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diff --git a/old/13104-8.txt b/old/13104-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a6aff4d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13104-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5768 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abominations of Modern Society +by Rev. T. De Witt Talmage + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Abominations of Modern Society + +Author: Rev. T. De Witt Talmage + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13104] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, David Newman, Alison Hadwin and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + +THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY. + +BY REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, + +AUTHOR OF "CRUMBS SWEPT UP" + +1872. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This is a buoy swung over the rocks. If it shall keep ship, bark, +fore-and-aft schooner, or hermaphrodite brig from driving on a lee +shore, "all's well." + +The book is not more for young men than old. The Calabria was wrecked +"the last day out." + +Nor is the book more for men than women. The best being that God ever +made is a good woman, and the worst that the devil ever made is a bad +one. If anything herein shall be a warning either to man or woman, I +will be glad that the manuscript was caught up between the sharp teeth +of the type. + +T.D.W.T. + +BROOKLYN, January 1st, 1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Curtain Lifted + +Winter Nights + +The Power of Clothes + +After Midnight + +The Indiscriminate Dance + +The Massacre by Needle and Sewing-Machine + +Pictures in the Stock Gallery + +Leprous Newspapers + +The Fatal Ten-Strike + +Some of the Club-Houses + +Flask, Bottle, and Demijohn + +House of Blackness of Darkness + +The Gun that Kicks over the Man who Shoots it off + +Lies: White and Black + +The Good Time Coming + + + + +THE ABOMINATIONS. + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE CURTAIN LIFTED. + + +Pride of city is natural to men, in all times, if they live or have +lived in a metropolis noted for dignity or prowess. Cęsar boasted of +his native Rome; Lycurgus of Sparta; Virgil of Andes; Demosthenes of +Athens; Archimedes of Syracuse; and Paul of Tarsus. I should suspect +a man of base-heartedness who carried about with him no feeling of +complacency in regard to the place of his residence; who gloried not +in its arts, or arms, or behavior; who looked with no exultation upon +its evidences of prosperity, its artistic embellishments, and its +scientific attainments. + +I have noticed that men never like a place where they have not behaved +well. Swarthout did not like New York; nor Dr. Webster, Boston. Men +who have free rides in prison-vans never like the city that furnishes +the vehicle. + +When I see in history Argos, Rhodes, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, and +several other cities claiming Homer, I conclude that Homer behaved +well. + +Let us not war against this pride of city, nor expect to build up +ourselves by pulling others down. Let Boston have its _Common_, +its _Faneuil Hall_, its _Coliseum_, and its _Atlantic Monthly_. Let +Philadelphia talk about its _Mint_, and _Independence Hall_, and +_Girard College_. When I find a man living in either of those places, +who has nothing to say in favor of them, I feel like asking him, "What +mean thing did you do, that you do not like your native city?" + +New York is a goodly city. It is one city on both sides of the river. +The East River is only the main artery of its great throbbing life. +After a while four or five bridges will span the water, and we shall +be still more emphatically one than now. When, therefore, I say "New +York city," I mean more than a million of people, including everything +between Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Gowanus. That which tends to elevate +a part, elevates all. That which blasts part, blasts all. Sin is a +giant; and he comes to the Hudson or Connecticut River, and passes it, +as easily as we step across a figure in the carpet. The blessing of +God is an angel; and when it stretches out its two wings, one of them +hovers over that, and the other over this. + +In infancy, the great metropolis was laid down by the banks of the +Hudson. Its infancy was as feeble as that of Moses, sleeping in the +bulrushes by the Nile; and like Miriam, there our fathers stood and +watched it. The royal spirit of American commerce came down to the +water to bathe; and there she found it. She took it in her arms, +and the child grew and waxed strong; and the ships of foreign lands +brought gold and spices to its feet; and, stretching itself up into +the proportions of a metropolis, it has looked up to the mountains, +and off upon the sea,--one of the mightiest of the energies of +American civilization. + +The character of the founder of a city will be seen for many years in +its inhabitants. Romulus impressed his life upon Rome. The Pilgrims +relax not their hold upon the cities of New England. William Penn has +left Philadelphia an inheritance of integrity and fair dealing; and +on any day in that city you may see in the manners, customs, and +principles of its people, his tastes, his coat, his hat, his wife's +bonnet, and his plain meeting-house. The Hollanders still wield an +influence over New York. + +Grand Old New York! What southern thoroughfare was ever smitten by +pestilence, when our physicians did not throw themselves upon the +sacrifice! What distant land has cried out in the agony of famine, and +our ships have not put out with bread-stuffs! What street of Damascus, +or Beyrout, or Madras that has not heard the step of our missionaries! +What struggle for national life, in which our citizens have not poured +their blood into the trenches! What gallery of exquisite art, in +which our painters have not hung their pictures! What department of +literature or science to which our scholars have not contributed! +I need not speak of our public schools, where the children of the +cordwainer, and milkman, and glass-blower stand by the side of the +flattered sons of millionnaires and merchant princes; or of the +insane asylums on all these islands, where they who came out cutting +themselves, among the tombs, now sit, clothed and in their right mind; +or of the Magdalen asylums, where the lost one of the street comes to +bathe the Saviour's feet with her tears, and wipe them with the hairs +of her head,--confiding in the pardon of Him who said--"Let him who +is without sin cast the first stone at her." I need not speak of the +institutions for the blind, the lame, the deaf and the dumb, for the +incurables, for the widow, the orphan, and the outcast; or of the +thousand-armed machinery that sends streaming down from the reservoir +the clear, bright, sparkling, God-given water that rushes through +our aqueducts, and dashes out of the hydrants, and tosses up in +our fountains, and hisses in our steam-engines, and showers out the +conflagration, and sprinkles from the baptismal font of our churches; +and with silver note, and golden sparkle, and crystalline chime, says +to hundreds of thousands of our population, in the authentic words of +Him who made it--"I WILL: BE THOU CLEAN!" + +They who live in any of the American cities have a goodly heritage; +and it is in no depreciation of our advantages that I speak, but +because, in the very contrast with our opportunities and mission, THE +ABOMINATIONS are tenfold more abominable. + +The sources from which I will bring the array of facts will be police, +detective, and alms-house reports; city missionaries' explorations, +and the testimony of the abandoned and sin-blasted, who, about to take +the final plunge, have staggered back just for a moment, to utter the +wild shriek of their warning, and the agonizing wail of their despair. + +I shall call upon you to consider the drunkenness, the stock-gambling, +the rampant dishonesties, the club-houses so far as they are +nefarious, the excess of fashion, the horrors of unchastity, the +bad books and unclean newspapers, and the whole range of sinful +amusements; and with the plough-share of truth turn up the whole +field. + +If we could call up the victims themselves, they would give the most +impressive story. People knew not how Turner, the painter, got such +vivid conceptions of a storm at sea, until they heard the story that +oftentimes he had been lashed to the deck in the midst of the tempest, +in order that he might study the wrath of the sea. + +Those who have themselves been tossed on the wave of infamous +transgressions could give us the most vivid picture of what it is +to sin and to die. With hand tremulous with exhausting disease, and +hardly able to get the accursed bowl to his lips--put into such a hand +the pencil, and it can sketch, as can no one else, the darkness, the +fire, the wild terror, the headlong pitch, and the hell of those who +have surrendered themselves to iniquity. While we dare only come near +the edge, and, balancing ourselves a while, look off, and our head +swims, and our breath catches,--those can tell the story best who have +fallen to the depths with wilder dash than glacier from the top of a +Swiss cliff, and stand, in their agony, looking up for a relief +that comes not, and straining their eyes for a hope that never +dawns--crying, "O God!" "O God!" + +It is terrible to see a lion dashing for escape against the sides of +his cage; but a more awful thing it is to behold a man, caged in bad +habit, trying to break out,--blood on the soul, blood on the cage. + +Others may throw garlands upon Sin, picturing the overhanging fruits +which drop in her pathway, and make every step graceful as the dance; +but we cannot be honest without presenting it as a giant, black with +the soot of the forges where eternal chains are made, and feet rotting +with disease, and breath foul with plagues, and eyes glaring with woe, +and locks flowing in serpent fangs, and voice from which shall rumble +forth the blasphemies of the damned. + +I open to you a door, through which you see--what? Pictures and +fountains, and mirrors and flowers? No: it is a lazar-house of +disease. The walls drip, drip, drip with the damps of sepulchres. The +victims, strewn over the floor, writhe and twist among each other in +contortions indescribable, holding up their ulcerous wounds, +tearing their matted hair, weeping tears of blood: some hooting with +revengeful cry; some howling with a maniac's fear; some chattering +with idiot's stare; some calling upon God; some calling upon fiends; +wasting away; thrusting each other back; mocking each other's pains; +tearing open each other's ulcers; dropping with the ichor of death! +The wider I open the door, the ghastlier the scene.--Worse the +horrors. More desperate recoils. Deeper curses. More blood. I can no +longer endure the vision, and I shut the door, and cover my eyes, and +turn my back, and cry, "God pity them!" + +Some one may say, "What is the use of such an exposure as you propose +to make? Our families are all respectable." I answer, that no family, +however elevated and exclusive, can be independent of the state of +public morals. + +However pleasant the block of houses in which you dwell, the +wretchedness, the temptation, and the outrage of municipal crime will +put its hand on your door-knob, and dash its awful surge against the +marble of your door-steps, as the stormy sea drives on a rocky beach. + +That condition of morals is now being formed, amid which our children +must walk. Do you tell me it is none of my business what street +profanity shall curse my boy's ear, on his way to school? Think you it +is no concern of yours what infamous advertisements, placarded on +the walls, or in the public newspaper, shall smite the vision of your +innocent little ones? Shall I be nervous about a stagnant pool of +water, lest it breed malaria, and be careless when there are in the +very heart of our city thousands of houses, devoted to various forms +of dissipation, which day and night steam with miasma, and pour out +the fiery lava of pollution, and darken the air with their horrors, +and fill the skies with the smoke of their torment, that ascendeth up +forever and ever? If a slaughter-house be opened in the midst of the +town, we hasten down to the Mayor to have the nuisance abated. But +now I make complaint, not to the Mayor or Common Council, but to the +masses of the people, who have the power to lift men up to office, and +to cast them down, against a hundred thousand slaughter-houses in +our American cities. In the name of our happy homes, of our refined +circles, of our schools, of our churches,--in the name of all that is +dear and beautiful and valuable and holy,--I enter the complaint. If +you now sit unconcerned, and leave to professed philanthropists +the work, and care not who are in authority or what laws remain +unexecuted, you may live to see the time when you will curse the day +in which your children were born. + +My belief is that such an exposition of public immoralities will +do good, by exciting pity for the victims and wholesale indignation +against the abettors and perpetrators. + +Who is that man fallen against the curbstone, covered with bruises and +beastliness? He was as bright-faced a lad as ever looked up from your +nursery. His mother rocked him, prayed for him, fondled him, would +not let the night air touch his cheek, and held him up and looked down +into his loving eyes, and wondered for what high position he was being +fitted. He entered life with bright hopes. The world beckoned him, +friends cheered him, but the archers shot at him; vile men set traps +for him, bad habits hooked fast to him with their iron grapples; his +feet slipped on the way; and there he lies. Who would think that that +uncombed hair was once toyed with by a father's fingers? Who would +think that those bloated cheeks were ever kissed by a mother's lips? +Would you guess that that thick tongue once made a household glad with +its innocent prattle? Utter no harsh words in his ear. Help him up. +Put the hat over that once manly brow. Brush the dust from that coat +that once covered a generous heart. Show him the way to the home that +once rejoiced at the sound of his footstep, and with gentle words tell +his children to stand back as you help him through the hall. + +That was a kind husband once and an indulgent father. He will kneel +with them no more as once he did at family prayers--the little ones +with clasped hands looking up into the heavens with thanksgiving for +their happy home. But now at midnight he will drive them from their +pillows and curse them down the steps, and howl after them as, unclad, +they fly down the street, in night-garments, under the calm starlight. + +Who slew that man? Who blasted that home? Who plunged those children +into worse than orphanage--until the hands are blue with cold, and the +cheeks are blanched with fear, and the brow is scarred with bruises, +and the eyes are hollow with grief? Who made that life a wreck, and +filled eternity with the uproar of a doomed spirit? + +There are those whose regular business it is to work this death. They +mix a cup that glows and flashes and foams with enchantment. They +call it Cognac, or Hock, or Heidsick, or Schnapps, or Old Bourbon, or +Brandy, or Champagne; but they tell not that in the ruddy glow there +is the blood of sacrifice, and in its flash the eye of uncoiled +adders, and in the foam the mouth-froth of eternal death. Not knowing +what a horrible mixture it is, men take it up and drink it down--the +sacrificial blood, the adder's venom, the death-froth--and smack their +lips and call it a delightful beverage. + +Oh! if I had some art by which I could break the charm of the +tempter's bowl, and with mailed hand lift out the long serpent of +eternal despair, and shake out its coils, and cast it down, and crush +it to death! + +But the enchantment cannot thus be broken. It hides in the bottom of +the bowl; and not until a man is entirely fallen does the monster +lift itself up, and strike with its terrific fangs, and answer all +his implorations for mercy with fiendish hiss. We must arouse public +opinion, until city, State, and national officials shall no longer +dare to neglect the execution of the law. We have enough enactments +now to revolutionize our cities and strike terror through the +drinking-houses and gambling-dens and houses of sin. Tracts +distributed will not do it; Bibles printed will not accomplish it; +city missionaries have not power for the work. + +_Will_ tracts do it? As well try with three or four snow-flakes to put +out Cotapaxi! + +We want police officers, common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs, +mayors, who will execute the law. Give us for two weeks in our cities +an honest city hall, and public pollution would fall like lightning +from heaven! + +If you republicans, and you democrats, do not do your duty in this +regard, we will, after a while, form a party of our own, and put +men in position pledged to anti-rum, anti-dirt, anti-nuisances, +anti-monopolies, anti-abominations, and will give to those of you who +have been so long feeding on public spoils, careless of public morals, +not so much as the wages of a street sweeper. + +We are not discouraged. It may seem to many that all of our battling +against these evils will come to naught. But if the coral insects can +lift an island, our feeble efforts, under God, may raise a break-water +that will dash back the surges of municipal abomination. Beside, we +toil not in our own strength. + +It seemed insignificant for Moses to stretch his hand over the Red +Sea. What power could that have over the waters? But the east wind +blew all night; the waters gathered into two glittering palisades on +either side. The billows reared as God's hand pulled back upon their +crystal bits. Wheel into line, O Israel! March! March! Pearls crash +under the feet. The flying spray springs a rainbow arch over the +victors. The shout of hosts mounting the beach answers the shout of +hosts mid-sea; until, as the last line of the Israelites have gained +the beach, the shields clang, and the cymbals clap; and as the waters +whelm the pursuing foe, the swift-fingered winds on the white keys of +the foam play the grand march of Israel delivered, and the awful dirge +of Egyptian overthrow. + +So we go forth; and stretch out the hand of prayer and Christian +effort over these dark, boiling waters of crime and suffering. "Aha! +Aha!" say the deriding world. But wait. The winds of divine help will +begin to blow; the way will clear for the great army of Christian +philanthropists; the glittering treasures of the world's beneficence +will line the path of our feet; and to the other shore we will be +greeted with the clash of all heaven's cymbals; while those who resist +and deride and pursue us will fall under the sea, and there will be +nothing left of them but here and there, cast high and dry upon the +beach, the splintered wheel of a chariot, and, thrust out from the +surf, the breathless nostril of a riderless charger. + + + + +WINTER NIGHTS. + + +The inhabitants of one of the old cities were told that they would +have to fly for their lives. Such flight would be painful, even in +the flush of spring-time, but superlatively aggravating if in cold +weather; and therefore they were told to pray that their flight be not +in the winter. + +There is something in the winter season that not only tests our +physical endurance, but, especially in the city, tries our moral +character. It is the winter months that ruin, morally, and forever, +many of our young men. We sit in the house on a winter's night, and +hear the storm raging on the outside, and imagine the helpless crafts +driven on the coast; but if our ears were only good enough, we could, +on any winter night, hear the crash of a hundred moral shipwrecks. + +Many who came last September to town, by the first of March will have +been blasted. It only takes one winter to ruin a young man. When the +long winter evenings have come, many of our young men will improve +them in forming a more intimate acquaintance with books, contracting +higher social friendships, and strengthening and ennobling their +characters. But not so with all. I will show you before I get through +that, at this season of the year, temptations are especially rampant: +and my counsel is, _Look out how you spend your winter nights!