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fSHPEEiHfil HbUbtffitt COLUMN OF HONOR., Georgia Lodge, Atlanta, takes twenty copies. Grand Lodge Knights Jericho, twenty copies. I nion Lodge, Spalding county, takes twenty copies. Netv Councils of United Friends. Hack Branch Council No. 217 just organized by brother G. W. Peterson. It is a fine council and will do well. Farmers’Council No. 288, in Warren countv, by our esteemed brother. Judge W. C. Worrill. This council is doing remarkably well, as they have initiated six or eight new members already. Brother \\ orrill promises to organize another council soon. Every community in Georgia should have a council of our young, vigorous order. (j. y. (Quarterly Returns. Quarterly returns have been received from the following additional lodges during the past week and since my last report in The Sunny South: Nos. 349, 309, 238, 164, 323, 236, 97, 351, 156, 112, 330, 389, 378, 43, 316. The above reports were received in the order they are here placed. I am gratified to state that the reports were never more encouraging, nor were the lodges ever before so prompt in reporting. Since my communication in reference to the extension of the Order has been sent out from this office, we have organized new lodges at many important points in the State. In Hancock, Walton, Floyd, Fulton, Clayton, Banks, Carroll, Habersham and Jasper counties, good lodges have been put to work, and not a day has passed during that time but what applications have been received and supplies sent forward for new lodges. While many Lodge Deputies are at work organ izing lodges under special commissions, and a large number of traveling ministers have just started in the work, we have secured the entire time of two good Lecturers, who are already canvassing the State and organizing lodges at various places. By the next issue of The Sunny South, we expect to report the organization of many new lodges and give the result of the labors of these brethren. We have supplies on hand for any Deputy who will organize a lodge, and, while we are pressed for organizing officers, will give any Lodge Dep uty a special commission to organize a lodge near him. All orders for supplies, and inquiries in refer- ence to duties of officers, or in regard to speak- 1 ers or public meetings, will be cheerfully and promptly attended to. Samuel C. Robinson, G. W. S. The Temperance Victory. Victory always follows, in the end, the perse vering, laborious effort in a right cause. Every obstacle imaginable may rise to hinder, and the I darkness of ignorance and prejudice obscure; but the reward is certain—success is sure. On life’s battle-field, human efforts are the only weapons we can wield; but these rightly directed call down from above the decree that the right and not the might—that truth shall conquer. In human conflicts, truth has its triumphs and defeats, but is never conquered. The same yesterday and to-day—it will be the same to morrow. Time cannot efface it, no alloy enter it, and no effort destroy or mar its beauty and DUTY. An Essay Head at a Public Meeting of Atlanta Lodge, K. J. BY MISS MAMIE PETERSON. This is a small word, yet one whose import is broad and deep, and whose performance ceases only with life itself. A full and realizing sense of it impels to acts of the most exhausting endu rance, no less than of the sublimest courage. In its nature, it is two-fold:—on the one hand, de manded by authority of the government and by our ties of kindred; on the other hand, it is a voluntary act on the part of ourselves for the good or for the advancement of the highest in terest and welfare of those around us, amongst whom our lot may be cast. It has been said, that while the grandest military hero of modern times seldom sent a dispatch which did not con tain the word glory, his less-gifted conqueror never sent one which did not contain the hum ble yet significant little word, duty! And on the morning that Nelson won his memorable victory at Trafalgar, there was signaled to the squadron from the mast-head of the Admiral’s ship that inspiriting legend which brought every man to his gun—England expects every man to do his duty ! Duty bravely performed, like the bright, fixed stars in the azure vault above, shine out bright est in the darkest hours, and will shine forever— long years after meteor-like glory shall have passed into immensity’s oblivions space. The soldier who endures the fatigue and pri vations of long marches over rough roads, through dangerous mountain-passes, and across swollen streams, to risk his life in deadly strife on the battle-field, in defense of his country, his home, and of loved ones, does so more from a sense of duty than of glory. The sailor out on the ocean, when the winds shriek wildly and the white-crested, frowning waves run high, ’mid thunder-peals which seem to shake the ocean to its profoundest depths, and blinding flashes of lightning, in perform ance of duty, launches his boat to save the lives and property of those who have trustingly