Backbone. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. ;) 1897-1906, 1897-04-01
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But in this fight the kingdom of heaven" is at
stake. Take your baby on your knee let him
is sweeter than any violet that ever blew. Let
him grip your fingers in his tiny hands, and,
mounted on his own royal cavalry, charge to and
fro defying the universe. Look down, between
his smiles, into the unfathomable meanings of
the mysterious melancholy of his eyes, and
think What is it you see? It is the kingdom
of heaven. He is a mana God-nakng The
saloon tends to destroy him. It would make
those little hands steal; it would fill that rosy
mouth with oaths and lies; it would change that
sweet laugh to shrieking and break that 1.-the
and exquisite body to miserable rag, rookery
for vermin and disease.
But you say, your boy may escape, and you
believe he will God grant it, But what
brute, or fool or coward is a father who will
consciously gamble on such a chance, any
chance, for the sake of a theory of tariff or
finance or fear of a panic. My babies are grown
men and have boards; they are not as pretty as
they used to be, but [ can still see the kingdom
of heaven in them-was and towers and spires
of splendid manhood, endless sweeps of intellec-
tual possibility, golden streets, upon which my
soul walks straight up to the throne of God and
thanks him for the gift of my three sons. And
the saloon is ''layng for them.' If it could
only kill I might heed the Christian editor, who
asks me to make truce with it until I'VE beat
minds and damn their souls. Fathers of Amer
lea, 1.-The kingdom of heaven is at band' in poll
tics.
your shoulder; the baby's MOTHER your wife,
leans upon you as her defence and her strong
tower Stand up! put your hands upon her
shoulders and look into her eyes! Think! She
gave to you the sweetest baby that you ever
saw; she went to the brink of death to fetch
that baby back to you. She forgives your
faults in advance; she smiles at poverty with
you, exile. What do you see in that face?
You can't tell! Of course you can't! Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath Prepared in the soul of woman
who is in love. 1t is the kingdom of heaven
And the saloon would break her heart, and bow
her, and break her, under avalanches of heart
ache; would make her abhOr her own breasts,
and cry out in the night and wreck of her
maternal hope: blessed are the barren and
the wombs that never bear and the paps which
never gave SUCK And you are man, hus-
band tather with mind and right arm
and vote! Good God! is it possible that I
need to go on at this rate!
In the campaign which has just closed, the
Presbyterian candidate for the chief magistracy
said he was opposed to interfering with the
liquor traffic in politics. The Methodist aspirant
of many years standing arched his fine eyebrows
and said nothing The voting church stood by,
like a court fool and said, ''Amen" Amen, to
the Democratic Presbyterian saloon! Amen to
the liCan- Methodist nothing
If I knew that beside path where my wife
had to pass alone a rueian waited, in the dark
ness to assault her. would kill him as I would
mad dog; and if some smooth and polite
Pharisee should come in order to prevent a
breach of the peace, and offer me money from
the villain for chance at the woman l love, |
would put my foot upon him as l would upon
any other reptile. The saloon is an assault
upon the happiness of every wife, the innocence
of every girl the light of every home, the honor
of every man; and if that is true, the Repubi
can and Democratic parties organized insult
to every loving husband in the land. And while
live and have voice to speak withal, when
ever and wherever any candidate or party
server ecclesiastical or lay, says the saloon is
logically no issue, though it be my last word IL
cali him ''liar" And while in every canvass
the Democrat says it isn't worth while, and the
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