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VOLUME 2.1
THE CHATTOOGA ADVERTISER
PUBLISHED A r SUMMERVILLE, OA.,
EVERY FRIDAY MORNING.
KA TES OF SUBSCRIPTION.
One Copy One 4 -ar :::::::: $2 00
One Copy Six M nths $1 00,
No Subscription will be taken for a less j
time than six mo. ths.
or it a DrAVT/.v
•Ok. | 3 mo; hs 6 months 12 rnon’s
f square 44; 00 4 71n0'4 10 or*
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3 squares $ 8 00 414 00 420 00
i column 412 100 420 00 430 O'*
i column 420 iOO 455 00 f tiO 00
I column S4O !00 $75 00 TOO 00
1? All iiOAD^
Western & Atlantic R. R.
Change *>f Schedule.
On «ni after thi-i date the Passenger
tn.’ns will run on the
Western and Atlantic Rail Road
AS VOLIOWS:
NIGHT PASSENGER TRAIN TO
NEW YORK AND LflK WEST.
Outward.
TA'ave Atlanta. 8:35 P. M.
Arrive at Chatta .oog, 3:40 a. m.
DAY PASSENGER TRAIN TO
THE SOUTH AND WEST.
Outward.
Leave Atlanta, 8:30 a. m
Arrive at Chattanooga, 3:50 P. M
I.IOUTNIN’O EXPRESS TO NEW YORK.
Outward.
I.eaves Atlanta, 4:05 P- M.
Aarrives at Dalton, 9:23 P. M.
night passenger train from NEW YORK
TO THE WEST.
Inward
leaves Chattanoo ra, 5:20 P. M.
Arrive at Atlanta, 1:30 a. M.
DAY PASSENGER TRAIN FROM NEW YORK
TO HE WEST.
Inward
Chattanoo a, 8:30 A. M.
Arrive at Atlanta, 3:50 P. M.
ACCOMMODATION TRAIN.
I nward.
Leaves Dalton, POO A. M.
Arrives at Atlanta. 9:50 A. m.
tv B. WALKER.
aprilfitf Master Transportation!
Quickest an j Best Route
TO THE
NORTH. EAST & WEST
is
Via I .onisville.
THREE Dail Kxpses- Trains runninv
throush from Na-hville to Loni-ville, malt
ing e'o-e connect!.in- with Trains and boats
for the NORTH. EAST AND WEST.
No Change of* Cars
rum i.(muvim,e to
St. Louis, Cincinnati. Indianapolis,
Chicago, Cleveland. Pitts
burg, Philadelphia
ana New York.
ONLY ONE CHANGE TO
BALTIMORE \\ \SHI\GTft\ & ROTO
Quicker time by this route, and lie Her
accommodations, than by any other. Se
cure stieed and c ■nifort when traveling, by
a-kinar for Ticket s
By the Wa of Louisville. Ky.
Through. Tick ts and Baggage Checks
may be procured at the office of the Nash,
rifle and Chatta* ooea Railroad at Chatta
tmoga, and at all Ticket Offices throughout
the South. ALBERT FINK,
W. H. KING, Gen’l. Sup’t.
Gen’l. Passen er Ag’t. Juncß.
Saint Lo-iis, Memphis,
NASHVILLE & CHATTANOOGA
R.ilLltOtl) LINE.
CENTRAL SHORT ROUTE!’
—°—
Without Chang.* of Cars to Nashville, Mc-
Kenzie, Uni n City, Hickman, Co
lumbus, Huniholdt. Browns
ville, and Memphis.
—o—
Only One Olinnpre
To Jackson, Teon., Padncah, Ky.. Little
Rock, Cairo, and St. Louis, Mo.
MURE THAN
130 Niles Shorter to
Saint Louis
Than via Memphis or Louisville, and from
8 TO 15 HOURS QUICKER!!
Than via Cos inth or Grand Junction.