con fided these to his keeping. A few years ago, in performance of what she deemed no less a duty than an act of humanity, a maiden on the bleak New England coast launched her tiDy boat and saved a precious life. The world applauded, and in some meas ure rewarded her noble deed; but the sense of duty performed was undoubtedly the most thrill ing and enduring experience of her life. Now, have not we a duty—second only to that due our Maker—to perform in the work we have undertaken ? Our lives here are often symbol ized, quite as truly as poetically, as a battle-field or an ocean. All around us are those engaged in a struggle for success—perhaps for existence, but seldom over themselves. On the one hand, life’s battle-field is bestrewn with those who have fallen victims to their own unbridled passions or vices; on the other, the bones of yet other vic tims lie whitened beneath the bitter and tumult uous depths of the ocean of a misspent life. Of all the causes which have disgraced prom ising youths and brought them to an untimely end,—which have filled poor-houses with pau pers and prisons with criminals,—which have sent gray-liaired fathers and doting, aged moth ers sorrowing to their graves,—or which have made countless thousands of widows and or phans,—none has been more potent and wide spread than intemperance. And if it was a brave and meritorious act to save one human being from a watery grave, how much more brave and meritorious to make the effort to save from a worse than watery grave—to save from a living, active, social and moral death ami burial—the [Ftfr The Sunny South.] THE DEATH-CUP OF THE SOUL. BY JOHN D. WHITE. In a lone and dreary cabin, where the moonbeams faintly Btole Softly through the open window, like God’s mercies o’er our soul. Lay an aged man whose life was ebbing slowly, surely away— For the angels dropped their mantle over all that was of clay; And he murmured, softly murmured to the ones who gathered nigh, To receive his last death whisper ere his soul was called on high: “Yes! I’m going, gently going, down life’s dark and troubled stream. And the past comes up before me like the memory of a dream. You will gather round me softly, only murmuring, ‘ he is gone,’ But remember my last parting word, though I am weak and old,— Shun the wine-cup as a demon—’tis the death-cup of the soul. “ I remember my old mother, who has long since * gone before,’ With that saintly look of heaven that she used to wear of yore— How I promised her so faithfully, when lingering at her knee, That never in life’s future would the wine-cup conquer me; But I forgot her teachings—all my promises of old— All the hopes of life and heaven, by this death-cup of the soul. “And my loved and gentle Mary, she whose life was all my own, She whertrusted me so faithfully in days that long have flown— With her pure trust in heaven that I’d always faithful be,— I have wronged her in my waywardness when she was true to me; And down beside the willows, ’neath that little grassy knoll, She sleeps; and I’m a victim to this death-cup of the soul. “ I believe they’d rest more calmly if they could but know- to-night That the pledge lay folded o’er my heart that once was pure and bright. And that I've struggled hard to place my trust in Him above, And hope for mercy, rest and peace, and pardon by His love; And if he but receives my doubting spirit to His fold, It w-ill be because I am reclaimed from this death-cup of the soul. “Let my warning fall not heedless on your hearts, my friends, to-night; There’s a noble band of templars who are working for the right. And when the days have grow-n so weary in the years that are to come, And the Master calls the faithful and forgiven ones up home, May God’s angels sweep a sweeter strain as they answer to the roll That proclaims their safe deliverance from the death-cup of the soul.” APPEALS AND DECISIONS. All decisions under this head are made by the Grand Worthy Chief Templar, and are law in this State unless reversed by the Grand Lodge, or on appeal by the Right Worthy Grand Lodge.] W. O. H. Shepard. Marietta. Ga., asks: 1. If a person who has once been a member of our lodge wishes to join again, is it necessary to initiate such a one ? -Answer.—It is. 2. Can a Deputy Grand Worthy Chief Tem plar, if requested* by a two-thirds vote of the lodge, grant a dispensation to instruct the Mar shal to cast the ballot of the lodge in favor of applicants who wish to join the subordinate lodge ? -Answer.—No. The ballot for candidates must be a secret one, and no member has the right to know how another votes. To protect the mem bers in this right, candidates can only be elected by ball ballots. 3. Has the Lodge Deputy the power to decide a point contrary to the decision of the Worthy Chief Templar, provided he (the Deputy) thinks the Worthy Chief Templar mistaken in regard to the point under discussion ? Answer.