The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-01-11
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE.
THE SOCIAL DEMON.

The white headstones of yonder
quiet graveyard mark the silent. rest
ing place of many whom we knew and
loved in life, and the snow wreath
lies lightly above the tiny form of
childhood, the prouder, stronger
beauty of ripper years, and the locks
grown white with fullness of days, ere
the icy hand of death Ted them to,
the gate through whose portals none
ever return. We stand beside the cof-
fin and the open grave, and lift not
hand nor voice in opposition, because
we know that One mightier than we
has appointed to all "once to die"
But a darker doom than this, palsies
the limbs, and dims the eye of strong
and vigorous youth. The mother. Sis
ter, wife, who watches the, death seal
as 1t gathers on the brow of the be-
loved, brushes within the depth of.
her own aching heart the fearful
thought that one day she may stand
beside the deathbed of that dear one,
almost with feeling of relief. She
can then thank God that he has re.
moved from her path the blight that
made her once fair cheek grow pale.
her voice low and sad, and the laugh
that rang so merrily in other days, a
stranger to her lips and heart forever.
writes w. H. EngTer, i'm the Church
Advocate.
The Social Demon, can you not read
its name, its terrible history, in the.
sparkling sup that the careless, I'M
thinking youth raises to his lips2
Oftentimes the glittering poison is un--
pleasant, is even nauseating to the
taste, but boon companions drain the
glass, and he may merely taste it.
Besides Q know you will not confess;
it openly young man, yet you are
aware that it is none the less true),
there are few, very few, who are not
sadly lacking in moral courage. They
would not hesitate to avenge an insult,
no matter how great the opposition
they would not shrink from any act
that requires merely animal courage
but when this dashing friend, this
pleasant companion, offers the bright
ly-tinted goblet, how can they refuse.
They dare not stand up like men and
say to the tempter, as their Master
said to his champion, ST. Peter Get
thee behind me, Satan
Hell never be drunkard. He, SO,
strong in the pride of his young man.,
hood become the wretched, brutalizedi
apology for the name of MANI
Take care, faces as fair and forms;
as active as yours have lain upon a
drunkard's deathbed, have gone down,
to drunkard's grave. You have not
passed so blfndly through the world
that you have seen no instance of this.
They are on every side, and what
surety have you that such may not be.
your fate?
"Oh, l don't drink enough to hurt
me-"
You see not it's effect now, but you
surely will That poor, helpless being,
was once only a moderate drinker.
Doubtless he has often made the same.
plea. Do you think he drinks enough
to hurt him now? Go to his Wretched
home and ask that pale, care-worn
woman if in that bloated face there,
remains one trace of the manly beauty
which won her maiden heart, and
made her thrice blessed in the hus-
band of her youth. And that little.
child why she shrinks with fear and
trembling as her listening ear catches
the echo of the unsteady footsteps.
If she can, for her tears, she may
tell you, perhaps, of fathers love
cast upon the fearful shrine of intern
perance, and of fathers curse-the
only inheritance of drunkard's child.
Yet that mans youth promised as fair
as yours. But the Social Demon
wound it's loathsome clasp around him,
and as well might you turn the river
from it's source, as attempt to stay
at this late hour his headlong race to
destruction.
We are all we'll aware how strong
any habit may become by indulgence,
and how few inducements there are
for the moderate drinker to refrain
from his cups (save those which his
own heart and reason dictate), and
how many continue on in evil. Sa-
looms of the worst description, al
though often most attractive, open
their demon arms at every step, and
many wait to entice the unwary into
the path which once trodden is sell
dom deserted.
There is only one way by which the
young men of our country may be safe
from the influences of this Social
Demon, and that is, by resisting all its
enticements, and following the adj
monition of him who said: Look not
thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his color in the cup,
when it moveth itself Alright. At last
it biteth like serpent, and stingeth
like an adder"