ASK FOR TICKETS TO
MEMPHIS AND THE SOUTH
WEST VT V CHATTANOOGA
and McKenzie ::
AND TO
Bt Louis and the Northwest via Nashville
and Colmn’-u* —all Rail; or Nash
ville a id Hickman—Rail
and River.
THE LOWEST SPECIAL RATES
FOR EMIGRANTS.
WITH MORE ADVAN
TAGES. QUICKER
TIMR AND FEWER
CHANGES OF CARS
IWTHAN A NY OTHER ROUTE.-**
Ticket* for Sale at all Principal Ticket
Offices in the South.
J. W. THOMAS, Gen’l. Supt.
W. L. HANLEY. G. P. k T. Agent
VwshriJV. T—vs*
Rome Railroad Company
Change of Schedule.
DAY PASSENGER TRAIN.
Leave Rome 8:40 a in
Arrive at Kingston 10:30 am
Leave Kingston 11 :- ! 8 a m
Arrive at Rome 1:00 p tu
NIGHT PASSENGER TRAIN.
L 'aves Rome sail p
Arrive at Kingston 12:40 a
Leave King-Pin 1:18 a
Arrive at Rome 11:20
***v Connecting-with train* on the We
Pirn & Atlantic Railroad at Kingston, and
on the Selma,|Rome and Dalton Railroad
at Rome.
C. M. PENNINGTON,
Eng. and Sup't.
BY BEQUEST.
An Address Delivered by Rev. L. R
Gwaltnev, Pastor of the Baptist
Church ii Rome, Ga, Before Safe
Refuge Lodge of Good Templars in
Dirt Town, Chattooga County Ga.
In response to your invitation, I
have come to plead for the cause of
Temperance Reform. Despite the ef
forts of many earnest workers to mit
igate and banish theevils of the Liquor
1 raffle, these evils still exist. Asa
tide of fire. Intemperance rolls its
current through our . outhern land,
sending out on all sides an atmos*
j phere of death, and bearing to the
j 2u'f of despair the joys and hones of
thousands. My efforts may and > but
little to arrest this tide, yet, perchance,
1 may snatch one vietiin from its seoth
iig billows; he may rescue others;
they may save hundreds; for influ
ence among men ever multiplies itself
on the shore of a blissfu 1 etcr..i!y and
I may meet so ne of them and rijoice
with them fore. er. Such an suit is
at least worth the efforts of a l.fe
time. Happily in my efl'or s, I have
the sanction and encouragement of
God’s Word, the great repository of
good counsel and divine wisdom. Let
us heed its faithful teachings, Prov.
23, 29, 35, “who hath woe? who hath
sorrow? who hath contentions? who
hath babbling? who hath wounds with*
j out cause? who I ath redpess of eye’s?
They that tarry long at the wine, they
| that go to seek mixed wine. Loos
■ not then upon the wine when it is red,
; when it giveth his color in the cup,
: when ii rnoveth itself aright. At the
| last it biteth like a serpent and sting
i eth like ati adder.”
The pitiable ruin of the unhappy
inebriate called forth these thrill) g
utterances from the lips of the man
lo whom God gave a “wiei am! un
derstanding heart" above ail men.—
Though the mould of twenty-eight
centuries has gathered about his tenth
no writer has ever surpassed in vivid
distinctness and fearful truth this in
imitable pen-picture of the “woe,” the
“ho row,” the “contention,” the “bab
bling,” the “wounds without cause,”
the “redness of eyes,” the poisoned
body, the perverse heart, the beclouded
mind, the unconsciousness of immi
nent peril the insensibility to shame,
the utter recklessness and folly of
those “that tarry long at the wine,”
“that go to seek mixed wine.” The
whole passage depicts with terse brev
ity and terrible emphasis the physical,
mental and moral evils of drunkenness.
It is indeed strange that argument
and persuasion are necessary to influ
ence men in the direction of reform
from a vice so degrading and so deadly.
