TEMPERANCE. There is a suggestion of the completest misery in the bare mention of this word. That not only men, but women, in an advanced period of civilization, men and women who not only profess but very frequently act upon a high code of morals-should indulge in fostering a love for strong drink, with scarcely a protest against it, is one of the most startling facts in moral history. It is, however, perfectly normal and in no degree inconsistent with the doctrine of natural moral perceptions, while it opens out fields of ethical inquiry of very deep, though painful interest. It is here proper, perhaps, to explain more fully the meaning of this last sentence, but in its explanation is involved, in not a few cases, the cause of a life made unhappy by drink. By natural moral perceptions are meant hereditary proclivities, hereditary likes and dislikes. If, in the modern pscychology there is any one fact thoroughly substantiated it is that mental habit and individual tastes not only may be, but actually are, transmitted through several or long lines of generations. And among these may be included diseases and the germs of disease, aberrant mental peculiarites and tastes for sensual indulgences or enjoyments that are in themselves demoralizing and damning. From time immemorial men have indulged in the fruit of the vine or its product, have sedulously employed intoxicating beverages, first as stimulants, then for the mental pleasure or exhiliration they confer, and why? Oftentimes through hereditary desires, and then again from sheer determination to cultivate a taste for these beverages on the recommendation or example of others. And so the tide has ever increased, and with it has increased the amount of human woe, wrong and crime. Vain have been all attempts to stay the tide; vain have been protestations and entreaties; vain has been prohibitory legislation; in the natural order of things the disease-for it is nothing else has fastened itself upon the human race, and there is no outside power that can stay it. Locked in the heart of the victim of strong drink is the only safeguard, the only potent agency to stay the tide, and that agency is self-will. We may hedge the sufferer around with the arm of the law, may bring to his aid all the moral forces we can muster, may present the incentive of virtue or the example of pure living, all of these would be in vain until the man rises in his might and asserts his manhood, his power over himself. The mightiest barrier a man can oppose to the sway of passion or to the bent of inbred desire is self-knowledge. The old Greek proverb of "know thyself," meant more than a mere index to a true philosophy of the mind; it pointed to the only sure safeguard within the possession of man against crime and against self-abuse in any direction. Sad, indeed, has been the temperance history of the human race. Who could tell the myriads of brave hearts and noble minds which have fallen as victims to its absence. Lives untold have been wrecked, possibilities unmeasurable have been defeated, promises without number brought to nought, hopes on which rested the joys of millions have been wrested away, claims which pure hearts only could meet have gone unsatisfied, and homes without number have been depleted of all that is bright or holy in life. There was little exaggeration after all in the beautiful hyperbole of Hume, when writing of this same topic, who said: "To tell the ravages of this curse it would require the heavens for a canvass, the oceans for color, the forests for a pencil and a Job for the artist." To measure the value of an opinion or a system it is not alone sufficient to examine the ideals of its originators, it requires rather a knowledge of how far those ideals have been realized among the people. Its value as a savior must be reckoned by the work done, rather than the good intentions or hopes of the founders. Measured by this criterion little has been done in Mills county. From almost its earliest formation there have been organizations-church and special-and what has been accomplished? Nothing! The Washingtonian movement swept over the county and many, for the time being, were gathered in its folds; it was gone, and the safeguards went with it. The creeds have been tried, but are powerless to stay the cravings of the unholy thirst, or take away the inborn desire. The Good Templars have had their day, but refusing the privileges of their order to those who most needed their help-forming themselves into a kind of righteous aristocracy-aside from ostentatious bluster-and blunder-they accomplished nothing. The strong arm of the law has been appealed to, only to be overwhelmingly defeated by both grand and petit juries; the interest and religion of men have alike been sought with a corresponding result. Temperance congresses and conferences have met, talked, prayed, passed resolutions-some of which never found the light-and were forgotten. Names innumerable have been presented to legislative bodies in the form of petitions, and when the opportunity came to vote for rum it was eagerly seized, and their record on the petition forgotten. Away with these ideas! They have resulted in more hypocrites. and made more pseudo-reformers than all the cloisters of Europe ever sent forth. What is needed is action like that of the women of Ohio, who, when her recreant brother trembled and excused himself, went forth axe in hand to do valiant battle. Out of the heart of Ohio came the impetus that has saved more men than all the temperance organizations, and