—When the lodge or any member thereof is not satisfied with the decision of the Worthy Chief Templar, an appeal may be taken by either party to the Deputy Grand Worthy Brother Boring asks: Can a Lodge Deputy Grand Worthy Chief Templar hold the office of Worthy Chief Tem plar and Deputy at the same time ? Answer.—He cannot. If a Deputy is elected Worthy Chief Templar, he must resign as Deputy before he can be installed: he can be elected to fill any other office except that of Worthy Chief Templar. Can a lady who has been a member of a de funct lodge come into another lodge without, being re-initiated ? And if so, in what manner ? Answer.—-A member of a lodge that has sur rendered its charter desiring to join another lodge without initiation, must present to that lodge a certificate from the Grand Worthy Sec retary to the effect that said party was a member in good standing at the time said lodge surren dered its charter. Of course, any one desiring a certificate of this kind must furnish satisfactory evidence to the Grand Worthy Secretary of his or her standing in the lodge before the surren der of its charter, before the said certificate can be given. [For The Sunny South.] Georgia Lodge No. 132, I. 0. (I. T. For some months past the meetings of this lodge have proved the centre of attraction to all the Good Templars in the city of Atlanta. At every session there have been present, also, mem- ■ i, r , ly Tr ,, , or , Ul - v bers of the Order from other parts of the country Chmf Templar, and his decision would be law ftnd a u have gone away with renewed interest in the cause of temperance and an avowed determi- until reversed. The Deputy should not inter fere with the lodge or its workings unless said lodge is working in violation of the constitution, when it would be the duty of the Deputy to cor rect the Worthy Chief Templar or the lodge. W. J. Evans, Bartow, Ga., writes as follows: This lodge has recently had to contend with several complicated cases of trial under charges of violating article second of the constitution. I wish to state clearly and correctly all the facts in each case, the circumstances connected with them, and the action of the lodge upon them. I will, however, preface the whole by stating that when our lodge was instituted by brother Atkin son, D. G. W. C. T., he stated that “sweet cider'' was excepted in the pledge. Now come the cases. 1. Brother . Charge—Violation of arti cle second. Specifications: 1. Drinking cider (ipiported) supposed to be sweet. 2. Drinking same cider after it had had time ! to get hard, and being told by members that in either case it was a violation. Before the committee and the lodge brother : —owned the act, but denied any intention | of violating the obligation, and promised to j drink no more. The evidence bearing upon this statement was that brother —— drank the cider contrary to the advice of older members, I and stated frequently before the trial and during the trial that he would drink cider whenever he wanted it, and if the lodge was disposed to expel him it might do so. Lodge decided by ballot that brother had violated article second—i. e., sustained the charge. He refused to be re-obligated and was expelled. Second Case.—Brother . Charges, spec- perance t Then, let us gird on our armor and do our duty, in a brave and prolonged effort to reclaim the unfortunate victims to a depraved appetite. “ Make sure thy aims and purposes are right, Then gird thyself with courage for the fight; Clad in the well-provided mail of honor bright, The victory shall be thine in manhood’s might. “Be not disheartened by man's scornful jest; Measure thyself with him by inward test; With noble emulation do thy best— By making thyself better, not him less. “Thy Heavenly Father’s aid and guidance crave To make thee self-contained and firm and brave, Master of every impulse, free to soar Where earth's poor fragments vex and harm no more.” purity. When T.ome aloft by the pure zeal of ^ OU8 ^ ds , of f ‘ iends ? nd neighbors staggering its advocates, its lustre is shed on all abroad and [ 1°“^ br ° ad “ ml downward road of mtem ' creates a halo around every virtue. When trod den in the dust and enveloped in gloom, like the diamond, the surrounding darkness forms only a medium through which it may shine the brighter. It can never die—all the eternal years of God are hers. This truth’ is a precious one to the temperance advocate. He loves his cause—he labors for its triumph; but he percieves that victory is hard to be won. He grows weary in the waiting for the good time coming and almost faints by the wftyside. Sometimes his cause brightens up and it seems that no hand can stop its benefi cent tide; prosperity dwells in ways, and happi ness and love blossom radiantly on every hand. Then his heart beats high and his hopes are brightest. Sometimes the gloom of despondency overhangs his cause—it is wounded in the house of its friends, attacked without by foes, and its light removed from the liiljs. Then would his heart fail him if it were not for the faith that truth crushed shall rise again. It is this that stimulates him to new exertions—rekindles his •zeal and bids him labor