_ + +I remark, first, that there is no season of the year in which vicious +allurements are so active. + +In warm weather, places of dissipation win their tamest triumphs. +People do not feel like going, in the hot nights of summer, among the +blazing gas-lights, or breathing the fetid air of assemblages. The +receipts of the grog-shops in a December night are three times what +they are in any night in July or August. I doubt not there are +larger audiences in the casinos in winter than in the summer weather. +Iniquity plies a more profitable trade. December, January, and +February are harvest-months for the devil. The play-bills of the low +entertainments then are more charming, the acting is more exquisite, +the enthusiasm of the spectators more bewitching. Many a young man who +makes out to keep right the rest of the year, capsizes now. When he +came to town in the autumn, his eye was bright, his cheek rosy, his +step elastic; but, before spring, as you pass him you will say to your +friend, "What is the matter with that young man?" The fact is that one +winter of dissipation has done the work of ruin. + +This is the season for parties; and, if they are of the right kind, +our social nature is improved, and our spirits cheered up. But many +of them are not of the right kind; and our young people, night after +night, are kept in the whirl of unhealthy excitement until their +strength fails, and their spirits are broken down, and their taste for +ordinary life corrupted; and, by the time the spring weather comes, +they are in the doctor's hands, or sleeping in the cemetery. The +certificate of their death is made out, and the physician, out of +regard for the family, calls the disease by some Latin name, when the +truth is that they died of too many parties. + +Away with these wine-drinking convivialities! How dare you, the +father of a household, trifle with the appetites of our young people? +Perhaps, out of regard for the minister, or some other weak temperance +man, you have the decanter in a side-room, where, after refreshments, +only a select few are invited; and you come back with a glare in your +eye, and a stench in your breath, that shows that you have been out +serving the devil. + +Some one asks, "For what purpose are these people gone into that +side-room?" + +"O," replies one who has just come out, smacking his lips, "they have +gone in to see the white dog!" + +The excuse which Christian men often give for this is, that it is +necessary, after such late eating, by some sort of stimulant to help +digestion. My plain opinion is, that if a man have no more control +over his appetite than to stuff himself until his digestive organs +refuse to do their office, he ought not to call himself a man, but +rather to class himself among the beasts that perish. I take the words +of the Lord Almighty, and cry, "Woe to him that putteth the bottle to +his neighbor's lips!" + +Young man, take it as the counsel of a friend, when I bid you _be +cautious where you spend your winter evenings_. Thank God that you +have lived to see the glad winter days in which your childhood was +made cheerful by the faces of fathers and mothers, brothers and +sisters, some of whom, alas! will never again wish you a "happy New +Year," or a "Merry Christmas." + +Let no one tempt you out of your sobriety. I have seen respectable +young men of the best families drunk on New Year's day. The excuse +they gave for the inebriation was that the _ladies_ insisted on their +taking it. There have been instances where the delicate hand of woman +hath kindled a young man's taste for strong drink, who after many +years, when the attractions of that holiday scene were all forgotten, +crouched in her rags, and her desolation, and her woe under the +uplifted hand of the drunken monster who, on that Christmas morning +so long ago, took the glass from her hand. And so, the woman stands on +the abutment of the bridge, on the moon-lit night, wondering if, down +under the water, there is not some quiet place for a broken heart. She +takes one wild leap,--and all is over! + +Ah! mingle not with the harmless beverage of your festive scene this +poison of adders! Mix not with the white sugar of the cup the snow +of this awful leprosy! Mar not the clatter of cutlery at the holiday +feast with the clank of a madman's chain! + +Stop and look into the window of that pawnbroker's shop. Elegant furs. +Elegant watches. Elegant scarfs. Elegant flutes. People stand with a +pleased look gazing at these things; but I look in with a shudder, as +though I had seen into a window of hell. + +Whose elegant watch was that? It was a drunkard's watch! + +Whose furs? They belonged to a drunkard's wife! + +Whose flute? Whose shoes? Whose scarf? They belonged to a drunkard's +child! + +If I could, I would take the three brazen balls hanging at the +door-way, and clang them together until they tolled the awful knell +of the drunkard's soul. The pawnbroker's shop is only one eddy of the +great stream of municipal drunkenness. + +Stand back, young man! Take not the first step in the path that leads +here. Let not the flame of strong drink ever scorch your tongue. You +may tamper with these things and escape, but your influence will be +wrong. Can you not make a sacrifice for the good of others? + +When the good ship _London_ went down, the captain was told that there +was a way of escape in one of the life-boats. He said--"No; I will go +down with the rest of the passengers!" All the world acknowledged that +heroism. + +Can you not deny yourself insignificant indulgences for the good of +others? Be not allured by the fact that you drink only the moderate +beverages. You take only ale; and a man has to drink a large amount of +it to become intoxicated. Yes; but there is not in all the city to-day +an inebriate that did not _begin_ with ale. + +"XXX:" What does that mark mean? XXX on the beer-barrel: XXX on the +brewer's dray: XXX on the door of the gin-shop: XXX on the side of +the bottle. Not being able to find any one who could tell me what this +mark means, I have had to guess that the whole thing was an allegory: +XXX--that is, thirty heartbreaks. Thirty agonies. Thirty desolated +homes. Thirty chances for a drunkard's grave. Thirty ways to +perdition. + +"XXX." If I were going to write a story, the first chapter would be +XXX.; the last--"A pawnbroker's shop." + +Be watchful! At this season all the allurements to dissipation will be +especially busy. Let not your flight to hell be in the winter. + +I also remark that the winter evenings, through their very length, +allow great swing for indulgences. Few young men would have the taste +to go to their room at seven o'clock, and sit until eleven, reading +_Motley's Dutch Republic_ or _John Foster's Essays_. The young men +who have been confined to the store all day want fresh air and +sight-seeing; and they must go somewhere. The most of them have, of +a winter's evening, three or four hours of leisure. After the evening +repast, the young man puts on his hat and coat and goes out. + +"Come in here," cries one form of allurement. + +"Come in here," cries another. + +"Go;" says Satan. "You ought to see for yourself." + +"Why don't you go?" says a comrade. "It is a shame for a young man +to be as _green_ as you are. By this time you ought to have seen +everything." + +Especially is temptation strong in such times as this, when business +is dull. I have noticed that men spend more money when they have +little to spend. + +The tremendous question to be settled by our great populace, day by +day, is how to get a livelihood. Many of our young men, just starting +for themselves, are very much discouraged. They had hoped before this +to have set up a household of their own. But their gains have been +slow, and their discouragements many. The young man can hardly take +care of himself. How can he take care of another? And, to the curse +of modern society, before a young man is able to set up a home of his +own, he is expected to have enough to support in idleness somebody +else; when God intended that they should begin together, and jointly +earn a livelihood. So, many of our young men are utterly discouraged, +and utterly unfit to resist temptation. + +The time the pirate bears down upon the ship is when its sails are +down and it is making no headway. + +People wish they had more time to think. The trouble is now, that +people have too much time to think. Give to many of our commercial men +the four hours of these winter nights, with nothing to divert them, +and before spring they will have lodgings in an insane asylum. + +I remark further, that the winter is especially trying to the moral +character of our young men, because some of their homes in winter are +especially unattractive. In summer they can sit on the steps, or have +a bouquet in the vase on the mantel; and the evenings are so short +that soon after gas-light they feel like retiring. Parents do not take +enough pains to make these long winter nights attractive. + +It is strange that old people know so little about young people. One +would think that they had never been young themselves, but had been +born with their spectacles on. It is dolorous for young people to +spend the three or four hours of a winter's evening with parents +who sit talking over their own ailments and misfortunes, and the +nothingness of this world. How dare you talk such blasphemy? God was +busy six days in making the world, and has allowed it to hang six +thousand years on his holy heart; and that world hath fed you, and +clothed you, and shone on you for fifty years: and yet you talk about +the nothingness of this world! Do you expect the young people in +your family to sit a whole evening and hear you groan about this +magnificent, star-lighted, sun-warmed, shower-baptized, flower-strewn, +angel-watched, God-inhabited planet? From such homes young men make a +wild plunge into dissipation. Many of you have the means: why do you +not buy them a violin or a picture? or have your daughter cultured in +music until she can help to make home attractive? + +There are ten thousand ways of lighting up the domestic circle. It +requires no large income, no big house, no rich wardrobe, no chased +silver, no gorgeous upholstery, but a parental heart awake to its +duty. + +Have a doleful home and your children will not stay in it, though +you block up the door with Bibles, and tie fast to them a million +Heidelberg catechisms. + +I said to a man, "This is a beautiful tree in front of your house." + +He answered, with a whine, "Yes; but it will fade." + +I said to him, "You have a beautiful garden." + +He replied, "Yes; but it will perish." + +I found out afterward that his son was a vagabond, and I was not +surprised at it. + +You cannot groan men into decency, but you can groan them out. + +Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter! Devote these December, +January and February evenings to high pursuits, innocent amusements, +intelligent socialities, and Christian attainments. Do not waste this +winter. We shall soon have seen the last snow-shower, and have passed +up into the companionship of Him whose raiment is exceeding white as +snow--as no fuller on earth can whiten it. + +To the right-hearted, the winter nights of earth will soon end in the +June morning of heaven. + +The River of God, from under the Throne, never freezes over. The +foliage of Life's fair tree is never frost-bitten. The festivals, and +hilarities, and family gatherings of Christmas times on earth, will +give way to the larger reunions, and the brighter lights, and the +gladder scenes, and the sweeter garlands, and the richer feastings of +the great holiday of Heaven. + + + + +THE POWER OF CLOTHES. + + +One cannot always tell by a man's coat what kind of a heart he has +under it; still, his dress is apt to be the out-blossoming of his +character, and is not to be disregarded. + +We make no indiscriminate onslaught upon customs of dress. Why did +God put spots on the pansy, or etch the fern leaf? And what are +china-asters good for if style and color are of no importance? + +The realm is as wide as the world, and as far-reaching as all the +generations, over which fashion hath extended her sceptre. For +thousands of years she hath sat queen over all the earth, and the +revolutions that rock down all other thrones have not in the slighest +affected her domination. Other constitutions have been torn, and other +laws trampled; but to her decrees conquerors have bowed their plumes, +and kings have uncovered. Victoria is not Queen of England; Napoleon +was not Emperor of France; Isabella was not Queen of Spain. _Fashion_ +has been regnant over all the earth; and lords and dukes, kings and +queens, have been the subjects of her realm. + +She arranged the mantle of the patriarch, and the toga of the Roman; +the small shoe of the Chinese women, and the turban of the Turk; +the furs of the Laplander, and the calumet of the Indian chieftain. +Hottentot and Siberian obey the mandate, as well as Englishman and +American. Her laws are written on parchment and palm-leaf, on broken +arch and cathedral tracery. She arranged how the Egyptian mummy should +be wound, and how Cęsar should ride, and how the Athenians should +speak, and how through the Venetian canals the gondoliers should row +their pleasure-boat. Her hand hath hung the pillars with embroidery, +and strewn the floor with plush. Her loom hath woven fabrics graceful +as the snow and pure as the light. Her voice is heard in the gold +mart, in the roar of the street, in the shuffle of the crowded +bazaars, in the rattle of the steam-presses, and in the songs of the +churches. + +You have limited your observation of the sway of fashion if you have +considered it only as it decides individual and national costumes. +It makes the rules of behavior. It wields an influence in artistic +spheres--often deciding what pictures shall hang in the house, what +music shall be played, what ornaments shall stand upon the mantle. +The poor man will not have on his wall the cheap wood-cut that he can +afford, because he cannot have a great daub like that which hangs on +the rich man's wall, and costing three hundred dollars. + +Fashion helps to make up religious belief. It often decides to what +church we shall go, and what religious tenets we shall adopt. It goes +into the pulpit, and decides the gown, and the surplice, and the style +of rhetoric. + +It goes into literature and arranges the binding, the type, the +illustrations of the book, and oftentimes the sentiments expressed and +the theories evolved. + +Men the most independent in feeling are by it compelled to submit to +social customs. And before I stop I want to show you that fashion has +been one of the most potent of reformers, and one of the vilest of +usurpers. Sometimes it has been an angel from heaven, and at others it +has been the mother of harlots. + +As the world grows better there will be as much fashion as now, but +it will be a different fashion. In the future life white robes always +have been and always will be in the fashion. + +There is a great outcry against this submission to social custom, +as though any consultation of the tastes and feelings of others were +deplorable; but without it the world would have neither law, order, +civilization, nor common decency. + +There has been a canonization of bluntness. There are men and women +who boast that they can tell you all they know and hear about you, +especially if it be unpleasant. Some have mistaken rough behavior for +frankness, when the two qualities do not belong to the same family. +You have no right, with your eccentricities, to crash in upon the +sensitiveness of others. There is no virtue in walking with hoofs over +fine carpets. The most jagged rock is covered with blossoming moss. +The storm that comes jarring down in thunder strews rainbow colors +upon the sky, and silvery drops on orchard and meadow. + +There are men who pride themselves on their capacity to "stick" +others. They say "I have brought him down: Didn't I make him squirm!" + +Others pride themselves on their outlandish apparel. They boast of +being out of the fashion. They wear a queer hat. They ride in an odd +carriage. By dint of perpetual application they would persuade the +world that they are perfectly indifferent to public opinion. They are +more proud of being "out of fashion" than others are of being in. They +are utterly and universally disagreeable. Their rough corners have +never been worn off. They prefer a hedge-hog to a lamb. + +The accomplishments of life are in nowise productive of effeminacy +or enervation. Good manners and a respect for the tastes of others +is indispensable. The Good Book speaks favorably of those who are +a "_peculiar_" people; but that does not sanction the behavior of +_queer_ people. There is no excuse, under any circumstances, for not +being and acting the lady or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. We have no +words too ardent to express our admiration for the refinements of +society. There is no law, moral or divine, to forbid elegance of +demeanor, ornaments of gold or gems for the person, artistic display +in the dwelling, gracefulness of gait and bearing, polite salutation, +or honest compliments; and he who is shocked or offended by these had +better, like the old Scythians, wear tiger-skins, and take one wild +leap back into midnight barbarism. + +As Christianity advances there will be better apparel, higher styles +of architecture, more exquisite adornments, sweeter music, grander +pictures, more correct behavior, and more thorough ladies and +gentlemen. + +But there is another story to be told. Excessive fashion is to be +charged with many of the worst evils of society, and its path has +often been strewn with the bodies of the slain. + +It has often set up a false standard by which people are to be +judged. Our common sense, as well as all the divine intimations on the +subject, teach us that people ought to be esteemed according to their +individual and moral attainments. The man who has the most nobility +of soul should be first, and he who has the least of such qualities +should stand last. No crest, or shield, or escutcheon, can indicate +one's moral peerage. Titles of duke, lord, esquire, earl, viscount, +or patrician, ought not to raise one into the first rank. Some of +the meanest men I have ever known had at the end of their name D.D., +LL.D., and F.R.S. Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self-sacrifice, +should win highest favor; but inordinate fashion says--"Count not a +woman's virtues; count her rings;" "Look not at the contour of the +head, but see the way she combs her hair;" "Ask not what noble deeds +have been accomplished by that man's hand; but is it white and soft?" +Ask not what good sense was in her conversation, but "in what was she +dressed." Ask not whether there was hospitality and cheerfulness in +the house, but "in what style do they live." + +As a consequence, some of the most ignorant and vicious men are at +the top, and some of the most virtuous and intelligent at the bottom. +During the late war we suddenly saw men hurled up into the highest +social positions. Had they suddenly reformed from evil habits? or +graduated in a science? or achieved some good work for society? No! +They simply had obtained a government contract! + +This accounts for the utter chagrin which men feel at the treatment +they receive when they lose their property. Hold up your head amid +financial disaster, like a Christian! Fifty thousand subtracted from a +good man leaves how much? Honor; Truth; Faith in God; Triumphant Hope; +and a kingdom of ineffable glory, over which he is to reign forever +and ever. + +If a millionnaire should lose a penny out of his pocket, would he sit +down on a curb-stone and cry? And shall a man possessed of everlasting +fortunes wear himself out with grief because he has lost worldly +treasure? You have only lost that in which hundreds of wretched +misers surpass you; and you have saved that which the Cęsars, and the +Pharaohs, and the Alexanders could never afford. + +And yet society thinks differently; and you see the most intimate +friendships broken up as the consequence of financial embarrassments. +You say to some one--"How is your friend ----?" The man looks bewildered, +and says, "I do not know." You reply, "Why; you used to be intimate." +"Well," says the man, "our friendship has been dropped: the man has +failed." + +Proclamation has gone forth: "Velvets must go up, and homespun must +come down;" and the question is "How does the coat fit?"--not, "Who +wears it?" The power that bears the tides of excited population up +and down our streets, and rocks the world of commerce, and thrills all +nations, Transatlantic and Cisatlantic, is--_clothes_. It decides +the last offices of respect; and how long the dress shall be totally +black; and when it may subside into spots of grief on silk, calico, or +gingham. Men die in good circumstances, but by reason of extravagant +funeral expenses are well nigh insolvent before they get buried. Many +men would not die at all, if they had to wait until they could afford +it. + +Excessive fashion is productive of a most ruinous strife. The +expenditure of many households is adjusted by what their neighbors +have, not by what they themselves can afford to have; and the great +anxiety is as to who shall have the finest house and the most costly +equipage. The weapons used in the warfare of social life are not +Minié rifles, and Dahlgren guns, and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs +and mirrors, and vases, and Gobelins, and Axminsters. Many household +establishments are like racing steamboats, propelled at the utmost +strain and risk, and just coming to a terrific explosion. "Who cares," +say they, "if we only come out ahead?" + +There is no one cause to-day of more financial embarrassment, and of +more dishonesties, than this determination, at all hazards, to live as +well as or better than other people. There are persons who will risk +their eternity upon one fine looking-glass, or who will dash out the +splendors of heaven to get another trinket. + +"My house is too small." "But," says some one, "you cannot pay for a +larger." "Never mind that; my friends have a better residence, and so +will I." "A dress of that pattern I must have. I cannot afford it by +a great deal; but who cares for that? My neighbor had one from that +pattern, and I must have one." There are scores of men in the dungeons +of the penitentiary, who risked honor, business,--everything, in the +effort to shine like others. Though the heavens fall, they must be "in +the fashion." + +The most famous frauds of the day have resulted from this feeling. It +keeps hundreds of men struggling for their commercial existence. The +trouble is that some are caught and incarcerated, if their larceny +be small. If it be great, they escape, and build their castle on the +Rhine. Men go into jail, not because they steal, but because they did +not steal enough. + +Again: excessive fashion makes people unnatural and untrue. It is a +factory from which has come forth more hollow pretences, and unmeaning +flatteries, and hypocrisies, than the Lowell Mills ever turned out +shawls and garments. + +Fashion is the greatest of all liars. It has made society insincere. +You know not what to believe. When people ask you to come, you do +not know whether or not they want you to come. When they send their +regards, you do not know whether it is an expression of their heart, +or an external civility. We have learned to take almost everything at +a discount. Word is sent, "Not at home," when they are only too lazy +to dress themselves. They say, "The furnace has just gone out," when +in truth they have had no fire in it all winter. They apologize +for the unusual barrenness of their table, when they never live any +better. They decry their most luxurious entertainments, to win a +shower of approval. They apologize for their appearance, as though it +were unusual, when always at home they look just so. They would make +you believe that some nice sketch on the wall was the work of a master +painter. "It was an heir-loom, and once hung on the walls of a castle; +and a duke gave it to their grandfather." People who will lie about +nothing else, will lie about a picture. On a small income we must make +the world believe that we are affluent, and our life becomes a cheat, +a counterfeit, and a sham. + +Few persons are really natural. When I say this, I do not mean to slur +cultured manners. It is right that we should have more admiration for +the sculptured marble than for the unhewn block of the quarry. From +many circles in life fashion has driven out vivacity and enthusiasm. +A frozen dignity instead floats about the room, and iceberg grinds +against iceberg. You must not laugh outright: it is vulgar. You must +_smile_. You must not dash rapidly across the room: you must _glide_. +There is a round of bows, and grins, and flatteries, and oh's! and +ah's! and simperings, and namby-pambyism--a world of which is not +worth one good, round, honest peal of laughter. From such a hollow +round the tortured guest retires at the close of the evening, and +assures his host that he has enjoyed himself. + +Thus social life has been contorted, and deformed, until, in +some mountain cabin, where rustics gather to the quilting or the +apple-paring, there is more good cheer than in all the frescoed +ice-houses of the metropolis. + +We want, in all the higher circles of society, more warmth of heart +and naturalness of behavior, and not so many refrigerators. + +Again: inordinate fashion is incompatible with happiness. Those who +depend for their comfort upon the admiration of others are subject to +frequent disappointment. Somebody will criticise their appearance, or +surpass them in brilliancy, or will receive more attention. Oh! the +jealousy, and detraction, and heart-burnings of those who move in this +bewildered maze! + +The clock strikes _one_, and the company begins to disperse. The host +has done everything to make all his guests happy; but now that they +are on the street, hear their criticisms of everybody and everything. +"Did you see her in such and such apparel?" "Wasn't she a perfect +fright!" "What a pity that such an one is so awkward and uncouth!" +"Well, really,--I would rather never be spoken to than be seen with +such a man as that!" + +Poor butterflies! Bright wings do not always bring happiness. "She +that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." The revelations +of high life that come to the challenge and the fight are only the +occasional croppings out of disquietudes that are, underneath, like +the stars of heaven for multitude, but like the demons of the pit for +hate. The misery that to-night in the cellar cuddles up in the straw +is not so utter as the princely disquietude which stalks through +splendid drawing-rooms, brooding over the slights and offences of high +life. The bitterness of trouble seems not so unfitting, when drunk +out of a pewter mug, as when it pours from the chased lips of a golden +chalice. In the sharp crack of the voluptuary's pistol, putting an +end to his earthly misery, I hear the confirmation that in a hollow, +fastidious life there is no peace. + +Again: Excessive devotion to fashion is productive of physical +disease, mental imbecility, and spiritual withering. + +Apparel insufficient to keep out the cold and the rain, or so fitted +upon the person that the functions of life are restrained; late hours, +filled with excitement and feasting; free draughts of wine, that make +one not beastly intoxicated, but only fashionably drunk; and luxurious +indolence--are the instruments by which this unreal life pushes its +disciples into valetudinarianism and the grave. Along the walks +of high life Death goes a mowing--and such harvests as are reaped! +_Materia medica_ has been exhausted to find curatives for these +physiological devastations. Dropsies, cancers, consumptions, gout, and +almost every infirmity in all the realm of pathology, have been the +penalty paid. To counteract the damage, pharmacy has gone forth with +medicament, panacea, elixir, embrocation, salve, and cataplasm. + +To-night, with swollen feet, upon cushioned ottoman, and groaning +with aches innumerable, is the votary of luxurious living, not half so +happy as his groom or coal-heaver. + +Fashion is the world's undertaker, and drives thousands of hearses to +Laurel Hill and Greenwood. + +But, worse than that, this folly is an intellectual depletion. This +endless study of proprieties and etiquette, patterns and styles, is +bedwarfing to the intellect. I never knew a man or a woman of extreme +fashion that knew much. How belittling the study of the cut of a coat, +or the tie of a cravat, or the wrinkle in a shoe, or the color of a +ribbon! How they are worried if something gets untied, or hangs awry, +or is not nicely adjusted! With a mind capable of measuring the +height and depth of great subjects; able to unravel mysteries; to +walk through the universe; to soar up into the infinity of God's +attributes,--hovering perpetually over a new style of mantilla! I have +known men, reckless as to their character, and regardless of interests +momentous and eternal, exasperated by the shape of a vest-button! + +What is the matter with that woman--wrought up into the agony of +despair? O, her muff is out of fashion! + +Worse than all--this folly is not satisfied until it has extirpated +every moral sentiment, and blasted the soul. A wardrobe is the rock +upon which many a soul has been riven. The excitement of a luxurious +life has been the vortex that has swallowed up more souls than the +Maelstrom off Norway ever devoured ships. What room for elevating +themes in a heart filled with the trivial and unreal? Who can wonder +that in this haste for sun-gilded bawbles and winged thistle-down, +men should tumble into ruin? The travellers to destruction are not +all clothed in rags. On that road chariot jostles against chariot; and +behind steeds in harness golden-plated and glittering, they go down, +coach and four, herald and postilion, racketing on the hot pavements +of hell. Clear the track! Bazaars hang out their colors over the road; +and trees of tropical fruitfulness overbranch the way. No sound of +woe disturbs the air; but all is light and song, and wine and +gorgeousness. The world comes out to greet the dazzling procession +with Hurrah! and Hurrah! But, suddenly, there is a halt and an outcry +of dismay, and an overthrow worse than the Red Sea tumbling upon the +Egyptians. Shadow of grave-stones upon finest silk! Wormwood squeezed +into impearled goblets! Death, with one cold breath, withering the +leaves and freezing the fountains. + +In the wild tumult of the last day--the mountains falling, the heavens +flying, the thrones uprising, the universe assembling; amid the boom +of the last great thunder-peal, and under the crackling of a burning +world--what will become of the fop and the dandy? + +He who is genuinely refined will be useful and happy. There is no gate +that a gentleman's hand cannot open. During his last sickness there +will be a timid knock at the basement door by those who have come to +see how he is. + +But watch the career of one thoroughly artificial. Through +inheritance, or perhaps his own skill, having obtained enough for +purposes of display, he feels himself thoroughly established. He sits +aloof from the common herd, and looks out of his window upon the poor +man, and says--"Put that dirty wretch off my steps immediately!" On +Sabbath days he finds the church, but mourns the fact that he must +worship with so many of the inelegant, and says, "They are perfectly +awful!" "That man that you put in my pew had a coat on his back that +did not cost five dollars." He struts through life unsympathetic with +trouble, and says, "I cannot be bothered." Is delighted with some +doubtful story of Parisian life, but thinks that there are some very +indecent things in the Bible. Walks arm in arm with a millionnaire, +but does not know his own brother. Loves to be praised for his +splendid house; and when told that he looks younger than ten years +ago, says--"Well, really; do you think so!" + +But the brief strut of his life is about over. Up-stairs--he dies. +No angel wings hovering about him. No gospel promises kindling up the +darkness;--but exquisite embroidery, elegant pictures, and a bust of +Shakespeare on the mantel. The pulses stop. The minister comes in to +read of the Resurrection, that day when the dead shall come up--both +he that died on the floor, and he that expired under princely +upholstery. He is carried out to burial. Only a few mourners, but +a great array of carriages. Not one common man at the funeral. No +befriended orphan to weep a tear upon his grave. No child of want +pressing through the ranks of the weeping, saying--"He is the last +friend I have; and I must see him." + +What now? He was a great man: Shall not chariots of salvation come +down to the other side of the Jordan, and escort him up to the palace? +Shall not the angels exclaim--"Turn out! a prince is coming." Will the +bells chime? Will there be harpers with their harps, and trumpeters +with their trumpets? + +No! No! No! There will be a shudder, as though a calamity had +happened. Standing on heaven's battlement, a watchman will see +something shoot past, with fiery downfall, and shriek: "Wandering +star--for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever!" + +With the funeral pageant the brilliant career terminated. There was a +great array of carriages. + + + + +AFTER MIDNIGHT. + + +When night came down on Babylon, Nineveh, and Jerusalem, they needed +careful watching, otherwise the incendiary's torch might have been +thrust into the very heart of the metropolitan splendor; or enemies, +marching from the hills, might have forced the gates. All night long, +on top of the wall and in front of the gates, might be heard the +measured step of the watchman on his solitary beat; silence hung in +air, save as some passer-by raised the question: "Watchman, what of +the night?" + +It is to me a deeply suggestive and solemn thing to see a man standing +guard by night. It thrilled through me, as at the gate of an arsenal +in Charleston, the question once smote me, "Who comes there?" followed +by the sharp command: "Advance and give the countersign." Every moral +teacher stands on picket, or patrols the wall as watchman. His work +is to sound the alarm; and whether it be in the first watch, in +the second watch, in the third watch, or in the fourth watch, to be +vigilant until the daybreak flings its "morning glories" of blooming +cloud across the arching trellis of the sky. + +The ancients divided their night into four parts--the first watch, +from six to nine; the second, from nine to twelve; the third, from +twelve to three; and the fourth, from three to six. + +I speak now of the city in the third watch, or from twelve to three +o'clock. + +I never weary of looking upon the life and brilliancy of the city in +the _first_ watch. That is the hour when the stores are closing. The +laboring men, having quitted the scaffolding and the shop, are on +their way home. It rejoices me to give them my seat in the city car. +They have stood and hammered away all day. Their feet are weary. They +are exhausted with the tug of work. They are mostly cheerful. With +appetites sharpened on the swift turner's wheel and the carpenter's +whetstone, they seek the evening meal. The clerks, too, have broken +away from the counter, and with brain weary of the long line of +figures, and the whims of those who go a-shopping, seek the face of +mother, or wife and child. The merchants are unharnessing themselves +from their anxieties, on their way up the street. The boys that lock +up are heaving away at the shutters, shoving the heavy bolts, and +taking a last look at the fire to see that all is safe. The streets +are thronged with young men, setting out from the great centres of +bargain-making. + +Let idlers clear the street, and give right of way to the besweated +artisans and merchants! They have _earned_ their bread, and are now on +their way home to get it. + +The lights in full jet hang over ten thousand evening repasts--the +parents at either end of the table, the children between. Thank God! +"who setteth the solitary in families!" + +A few hours later, and all the places of amusement, good and bad, are +in full tide. Lovers of art, catalogue in hand, stroll through the +galleries and discuss the pictures. The ball-room is resplendent with +the rich apparel of those who, on either side of the white, glistening +boards, await the signal from the orchestra. The footlights of the +theatre flash up; the bell rings, and the curtain rises; and out from +the gorgeous scenery glide the actors, greeted with the vociferation +of the expectant multitudes. Concert-halls are lifted into enchantment +with the warble of one songstress, or swept out on a sea of tumultuous +feeling by the blast of brazen instruments. Drawing-rooms are filled +with all gracefulness of apparel, with all sweetness of sound, with +all splendor of manner; mirrors are catching up and multiplying the +scene, until it seems as if in infinite corridors there were garlanded +groups advancing and retreating. + +The out-door air rings with laughter, and with the moving to and fro +of thousands on the great promenades. The dashing span, adrip with +the foam of the long country ride, rushes past as you halt at the +curb-stone. + +Mirth, revelry, beauty, fashion, magnificence mingle in the great +metropolitan picture, until the thinking man goes home to think more +seriously, and the praying man to pray more earnestly. + +A beautiful and overwhelming thing is the city in the first and second +watches of the night. + +But the clock strikes twelve, and the third watch begins. The thunder +of the city has rolled from the air. Slight sounds now cut the night +with a distinctness