The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-12-23
A CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION.
Duty TO Abstain from Into ticants for
Your RrOther,N Sn..e


Your Brothers, Sa4e.
Miss Willard. in her presidential ad-
dress at the national convention of the
| w. c. T. IT,, holds that the supreme
! duty of the hour is to convince the mod
crate drinker that he is doing himself
| HARM and that henceforth the AR
| tillery of temperance reform must CON
Ccntrate" its fire on the sullen fortress
of moderate drinking" 1t is perfectly
true that all drunkards come from the
ranks of moderate drinkers; but il is
not true that all moderate drinkers be
come, sooner or later, immoderate
drinkers. To keep truth on our side We
must admit this. But it is fair to say
that no one about to form the habit OF
moderate drinking can feel assured
| that the habit will not be to him great
risk. 1t is so to the majority. Expert
ence may show him that he is one of
those who can take a glass now and
then, and never be tempted beyond the
line of self-control. Shall a man who
feels himself in no danger surrender
| personal right for the sake of others
not able to keep check upon All awak-
ened appetite?
This is question which every man
must answer for himself, with certain
principles in view. For example, there
is such a thing as humanity, and civ
lliZation refuses to absolve any man
from recognition of and obligation to
it. Humanity requires that an effort
be made to save persons wrecked at
sea, to defend the helpless from attacks
of robbers and assaSsinS, to relieve
those dying of hunger or exposure. A
man who would refuse to sucCor one in
distress and danger would be a brute,
not man.
There is an obligation of mutual
helpfulncSs. The strong must help the
weak and unfortunate Christianity
carries this rule into all relations of
life. 1t requires those who are able to
bear the infirmities of those who are
weak, that assistance be ever ready to
save those who stumble. Can we not
say that this obligation is binding on
the moderate drinker? We mean, of
course, the man who drinks chiefly for
the pleasure of it. We may not compel
him to give up habit which he believes
to be perfectly harmless to him; but
may we not appeal to him to give it up
because it encourages others in habit
which they can neither keep within
proper limits nor easily throw off? Is
it not a noble thing to say in the spirit
of Paul, I will drink no wine while the
world standeth if it cause my brother to
offend?
Most people despisqa drunkard. Mis-
cradle wretches are they in act, thought
and appearance. We miss in them the
thing that makes q man so infinitely
superior to a brute They cringe like
towards, grovel like reptiles, and
debase and befoul the image of the Al
mighty. Poverty, shame and disgrace
are their companions, and they become
actually loathsome. And yet they were
not born so. It's the drink habit which
drags them down into the mire. What
is there in the pleasure of wine to the
man never tempted to abuse it to COM
pensate for the wretchedness and ruin
it produces in the weaker thousands
and tens of thousands who cannot use
it as a good creature? Can the self
controlled moderate drinker, with a
glass in one hand, reach the other hand
to his less fortunate brother and bid
with any hope Of success, to drink and
let it alone? Can he say: Give it up
altogether" unless he himself sets the
example? We do not put the emphasis
exactly where Miss Willard puts it.
She holds that there is no moderation
in the use of what is harmful We are
willing to admit that wine may be used
as q beverage in such moderation as to
produce no apparent harm to the user.
But we do not believe that moderate
drinkers are helpful, or can well be, to
immoderate drinkers, and our creed is
summed up in these words: Abstain
if not for your own good, for the good
of others.
\ young man. only 81 years Old bear
ing an honored name. was adjudged
an "habitual drunkard," requiring the
care of guardian and to be committed
to some institution, in the court of the
chancellor of New Jersey. His father,
Gen. John Watts Kearny, is the son of
Gen. Phil Kearny, of military fame.
The boy had good educational advant-
ages, but he began to form the drink
habit in college when only II years old,
and went on from moderate to immOd-
crate drinking, finding ere long that
when he would let it alone he could not.
His thirst swallowed up all good reso-
buttons, his will power, his manhood
and left him a wreck.
There are no wrecks upon the face of
The stormy deeps so sad, so terrible, as
wrecks of young manhood like Kearny.
And the saddest thing about them is
that they might have been prevented.
i college faculty may think it perfect
~ right to have wine at college dinners;
but let them consider what results may
follow among the students.-N. Y. In
dependent,
The Cigarette Habit.
A Philadelphia tobaccOnist says:
n Z I