It is true that there are no advocates
for drunkenness itself. This is a vice
so shameless, and so charged with
wretchedness, want., and woe, that no
one can be found to approve or defend
it. Its gross forms are so hideous and
repulsive that all turn away in dis
gust and sorrow from its miserable
victims. And yet, despite this uni
versal sentiment, this shrinking from
the lowest pit, the last stage of intem
perance, every community has its
abandoned drunkards. This dreadful
end is not desired, not designed, is in
deed abhorred, and yet it is reached
hv thousands who never thought that
they could fall so low. Ilow are we
to account for this? What solution
explains the dreadful ruin which was
so distinctly seen in others, w hich was
scorned and loathed, hut which at last
has been fully realized? Here is the
answer, the solution, men utterly mis
conceive, fail to comprehend the true
danger, inevitable tendency of fash
ionable moderate drinking. This
practice presents to the eye and the
appetite all its fascinations and enjoy
ments, while it keeps out of sight its
repulsive features and dreadful results
until its victims are fatally ensnared,
fettered, blinded, paralyzed, so changed
as to the power of true perception,
right judgment, self control, and
moral firmness that they are beyond
the reach of all redeeming agencies,
save the “grace of God.” It is my
chief purpose to point out the same,
positive evils, and to unmask the con
cealed danger of moderate drinking;
just that kind of drinking in which
so many indulge. It is common in
every class and rank, in the church
and out of the church, among the
elcr-'v »s wr!J as among t,he. laymen.
SUMMERVILLE. GEORGIA. FRIDAY, JULY 12, 1872.
Even good men excuse and defend
this usage, they sanction it by exant.
pie. they plead for it on the ground
of personal liberty, of social enjoy
ment, of harmless gratification, and
even of Bible precedence and allow
ance. Strange infatuation! P>ywhat
wonderful sorcery has this delusion
held sway over oo many of our race
for so long a time? Surely the Prince
of evil has thrown some cunningapell
arou and his hapless victims that they
cannot see the truth. It’ this were a
question of morals only, involving
simply the right or the wrong to him
who indulges, and making him simply
acrountable to his God, I might be
less moved when I witness the con
duct and hear the excuses of these
advocates for moderate drinking.—
Though convinced that their position
is condemned by the letter and the
spirit of God’s Word. I might leave
them to the decision and award of the
Omniscient Judge; hut this is a mat
ter which involves the earthly happi
ness or misery of countless thousands
who have been, or will be lulled into
fatal indifference to their true danger
by such erroneous views of what is
called the moderate use of alcoholic
liquors. It is a question of morals.
“No drui kard shall inherit the king
dom of Heaven,” “Woe to him that
giveth his neighbor drink, that giveth
the bottle to him and maketh him
drunken also.” It involves to him
who temp's and to him who indulges
the frown and punishment of a right
eous God—but this is not all: As to
others, it, involves the property, the
health, the entire well-being of the
j many thousands who, innocently, in
spite of all their entreaties, tears, and
griefs, are entangled in this net work
of Satan, this horrible macliinety by
which he blights and destroys the
hopes and lues of his wretched vic
tims.
“Look not upon the wine whey H
is red.” Observe this earnest cau
tion, it relates to wine, the ruby wine.
Even this is a mocker, for at the last
“it biteth like a serpent! its sting is
that of the dradiv adder. Like the
fie/ of \Lh'i u , rice. mtoU)-
periinceJF;iraiy;:e> i 'ty,
mind, enovates-a. and corrupts.the foii'i
laios of lifts, anti ultimately diffuses
throughout ,the whole body a disorder
whose foulness could not be endured
if it could be fully seen. 1 shall at
tempt to make good this assertion: —
l am aware that serious efforts have
been made to prove that alcohol is
good for the well man, hence thai the
various drinks containing it are not
otilv harmless but highly beneficial. —
Not satisfied with claiming this agent
as a valuable medicine, a claim which
I shall not now disc uss, some members
of the medical profession have asser
ted that it is both food and medicine.