that excites your attention. You hear the tinkling +of the bell of the street-car in the far distance; the baying of the +dog; the stamp of the horse in the adjoining street; the slamming of +a saloon door; the hiccoughing of the inebriate; and the shriek of +the steam-whistle five miles away. Solemn and stupendous is this third +watch. There are respectable men abroad. The city missionary is +going up that court, to take a scuttle of coal to a poor family. The +undertaker goes up the steps of that house, from which there comes a +bitter cry, as though the destroying angel had smitten the first-born. +The minister of Jesus passes along; he has been giving the sacrament +to a dying Christian. The physician hastens past, the excited +messenger a few steps ahead, impatient to reach the threshold. Men who +are forced to toil into the midnight are hastening to their pillow. +But the great multitudes are asleep. The lights are out in the +dwellings, save here and there one. That is the light of the watcher, +for the remedies must be administered, and the fever guarded, and the +restless tossing of the coverlet resisted, and the ice kept upon the +temples, and the perpetual prayer offered by hearts soon to be broken. +The street-lamps, standing in long line, reveal the silence and the +slumber of the town. + +Stupendous thought: a great city asleep! Weary arm gathering strength +for to-morrow's toil. Hot brain getting cooled off. Rigid muscles +relaxing. Excited nerves being soothed. White locks of the +octogenarian in thin drifts across the white pillow--fresh fall of +flakes on snow already fallen. Children with dimpled hands thrown put +over the pillow, with every breath inhaling a new store of fun and +frolic. + +Let the great hosts sleep! A slumberless Eye will watch them. Silent +be the alarm-bells and merciful the elements! Let one great wave of +refreshing slumber roll across the heart of the great town, submerging +trouble and weariness and pain. It is the third watch of the night, +and time for the city to sleep. + +But be not deceived. There are thousands of people in the great +town who will not sleep a moment to-night. Go up that dark court. Be +careful, or you will fall over the prostrate form of a drunkard lying +on his own worn step. Look about you, or you will feel the garroter's +hug. Try to look in through that broken pane! What do you see? +Nothing. But listen. What is it? "God help us!" No footlights, but +tragedy--mightier, ghastlier than Ristori or Edwin Booth ever acted. +No bread. No light. No fire. No cover. They lie strewn upon the +floor--two whole families in one room. They shiver in the darkness. +They have had no food to-day. You say: "Why don't they beg?" They did +beg, but got nothing. You say: "Hand them over to the almshouse." + +Ah! they had rather die than go to the almshouse. Have you never heard +the bitter cry of the man or of the child when told that he must go to +the almshouse? + +You say that these are vicious poor, and have brought their own +misfortune on themselves. + +So much the more to be pitied. The Christian poor--God helps them! +Through their night there twinkles the round, merry star of hope, and +through the cracked window-pane of their hovel they see the crystals +of heaven. But the vicious are the more to be pitied. They have no +hope. They are in hell now. They have put out their last light. People +excuse themselves from charity by saying they do not deserve to be +helped. If I have ten prayers for the innocent, I shall have twenty +for the guilty. If a ship be dashed upon the rocks, the fisherman, in +his hut on the beach, will wrap the warmest flannels around those who +are the most chilled and battered. The vicious poor have suffered +two awful wrecks, the wreck of the body, and the wreck of the soul; a +wreck for time and a wreck for eternity. + +Go up that alley! Open the door. It is not locked. They have nothing +to lose. No burglar would want anything that is there. There is only a +broken chair set against the door. Strike a match and look around you. +Beastliness and rags! A shock of hair hanging over the scarred visage. +Eyes glaring upon you. Offer no insult. Be careful what you say. Your +life is not worth much in such a place. See that red mark on the wall. +That is the mark of a murderer's hand. From the corner a wild face +starts out of the straw and moves toward you, just as your light goes +out. + +Strike another match. Here is a little babe. It does not laugh. It +never will laugh. A sea-flower flung on an awfully barren beach: O +that the Shepherd would fold that lamb! Wrap your shawl about you, +for the January wind sweeps in. Strike another match. The face of that +young woman is bruised and gashed now, but a mother once gazed upon it +in ecstasy of fondness. Awful stare of two eyes that seem looking up +from the bottom of woe. Stand back. No hope has dawned on that soul +for years. Hope never will dawn upon it. Utter no scorn. The match has +gone out. Light it not again, for it would seem to be a mockery. + +Pass out! Pass on! Know that there are thousands of such abodes in our +cities. An awful, gloomy, and overwhelming picture is the city in the +third watch. + +After midnight the crime of the city does its chief work. At eight +and a half o'clock in the evening the criminals of the city are at +leisure. They are mostly in the drinking saloons. It needs courage to +do what they propose to do. Rum makes men reckless. They are getting +their brain and hand just right. Toward midnight they go to their +garrets. They gather their tools. Soon after the third watch they +stalk forth, silently, looking out for the police, through the alleys +to their appointed work. This is a burglar; and the door-lock will fly +open at the touch of the false keys. That is an incendiary; and before +morning there will be a light on the sky, and a cry of "Fire! Fire!" +That is an assassin; and a lifeless body will be found to-morrow in +some of the vacant lots. + +During all the day there are hundreds of villains to be found lounging +about, a part of the time asleep, apart of the time awake; but at +twelve to-night they will rouse up, and their eyes will be keen, and +their minds acute, and their arms strong, and their foot fleet to fly +or pursue. Many of them have been brought up to the work. They were +born in a thief's garret. Their childish plaything was a burglar's +dark lantern. As long ago as they can remember, they saw, toward +morning, the mother binding up the father's head, wounded by a +watchman's billet. They began by picking boys' pockets, and now they +can dig an underground passage to the cellar of the bank, or will +blast open the door of the gold vault. So long as the children of the +street are neglected there will be no lack of desperadoes. + +In the third watch of the night the gambling-houses are in full blast. +What though the hours of the night are slipping away, and the wife +sits waiting in the cheerless home! Stir up the fires! Bring on the +drinks! Put up the stakes! A whole fortune may be made before morning! +Some of the firms that two years ago first put out their sign of +copartnership have already foundered on the gambler's table. The +money-drawer in many a mercantile house will this year mysteriously +spring a leak. Gaming is a portentous vice, and is making great efforts +to become respectable. Recently a member of Congress played with a +member elect, carrying off a trophy of one hundred and twenty thousand +dollars. The old-fashioned way of getting a fortune is too slow! Let +us toss up and see who shall have it! + +And so it goes, from the wheezing wretches who pitch pennies in a rum +grocery, to the millionnaire gamblers in the gold-market. + +After midnight the eye of God will look down and see uncounted +gambling-saloons plying their destruction. Passing down the street +to-night, you may hear the wrangling of the gamblers mingling with +the rattle of the dice, and the clear, sharp crack of the balls on the +billiard-table. + +The finest rooms in the city are gambling dens. In gilded parlor, amid +costly tapestry, you may behold these dens of death. These houses have +walls attractive with elaborate fresco and gems of painting--no sham +artist's daub, but a masterpiece. Mantel and table glitter with vases +and statuettes. Divans and lounges with deep cushions, the perfection +of upholstery, invite to rest and repose. Aquaria alive with fins and +strewn with tinged shells and zoophytes. Tufts of geranium, from bead +baskets, suspended mid-room, drop their witching perfume. Fountains +gushing up, sprinkling the air with sparkles, or gushing through the +mouth of the marble lion. Long mirrors, mounted with scrolls and wings +and exquisite carvings, catching and reflecting back the magnificence. +At their doors merchant-princes dismount from their carriages; +official dignitaries enter; legislators, tired of making laws, here +take a respite in breaking them. + +From all classes this crime is gathering its victims: the importer of +foreign silks, and the Chatham street dealer in pocket-handkerchiefs; +clerks taking a game in the store after the shutters are put up; and +officers of the court whiling away the time while the jury are out. In +the woods around Baden Baden, in the morning, it is no rare thing to +find the suspended bodies of suicides. No splendor of surroundings can +hide the dreadful nature of this sin. In the third watch of this very +night, the tears of thousands of orphans and widows will dash up in +those fountains. The thunders of eternal destruction roll in the deep +rumble of that ten-pin alley. And as from respectable circles young +men and old are falling in line of procession, all the drums of woe +begin to beat the dead march of ten thousand souls. + +Seven millions of dollars are annually lost in New York city at the +gaming-table. Some of your own friends may be at it. The agents of +these gaming-houses around our hotels are well dressed. They meet a +stranger in the city; they ask him if he would like to see the city; +he says, "Yes;" they ask him if he has seen that splendid building up +town, and he says "No." "Then," says the villain to the greenhorn, "I +will show you the lions and the elephants." After seeing the lions +and the elephants, I would not give much for a young man's chance for +decency or heaven. He looks in, and sees nothing objectionable; but +let him beware, for he is on enchanted ground. Look out for the men +who have such sleek hats--always sleek hats--and such a patronizing +air, and who are so unaccountably interested in your welfare and +entertainment. All that they want of you is your money. A young man +on Chestnut street, Philadelphia, lost in a night all his money at the +gaming-table, and, before he left the table, blew his brains out; but +before the maid had cleaned up the blood the players were again at the +table, shuffling away. A wolf has more compassion for the lamb whose +blood it licks up; a highwayman more love for the belated traveller +upon whose carcass he piles the stone; the frost more feeling for +the flower it kills; the fire more tenderness for the tree-branch it +consumes; the storm more pity for the ship that it shivers on Long +Island coast, than a gambler's heart has mercy for his victim. + +Deed of darkness unfit for sunlight, or early evening hour! Let it +come forth only when most of the city lights are out, in the third +watch of the night! + +Again, it is after twelve o'clock that drunkenness shows its worst +deformity! At eight or nine o'clock the low saloons are not so +ghastly. At nine o'clock the victims are only talkative. At ten +o'clock they are much flushed. At eleven o'clock their tongue is +thick, and their hat occasionally falls from the head. At twelve they +are nauseated and blasphemous, and not able to rise. At one they fall +to the floor, asking for more drink. At two o'clock, unconscious and +breathing hard. They would not fly though the house took fire. Soaked, +imbruted, dead drunk! They are strewn all over the city, in the +drinking saloons,--fathers, brothers, and sons; men as good as you, +naturally--perhaps better. + +Not so with the higher circles of intoxication. The "gentlemen" coax +their fellow-reveller to bed, or start with him for home, one at each +arm, holding him up; the night air is filled with his hooting and +cursing. He will be helped into his own door. He will fall into the +entry. Hush it up! Let not the children of the house be awakened to +hear the shame. He is one of the merchant princes. + +But you cannot always hush it up. + +Drink makes men mad. One of its victims came home and found that his +wife had died during his absence; and he went into the room where she +had been prepared for the grave, and shook her from the shroud, and +tossed her body out of the window. Where sin is loud and loathsome and +frenzied, it is hard to keep it still. This whole land is soaked with +the abomination. It became so bad in Massachusetts, that the State +arose in indignation; and having appointed agents for the sale of +alcohol for mechanical and medicinal purposes, prohibited the +general traffic under a penalty of five hundred dollars. The popular +proprietors of the Revere, Tremont, and Parker Houses were arrested. +The grog-shops diminished in number from six thousand to six hundred. +God grant that the time may speed on when all the cities and States +shall rouse up, and put their foot upon this abomination. + +As you pass along the streets, night by night, you will see the awful +need that something radical be done. But you do not see the worst. +That will come to pass long after you are sleeping--in the third watch +of the night. + +Oh! ye who have been longing for fields of work, here they are +before you. At the London midnight meetings, thirteen thousand of the +daughters of sin were reformed; and uncounted numbers of men, who were +drunken and debauched, have been redeemed. If from our highest circles +a few score of men and women would go forth among the wandering and +the destitute, they might yet make the darkest alley of the town +kindle with the gladness of heaven. Do not go in your warm furs, and +from your well-laden tables, thinking that pious counsel will stop the +gnawing of empty stomachs or warm their stockingless feet. Take +food and medicine, and raiment, as well as a prayer. When the city +missionary told the destitute woman she ought to love God, she said: +"Ah! if you were as cold and hungry as I am, you could think of +nothing else." + +I am glad to know that not one earnest prayer, not one heartfelt +alms-giving, not one kind word, ever goes unblessed. Among the +mountains of Switzerland there is a place where, if your voice be +uttered, there will come back a score of echoes. But utter a kind, +sympathetic, and saving word in the dark places of the town, and there +will come back ten thousand echoes from all the thrones of heaven. + +There may be some one reading this who knows by experience of the +tragedies enacted in the third watch of the night. I am not the man +to thrust you back with one harsh word. Take off the bandage from your +soul, and put on it the salve of the Saviour's compassion. There +is rest in God for your tired soul. Many have come back from their +wanderings. I see them coming now. Cry up the news to heaven! Set +all the bells a-ringing! Under the high arch spread the banquet of +rejoicing. Let all the crowned heads of heaven come in and keep the +jubilee. I tell you there is more joy in heaven over one man who +reforms than over ninety-and-nine who never got off the track. + +But there is a man who will never return from his evil ways. How many +acts are there in a tragedy? Five, I believe: + +ACT I.--_Young man starting from home. Parents and sisters weeping to +have him go. Wagon passing over the hills. Farewell kiss thrown back. +Ring the bell and let the curtain drop_. + +ACT II.--_Marriage altar. Bright lights. Full organ. White +veil trailing through the aisle. Prayer and congratulation, and +exclamations of "How well she looks!" Ring the bell, and let the +curtain drop_. + +ACT III.--_Midnight. Woman waiting for staggering steps. Old garments +stuck into the broken window-pane. Many marks of hardship on the face. +Biting of the nails of bloodless fingers. Neglect, cruelty, disgrace. +Ring the bell, and let the curtain drop_. + +ACT IV.--_Three graves in a very dark place. Grave of child who died +from lack of medicine. Grave of wife who died of a broken heart. Grave +of husband and father who died of dissipation. Plenty of weeds, but no +flowers. O what a blasted heath with three graves! Ring the bell, and +let the curtain drop_. + +ACT V.