They
apologize for the plain meal if you surprise
them at the table. Well, it is mean if it
is only to pile up a misery hoard, but if
it be to educate your children, if it be to
give more help to your wife when she does
not feel strong, if it be to keep your fu-
neral day from being horrible beyond all
endurance because it is to be the disrup.
ton ard humiliation of the domestic cir
IL II DC 1UI Iltl, JlIGll ~ ID
Breeds Poverty.
There are those who are kept in poverty
because of their own fault. They might
have been we'll off, but they smoked or
chewed up their earnings, or they lived
beyond their means while others on the
same wages and on the same salaries went
on to competency. | know man who is
all the time complaining of his poverty
and crying out against rich men, while he
himself keeps two dogs, and chews and
smokes, and is full to the chin with whis-
ky and beer. wilkins Micawber said to
David Copperfleld: "Copperfeld, my boy,
81 income; expenses, 20 shillings and 6
pence; result, misery. But, COpperfeld,
my boy 81 income; expenses, 10 shillings
and pence; result, happiness" But, o
wOrkingman, take your morning dram
and your noon dram and your evening
dram, and spend everything you have over
for tobacco and excursions, and you in
sure poverty for yourself and your children
forever!
If by some generous fiat of the capitalists
of this country or by new law of the
government of the United States % per
cent or 80 per cent or 100 per cent were
added to the wages of the working classes
of America, it would be no advantage to
hundreds of thousands of them unless they
stopped strong drink. Aye, until they
quit that evil habit, the more money the
more ruin, the more wages, the more holes
in the bag.
My plea is to those working people who
are in a discipleship to the whisky bottle,
fbn hoor tbn Wi Hacly nd
what l say to them will not be more ap.
propriate to the working classes than to
the business classes, and the literary class
es, and the professional classes, and all
classes, and 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 enthralled and re-
member that toward that goal multitudes
are running. The disciple of alcoholism
suffers the loss of self respect. Just as
soon as a man wakes up and finds that he
is the captive of strong drink, he feels de-
meaned. l do not care how recklessly he
acts. He may say, ~ don't care" he does
care. He cannot look q pure man in
the eye unless it is with positive force of
resolution. Ihree-fourths Of his nature is
destroyed; his self respect is gone; he says
things he would not otherW Use say; he
does things he would not otherwise do
When a Elan is ninC-tenths gone with
strong drink, the first thing he wants to
do is to persuade you that he can stop any
time he wants to. He cannot The Phil
istines have bound him hand and foot, and
shOrn his locks, and put out his eyes, and
are making him grind in the mill of a
great horror. He cannot stop. l will prove
it. He knows that his course is bringing
ruin upon himself He loves himself. If
be 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 a year ago; not now. just ask him to
stop for a month. He cannot. He knows
he cannot, so he does not try.
Drink Victims.
had a friend who was for IS years go,
ing down under this evil habit. He had
large means. He had given thousands of
dollars to Bible societies and Teformatory
institutions of all sorts, He was very gen.
ial, very generous and very loyable, and
whenever he talked about this evil habit
he would say, Il 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, Il
can stop any time if want to-" After
awhile he had delirium tremens. He had
it twice, ard yet after that he said, 81
could stop at any time if wanted to.
He is dead now. What killed him? Drink,
drink And yet among his last utterances
was, Il can stop at any time" He did
not stop it because he could not stop it.
Oh, there is point in inebriation beyond
which if a man goes he cannot stopl
One of these victims said to a Christian
man: Sir, if l were told that l couldn't
get drink until tomorrow night unless
had all my fingers cut off, | would say,
Bring the Ratchet and cut them off
now. ! have II dear friend in Philadel-
phia whose nephew came to him one day,
and when he was eXhorted about his evil
habit said: "Uncle, | can't give it up. II
there stood II cannon and it was loaded
and glass of wine were set on the mouth
of that cannon, and knew that you would
fire it off just as l came up and took the
glass, / would start, for | must have it. y
oh, it is sad thing for man to wake III
in this life and feel that he is u captive
He says: II could have got rid of thi:
once, but can't now. | might have lived
an honorable life and died Christian
death But there is no hope for me now
There is no escape for me- Dead, but not
buried, am walking corpse. am al
appariton of what | once was. ] am 1
Gagged immortal beating against the wires
of my cage in this directions; beating
against the cage until there is blood on thu
wires and blood upon my soul, yet not abl'