One says “it is a reconstructant as
well as a stimulant.” Another af
firms, “It acts dietieally as well as
medically,” and still another writes,
“It preserves the tissues of the body,
and thus virtually supplies tissues as
animal food would do.” I shall not
now dispute these statements. Grant
them true. I should still utterly op
pose the inference drawn from them,
the use made of them. They are
seized upon by moderate drinkers as
arguments with which to ensnare oth
ers and justify themselves in the course
to which appetite and habit have so
long inclined them. I oppose utterly
the inference that the human body in
ordinary health stands in any, the
least, need of alcoholic drinks, ale,
beer, wine, whisky or brandy, as a
daily beverage. Many of the most
eminent and candid physicians regard
their daily use as aq evil which ad
mits of no satisfactory defense, as in
flicting serious damage upon body and
mind with no compensating good, as
attended with such positive injurious
results arid such probable dangers,
that the prudent man, not already
wedded to appetite and habit, will at
once discard their use. Among these
writers, Dr. Win. B. Carpenter stands
in high esteem. He was “Examiner
in Physiology in the University of
London, and Professor of Medical Ju--
risprudeocc in University College."
Asa physician in a large city, he had
extensive and varied experience, un
der circumstances the most favorable
for reaching just conclusions. I can
give but the briefest summary of liis
views on a few points, as presented in
his work on “Alcoholic Drinks:”
Alcohol is a poison, undiluted, it
would kill as surely and quickly as
arsenic and strychnine. “The man
who is drunk is poisoned: he may die
or may recover. The only reason he
does not die is the fact that his drink
was diluted alcohol; hut this process
of poisoning long continued, constant
ly repeated, will at length produce
death. The moderate drinker is stead
ily approaching this condition, gradu
ally preparing the way for this fatal
result, though the successive steps
may be so gradual as to elude notiep. ”
To this conclusion of Dr.
add the language of anothey Wmery
Dr. Uenrr Monroe, “T.ejftnrev o-
Medical Jurisprudence at the Hull and
Eastriding School of Medicine:"
“Alcohol is a powerful narcotic poi
son. and if a large dose be taken no
antidote is known to its effects.” “It
may be said no one drinks pure alco
hol. Quite true; you might as well
try to drink a glass full of sulphuric
acid.” “So you will understand when
we speak of the action of alcohol, we
mean alcohol as it is taken, largely
diluted with water, or mixed with oth
er ingredients. According to the a
mount of alcohol contained in the
liquor, in the same proportion will be
its degree of action on the body.”
Many smile at this statement, and
say. “It is all nonsense to call alcohol
a poison, I wont believe it—so here’s
to your health." Yet modern science
with a voice of deep sepulchral tone,
still persists, “If is a poison," ar.d
many a breaking heart, on leaving
this world, has sobbed out its last fare
well, re-echoing these words.”
Asa poison taken in small quanti
ties, it possesses the fascinating and
dangerous power of increasing and
perpetuating a greater thirst, or rath
er longing, for its eff cts. This long
ing requires yet more and more to
satisfy its cravings, until it becomes
so imperious as o take no denial; its
demands must be gratified at the cost
of treasure, honor, lot e, and life itself.
On this point, I add the emphatic lan
guage of Dr. W. W. Hall. “It is
with the express purpose of obtaining
the effects of alcohol that wine and
beer are used, and if they did not
contain alcohol they could not be sold
at a dime a gallon to any regular
drinker.’ “As wines, beers, and ci
ners are artifial stimulants, the more
they are drank the more frequently
and the more largely the system re
quires them, yearns for them, in pro
cess of time they do not yield stimu<
lus enough, and articles are used in
tlicir stead which contain a larger a
inount of alcohol; so that the habit
ual use of w'ine, and cider, and beer,
/can's uniformly and inevitably, sooner
or later to habitual drunkenness." —
“At this very hour drunkenness in
'Switzerland is ten times more preva
ifha w *2, a very few years ago,
so that all talk about tli'e use of Vine
Minding to prevent drunken habits is
a most palpable fallucv. [See Hall’s
•Journal of Healtft ffr March 1372.