--_A destroyed soul's eternity. No light; no music; no hope! +Despair coiling around the heart with unutterable anguish. Blackness +of darkness forever_. + +Woe! Woe! Woe! I cannot bear longer to look. I close my eyes at this +last act of the tragedy. Quick! Quick! Ring the bell and let the +curtain drop. + + + + +THE INDISCRIMINATE DANCE. + + +It is the anniversary of Herod's birthday. The palace is lighted. The +highways leading thereto are ablaze with the pomp of invited guests. +Lords, captains, merchant princes, and the mightiest men of the realm +are on the way to mingle in the festivities. The tables are filled +with all the luxuries that the royal purveyors can gather,--spiced +wines, and fruits, and rare meats. The guests, white-robed, anointed +and perfumed, take their places. Music! The jests evoke roars of +laughter. Riddles are propounded. Repartees indulged. Toasts drunk. +The brain befogged. Wit gives place to uproar and blasphemy. And yet +they are not satisfied. Turn on more light. Give us more music. Sound +the trumpet. Clear the floor for the dance. Bring in Salome, the +graceful and accomplished princess. + +The doors are opened and in bounds the dancer. Stand back and give +plenty of room for the gyrations. The lords are enchanted. They never +saw such poetry of motion. Their souls whirl in the reel, and bound +with the bounding feet. Herod forgets crown and throne,--everything +but the fascinations of Salome. The magnificence of his realm is as +nothing compared with that which now whirls before him on tiptoe. His +heart is in transport with Salome as her arms are now tossed in +the air, and now placed akimbo. He sways with every motion of the +enchantress. He thrills with the quick pulsations of her feet, and is +bewitched with the posturing and attitudes that he never saw before, +in a moment exchanged for others just as amazing. He sits in silence +before the whirling, bounding, leaping, flashing wonder. And when +the dance stops, and the tinkling cymbals pause, and the long, loud +plaudits that shook the palace with their thunders had abated, the +entranced monarch swears unto the princely performer: "Whatsoever thou +shalt ask of me I will give it to thee, to the half of my kingdom." + +Now there was in prison a minister by the name of John the Baptist, +who had made much trouble by his honest preaching. He had denounced +the sins of the king, and brought down upon himself the wrath of the +females in the royal family. At the instigation of her mother, Salome +takes advantage of the king's extravagant promise and demands the head +of John the Baptist on a dinner-plate. + +There is a sound of heavy feet, and the clatter of swords outside of +the palace. Swing back the door. The executioners are returning, from +their awful errand. They hand a platter to Salome. What is that on the +platter? A new tankard of wine to rekindle the mirth of the lords? No! +It is redder than wine, and costlier. It is the ghastly, bleeding head +of John the Baptist! Its locks dabbled in gore. Its eyes set in the +death-stare. The distress of the last agony in the features. That +fascinating form, that just now swayed so gracefully in the dance, +bends over the horrid burden without a shudder. She gloats over the +blood; and just as the maid of your household goes, bearing out on a +tray the empty glasses of the evening's entertainment, so she carried +out on a platter the dissevered head of that good man, while all the +banqueters shouted, and thought it a grand joke, that, in such a brief +and easy way, they had freed themselves from such a plain-spoken, +troublesome minister. + +What could be more innocent than a birthday festival? All the kings +from the time of Pharaoh had celebrated such days; and why not Herod? +It was right that the palace should be lighted, and that the cymbals +should clap, and that the royal guests should go to a banquet; but, +before the rioting and wassail that closed the scene of that day, +every pure nature revolts. + +Behold the work, the influence, and the end of an infamous dancer! + +I am, by natural temperament and religious theory, utterly opposed +to the position of those who are horrified at every demonstration +of mirth and playfulness in social life, and who seem to think that +everything, decent and immortal, depends upon the style in which +people carry their feet. On the other hand, I can see nothing but +ruin, moral and physical, in the dissipations of the ball-room, which +have despoiled thousands of young men and women of all that gives +dignity to character, or usefulness to life. + +Dancing has been styled "the graceful movement of the body adjusted +by art, to the measures or tune of instruments, or of the voice." All +nations have danced. The ancients thought that Pollux and Castor at +first taught the practice to the Lacedęmonians; but, whatever be its +origin, all climes have adopted it. + +In other days there were festal dances, and funeral dances, and +military dances, and "mediatorial" dances, and bacchanalian dances. +Queens and lords have swayed to and fro in their gardens; and the +rough men of the backwoods in this way have roused up the echo of the +forest. There seems to be something in lively and coherent sounds to +evoke the movement of hand and foot, whether cultured or uncultured. +Men passing the street unconsciously keep step to the music of the +band; and Christians in church unconsciously find themselves keeping +time with their feet, while their soul is uplifted by some great +harmony. Not only is this true in cultured life, but the red men of +Oregon have their scalp dances, and green-corn dances, and war dances. +It is, therefore, no abstract question that you ask me--Is it right to +dance? + +The ancient fathers, aroused by the indecent dances of those days, +gave emphatic evidence against any participation in the dance. St. +Chrysostom says:--"The feet were not given for dancing, but to walk +modestly; not to leap impudently like camels." + +One of the dogmas of the ancient church reads: "A dance is the devil's +possession; and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his +possession. The devil is the gate to the middle and to the end of the +dance. As many passes as a man makes in dancing, so many passes doth +he make to hell." Elsewhere, these old dogmas declare--"The woman +that singeth in the dance is the princess of the devil; and those +that answer are his clerks; and the beholders are his friends, and +the music are his bellows, and the fiddlers are the ministers of the +devil; for, as when hogs are strayed, if the hogs'-herd call one, +all assemble together, so the devil calleth one woman to sing in the +dance, or to play on some instrument, and presently all the dancers +gather together." + +This wholesale and indiscriminate denunciation grew out of the utter +dissoluteness of those ancient plays. So great at one time was the +offence to all decency, that the Roman Senate decreed the expulsion of +all dancers and dancing-masters from Rome. + +Yet we are not to discuss the customs of that day, but the customs of +the present. We cannot let the fathers decide the question for us. +Our reason, enlightened by the Bible, shall be the standard. I am not +ready to excommunicate all those who lift their feet beyond a certain +height. I would not visit our youth with a rigor of criticism that +would put out all their ardor of soul. I do not believe that all the +inhabitants of Wales, who used to step to the sound of the rustic +pibcorn, went down to ruin. I would give to all of our youth the right +to romp and play. God meant it, or he would not have surcharged +our natures with such exuberance. If a mother join hands with her +children, and while the eldest strikes the keys, fill all the house +with the sound of agile feet, I see no harm. If a few friends, +gathered in happy circle, conclude to cross and recross the room to +the sound of the piano well played, I see no harm. I for a long while +tried to see in it a harm, but I never could, and I probably never +will. I would to God men kept young for a greater length of time. +Never since my school-boy days have I loved so well as now the +hilarities of life. What if we have felt heavy burdens, and suffered a +multitude of hard knocks, is it any reason why we should stand in the +path of those who, unstung by life's misfortunes, are exhilarated and +full of glee? + +God bless the young! They will have to live many a day if they want to +hear me say one word to dampen their ardor or clip their wings, or +to throw a cloud upon their life by telling them that it is hard, +and dark, and doleful. It is no such thing. You will meet with many a +trial; but, speaking from my own experience, let me tell you that you +will be treated a great deal better than you deserve. + +Let us not grudge to the young their joy. As we go further on in life, +let us go with the remembrance that we have had our gleeful days. When +old age frosts our locks, and stiffens our limbs, let us not block up +the way, but say, "We had our good times: now let others have theirs." +As our children come on, let us cheerfully give them our places. How +glad will I be to let them have everything,--my house, my books, my +place in society, my heritage! By the time we get old we will have had +our way long enough. Then let our children come on and we'll have it +their way. For thirty, forty, or fifty years, we have been drinking +from the cup of life; and we ought not to complain if called to pass +the cup along and let others take a drink. + +But, while we have a right to the enjoyments of life, we never will +countenance sinful indulgences. I here set forth a group of what +might be called the dissipations of the ball-room. They swing an awful +scythe of death. Are we to stand idly by, and let the work go on, lest +in the rebuke we tread upon the long trail of some popular vanity? The +whirlpool of the ball-room drags down the life, the beauty, and the +moral worth of the city. In this whirlwind of imported silks goes out +the life of many of our best families. Bodies and souls innumerable +are annually consumed in this conflagration of ribbons. + +This style of dissipation is the abettor of pride, the instigator of +jealousy, the sacrificial altar of health, the defiler of the soul, +the avenue of lust, and the curse of the town. The tread of this wild, +intoxicating, heated midnight dance jars all the moral hearthstones of +the city. The physical ruin is evident. What will become of those +who work all day and dance all night? A few years will turn them out +nervous, exhausted imbeciles. Those who have given up their midnights +to spiced wines, and hot suppers, and ride home through winter's cold, +unwrapped from the elements, will at last be recorded suicides. + +There is but a short step from the ball-room to the grave-yard. There +are consumptions and fierce neuralgias close on the track. Amid that +glittering maze of ball-room splendors, diseases stand right and left, +and balance and chain. A sepulchral breath floats up amid the perfume, +and the froth of death's lip bubbles up in the champagne. + +Many of our brightest homes are being sacrificed. There are families +that have actually quit keeping house, and gone to boarding, that +they may give themselves more exclusively to the higher duties of +the ball-room. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, finding +their highest enjoyment in the dance, bid farewell to books, to quiet +culture, to all the amenities of home. The father will, after a while, +go down into lower dissipations. The son will be tossed about +in society, a nonentity. The daughter will elope with a French +dancing-master. The mother, still trying to stay in the glitter, +and by every art attempting to keep the color in her cheek, and the +wrinkles off her brow, attempting, without any success, all the arts +of the belle,--an old flirt, a poor, miserable butterfly without any +wings. + +If anything on the earth is beautiful to my eye, it is an aged woman; +her hair floating back over the wrinkled brow, not frosted, but white +with the blossoms of the tree of life; her voice tender with +past memories, and her face a benediction. The children pull at +grandmother's dress as she passes through the room, and almost pull +her down in her weakness; yet she has nothing but a cake, or a candy, +or a kind word for the little darlings. When she goes away from us +there is a shadow on the table, a shadow on the hearth, and a shadow +in the dwelling. + +But if anything on earth is distressful to look at, it is an old woman +ashamed of being old. What with paint and false hair, she is too much +for my gravity. I laugh, even in church, when I see her coming. One of +the worst looking birds I know of is a peacock after it has lost its +feathers. I would not give one lock of my mother's gray hair for fifty +thousand such caricatures of old age. The first time you find these +faithful disciples of the ball-room diligently engaged and happy in +the duties of the home circle, send me word, for I would go a great +way to see such a phenomenon. These creatures have no home. Their +children unwashed. Their furniture undusted. Their china closets +disordered. The house a scene of confusion, misrule, cheerlessness, +and dirt. One would think you might discover even amid the witcheries +of the ball-room the sickening odors of the unswept, unventilated, and +unclean domestic apartments. + +These dissipations extinguish all love of usefulness. How could you +expect one to be interested in the alleviations of the world's misery, +while there is a question to be decided about the size of a glove +or the shade of a pongee? How many of these men and women of the +ball-room visit the poor, or help dress the wounds of a returned +soldier in the hospital? When did the world ever see a perpetual +dancer distributing tracts? Such persons are turned in upon +themselves. And it is very poor pasture! + +This gilded sphere is utterly bedwarfing to intellect and soul. This +constant study of little things; this harassing anxiety about +dress; this talk of fashionable infinitesimals; this shoe-pinched, +hair-frizzled, fringe-spattered group--that simper and look askance +at the mirrors and wonder, with infinity of interest, "how that one +geranium leaf does look;" this shrivelling up of man's moral dignity, +until it is no more observable with the naked eye; this taking of a +woman's heart, that God meant should be filled with all amenities, +and compressing it until all the fragrance, and simplicity, and +artlessness are squeezed out of it; this inquisition of a small shoe; +this agony of tight lacing; this wrapping up of mind and heart in +a ruffle; this tumbling down of a soul that God meant for great +upliftings! + +I prophesy the spiritual ruin of all participators in this rivalry. +Have the white, polished, glistening boards ever been the road to +heaven? Who at the flash of those chandeliers hath kindled a torch +for eternity? From the table spread at the close of that excited and +besweated scene, who went home to say his prayers? + +To many, alas! this life is a masquerade ball. As, at such +entertainments, gentlemen and ladies appear in the dress of kings +or queens, mountain bandits or clowns, and at the close of the dance +throw off their disguises, so, in this dissipated life, all unclean +passions move in mask. Across the floor they trip merrily. The lights +sparkle along the wall, or drop from the ceiling--a very cohort of +fire! The music charms. The diamonds glitter. The feet bound. Gemmed +hands, stretched out, clasp gemmed hands. Dancing feet respond to +dancing feet. Gleaming brow bends low to gleaming brow. On with the +dance! Flash, and rustle, and laughter, and immeasurable merry-making! +But the languor of death comes over the limbs, and blurs the sight. +_Lights lower!_ Floor hollow with sepulchral echo. Music saddens into +a wail. _Lights lower!_ The maskers can hardly now be seen. Flowers +exchange their fragrance for a sickening odor, such as comes from +garlands that have lain in vaults of cemeteries. _Lights lower!_ Mists +fill the room. Glasses rattle as though shaken by sullen thunder. +Sighs seem caught among the curtains. Scarf falls from the shoulder of +beauty,--a shroud! _Lights lower!_ Over the slippery boards, in dance +of death, glide jealousies, disappointments, lust, despair. Torn +leaves and withered garlands only half hide the ulcered feet. +The stench of smoking lamp-wicks almost quenched. Choking damps. +Chilliness. Feet still. Hands folded. Eyes shut. Voices hushed. + +LIGHTS OUT! + + + + +THE MASSACRE BY NEEDLE AND SEWING-MACHINE. + + +Very long ago the needle was busy. It was considered honorable for +women to toil in olden time. Alexander the Great stood in his palace +showing garments made by his own mother. The finest tapestries at +Bayeux were made by the Queen of William the Conqueror. Augustus the +Emperor would not wear any garments except those that were fashioned +by some member of his royal family. So let the toiler everywhere be +respected! + +The greatest blessing that could have happened to our first parents +was being turned out of Eden after they had done wrong. Adam and Eve, +in their perfect state, might have got along without work, or only +such slight employment as a perfect garden, with no weeds in it, +demanded. But, as soon as they had sinned, the best thing for them +was to be turned out where they would have to work. We know what a +withering thing it is for a man to have nothing to do. Old Ashbel +Green, at fourscore years, when asked why he kept on working, said, +"I do so to keep out of mischief." We see that a man who has a +large amount of money to start with has no chance. Of the thousand +prosperous and honorable men that you know, nine hundred and +ninety-nine had to work vigorously at the beginning. + +But I am now to tell you that industry is just as important for +a woman's safety and happiness. The most unhappy women in our +communities to-day are those who have no engagements to call them up +in the morning; who, once having risen and breakfasted, lounge through +the dull forenoon in slippers down at the heel and with dishevelled +hair, reading George Sand's last novel; and who, having dragged +through a wretched forenoon and taken their afternoon sleep, and +having spent an hour and a half at their toilet, pick up their +card-case and go out to make calls; and who pass their evenings +waiting for somebody to come in and break up the monotony. Arabella +Stuart never was imprisoned in so dark a dungeon as that. + +There is no happiness in an idle woman. It may be with hand, it may +be with brain, it may be with foot; but work she must, or be wretched +forever. The little girls of our families must be started with that +idea. The curse of our American society is that our young women are +taught that the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, +tenth, fiftieth, thousandth thing in their life is to get somebody to +take care of them. Instead of that, the first lesson should be, how, +under God, they may take care of themselves. The simple fact is that +a majority of them do have to take care of themselves, and that, too, +after having, through the false notions of their parents, wasted the +years in which they ought to have learned how successfully to maintain +themselves. We now and here declare the inhumanity, cruelty, and +outrage of that father and mother, who pass their daughters into +womanhood, having given them no facility for earning their livelihood. +Madame de Staėl said: "It is not these writings that I am proud of, +but the fact that I have facility in ten occupations, in any one of +which I could make a livelihood." + +You say you have a fortune to leave them. O man and woman! have you +not learned that, like vultures, like hawks, like eagles, riches +have wings and fly away? Though you should be successful in leaving +a competency behind you, the trickery of executors may swamp it in +a night; or some elders or deacons of our churches may get up an +oil company, or some sort of religious enterprise sanctioned by the +church, and induce your orphans to put their money into a hole in +Venango County; and if, by the most skilful derricks, the sunken money +cannot be pumped up again, prove to them that it was eternally decreed +that that was the way they were to lose it, and that it went in the +most orthodox and heavenly style. + +O the damnable schemes that professed Christians will engage in--until +God puts his fingers into the collar of the hypocrite's robe and rips +it clear down to the bottom! + +You have no right, because you are well off, to conclude that your +children are going to be as well off. A man died, leaving a large +fortune. His son, a few months ago, fell dead in a Philadelphia +grog-shop. His old comrades came in and said, as they bent over his +corpse: "What is the matter with you, Boggsey?" The surgeon standing +over him said: "Hush up! he is dead!"