until his cause again shines forth in matchless beauty. Friends of temperance, the cause that raises the fallen and binds up broken hearts is a right cause, and must triumph in the end. Do not fear. “Every year vindicates our glorious plan, and time will reward each pioneer who clears a higher path for man.” W. E. H. Searcy. The Good Templars. Friend Seals,—I find it a pleasure to report my first introduction to a lodge of Good Templars; not that I have been initiated into any of the mysteries of the Order, or expect to be, enter taining as ’I do a line of thought or conviction which would prevent me from taking the vail. I have certainly, however, discovered one secret not generally known to outsiders, which is too good to be kept inside the walls of a mystic con clave; and I consider it no breach of the cour tesies extended me to say that I never saw, on any occasion, an array of brighter eyes or hap pier faces, or grouped together a more complete realization of the ideal of a happy people on earth, than I met with at Georgia Lodge of Good Templars last Tuesday night. I had been hon ored by an invitation to be present with them to take part in the social and intellectual enter tainments for the evening, and to contribute a share from my store of poesy. There were pres ent Rev. Mr. Warren and others of prominence well known in our midst. There were old men with their sons and daughters, and young men with their sweethearts—all in comely attire adorned with snow-white regalias—emblems of purity—in attendance, tilling every available space, and all under the control of the officers and the guidance of the most perfect system of order and decorum. That it is an educator of the first importance is patent to the mind of every one Gainesville and “The Sunny South.” Dear Sunny South,—Your correspondent is now visiting the live, thriving city which gave you “a club of six in two minutes,” and which will next September open its hospitality to the Grand Lodge of Good Templars of Georgia. Witnessing the busy, bustling scenes of this queen city of the mountains, and watching the busy throngs that pass up and down the newly- made streets, I was convinced of the wisdom of choosing Gainesville as the place for the next meeting of the Grand Lodge. Perhaps no city, young or old, in the South, exhibits more evidence of outgrowth, materially, mentally and morally, than Gainesville. Nes tled at the feet of the towering mountains which speak of the eternal, fanned by breezes as gentle and pure as Italy can boast, and watered by springs that gurgle up and out of the solid rock traversed with golden veins, it is but a natural result that her sons are active, enterprising, heavy-muscled and big-brained; and her daugh ters beautiful, intellectual, and possessed of those precious elements that so fitly characterize our Southern womanhood. Built up and controlled by such men and women, we are not surprised to find here a com modious college building, new and elegant i churches, shops musical with the buzzing wheels 1 of manufactories, and societies and lodges of all kinds, designed for the improvement of man kind and the diffusion of a spirit of love for the beautiful and temperate, the good and the true. Chief among the elements of her rapid and substantial outgrowth and prosperity, are her three newspapers,—The Southron, the Eagle, and the Democrat, the first of which is ably edited by our old teacher and esteemed friend, Professor Vincent, who is ever in the vanguard of all up ward progress of Northeast Georgia. Waiving further special mention of her many enterprises and advantages, we cannot refrain from alluding to the healthy condition of the temperance cause. Accepting a cordial invita tion. we to-night visited “Morning Star” Lodge, and participated with pleasure and profit in the In that lone and dreary cabin where the moonbeams faintly stole Just the night before, at morning there had passed away a soul; And the man of God bent softly as he murmured forth a prayer For the rest of that poor one who lay so calm and peaceful there; For upon the heart of him who once had heard a mother’s prayer, In the silence of the lonely room the pledge lay folded there. [For The Sunny South.] Insidious Politeness. BY MISS EMMA J. The world is full of examples of the failure of virtuous endeavor, from a blunt and unpol ished mode of persuasion and proselyting. It is just as well provided with instances of the suc cess of vice from the blandishments and refine ment with which it is insinuated. Burke uttered a fearful heteredoxy when he said, “vice lost half its evil by losing all its grossness.” This antithesis has nothing good in it but the exceed ing beauty of its language. For our part, give us a gross, vulgar, stunning aspect to all vice, ifications and evidence same as above. Brother refused to come before the committee or \ lodge. Charges sustained and he was expelled. j Third Case. — Brother . Charges as j above. Specification — Selling the cider above I spoken of. Brother was told on joining (more than a year ago) that cider was excepted; he joined with that understanding; had never been able to attend since, and was ignorant of any modifications or changes in the spirit of the pledge; claimed exemption on these grounds. Lodge decided that brother had not vio lated obligations. Brother poured out j his cider as soon as it became hard. | Fourth Case.