But even when gross drunkenness j
is not seen, not even suspected by
careless observers, alcohol by its poi
sonous effects produces consequences
c-quaily dreadful, though slower and
uii.re remote in their development. T
will select some from l)r. C’s classifi
cation of these consequence's. Upon
the nervous system, particularly the
encephalic portion: The tendency is
to cause inflamatory,diseases of the
brain, Cerebretis. Appoplexy, Paraly
sis, Epilepsy, Delirium Tremens, etc.
These diseases proceed from a diseased
state of nutrition of the brain, of
which state intemperance is the most
frequent disposing cause. These dis
eases may follow one nights revel, or
they may ensue as the result of con
tinued moderate drinking. In the lat
ter case, sa\’s Dr. C., the citadel of
life is gradually undermined, and death
finds an easy entrance through one of
these forms. In all these diseases al
cohol has an important indirect agen
cy, i .astnuch as by the temporary sup
port it affords, it sustains the nervous
apparatus under a degree of exertion
that is in the end most injurious to it,
and thus renders the whole system
more tolerant of morbific causes of
various kinds, the manifestation of
whose action is only postponed and
becomes the more severe in the end,
in proportion to the duration of the
agency.”
Upon the liver, the tendency is to
produce what is called fatty degenera
tion of the liver, a condition of this
organ which involves a change in its
color, size and consistency. “In mod
erate drinkers the liver becomes spot
ted, soft and enlarged, in, drunkards
it becomes whitish, soft, and fatty, and
is so enlarged as sometimes to weigli
from ten to twelve pounds. Life is
certainly shortened. When death en
sues it is attributed to disease of the
liver. True, hut what made the liver
so diseased? Alcohol, says Dr. C.
Upon the kidneys, it produces what
is called granular degeneration of the
kidneys. Dr; (J. affirms that three
fourths of the cases of this disease
under his treatment came from the
ranks of habitual drinkers. He says,
moreover “When violent diseases of
the liver and kidnejs may possibly be
escaped, yet. as a consequence of the
imperfect elimination of morbific mat
ter through these organs, rheumatism
arid gout seize in after years upon
those who have prepared the way for
these visitors by the constant presence
of alcohol in the blood.”
Upon the heart andV arteries, Dr.
C. assigns the diseases, of these or-
as the most prolific cause. The
Ujpo'l itself assumes the state known
«s fatty degeneration. The natural
| proportion of fat in the blood is 8 J to
0,1000 par*'-. fr the drnV*.rd'». Wood
the proportion of fat is often 117 to
1000, 1200 per cent, increase.”
Tnis statement from a physician of
learning and experience supplies food
for sober thought. Let the moderate
drinker remember it. In this condi
tion of the blood the most serious and
fatal disorders must sooner or later
ensue, preparing the way for untimely
death. They are substantially reaf
firmed in the reports of the “Ameri.
can Medical Association for the re
form of inebriates,” which met in the
city of New York in November 1870.
The concurrent testimony of these
high medical authorities ought to
check the moderate drinker and cause
him to retrace hi* steps. The ques
tion is not simply whether he may or
may not indulge in a certain enjoy
ment; but whether he may rightfully
tamper with a poison which always
injures the well man, in the great ma
jority of cases shortens life, in many
cases rapidly leads to death. If he
continue his indulgence it is utterly
impossible for him to escape the
wretched consequences. The evil day
will surely come, the reckoning must
be had, and a terrible reckoning it will
bo. “He sows to the wind; he must
reap the whirlwind.”
We often hear the reply, you would
abridge our personal liberty. No! no!
we only entreat you not to use your
liberty in a way which will surely in*
jure you, and may prove your ruin.—
We also hear this reply: “The abuse
of a thing, good in itself, does not
constitute a valid argument against
the right use of it.” Let this be our
answer: The highest medical authori
ty affirms that there is no right use of
alcoholic drinks, except as a medicine
under the direction of an intelligent,
honest physician. Any use beyond
this is the wrong use, the unsafe and
dangerous use of an article that prop
erly belongs to the materia medica,
arid not to the articles designed for
man’s daily drink.