--"Ah, he is dead!" they said. +"Come, boys, let us go and take a drink in memory of poor Boggsey!" + +Have you nothing better than money to leave your children? If you +have not, but send your daughters into the world with empty brain and +unskilled hand, you are guilty of assassination, homicide, regicide, +infanticide--compared with which that of poor Hester Vaughan was +innocence. There are women toiling in our cities for three and four +dollars per week, who were the daughters of merchant princes. These +suffering ones now would be glad to have the crumbs that once fell +from their father's table. That worn-out, broken shoe that she wears +is the lineal descendant of the twelve-dollar gaiters in which +her mother walked; and that torn and faded calico had ancestry of +magnificent brocade, that swept Broadway clean without any expense to +the street commissioners. Though you live in an elegant residence, and +fare sumptuously every day, let your daughters feel it is a disgrace +to them not to know how to work. I denounce the idea, prevalent in +society, that though our young women may embroider slippers, and +crochet, and make mats for lamps to stand on, without disgrace, the +idea of doing anything for a livelihood is dishonorable. It is a shame +for a young woman, belonging to a large family, to be inefficient when +the father toils his life away for her support. It is a shame for a +daughter to be idle while her mother toils at the wash-tub. It is as +honorable to sweep house, make beds, or trim hats, as it is to twist a +watch-chain. + +As far as I can understand, the line of respectability lies between +that which is useful and that which is useless. If women do that which +is of no value, their work is honorable. If they do practical work, it +is dishonorable. That our young women may escape the censure of doing +dishonorable work, I shall particularize. You may knit a tidy for the +back of an armchair, but by no means make the money wherewith to buy +the chair. You may, with delicate brush, beautify a mantel-ornament, +but die rather than earn enough to buy a marble mantel. You may +learn artistic music until you can squall Italian, but never sing +"Ortonville" or "Old Hundred." Do nothing practical, if you would, in +the eyes of refined society, preserve your respectability. + +I scout these finical notions. I tell you a woman, no more than a man, +has a right to occupy a place in this world unless she pays a rent for +it. + +In the course of a lifetime you consume whole harvests, and droves of +cattle, and every day you live breathe forty hogsheads of good pure +air. You must, by some kind of usefulness, _pay_ for all this. Our +race was the last thing created,--the birds and fishes on the fourth +day, the cattle and lizards on the fifth day, and man on the sixth +day. If geologists are right, the earth was a million of years in the +possession of the insects, beasts, and birds, before our race came +upon it. In one sense, we were innovators. The cattle, the lizards, +and the hawks had pre-emption right. The question is not what we are +to do with the lizards and summer insects, but what the lizards and +summer insects are to do with us. + +If we want a place in this world we must _earn_ it. The partridge +makes its own nest before it occupies it. The lark, by its morning +song, earns its breakfast before it eats it; and the Bible gives an +intimation that the first duty of an idler is to starve, when it +says if he "will not work, neither shall he eat." Idleness ruins the +health; and very soon Nature says, "This man has refused to pay his +rent; out with him!" + +Society is to be reconstructed on the subject of woman's toil. A vast +majority of those who would have woman industrious shut her up to a +few kinds of work. My judgment in this matter is, that a woman has a +right to do anything she can do well. There should be no department +of merchandise, mechanism, art, or science barred against her. If Miss +Hosmer has genius for sculpture, give her a chisel. If Rosa Bonheur +has a fondness for delineating animals, let her make "The Horse +Fair." If Miss Mitchell will study astronomy, let her mount the starry +ladder. If Lydia will be a merchant, let her sell purple. If Lucretia +Mott will preach the Gospel, let her thrill with her womanly eloquence +the Quaker meeting-house. + +It is said, if woman is given such opportunities, she will occupy +places that might be taken by men. I say, if she have more skill and +adaptedness for any position than a man has, let her have it! She has +as much right to her bread, to her apparel, and to her home, as men +have. + +But it is said that her nature is so delicate that she is unfitted for +exhausting toil. I ask, in the name of all past history, what toil on +earth is more severe, exhausting, and tremendous than that toil of the +needle to which for ages she has been subjected? The battering-ram, +the sword, the carbine, the battle-axe have made no such havoc as the +needle. I would that these living sepulchres in which women have for +ages been buried might be opened, and that some resurrection trumpet +might bring up these living corpses to the fresh air and sunlight. + +Go with me, and I will show you a woman who, by hardest toil, supports +her children, her drunken husband, her old father and mother, pays her +house-rent, always has wholesome food on her table, and, when she +can get some neighbor on the Sabbath to come in and take care of +her family, appears in church, with hat and cloak that are far from +indicating the toil to which she is subjected. + +Such a woman as that has body and soul enough to fit her for _any_ +position. She could stand beside the majority of your salesmen and +dispose of more goods. She could go into your wheelwright shops and +beat one-half of your workmen at making carriages. We talk about woman +as though we had resigned to her all the light work, and ourselves had +shouldered the heavier. But the day of judgment, which will reveal +the sufferings of the stake and inquisition, will marshal before the +throne of God and the hierarchs of heaven the martyrs of wash-tub and +needle. + +Now, I say, if there be any preference in occupation, let woman have +it. God knows her trials are the severest. By her acuter sensitiveness +to misfortune, by her hour of anguish, I demand that no one hedge up +her pathway to a livelihood. O the meanness, the despicability of +men who begrudge a woman the right to work anywhere, in any honorable +calling! + +I go still further, and say that women should have equal compensation +with men. By what principle of justice is it that women in many of our +cities get only two-thirds as much pay as men, and in many cases only +half? Here is the gigantic injustice--that for work equally well, if +not better done, woman receives far less compensation than man. Start +with the National Government: women clerks in Washington get nine +hundred dollars for doing that for which men receive eighteen hundred. + +To thousands of young women of New York to-day there is only this +alternative: starvation or dishonor. Many of the largest mercantile +establishments of our cities are accessory to these abominations; +and from their large establishments there are scores of souls being +pitched off into death; _and their employers know it!_ + +Is there a God? Will there be a judgment? I tell you, if God rises up +to redress woman's wrongs, many of our large establishments will be +swallowed up quicker than a South-American earthquake ever took down +a city. God will catch these oppressors between the two mill-stones of +his wrath, and grind them to powder! + +Why is it that a female principal in a school gets only eight hundred +and twenty-five dollars for doing work for which a male principal gets +sixteen hundred and fifty? + +I hear from all this land the wail of woman-hood. Man has nothing to +answer to that wail but flatteries. He says she is an angel. She is +not. She knows she is not. She is a human being, who gets hungry +when she has no food, and cold when she has no fire. Give her no more +flatteries: give her _justice!_ + +There are thirty-five thousand sewing-girls in New York and Brooklyn. +Across the darkness of this night I hear their death-groan. It is not +such a cry as comes from those who are suddenly hurled out of life, +but a slow, grinding, horrible wasting away. Gather them before you +and look into their faces, pinched, ghastly, hunger-struck! Look at +their fingers, needle-picked and blood-tipped! See that premature +stoop in the shoulders! Hear that dry, hacking, merciless cough! + +At a large meeting of these women, held in a hall in Philadelphia, +grand speeches were delivered, but a needle-woman took the stand, +threw aside her faded shawl, and, with her shrivelled arm, hurled a +very thunder-bolt of eloquence, speaking out of the horrors of her own +experience. + +Stand at the corner of a street in New York at half-past five or six +o'clock in the morning, as the women go to their work. Many of them +had no breakfast except the crumbs that were left over from the night +before, or a crust they chew on their way through the street. Here +they come! the working girls of New York and Brooklyn! These engaged +in bead-work, these in flower-making, in millinery, enamelling, cigar +making, book-binding, labelling, feather-picking, print-coloring, +paper-box making, but, most overworked of all, and least compensated, +the sewing-women. Why do they not take the city-cars on their way +up? They cannot afford the five cents! If, concluding to deny herself +something else, she get into the car, give her a seat! You want to see +how Latimer and Ridley appeared in the fire: look at that woman and +behold a more horrible martyrdom, a hotter fire, a more agonizing +death! Ask that woman how much she gets for her work, and she will +tell you six cents for making coarse shirts, and finds her own thread! + +Last Sabbath night, in the vestibule of my church, after service, a +woman fell in convulsions. The doctor said she needed medicine not so +much as something to eat. As she began to revive in her delirium, +she said, gaspingly: "Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight cents! I wish I +could get it done! I am so tired! I wish I could get some sleep, but I +must get it done! Eight cents! Eight cents!" We found afterwards that +she was making garments for eight cents apiece, and that she could +make but three of them in a day! Hear it! Three times eight are +twenty-four! Hear it, men and women who have comfortable homes! + +Some of the worst villains of the city are the employers of these +women. They beat them down to the last penny, and try to cheat them +out of that. The woman must deposit a dollar or two before she +gets the garments to work on. When the work is done it is sharply +inspected, the most insignificant flaws picked out, and the wages +refused, and sometimes the dollar deposited not given back. The +Women's Protective Union reports a case where one of these poor souls, +finding a place where she could get more wages, resolved to change +employers, and went to get her pay for work done. The employer says: +"I hear you are going to leave me?"--"Yes," she said, "and I have come +to get what you owe me." He made no answer. She said: "Are you not +going to pay me?"--"Yes," he said, "I will pay you;" and _he kicked +her down the stairs_. + +How are these evils to be eradicated? What have you to answer, you +who sell coats, and have shoes made, and contract for the Southern and +Western markets? What help is there, what panacea, what redemption? +Some say: "Give women the ballot." What effect such ballot might have +on other questions I am not here to discuss; but what would be the +effect of female suffrage upon woman's wages? I do not believe that +woman will ever get justice by woman's ballot. + +Indeed, women oppress women as much as men do. Do not women, as much +as men, beat down to the lowest figure the woman who sews for them? +Are not women as sharp as men on washerwomen, and milliners, and +mantua-makers? If a woman asks a dollar for her work, does not her +female employer ask her if she will not take ninety cents? You say +"only ten cents difference;" but that is sometimes the difference +between heaven and hell. Women often have less commiseration for women +than men. If a woman steps aside from the path of virtue, man may +forgive,--woman never! Woman will never get justice done her from +woman's ballot. + +Neither will she get it from man's ballot. How, then? God will rise +up for her. God has more resources than we know of. The flaming sword +that hung at Eden's gate when woman was driven out will cleave with +its terrible edge her oppressors. + +But there is something for our women to do. Let our young people +prepare to excel in spheres of work, and they will be able, after +a while, to get larger wages. If it be shown that a woman can, in a +store, sell more goods in a year than a man, she will soon be able +not only to ask but to _demand_ more wages, and to demand them +successfully. Unskilled and incompetent labor must take what is given; +skilled and competent labor will eventually make its own standard. +Admitting that the law of supply and demand regulates these things, +I contend that the demand for skilled labor is very great, and the +supply very small. + +Start with the idea that work is _honorable_, and that you can do some +one thing better than any one else. Resolve that, God helping, you +will take care of yourself. If you are, after a while, called into +another relation, you will all the better be qualified for it by your +spirit of self-reliance; or if you are called to stay as you are, you +can be happy and self-supporting. + +Poets are fond of talking about man as an oak, and woman the vine that +climbs it; but I have seen many a tree fall that not only went down +itself, but took all the vines with it. I can tell you of something +stronger than an oak for an ivy to climb on, and that is the throne of +the great Jehovah. Single or affianced, that woman is strong who leans +on God and does her best. The needle may break; the factory-band may +slip; the wages may fail; but, over every good woman's head there are +spread the two great, gentle, stupendous wings of the Almighty. + +Many of you will go single-handed through life, and you will have to +choose between two characters. Young woman, I am sure you will turn +your back upon the useless, giggling, painted nonentity which society +ignominiously acknowledges to be a woman, and ask God to make you an +humble, active, earnest Christian. + +What will become of this godless disciple of fashion? What an insult +to her sex! Her manners are an outrage upon decency. She is more +thoughtful of the attitude she strikes upon the carpet than how she +will look in the judgment; more worried about her freckles than her +sins; more interested in her bonnet-strings than in her redemption. +Her apparel is the poorest part of a Christian woman, however +magnificently dressed, and no one has so much right to dress well as +a Christian. Not so with the godless disciple of fashion. Take her +robes, and you take everything. Death will come down on her some day, +and rub the bistre off her eyelids, and the rouge off her cheeks, and +with two rough, bony hands, scatter spangles and glass beads and rings +and ribbons and lace and brooches and buckles and sashes and frisettes +and golden clasps. + +The dying actress whose life had been vicious said: "The scene closes. +Draw the curtain." Generally the tragedy comes first, and the farce +afterward; but in her life it was first the farce of a useless life, +and then the tragedy of a wretched eternity. + +Compare the life and death of such an one with that of some Christian +aunt that was once a blessing to your household. I do not know that +she was ever offered the hand in marriage. She lived single, that +untrammelled she might be everybody's blessing. Whenever the sick were +to be visited, or the poor to be provided with bread, she went with a +blessing. She could pray, or sing "Rock of Ages," for any sick pauper +who asked her. As she got older, there were days when she was a little +sharp, but for the most part Auntie was a sunbeam--just the one for +Christmas-eve. She knew better than any one else how to fix things. +Her every prayer, as God heard it, was full of everybody who had +trouble. The brightest things in all the house dropped from her +fingers. She had peculiar notions, but the grandest notion she ever +had was to make you happy. She dressed well--Auntie always dressed +well; but her highest adornment was that of a meek and quiet spirit, +which, in the sight of God, is of great price. When she died, you all +gathered lovingly about her; and as you carried her out to rest, the +Sunday-school class almost covered the coffin with japonicas; and the +poor people stood at the end of the alley, with their aprons to their +eyes, sobbing bitterly; and the man of the world said, with Solomon, +"Her price was above rubies;" and Jesus, as unto the maiden in Judea, +commanded: "I SAY UNTO THEE, ARISE!" + + + + +PICTURES IN THE STOCK GALLERY. + + +[NOTE.--This chapter, though largely devoted to "Oil," is to be +construed as reaching any other "Kite" that the stock gambler +flies--any other scheme which his unprincipled ideas of right and +wrong will permit him to work to his own gain and others' loss. +The oil mania was only a more popular or attractive _vice_ of the +stock-boards, which is reproduced, in spirit and motive, almost every +month of the year.] + +At my entrance upon this discussion, I must deplore the indiscriminate +terms of condemnation employed by many well-meaning persons in regard +to stock operations. The business of the stock-broker is just as +legitimate and necessary as that of a dealer in clothes, groceries, or +hardware; and a man may be as pure-minded and holy a Christian at the +Board of Brokers as in a prayer-meeting. The broker is, in the sight +of God, as much entitled to his commissions as any hard-working +mechanic is entitled to his day's wages. Any man has as much right +to make money by the going up of stocks as by the going up of sugar, +rice, or tea. The inevitable board-book that the operator carries in +his hand may be as pure as the clothing merchant's ledger. It is +the work of the brokers to facilitate business; to make transfer of +investment; to watch and report the tides of business; to assist the +merchant in lawful enterprises. + +Because there are men in this department of business, sharp, +deceitful, and totally iniquitous, you have no right to denounce the +entire class. Importers, shoe-dealers, lumbermen, do not want to be +held responsible for the moral deficits of their comrades in business. +Neither have you a right to excoriate those who are conscientiously +operating through the channels spoken of. If they take a risk, so do +all business men. The merchant who buys silk at five dollars per yard +takes his chances; he expects it to go up to six dollars; it may fall +to four dollars. If a man, by straightforward operations in stocks, +meets with disaster and fails, he deserves sympathy just as much as he +who sold spices or calicoes, and through some miscalculation is struck +down bankrupt. + +We have no right to impose restrictions upon this class of men that +we impose upon no other. What right have you to denounce the operation +"buyer--ten days" or "buyer--twenty days," when you take a house, +"buyer--three hundred and sixty-five days?" Perhaps the entire payment +is to be made at the end of a year, when you do not know but that, by +that time, you will be penniless. Give all men their due, if you would +hold beneficent influence over them. Do not be too rough in pulling +out the weeds, lest you uproot also the marigolds and verbenas. In +the Board of Brokers there are some of the most conscientious, +upright Christian men of our cities--men who would scorn a lie, or a +subterfuge. Indeed, there are men in these boards who might, in some +respects, teach a lesson of morality to other commercial circles. + +I will not deny that there are special temptations connected with this +business even when carried on legitimately. So there are dangers to +the engineer on a railroad. He does not know what night he may dash +into the coal-train. But engines must be run, and stocks must be sold. +A nervous, excitable man ought to be very slow to undertake either the +engine or the Stock Exchange. + +A clever young man, of twenty-five years of age, bought ten shares in +the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. The stock went up five dollars per +share, and he made fifty dollars by the operation. His mother, +knowing his temperament, said to him, "I wish you had lost it." But, +encouraged, he entered another operation, and took ten shares in +another railroad and made two hundred