—Brother —. Charges as above. Specifications: 1. Buying whisky. 2. Issuing same to laborers under his employ- * ment while rolling logs. j Brother plead guilty to specifications and denied the charge; claimed that he did not give the whisky as a beverage, but as an induce ment to get the laborers to do the work. Lodge decided that brother had violated his ob ligation by buying the whisky; also claimed that he sold it, inasmuch as he gave it in part as the price of labor. Brother was re-obligated. nation to make the meetings in their own lodges rival those in which they have just participated. The presence of these visitors has reacted upon the members of the lodge, making them more careful to perfect their working and more anx ious to make their meetings pleasant to all. Lately, they have adopted a new plan for the “Good of the Order.” At each meeting, some one member is appointed to prepare and carry out a programme for the entertainment of the lodge at its next session. This has worked ad mirably, and the lodge has been entertained by music, select readings, recitations, speeches both humorous and grave, and other recreative and instructive amusements. At the meeting on Tuesday night, March 16th, the programme was arranged by Mr. C. A. Howard, who intro duced to the lodge Colonel J. A. Stewart, of this city. Colonel Stewart is not a member of the Order, yet his record as a temperance man is clear and well known. He delighted his audi ence by reading the fine poem which he deliv ered a short time ago before the State Agricul tural Society, at Thomasville. This poem has appeared in print, and as the only suitable crit icism upon its merits, we would advise all who have not read it to do so without delay. We re gret our inability to convey to those so unfortu nate as to be absent on this occasion, any just conception of the judicious and appropriate re marks with which Colonel Stewart introduced his poem and prefaced a short essay on tobacco, with which he concluded his contribution to the pleasure of the evening. After Colonel Stewart had resumed his seat, Mr. Howard entertained the audience for a full hour with fine scenes from foreign countries, sketches from life, etc., all accompanied by hu morous and lucid explanations. At the close of the meeting, a resolution of thanks was unanimously tendered Col. Stewart and Mr. Howard. It was delightful to see the parting of the members after the meeting closed; such warm hand-shakings, pleasant smiles and general cordiality. It was like the hearty “good night ” of one happy family. Critic. It Don’t Pay. It don’t pay to have fifty working-men poor J and ragged to have one saloon-keeper dressed in ; broad-cloth and flush of money. [ It don’t pay to have these fifty working-men live on bone soup and half rations in order that | one saloon-keeper may flourish on roast turkey and champagne. It don’t pay to have the mothers and children j of twenty families clothed in rags, starved into I the semblance of emaciated scare-crows and live j in hovels, in order that the saloon-keeper’s wife j may dress in satin and her children grow fat and hearty and live in a bow-windowed parlor. It don’t pay to have one citizen in the lunatic asylum because another citizen sold him liquor. It don’t pay to have ten smart, active and in telligent boys transformed into hoodlums and cording to the constitution, or are we wrong in either case? if so, which one and in what partic ular? The discussion of these cases and the action of the lodge have given us much trouble, i and have probably (in a numerical sense) done ,, ,.t ... ., - . „ - , - I us some damage. But I do not offer these as that its “hideous mem may shock and revolt the item8 of cons r dera tion; I am simply seeking moral sensi hi lines. Now tor the annhe.fl.ti on. , ,1 t • i , nn \ J Now the question arises, Have we acted ac- j thieves to enable one man to lead an easy life by ~ J ’' ‘ selling them liquor. It don’t pay to give one man, for twenty-five dollars a quarter, a license to sell liquor, and then spend twenty thousand dollars on the trial of McLaughlin for buying that liquor and then committing murder under its influence. moral sensibilities. Now for the application. An intoxicated man who staggers and reels out of a grog-shop with bloated cheeks and blood shot eyes is an object of pity and horror. All of that man’s surroundings only intensify the dis gust of the beholder, and no human being is tempted ever from that spectacle to go and like- truth and right. When our delegate returned from the Grand Lodge last September, he stated that the use and sale of cider in any condition is regarded (by that body) as a violation