Let us aggregate these results, if
we can form a conception of their full
and terrible magnitude. Ist, Tens of
thousands bloated, disfigured, diseased,
tortured human beings, dying by inch
es, yet surely dying. 2nd, Their in
tellects beclouded, darkened, foolish
or crazed by drink. .3d, Millions of
property wasted, all branches of in
dustry checked, paralyzed, destroyed.
4th, The wreck of charade, followed
by counties crimes, with their attend
i ant litigations sufferings and enmities
| to communities, families and individu
ala. sth, Thousands of desolated
i homes, the abodes of poverty and
J shame, the humiliation of lovely daugh-
I ters and sisters, the unutterable an
guish of heart-broken wives and moth
ers, the ignorance, want and helpless
sorrow of neglected children; so many
doomed to tread the lonely waste of
life, for whom there is not one gleam
of sunshine or ray of hope. 6th, So
cial life, corrupted, degraded and af
flicted with countless vices. 7th, im
mortal souls, steeped in pollution and
sent to perdition. All this makes a
picture of sorrow and wretchedness
that beggars description. And yet,
all this is the dreadful result of mod
erate drinking, this the horrible fruit
of the liquor *rafic. Even the men
engaged in this work of .death shrink
from the contemplation of results so
grievous and frightful. Fain would
each one solemnly declare as the har
rowing scence comes before his mind,
“You cannot say I did it.” But what
else can we say? If every confirmed
drunkard on earth were to die this
day, these dreadful evils would not
cease. An hundred thousand distill
eries and dram shops would still feed
the depraved thirst of a million mod
erate drinkers; hence the same mise
ries, crimes, and heart-rending ago
nies, and wretched death* would con
tinue to be repeated. But let this
traffic cease, let moderate di inking
come to an end, soon 80,000 would be
snatched from death—6oo,ooo placed
beyond danger—3oo,ooo annually
saved; three-fourths of all crimes
ceased; three-fourths of all paupers
and orphan dependents no longer a
burden upon the public; three-fourths
of penitentiaries, jails and poorhouses
become useless. No drunkard’s wife
would.sit in tears beside her desolate
hearth, no drunkard’s daughter blush
for shame and mourn with grief unut
terable as she looks upon a bloated,
besotted being whom she still pities
and loves, thoug he drives the iron
into her very soul by his shameless
life. No wan, poverty-stricken chil
dren would sob out their inexpressible
anguish amid calamities and hardships
from which their helpless innocence
should have protected them. No gen
tle maid would tear from her virgin
heart the joy and hope that nestled
there because he Jo whom she had
plighted her vows, had proved himself
unworthy of her love and unsafe to
be trusted with her happiness. Sor
rowing fathers and mother* would no
more lay their heads on tear-bedewed
pillows, or find refuge in the welcome
ed grave because their noble sons,
tempted, beteeved end mined, V>sn«
met the drunkard's doom; or because j
their lovely daughters have been con-1
signed to a fate even worse—the help
less misery of a wife.— j
Such would be the blessed result if :
all liquor selling and moderate drink- !
iug should cease f om this day. Every j
man who continues to sell liquor,
every man and woman who continues
to drink, and thus help to sustain the
seller, is delaying this happy consum<
rnation, is in part responsible for the
continuance of the terrible curse of
intemperance. How much each One
is doing, God only knows. In the
judgment of the great day this net
work of temptations, influences aud
causes will be uurolled, and each man’s
share of guilt in the enactment of
these seenes of wrong, of suffering,
of tears and blood, of heart-rending
anguish and indescribable misery will
be distinctly ascertained. Then, and
then only, will be fulfilled the terrible
denunciation of Holy Writ; “Woe to
him that giveth his neighbor drink,
that putteth the bottle to him and
maketh him drunken also.”