women led the van. If some of her sex lead men to ruin, there are thousands more who may lead them to virtue and sobriety. They are the only bright feature in the temperance history of this county, and to them must be given the praise for all that has been wrought. Such organiza tions as now exist in the county may be found in the history of the respective towns to which they belong. This is one of the questions which, like the ghost in Hamlet, will not down. Look at it in whatever light one may, it possesses a vast political importance in the sense of public economy. Where to engage it, and how, is a problem that can only be solved by concerted action at the ballot box. The evil finds its strongest entrenchment in legislative halls, and to be successfully attacked, the onset must be made at the polls and the election of men of known, pronounced, and uncompromising temperance views should be placed in legislative positions. True, this is not, and ought not to be made the one feature that shall command the elective franchise, but it is an essential without which no man should receive a ballot. RELIGIOUS HISTORY. The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave, And spread the roof above them-ere he framed The lofty vault, to gather and roll back The sound of anthems-in the darkling wood, And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks "No man liveth to himself alone." So reasoned those God-fearing men of old when first they came to Mills county. They came, not to old and well established towns, where are found the "lofty vaults," but to regions sparsely settled; not among men accustomed to homes of luxury and elegance, but to farming districts, where now first were beginning to be heard the hum of honest industry and faithful toil. The men among whom they came had little in common with the object of their mission. They were men whose sole thought was of broad acres and material wealth. The travel-stained preacher of that olden time, strong in constitution and vigorous in mind, stronger still in faith and powerful in prayer, sought out these sturdy men and brought to their very doors the consolation of the gospel. For these very messages hearts were aching, and many were the souls forced to cry out: "Oh that I knew where I might find him!" The seeds of virtue have been sown by a good Providence in all hearts, and they will spring up everywhere to His glory, if carefully nurtured. They are not wholly the result of learning and cultivation, and it is not only in old and refined communities that the lovely flowers of an exalted morality shed their perfume. The early men of God knew this principle and recognized, too, the importance of its culture, and so devoutly addressed themselves to the task. It is well-nigh impossible to correctly estimate the value of the work of these men; to estimate their influence on the character of this growing county. Welcomed everywhere, for the news they brought from other homes, as well as for the "good tidings of great joy," they went from place to place, greeting with smiles and cheerful words the old; with counsel or reproof the young. Many and varied were the duties devolving upon them. A sermon here, a burial yonder; now a wedding, and then summoned to the bedside of a penitent sinner, what wonder the coming of these men was attended with blessings. It is the essence of christianity that it be aggressive. It wars upon vice in all its forms, and brooks not even the appearance of evil. Checked, and for the time being thwarted in one direction, it only gathers energy for a greater onset in another, prepares and plumes itself for a more sublime flight. If men will not embrace its offered salvation, it goes to them with invitation and warning. This missionary element of Christianity alone enabled its propagation under circumstances so trying; and the men who were its embassadors were thoroughly imbued with the same spirit that sent Paul into Asia and Luke to the Gentiles. It was the same spirit that prompted those noble men of God to hie them away to the jungles of Asia, or brave the wilds of Africa—men whose names make bright the pages of the church miltant, and will add a brighter lustre to the church triumphant. What though its story lacks somewhat of the tragic brilliancy of political intrigue and plotting; what though it has not startled the world by those grand discoveries that make science so great a power in the land-discoveries that enable us to tell the myriad stars that people space, that impress us with wonder at the power and greatness of the Infinite! What though it partakes of the nature of none of them? Has it not brought to bear on man's intelligence the highest motives to virtue? Let the records of the past years testify to its power. Let the hallowed memories that stretch aback down the years of the past answer. This, too, was done when gilded churches were not; when the elect of God in the common-school room listened to the life-giving word from the lips of men sent of God. And who were these men? Were they not morally brave to dare the scoffs of an untried and untempered west? Were they not men whose love for the fallen outweighed every personal consideration so that they gave all for Christ? Where was their power? Was it not in that element of a truly noble character that men prize above all else -sympathy? Aye, and that was the principle which made the Son of God so welcome a visitant in the lowly homes of Palestine. It was a principle which bound their own hearts, as it did Christ's, to those in suffering |