of the obligation. I hold then that those who remained members after that statement was made cannot claim exemption under the exceptions made by not only as a promoter of the cause of temper ance, but of all other essential virtues, begin- r— ; - . . ' ~~ . I evening exercises. It is in good working order, who will take the pains to investigate its utility, consta £ ly receiving members, and is blessing with the light of truth and temperance many ....... , , , . households hitherto made unhappy and darkbv nmg with strict temperance or total abstinence th curse f int em P erance. Working here in from intoxicating drinks as a preparatory step the country of cor £ and app l e -juice-here at Georgia’s "fountain of liquid fire and distilled damnation,” Morning Star Lodge has a great work and is nobly executing it. Among its members we find the same pride in Southern institutions—the same high culture and ad vanced intelligence that now throughout the entire South appreciates and prizes The Sunny South, and which guarantees to it a wide circu lation. H. H. P. The idea of calling whisky “goods, wares and merchandise." as ‘the dealers in the article now do. is amusing. They know it as a trade of “blood, snares and death,” and would blind (if they could) the public to this fact. Gentlemen, it won’t do; your mask is “too thin." Your from intoxicating drinks as a preparatory step to a proper appreciation or conception of other duties; thus .wisely maintaining an unclouded or normal state of mind for the investigation of the true philosophy of life, and our relations one to another essential to the proper enjoyment of this world. When I see for myself, as I saw there, a man whose locks are btau • ling, an 1 who, but a little while ago. was lost lost to his wife, his children, his friends and his country, a slave to intoxicating drinks, and a constant frequenter of the haunts of dissipation—leaning upon the arm of a bright-eyed daughter through whose love and entreaties, and the kindly aid of the Good Templars, he had been reclaimed—had been restored to the bosom of his griet-strieken family—I feel that nothing in reason should be left undone to persuade men to abadon the traffic, features can be plainly seen through the disguise or on the part of government, by wise and salu- with which you fain would cover the damning tarv laws, to abate the evil. J. A. Stewart. business of whisky-selling. wise humiliate himself. No; satan is too wily ; the institut f ng officer , and that & their cases the and too clever a missionary ever to go about col- , use of cider ib ? striotly spea king, a violation. ' goi lecting converts by any such instrumentalities as this “shocking example.” But he elects the dinner party. The sheen of crystal wine-glasses, the bubbling sparkling, roseate nectar; the ac- evidence or statement of an outsider competent compamment ot beauty, and the exhilaration of to convict said member against his den ial of the the witty answer and the sharp repartee, and ' - “the feast of reason and the flow of soul,” and wine mixed, — these, these are the charming agencies that creep rather than force their way Brother will probably refer his case to you. P. S.—Again, in the trial of a member, is the charges ? Ansicer.—I fully endorse the action of the lodge; provided, however, the law governing into our love and end by binding us soul and trial of such cases was complied with. body in the web of witchery. Then we have the select party at night of choice and brave spirits. The eloquent monologue delivered with flashing eye and speaking feature; the racy, side-splitting anecdote; the account of accident and adventure by “flood and field; all made joyous by the in citements of the sparkling bowl,—these, too, are the selected agencies by which the great enemy accomplishes his task. Worse than all these (and here let us tread softly among the tender sensibilities of our fair friends), is the etiquette of the first day of January receptions. Would that we could so divest our words of all asceti cism and puritanical cant as to gain acceptance with the ladies of our State. But can it not be i seen at a glance that when the leaders of our best j society hold out the tempting glass, that one of the most insidious and dangerous forms of in- i temperance is taken under their immediate pat- j ronage ? The young man of family respecta bility and social position, who would flee the sin of drunkenness as he would pestilence, so long as he must drink in a grog-shop, would no doubt find a thousand plausibilities to excuse indulgence and sin when he had a lovely woman to stand sponsor for his indulgence. O*, women . of Atlanta—you who have such a stake in the virtue and sobriety of men, think well of what a fearful work you are effecting in the morals of the young men of the land. Let us appeal to you in behalf of these successors of all who now rule and uphold the State, that you look well to it that no act of yours shall ever give encourage ment or warrant for the monster vice, intemper