Can nothing be done to arrest and
banish the evils of inte nperanee?—
Yes! something in the way of cure;
some can be brought to see their dan
ger ; some to take the pledge of total
abstinence, many such have been, can
be saved. But much more can be
done in the way of prevention. To
stop a vast conflagration in a forest
you must go in advance and remove
the material from its path. So you
must get in advance, take the material
from out the range of this devouring
scourge. Gather the youth especially
into associations or societies for united
work, and let such societies be centres
of influence, rallying points for every
moral and social power that can be
arrayed against this great evil. As
the fatLer of Hannibal taught him to
hate and to swear eternal opposition
to Rome, so do you teach your sons
and daughters to abhor and detest
every alcoholic beverage, even wine
itself, as a foe to human happiness,
deadly to be dreaded because so fas
cinating, so deceitful, so sure to be
tray and ruin. As they grow up
pledge them to lifelong renunciation
of the wine cup, to uncompromising
effort against its bewitching and blight
ing influences. Whose children are
safe ? whose loved ones secure? so long
as the drinking usages of the day con
tinue, and so long as men remain in
fatuated with the delusion that these
usages are both innocet and commend
able? But if the many whs have long
indulged convivial habits cannot be
convinced of the present evil and fu
ture danger springing from such hab
its, let us at least unceasingly entreat
the young men not to begin such a
course.
Young gentlemen, indulge me in a
few words of counsel. Let all liquors
alone, even cicer, beer and wine, never
taste them; avoid them as you would
the touch of the serpent; habit is a
tyranical master—its sway is not ea
sily broken.
Dr. Combe says, “A tendency to
resume the same mode of action at
certain times is peculiarly the charac
teristic of the nervous system, and on
this account regularity is of great
consequence in exercising the moral
and intellectual faculties. All ner
vous diseases have a marked tendency
to observe regular periods. It is this
principle of our nature that promotes
the formation of what are called hab
its. To apply this, if we perform a
certain physical act, or mental effort,
or moral deed, whether good or bad,
at certain times of the day, we find
ourselves entering upon this act or ef
fort without premeditation, with ease,
with a sort of irrisistible impulse.—
Especially is this true as to the habit
of dram drinking; each repetition
makes an impression upon the ner
vous system which calls for its repe
tition with greater and still greater
urgency until the demand becomes
the law of a tyrant who will take no
denial. Your habits are forming.—
Now is the hour of peril. The great
est danger to vegetation is just at the
time when the germ is unfolding, and
the blossom is bursting into fragrance
and beauty. Thus, with you, at this
critical period of life, the blighting
influence of one evil habit may destroy
all the hopes of a whole lifetime.—
You will surely be tempted by the
usage of social drinking, so common
in all circles. When the temptation
comes, when the enchanted isle spreads
out before you its beautiful shore and
its breezes waft to you the perfumes
qf -a thousand flowers, and the song
of-,the syren thrills with its voluptu
ous strain, then it will require moral
courage of the highest order to resist.
“Pleasure is the fatal rock which most
have split on, for men, bewitched by
the cursed syren’s voice, sail on re
gardless till they strike on ruin.”—
If in these first temptations you ean
say “no," firmly, manfully, unuttera
bly* you can once turn your back
upon tie tempter, once trim your sails
to another gale, and waft your bark
to s*. diffeewnt. point, won not, OTllw
INO. 27.
gained one important victory you have
made it easier to gain another and yet
another. Resolute resistance soon es
tablishes a habit of resistance, arid
thus becomes possible, easy, certain.
But, if in some thoughtless moment,
you yield, saying “It is but for thi*
once,” your power of resistance is
weakened. Every indulgence makes
it weaker still, while it also increases
the desire for still further indulgence.