dollars. By this time he was +ready for the wildest scheme. He lost, in three years, forty thousand +dollars, ruined his health, and broke his wife's heart. Her father +supports them chiefly now. The unfortunate has a shingle up, in a +small court, among low operators. Such a man as this is unfit for this +commercial sphere. He would have been unfit for a pilot, unfit for +military command, unfit for any place that demands steady nerve, cool +brain, and well-balanced temperament. + +But, while there is a legitimate sphere for the broker and operator, +there are transactions every day undertaken in our cities that can +only be characterized as superb outrage and villany; and there are +members of Christian churches who have been guilty of speculations +that, in the last day, will blanch their cheek, and thunder them +down to everlasting companionship with the lowest gamblers that ever +pitched pennies for a drink. + +It is not necessary that I should draw the difficult line between +honorable and dishonorable speculation. God has drawn it through every +man's conscience. The broker guilty of "cornering" as well knows that +he is sinning against God and man, as though the flame of Mount Sinai +singed his eyebrows. He hears that a brother broker has sold "short," +and immediately goes about with a wise look, saying: "Erie is going +down--Erie is going down; prepare for it." Immediately the people +begin to sell; he buys up the stock; monopolizes the whole affair; +drags down the man who sold short; makes largely, pockets the gain, +and thanks the Lord for great prosperity in business. You call it +"cornering." I call it gambling, theft, highway robbery, villany +accursed. + +It is astonishing how some men, who are kind in their families, useful +in the church, charitable to the poor, are utterly transformed of the +devil as soon as they enter the Stock Exchange. A respectable member +of one of the churches of the city went into a broker's office and +said: "Get me one hundred shares of Reading, and carry it; I will +leave a margin of five hundred dollars." Instead of going up, +according to anticipation, the stock fell. Every few days the operator +called to ask the broker what success. The stock still declined. The +operator was so terribly excited that the broker asked him what was +the matter. He replied: "To tell you the truth, I borrowed that five +hundred dollars that I lost, and, in anticipation of what I was sure I +was going to get by the operation, I made a very large subscription to +the Missionary Society." + +The nation has become so accustomed to frauds that no astonishment is +excited thereby. The public conscience has for many years been utterly +debauched by what were called fancy stocks, morus multicaulis, Western +city enterprises, and New England developments. + +If a man find on his farm something as large as the head of a pin, +that, in a strong sunlight, sparkles a little, a gold company is +formed; books are opened; working capital declared; a select number +go in on the "ground floor;" and the estates of widows and orphans +are swept into the vortex. Very little discredit is connected with any +such transaction, if it is only on a large scale. We cannot bear small +and insignificant dishonesties, but take off our hats and bow almost +to the ground in the presence of the man who has made one hundred +thousand dollars by one swindle. A woman was arrested in the streets +of one of our cities for selling molasses candy on Sunday. She was +tried, condemned, and imprisoned. Coming out of prison, she went into +the same business and sold molasses candy on Sunday. Again she was +arrested, condemned, and imprisoned. On coming out--showing the total +depravity of a woman's heart--she again went into the same business, +and sold molasses candy on Sunday. Whereupon the police, the mayor and +the public sentiment of the city rose up and declared that, though +the heavens fell, no woman should be allowed to sell molasses candy on +Sunday. Yet the law puts its hands behind its back, and walks up and +down in the presence of a thousand abominations and dares not whisper. + +There are scores of men to-day on the streets, whose costly family +wardrobes, whose rosewood furniture, whose splendid turn-outs, whose +stately mansions, are made out of the distresses of sewing-women, +whose money they gathered up in a stock swindle. There is human sweat +in the golden tankards. There is human blood in the crimson plush. +There are the bones of unrequited toil in the pearly keys of the +piano. There is the curse of an incensed God hovering over all their +magnificence. Some night the man will not be able to rest. He will +rise up in bewilderment and look about him, crying: "Who is there?" +Those whom he has wronged will thrust their skinny arms under the +tapestry, and touch his brow, and feel for his heart, and blow their +sepulchral breath into his face, crying: "Come to judgment!" + +For the warning of young men, I shall specify but two of the world's +most gigantic swindles--one English, and the other American. +In England, in the early part of the last century, reports were +circulated of the fabulous wealth of South America. A company was +formed, with a stock of what would be equal to thirty millions of our +dollars. The government guaranteed to the company the control of all +the trade to the South Sea, and the company was to assume the entire +debt of England, then amounting to one hundred and forty millions of +dollars. Magnificent project! The English nation talked and dreamed +of nothing but Peruvian gold and Mexican silver, the national debt +liquidated, and Eldorados numberless and illimitable! When five +million pounds of new stock was offered at three hundred pounds per +share, it was all snatched up with avidity. Thirty million dollars +of the stock was subscribed for, when there were but five millions +offered. South Sea went up, until in the midsummer month the stock +stood at one thousand per cent. The whole nation was intoxicated. +Around about this scheme, as might have been expected, others just as +wild arose. A company was formed with ten million dollars of capital +for importing walnut trees from Virginia. A company for developing +a wheel to go by perpetual motion, with a capital of four million +dollars. A company for developing a new kind of soap. A company for +insuring against losses by servants, with fifteen million dollars +capital. One scheme was entitled: "A company for carrying on an +undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is--capital +two million five hundred thousand dollars, in shares of five hundred +each. Further information to be given in a month." + +The books were opened at nine o'clock in the morning. Before night +a thousand shares were taken, and two thousand pounds paid in. So +successful was the day's work, that that night the projector of the +enterprise went out of the business, and forever vanished from the +public. But it was not a perfect loss. The subscribers had their +ornamented certificates of stock to comfort them. Hunt's Merchant's +Magazine, speaking of those times, says "that from morning until +evening 'Change Alley was filled to overflowing with one dense mass of +living beings composed of the most incongruous materials, and, in +all things save the mad pursuit in which they were employed, the very +opposite in habits and conditions." + +What was the end of this chapter of English enterprise? Suddenly +the ruin came. Down went the whole nation--members of Parliament, +tradesmen, physicians, clergymen, lawyers, royal ladies, and poor +needle-women--in one stupendous calamity. The whole earth, and all the +ages, heard that bubble burst. + +But I am not through. Our young men shall hear more startling things. +We surpass England in having higher mountains, deeper rivers, greater +cataracts, and larger armies. Yea, we have surpassed it in magnitude +of swindles. I wish to unfold before the young men of the country, +and before those in whose hands may now be the price of blood, the +wide-spread, ghastly, and almost infinitely greater wickedness of the +gamblers in oil stock. Now, the obtaining of lands, the transporting +of machinery, and the forming of companies for the production of oil, +is just as honorable as any organization for the obtaining of coal, +iron, copper, or zinc. God poured out before this nation a river of +oil, and intended us to gather it up, transport it, and use it; +and there were companies formed that have withstood all commercial +changes, and continued, year after year, in the prosecution of an +honorable business. I have just as much respect for the man who has +made fifty thousand dollars by oil as I have for him who has made it +by spices. + +Out of twelve hundred petroleum companies, how many do you suppose +were honestly formed and rightfully conducted? Do you say six hundred? +You make large demands upon one's credulity; but let us be generous, +and suppose that six hundred companies bought land, issued honest +circulars, sent out machinery, and plunged into the earth for the +rightful development of resources. To form the other six hundred +companies, only three or four things were necessary: First, an +attractive circular, regardless of expense. It must have all the +colors and hues of earth, and sea, and heaven. Let the letters flame +with all the beauty of gold, and jasper, and amethyst. It must state +the date of incorporation, and the fact that "all subscribers shall +get the benefit of the original undertaking. While it does not make +so much pretension as some other companies, it must be distinctly +announced that this is a safe and permanent investment." The circular +must state that "there are a goodly number of flowing wells, and +others which the company are happy to say have a very good smell of +oil." "The books will be open only five days, as there are only a few +shares yet to be taken." Connected with this circular is an elaborate +map, drawn by the artist of the company. Never mind the geography of +the country. Our map must have a creek running through it, so crooked +as to traverse as much of the land as possible, and make it all +water-front. "Ah!" said one man to his artist, "you make only one +creek."--"Well," said the artist, "if you want three creeks you can +have them at very little expense. There--you have them now--three +creeks!" + +Then the circular must have good names attached to it. How to get +them? The president and directors must be prominent men. If celebrated +for piety, all the better. The estimable man approached says: "I know +nothing about this company."--"Well," says the committee waiting +on him, "we will give you five hundred dollars' worth of shares." +Immediately the estimable man begins to "know about it," and accepts +the position of president. Three or four directors are obtained in +the same way. Now the thing is easy. After this you can get anybody. +Ordinary Christians and sinners feel it a joy to be in such celebrated +society. + +Another thing important is that the company purchase three or four +vials of oil to stand in the window--some in the crude state, the rest +clarified. Genuine specimens from Venango County. + +Another important thing: there must be a large working capital, +for the company do not mean to be idle. They have derricks already +building; and there will be large monthly dividends. Let it be known +that there were companies in some cities who, claiming to have +a capital of four hundred thousand dollars, yet had that capital +exhausted when they had sunk one well costing five thousand dollars. +But never mind. The thing must be right, for some of the directors +are eminent for respectability. You say it is certainly important that +there be some land out of which the oil is to be obtained. Oh! no. Why +be troubled with any land at all? It is an expense for nothing. You +have the circular, and the glowing map, with the creeks and three +vials of oil in the window, and a flaming advertisement in the +newspapers. Now let the books be opened! Better if you can have a +half-dozen offices in one room; then the agent can accommodate you +with anything you desire. If you want to take a "flyer" in this and a +"flyer" in that, you shall have it. + +Coming in from the country are farmers, dairymen, day-laborers. Great +chances now for speedy emoluments. Pour in the hard-earned treasures. +Sure enough, a dividend of one per cent. per month! Forthwith, another +multitude are convinced of the safety of the investment. The second +month another dividend. The third month another. Whence do these +dividends come? From the product of the wells? Oh! no. It is your own +money they are paying you back. How generous of this company to give +you five dollars back, when you might have lost it all! + +But the dividends stop. What is the matter? Instead of the +advertisement which covered a whole column of the newspapers, +there comes a modest little notice that "a special meeting of the +stockholders will be held for the purpose of transacting business +of importance." Perhaps it may be to assess the stockholders for the +purpose of keeping the little land they have, if they have any. Or it +may be for the election of a new group of officers, for the present +incumbents do not want to be always before the public. They are modest +men. They believe in rotation of office. They cannot consent any +longer to serve. Where have they gone to? They are busy putting up +a princely mansion at Long Branch, Germantown, or Chelsea. They have +served their day and generation, and have gone to their flocks and +herds. Where is the Church of God, that she allows in her membership +such gigantic abominations? Were the thirty pieces of silver that +Judas received denounced as unfit, and shall the Church of God have +nothing to say about this price of blood? Is sin to be excused because +it is as high as heaven, or deep as hell? The man who allows his name +to be used as president or director in connection with an enterprise +that he knows is to result in the sale of twenty thousand shares of an +undeveloped nothing--God will tear off the cloak of his hypocrisy, and +in the last day show him to all the universe--a brazen-faced gambler. +His house will be accursed. God's anathemas will flash in the +chandelier, and rattle in the swift hoofs of his silver-bitted grays; +and the day of fire will see him willing to leap into a burning +oil-well to hide himself from the face of the Lamb. The hundred +thousand dollars gotten in unrighteousness will not be enough to build +a barricade against the advance of the divine judgments. + +Think of the elder in a church who, from the oil regions, sends an +exciting telegram, so that one man buys a large amount of stock at +twelve, on Wednesday. The next day it is put on the stock-board at +six. The enterprising man, who sold it at twelve, goes out to buy +one of the grandest estates within ten miles of the city. The man +who bought it goes into the dust; and the secret gets out that the +exciting telegram sent by the elder arose, not from any oil actually +discovered, but because in boring they had found a magnificent odor of +oil. + +If he who steals a dollar from a money-drawer is a thief, then he +who by dishonesty gets five hundred thousand dollars is five hundred +thousand times more a thief. And so the last day will declare him. + +Did not the law right the injured man? No! The poor who were wronged +would not undertake a suit against a company that could bring fifty +thousand dollars to the enlightenment of judge, jury, and lawyer; +while, on the other hand, the affluent who had been gouged would not +go to the courts for justice. Why! how would it sound, if it got out, +that Mr. So and So, one of the first merchants on Wall, or Third, or +State street, had got swindled? They will keep it still. + +The guilty range to-day undisturbed through society, and will +continue to do so until the Lord God shall bring them to an unerring +settlement, and proclaim to an astonished universe how many lies they +told about the land, about the derricks, about the yield, about the +dividends. What shall such an one say, when God shall, in the great +day of account, hold up before him the circular, and the map, and the +newspaper advertisement? Speechless! + +Before that day shall come I warn you--Disgorge! you infamous stock +gamblers! Gather together so many of your company as have any honesty +left, and join in the following circular:--"_We the undersigned, do +hereby repent of our villainies, and beg pardon of the public for +all the wrongs that we have done them; and hereby ask the widows and +orphans whom we have made penniless to come next Saturday, between ten +and three o'clock, and receive back what we stole from them. We hereby +confess that the wells spoken of in our circular never yielded any +oil; and that the creeks running through our ornamented map were an +entire fiction; and that the elder who piously rolled up his eyes and +said it was a safe investment, was not as devout as he looked to be. +Signed by the subscribers at their office, in the year of our Lord_ +1871." + +Then your conscience will be clear, and you can die in peace. But I +have no faith in such a reformation. When the devil gets such a fair +hold of a man he hardly ever lets go. + +To the young I turn and utter a word of warning. While you are +determined to be acute business men, resolve at the very threshold +that you will have nothing to do with stock-_gambling_. This country +can richly afford to lose the eight hundred millions of dollars +swindled out of honest people, if our young men, by it, will be warned +for all the future. Think you such enterprises are forever passed +away? No! they begin already to clamor for public attention and +patronage. There are now hundreds of printing-presses busy in making +pamphlets and circulars for schemes as hollow and nefarious as those I +have mentioned. There are silver-mining companies, founded upon nobody +knows what--to accomplish what, nobody cares. There will be other +Canada gold companies; there will be other copper-mining companies; +there will be more mutual consumers' coal companies, who, not +satisfied with the price of ordinary coal-dealers, will resolve +themselves into consumers' associations, where the thing consumed +is not the coal, but themselves--the companies that were to be +immaculate, setting the whole community to playing the game of "Who's +got the money?" + +Stand off from all _doubtful_ enterprises! Resolve that if, in a +lawful way, you cannot earn a living, then you will die an honest man, +and be buried in an honest sepulchre. + +There are two or three reasons why you should have nothing to do with +such operations. Mentioning the lowest motive first, it will desolate +you financially. I asked a man of large observation and undoubted +integrity, how many of the professed stock-gamblers made a _permanent_ +fortune. He answered, "Not one! not one of those who made this their +only business." For a little while you may plunge in a round of +seeming prosperity; but your money is put into a bag with holes. You +cannot successfully bury a dishonest dollar. You may put it down into +the very heart of the earth; you may heave rocks upon the top of it; +on top of the rocks you may put banks and all moneyed institutions, +but that dishonest dollar beneath will begin to heave and toss and +upturn itself, and keep on until it comes to the resurrection of +damnation. + +Then this stock-gambling life is wretchedly