ance. Then when the next New l'ear shall come round, with so much to remind us of our obliga tions to God and so much that should encourage and elevate us,- let us not cause the religious or the moral man or the true lover of his country to blush for very shame at a glaring, cruel vice which has been robbed of “all its grossness,” j but for that reason made ten times more deadly by being made respectable by the protection and patronage which is afforded by the mothers and sisters of the land. In answer to postscript, would say that the ; that fact- evidence of any one competent as a witness in a civil court would be a competent w’itness in this or any other case of violation. It don’t pay to have one thousand homes blasted, ruined, defiled and turned into hells of discord and misery in order that one wholesale liquor-dealer may amass a large fortune. It don’t pay to keep five thousand men in the penitentiaries, and prisons, and hospitals of the State, and one thousand in the lunatic asylum, at the expense of honest, industrious tax-payers, in order that a few capitalists may grow rich by the manufacture of whisky, and by swindling the government out of three-fourths of the reve nue tax on the liquor that they make. It don’t pay to permit the existence of a traffic which only results in crime, poverty, misery and death, and which never did, never does, never can and never will do any good. It never pays to do wrong; your sin will find you out; whether others find it out or not, the sin knows where you are and will always keep you posted It don’t pay. W. Wolf, P. W. C. T., writes: The Bar-Room.—Young man, has n*t your eye been frequently attracted to a sign having the following ominous word on it,—“Bar?” Avoid that place; it is no misnomer. The ex- Please solve the following difficulty for our j perience of thousands have proven it to be a bar lodge: A member violates article second of con- j to respectability, a bar to honor, a bar to happi- stitution; charges are preferred and committee ness, a bar to domestic felicity, a bar to heaven. appointed, but before the committee can see the offending brother, he moves away permanently; Every day it proves to be the road to degrada tion, the road to vice, the road to the gambler’s but, upon the eve of his departure, writes a letter ! hole, the road to the brothel, the road to poverty, to the lodge, acknowledging his violation and ; the road to wretchedness, the road to robbery, the road to murder, the road to prison, the road to the gallows, the road to the drunkard’s grave, the road to hell. asking forgiveness. What action is necessary or proper on the part of the lodge to get his name off of its roll? Answer.—Section six of .article eight reads: “A member who has violated article second shall be declared expelled unless he again takes the obligation in open lodge within four weeks from the time he made the acknowledgment or was found guilty.” The natural and legitimate effect of the pledge is to restrain the individual from using intoxi- j eating drinks, and lodges should always exercise j Anything that is difficult to do is made easier the greatest amount of charity toward a fallen j by the aid of sympathy. This is the philosophy brother. The case referred to is a peculiar one. of temperance societies. The drunkard can re- I would recommend that the lodge devise some : sist temptation easier when he knows that some- plan whereby this brother may be reached and re-obligated. Such a course might be the means of saving an erring bi-other. The problem to be solved in this case is, how to reach the offending brother. It might be possible, if the brother could be communicated with, that he would make it convenient to return long enough to attend one session of the lodge, and be re-obli gated within the limit set by the constitution in the article referred to above. I would recom mend this course, and by all the love your lodge may have for our noble Order, let no effort be spared to save a fallen brother. “Never let it be said that a single soul, having once tasted the sweets of a redeemed manhood, goes from our cir cle of safety because our pledge to him has not been most sacredly kept. ” A Puainville clergyman insists that he saw a snake forty feet long and as big around as a barrel of whisky. A pretty good sized insect that. We have no doubt that he saw it, but he unquestionaby saw the barrel of whisky before he saw the snake. It seems more reasonable, somehow. body has a deep and pure sympathy for him and is pledged to help him. A large temperance revival has been going on in Bangor, Maine. About two hundred persons accustomed to use intoxicating drinks have signed the pledge, some of them rum-sellers. The Massachusetts Temperance Alliance dur ing the past ten years, as a part of its work, has influenced over one hundred thousand children and youths to take the pledge. A bill was introduced into the Vermont Leg islature to repeal the prohibitory law of that State. It was dismissed by a vote of one hun dred to forty-seven. |