Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1899-05-01

Them and cried: 'sLet us drink-drink
to the everlasting prosperity of the liq-
uor traffic. Here's to woe and darkness
and murder and DEATH Drink Drink /"
The Plague of Drink.
But whether by allegory or by ap-
palling statistic this subject is present.
ed you know as well as l that it is i'm
possible to exaggerate the evils of strong
drink. A plagued A plagued In the first
place the inebriate suffers from the loss
of a good name God has so arranged it
that no man loses his reputation except
by his own act The world may assault
a man, and all the powers of darkness
may assault him-they cannot capture
him so long as his heart is pure and his
life is pure. All the powers of earth
and hell cannot take that Gibraltar. 1t
a man is right, all the bonn bardment of
the world for 5, 10, 90, 40, years will
only strengthen him in his position. So
that all you have to do is to keep your
self right. Never mind the world. Let
it say what it will. It can do you no
damage. But as soon as it is whispered,
'tHe drinks, and it can be proved, he
begins to go down. What clerk can get
a position with such a reputation?
What store wants him? What church
of God wants him for a member? What
dying man wants him for an executor !?
..He drinksl'' stand before hundreds
of young men-and I say it not in fiat
tery-splendid young men who have
their reputation as their only capital
Your father gave you a good education.
or as good an education as he could
afford to give you. He started you in
city life. He could furnish you no
means, but he has surrounded you with
Christian influences and good memory
of the past. Now. young man, under
God you are with your own right arm
to achieve your fortune, and as your
reputation is your only capital do not
bring upon it suspicion by going in and
out of liquor esta blishments or by an
odor of your breath or by any glare of
your eye or by any unnatural flush on
your cheeks. You lose your reputation
and you lose your capital.
The Inebriate's Degradation.
The inebriate~ suffers also in the fact
that he loses his self respect, and when
you destroy mans self respect there
is not much left of him. Then man
will do things he would not do other
wise. he will say things he would not
say otherwise. The fact is, that man
cannot stop or he would stop now. He
is bound hand and foot by the Philis-
tines. and they have shorn his locks and
put his eyes out and made him grind
in the mill of great horror. After he
is threefourths gone in this slavery the
first thing he will be anxious to impress
you with is that he can stop at any
time he wants to- His family become
alarmed in regard to him, and they
say: CHOW, do stop this. After awhile
it will get the mastery of you ''Oh,
l can stop now. can stop tomorrow.
His most confidential friends say:
''Why. I'm afraid you are losing your
balance with that habit. You are going
a little further than you can afford to
go. You had better stop. ''Oh, nor
he says. 81 can stop at any time. I can
stop now. He goes on further and fur
ther. He cannot stop. l will prove it.
He loves himself, and he knows never
theless that strong drink is depicting
him in body. mind and SOUL He knows
he is going down; that he has less self
control, less equipoise of temper, than he
used to. Why does he not stop? Because
he cannot stop. I will prove it by going
still further He loves his wife and
children. He sees that his habits are
bringing disgrace upon his home. The
proba bilities are they will ruin his wife
and disgrace his children. He sees all
this. and he loves them. Why does he
not stop? He cannot stop.
I had very dear friend, generous to
a fault He had given thousands and
tens of thousands of dollars to Bible So
cieties, tract societies, missionary soci
cites, asylums for the poor, the halt,
the lame, the blind, the imbecile. do
not believe for 90 years anybody asked
him for dollar, $50. or 500 for char
ity but he gave it. I never heard of
any body asking him for help but he
gave it. But he was under the power of
strong drink, and he went on down.
down. down. His family implored him,
saying: "You are going too far in that
habit. You had better STOP" He re-
piled: 81 can stop any time. / am my
own master. I can stop" He went on
down, down. His friends advised and
cautioned him. He said: ssDon't be
afraid of me. am my own master. /
can stop now. I know what I am do
ing" He went on down until he had
the delirium tremens. On down until
he had the delirium tremens twice Aft
er the second time the doctor said: eff
you ever have an attack like this again.
you will die. You had better STOP" He
said: 81 can stop any time. I can stop
now" He went on down. He is dead.
What slew him2 Rum, ruml Among
the last things he said was that he
cor1Id stoD anv time He could Dot s$aon