The habit at length becomes firmly
established; then, no power on earth
can prevent its certain unalterable
operation; no earthly love can exempt
from its terrible sway. So sure is its
power, that it guides and governs even
against the conviction of the mind,
agaiastthe voice of conscience, against
the entreaties of love, against every
interest in earth and heaven. Says
John Foster: “Themind is weak when
it has once given way, it is long be.
fore a principle restored can become
as firm as one that has never been
moved. It is as in the case of a
mound of a reservoir, if this mound
has in one place been broken whatever
care has been taken to make the re
paired part as strong as possible, the
probability is that if it gives way a
gain it will be in that place ” Thus
we see it in the case of the unhappy
inebriate. In vain the conviction of
his own judgment, the condemnation
of his own conscience. In vain the
appeals of earnest, warm-hearted
friends; in vain does his professional
standing plead for the abandonnmnt
of his habits. Poverty stares him in
the face, in vain his patient wife,
whom he has sworn to love and cher
ish, beseeches in the agony of her
heart, with tearful eyes and tremu
lous voice, she pleads the plighted
vows and sunny memories of happier
days, but in vain! His lovely daugh
ters, and manly sons, and innocent
babes look with mute but eloquent re
monstrance upon their natural guar
dian, exemplar, and guide; but look
their reproofs and entrerties in vain.
Has he no understanding? Yes. Hag
he no heart? Yes. Has he no con*
scienc? Yes. Does he not see and
feel all this ? Alas! yea. He too bit
terly feels, too truly knows all, all,
but he is in the hands of s giant, in
the embrace of a habit chose arms
are triple brass. God help him, or
he is gone, forever lost! "But he* did
not intend all this. There was a time
when he was not thus infatuated,
bound and helpless, was where you are
now, nor dreamed of danger. Would
you be safe? Form not the habit of
moderate drinking. “Touch not, taste
not.” Start not on this enchanted,
delusive, fatal current. Its waters
glide smoothly before your eye; sweet
flowers exhale perfume from either
shore; beautiful foliage throws a
grateful shade on either band; en
chanting music laps the soul in soft
and sweet delight, but yonder the cur
rent grows swifter; yonder it rushes
amid rocks and. eddies; yonder it
sweeps over boulder and barrier, yet
yonder is the cataract thundesing its
dirge of the miserable and the lost.
Once embarked on that treacherous
current, once near that foaming cata
ract, no human arm can save. Now
make your safety sure by the lifelong
pledge of total abstinence. The wine
cup is a snare, moderate drinking the
frightful source af countless ills in
this life, of unutterable anguish in the
life to come.
“Look not upon the wine when it
is red; at last it biteth like a serpent
and stingeth like an adder.”
Men Who are in Prison.
Among the political prisoners in
the Albany Penitentiary, sentenced
under the infamous Ku-Klux law is a
man by the name of Moore, and this
is his histoty, as he gave in brief, from!
his sick bed, to tho editor of the Utica
Bee:
“Before the war I was a well-to do
planter in Alabama. I owned many
slaves, which constituted my wealth.
The events of the war reduced ma
nearly to poverty. At its close I gath
ered together the fragments of my
ruined estate, hired a few of my for
mer slaves and commenced life anew.
All went well with me until a month
or six wedks ago, when I was suspected
of being a Ku-Klux, arrested bv a
Uuited States Marshal, given a hasty
trial, found guilty, sentenced, and two
weeks ago was brougt from Washington
to this prison. My term is tenyears,
The editor of the Bee adds: “Ths
man vowed upon his honor, and as
heprayed that it might be his deatl
bed, that he was as innocent of th<
crime charged against him as I was.
He knew nothing whatever of the Ku
Kluk. I asked him if he had a family
The mention of family seemed to par
alyze him with grief. He sobbed bi‘«
terly, and between the tears I heard
him moan ‘Oh! my poor little boy—my
poor wife, I hastened away, but under
the pretense of filling his kid with we»
ter, in a half hour I returned. He was
still lying on his narrow bunk, and
clasping a Bible in his bands seemed
deeply interested in one of theplaintiv*
Pvaiir'-- of TVrifP