Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1897-12-10
|. o. G. T. DIRECTORY OF ADD.
SON COUNTY.
TEMPERANCE EDUCATION.
WHAT is Ir9 HOW 10 GER Ir

peTAnCe nave Oee0 0aDQeQ down 10 IS
throughout ages by record of history,
and the influences of their teachings
upon certain sects are very distinct at
the present time.
Mohammed said, "There are three
curses upon the masses: One upon the
manufacturers of Intoxicating liquors,
another upon the one who administers
them and the other upon the person who
drinks them" And the influence of the
teachings of this god of the Moslems has
shaken the letters of inteInperance from
the feet of the followers of his sect for
more than thirteen centuries.
John Wesley, young graduate of
Oxford and founder of Methodsm, went
over hill and dale, on horse back, on
foot, stopping in the fields, in barns,
wherever he could find listeners, ex-
pounding reform to sotted England,
filling the minds of its oppressed and
tainted people with his doctrine, bring
ing them to repentance and restoring
them to the ranks of sobriety by his per-
suasive eloquence and naked logic. The
influence of the teachings of this young
moral reformer has penetrated to all the
inhabitable parts of the globe. 1t has
subiugated the most obstinate heart,
submitted to its creator the most rebel
ious spirit, and has planted home for
his established religion in the hearts of
every people, in the sunshine of every
cline.
We have reason to believe that the
judicous principles put forth by the late
! E,..I .t,.l
page among the memoirs of Maine.
And their influence will never ,become
naught in the history of its people.
There is no tribe or nation however
high in moral elevation or low in human
degradation that has no form of educa-
ton, and the fruit of that knowledge,
however dlminutve in its capacity, has
embodied within it a means for the
working out of some particular practi-
cal end.
The Roman was taught the art of war,
that he might be of use in the protection
of the state and in the acquisition of
larger dominion. The American Indian,
in his savage state, was so keen of OBJ
servation that he could almost read the
intention of the enemy in an upturned
leaf. He was so thoroughly imbued
with the subject of self control that his
fortitude was almost indescribable. The
enemy could scarcely take him unawares,
nor could they crafty their savage re.
venge by wreaking groan from their
captive.
We will pause moment to consider
what education is. General education,
if we may use the term, is stimulating,
strengthening and developing the in
herent faculties and capabilities OF our
minds by acquiring a knowledge of
things in general and fitting them for
the generation of general ideas and pre-.
pairing them for the controlling of our
bodies. A trained mind governs the
body; an ignorant mind the body gov,
erns And the relations of the different
qualities of our minds to one another
are like the different physical organs OF
our bodies. They are interdependent
and may also be likened to the different
planets of the universe. If one should
be devIated from its natural orbit, q
disastrous cOmmotiOn would be effected
throughout the whole.
Bearing this in mind and remembering
that man is born in sin, that there is {
constant struggle between conscienc,
and human desire, continual warefar,
between the elements of purity anC
guile; and knowing that mans appela
tion, good, bad or Indifferent, is deter
mined as his visible traits of either kline
. exceed the other, and his character i,
formed unconscously as these traits are
! subordinated by the will, we plainly see
the necessity Of moral stimulation, the
need of his dwarfed and stunted powers
: being fortified and nurtured by tn,
teachings of those whose lives have beer
regenerated, whose kindred powers have
been more fully developed by their sub
verting the enemy of all righteousness
All this for temperance. add to you
faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge
and to knowledge, temperance" Mora
character, the prime factor Of all life
the essence of all beauty, the foundation
for all hope. Build you character on thu
rock of temperance and neither tn,
wiles of man nor the traps of sin cal
wrench it from its setting.
Train up the child in the way h,
depart from it, Parents, teachers, in
culcate into his growing mind the es
sence and meaning of this beautiful
mandate from above" Be we temperate
in all things" Rear him with its indel
ible Imprint etched upon his heart, ant
in after life he will have cause to prais
and bless the early teachings of hi
q tutors.
y 1t may seem of light argument an,
> minor Importance to some that in Orde
It to teach temperance one must possess
i temperance education. But in order t
d teach anything successfully one mus
n first acquire knowledge of the implicit
g principles that underlie its science, an
= secondly, he must possess the art o
8 giving an explicit explanation of thes
! principles. Special work needs specia
), training TO prepare oneself for specia
IS teaching one must devote his time an