unhappy. It makes the +nerves shake, and the brain hot, and the heart sad, and the life +disquieted. + +A man in Philadelphia, who seems to be an exception to the rule--that +such men do not permanently prosper--who has well on towards a million +of dollars, and is nearly seventy years of age, may be seen, every +day, going in and out, eaten up of stocks, torn in an inquisition of +stocks, rode by a nightmare of stocks; and, with the earnestness of a +drowning man, he rushes into a broker's shop, crying out: "Did you get +me those shares?" In such an anxious, exciting life there are griefs, +disappointments, anguish, but there is no happiness. + +Worse than all, it destroys the soul. The day must come when the +worthless scrip will fall out of the clutches of the stock-gambler. +Satan will play upon him the "cornering" game which, down on Wall +street, he played upon a fellow-operator. Now he would be glad to +exchange all his interest in Venango County for one share in the +Christian's prospect of heaven. Hopeless, he falls back in his +last sickness. His delirium is filled with senseless talk about +"percentages" and "commissions" and "buyer, sixty days," and "stocks +up," and "stocks down." He thinks that the physician who feels his +pulse is trying to steal his "board book." He starts up at midnight, +saying: "One thousand shares of Reading at 116-1/2. Take it!" _Falls +back dead. No more dividends.... Swindled out of heaven_. STOCKS DOWN! + + + + +LEPROUS NEWSPAPERS. + + +The newspaper is the great educator of the nineteenth century. There +is no force compared with it. It is book, pulpit, platform, forum, all +in one. And there is not an interest--religious, literary, commercial, +scientific, agricultural, or mechanical--that is not within its +grasp. All our churches, and schools, and colleges, and asylums, and +art-galleries feel the quaking of the printing-press. I shall try to +bring to your parlor-tables the periodicals that are worthy of the +Christian fireside, and try to pitch into the gutter of scorn and +contempt those newspapers that are not fit for the hand of your child +or the vision of your wife. + +The institution of newspapers arose in Italy. In Venice the first +newspaper was published, and monthly, during the time that Venice was +warring against Solyman the Second in Dalmatia. It was printed for +the purpose of giving military and commercial information to the +Venetians. The first newspaper published in England was in 1588, +and called the _English Mercury_. Others were styled the _Weekly +Discoverer_, the _Secret Owl_, _Heraclitus Ridens_, etc. + +Who can estimate the political, scientific, commercial, and religious +revolutions roused up in England for many years past by _Bell's Weekly +Dispatch_, the _Standard_, the _Morning Chronicle_, the _Post_, and +the _London Times_? + +The first attempt at this institution in France was in 1631, by a +physician, who published the _News_, for the amusement and health of +his patients. The French nation understood fully how to appreciate +this power. Napoleon, with his own hand, wrote articles for the press, +and so early as in 1829 there were in Paris 169 journals. But in the +United States the newspaper has come to unlimited sway. Though in +1775 there were but thirty-seven in the whole country, the number of +published journals is now counted by thousands; and to-day--we may as +well acknowledge it as not--the religious and secular newspapers are +the great _educators of the country_. + +In our pulpits we preach to a few hundreds or thousands of people; the +newspaper addresses an audience of twenty thousand, fifty thousand, or +two hundred thousand. We preach three or four times a week; they every +morning or evening of the year. If they are right, they are gloriously +right; if they are wrong, they are awfully wrong. + +I find no difficulty in accounting for the world's advance. Four +centuries ago, in Germany, in courts of justice, men fought with their +fists to see who should have the decision of the court; and if the +judge's decision was unsatisfactory, then the judge fought with the +counsel. Many of the lords could not read the deeds of their own +estates. What has made the change? + +"Books," you say. + +No, sir! The vast majority of citizens do not read books. Take this +audience, or any other promiscuous assemblage, and how many histories +have they read? How many treatises on constitutional law, or political +economy, or works of science? How many elaborate poems or books of +travel? How much of Boyle, or De Tocqueville, Xenophon, or Herodotus, +or Percival? Not many! + +In the United States, the people would not average one such book a +year for each individual! + +Whence, then, this intelligence--this capacity to talk about all +themes, secular and religious--this acquaintance with science and +art--this power to appreciate the beautiful and grand? Next to the +Bible, the _newspaper_,--swift-winged, and everywhere present, +flying over the fences, shoved under the door, tossed into the +counting-house, laid on the work-bench, hawked through the cars! All +read it: white and black, German, Irishman, Swiss, Spaniard, American, +old and young, good and bad, sick and well, before breakfast and after +tea, Monday morning, Saturday night, Sunday and week day! + +I now declare that I consider the newspaper to be the grand agency +by which the Gospel is to be preached, ignorance cast out, oppression +dethroned, crime extirpated, the world raised, heaven rejoiced, and +God glorified. + +In the clanking of the printing-press, as the sheets fly out, I hear +the voice of the Lord Almighty proclaiming to all the dead nations +of the earth,--"Lazarus, come forth!" And to the retreating surges +of darkness,--"Let there be light!" In many of our city newspapers, +professing no more than secular information, there have appeared +during the past ten years some of the grandest appeals in behalf of +religion, and some of the most effective interpretations of God's +government among the nations. + +That man has a shrivelled heart who begrudges the five pennies he +pays to the newsboy who brings the world to his feet. There are +to-day connected with the editorial and reportorial corps of newspaper +establishments men of the highest culture and most unimpeachable +morality, who are living on the most limited stipends, martyrs to +the work to which they feel themselves called. While you sleep in the +midnight hours, their pens fly, and their brains ache in preparing +the morning intelligence. Many of them go, unrested and unappreciated, +their cheeks blanched and their eyes half quenched with midnight +work, toward premature graves, to have the "proof-sheet" of their +life corrected by Divine mercy, glad at last to escape the perpetual +annoyances of a fault-finding public, and the restless, impatient cry +for "more copy." + +"Nations are to be born in a day." Will this great inrush come from +personal presence of missionary or philanthropist? No. When the time +comes for that grand demonstration I think the press in all the earth +will make the announcement, and give the call to the nations. As at +some telegraphic centre, an operator will send the messages, north and +south, and east and west, San Francisco and Heart's Content catching +the flash at the same instant; so, standing at some centre to which +shall reach all the electric wires that cross the continent and +undergird the sea, some one shall, with the forefinger of the right +hand, click the instrument that shall thrill through all lands, across +all islands, under all seas, through all palaces, into all dungeons, +and startle both hemispheres with the news, that in a few +moments shall rush out from the ten thousand times ten thousand +printing-presses of the earth: "Glory to God in the highest, and on +earth peace, good-will toward men!" + +You see, therefore, that, in the plain words to be written, I have no +grudges to gratify against the newspaper press. Professional men are +accustomed to complain of injustice done them, but I take the censure +I have sometimes received and place it on one side the scales, and the +excessive praise, and place it on the other side, and they balance, +and so I consider I have had simple justice. But we are all aware that +there is a class of men in towns and cities who send forth a baleful +influence from their editorial pens. There are enough bad newspapers +weekly poured out into the homes of our country to poison a vast +population. In addition to the home manufacture of iniquitous sheets, +the mail-bags of other cities come in gorged with abominations. New +York scoops up from the sewers of other cities, and adds to its own +newspaper filth. And to-night, lying on the tables of this city, or +laid away on the shelf, or in the trunk, for more private perusal, are +papers the mere mention of the names of which would send a blush to +the cheek, and make the decent and Christian world cry out: "God save +the city!" + +There is a paper published in Boston of outrageous character, and yet +there are seven thousand copies of that paper coming weekly to New +York for circulation. I will not mention the name, lest some of you +should go right away and get it. It is wonderful how quick the fingers +of the printer-boy fly, but the fingers of sin and pollution can set +up fifty thousand types in an instant. The supply of bad newspapers +in New York does not meet the insatiable appetite of our people for +refuse, and garbage, and moral swill. We must, therefore, import +corrupt weeklies published elsewhere, that make our newspaper stands +groan under the burden. + +But we need not go abroad. There are papers in New York that long ago +came to perfection of shamelessness, and there is no more power +in venom and mud and slime to pollute them. They have dashed their +iniquities into the face of everything decent and holy. And their work +will be seen in the crime and debauchery and the hell of innumerable +victims. Their columns are not long and broad enough to record the +tragedies of their horrible undoing of immortal men and women. + +God, after a while, will hold up these reeking, stenchful, accursed +sheets, upon which they spread out their guilt, and the whole universe +will cry out for their damnation. See the work of bad newspapers +in the false tidings they bring! There are hundreds of men to-day +penniless, who were, during the war, hurled from their affluent +positions by incorrect accounts of battles that shook the +money-market, and the gold gamblers, with their hoofs, trampled these +honest men into the mire. And many a window was hoisted at the hour of +midnight as the boy shouted: "Extra! Extra!" And the father and mother +who had an only son at the front, with trembling hand, and blanched +cheek, and sinking heart, read of battles that had never occurred. +God pity the father and mother who have a boy at the front when evil +tidings come! If an individual makes a false statement, one or twenty +persons may be damaged; but a newspaper of large circulation that +wilfully makes a misstatement in one day tells fifty thousand +falsehoods. + +The most stupendous of all lies is a newspaper lie. + +A bad newspaper scruples not at any slander. It may be that, to escape +the grip of the law, the paragraphs will be nicely worded, so that the +suspicion is thrown out and the damage done without any exposure to +the law. Year by year, thousands of men are crushed by the ink-roller. +An unscrupulous man in the editorial chair may smite as with the +wing of a destroying angel. What to him is commercial integrity, or +professional reputation, or woman's honor, or home's sanctity? It +seems as if he held in his hand a hose with which, while all the +harpies of sin were working at the pumps, he splashed the waters of +death upon the best interests of society. + +The express-train in England halts not to take in water, but between +the tracks there is a trough, one-fourth of a mile in length, filled +with water; and the engine drops a hose that catches up the water +while the train flies. So with bad newspapers that fly along the track +of death without pausing a moment, yet scooping up into themselves the +pollution of society, and in the awful rush making the earth tremble. + +The most abandoned man of the city may go to the bad newspaper and get +a slander inserted about the best man. If he cannot do it in any other +way, he can by means of an anonymous communication. Now, a man who, +to injure another, will write an anonymous letter, is, in the first +place, a coward, and, in the second place, a villain. Many of these +offensive anonymous letters you see in the bad newspaper have been +found to be _written in the editorial chair_. + +The bad newspaper stops not at any political outrage. It would arouse +a revolution, and empty the hearts of a million brave men in the +trenches, rather than not have its own circulation multiply. +What to it are the hard-earned laurels of the soldier or the exalted +reputation of the statesman? Its editors would, if they dared, blow +up the Capitol of the nation if they could only successfully carry off +the frieze of one of the corridors. There are enough falsehoods told +at any one of our autumnal elections to make the "Father of Lies" +disown his monstrous progeny. Now it is the Mayor, then the Governor, +now the Secretary of State, and then the President, until the air is +so full of misrepresentation that truth is hidden from the view, as +beautiful landscapes by the clouds of summer insects blown up from the +marshes. + +The immoral newspaper stops not at the unclean advertisement. It is +so much for so many words, and in such a sheet it will cost no more +to advertise the most impure book than the new edition of Pilgrim's +Progress. A book such as no decent man would touch was a few months +ago advertised in a New York paper, and the getter-up of the book, +passing down one of our streets the other day, acknowledged to one of +my friends that he had made $18,000 out of the enterprise. + +In one column of a paper we see a grand ethical discussion, and in +another the droppings of most accursed nastiness. Oh! you cannot by +all your religion, in one column, atone for one of your abominations +in another! I am rejoiced that some of our papers have addressed those +who have proposed to compensate them for bad use of their columns, in +the words of Peter to Simon Magus: "Thy money perish with thee!" But I +arraign the newspapers that give their columns to corrupt advertising +for the nefarious work they are doing. The most polluted plays that +ever oozed from the poisonous pen of leprous dramatist have won +their deathful power through the medium of newspapers; the evil is +stupendous! + +O ye reckless souls! get money--though morality dies, and society is +dishonored, and God defied, and the doom of the destroyed opens before +you--get money! Though the melted gold be poured upon your naked, +blistered, and consuming soul--get money! Get money! It will do you +good when it begins to eat like a canker! It will solace the pillow +of death, and soothe the pangs of an agonized eternity! Though in the +game thou dost stake thy soul, and lose it forever--get money! + +The bad newspaper hesitates not to assault Christianity and its +disciples. With what exhilaration it puts in capitals, that fill +one-fourth of a column, the defalcation of some agent of a benevolent +society! There is enough meat in such a carcass of reputation to gorge +all the carrion-crows of an iniquitous printing-press. They put upon +the back of the Church all the inconsistencies of hypocrites--as +though a banker were responsible for all the counterfeits upon his +institution! They jeer at religion, and lift up their voices until all +the caverns of the lost resound with the howl of their derision. They +forget that Christianity is the only hope for the world, and that, but +for its enlightenment, they would now be like the Hottentots, living +in mud hovels, or like the Chinese, eating rats. + +What would you think of a wretch who, during a great storm, while the +ship was being tossed to and fro on the angry waves, should climb up +into the light-house and blow out the light? And what do you think of +these men, who, while all the Christian and the glorious institutions +of the world are being tossed and driven hither and thither, are +trying to climb up and put out the only light of a lost world? + +The bad newspaper stops not at publishing the most damaging and +unclean story. The only question is: "Will it pay?" And there are +scores of men who, day by day, bring into the newspaper offices +manuscripts for publication which unite all that is pernicious; and, +before the ink is fairly dry, tens of thousands are devouring with +avidity the impure issue. Their sensibilities deadened, their sense +of right perverted, their purity of thought tarnished, their taste +for plain life despoiled--the printing-press, with its iron foot, hath +dashed their life out! While I speak, there are many people, with +feet on the ottoman, and the gas turned on, looking down on the +page, submerged, mind and soul, in the perusal of this God-forsaken +periodical literature; and the last Christian mother will have put +the hands of the little child under the coverlet for the night, before +they will rouse up, as the city clock strikes the hour of midnight, to +go death-struck to their prayerless pillows. + +One of the proprietors of a great paper in this country gave his +advice to a young man then about to start a paper: "If you want to +succeed," said he, "make your paper trashy, intensely trashy,--make it +all trash!" + +Brilliant advice to a young man just entering business! + +It is very often that, as a paper purifies itself, its circulation +decreases, and sometimes when a paper becomes positively religious, it +becomes bankrupt, unless some benevolent and Christian men come up +to sustain it by contributions of money and means. But few religious +newspapers in this country are self-supporting. The reason urged +is--the country cannot stand so much religion! Hear it! Christian men +and philanthropists! + +Many papers that are most rapidly increasing to-day are unscrupulous. +The facts are momentous and appalling. And I put young men and women +and Christian parents and guardians on the look-out. This stuff cannot +be handled without pollution. Away with it from parlor, and shop, +and store! There is so much newspaper literature that _is_ pure, and +cheap, and elegant; shove back this leprosy from your door. + +Mark it well: _a man is no better than the newspaper he habitually +reads_. + +You may think it a bold thing thus to arraign an unprincipled +printing-press, but I know there are those reading this who will take +my counsel; and, in the discharge of my duty to God and man, I defy +all the hostilities of earth and hell! + +Representatives of the secular and religious press! I thank you, in +the name of Christianity and civilization, for the enlightenment of +ignorance, the overthrow of iniquity, and the words you have uttered +in the cause of God and your country. But I charge you in the name +of God, before whom you must account for the tremendous influence you +hold in this country, to consecrate yourselves to higher endeavors. +You are the men to fight back this invasion of corrupt literature. +Lift up your right hand and swear new allegiance to the cause of +philanthropy and religion. And when, at last, standing on the plains +of judgment, you look out upon the unnumbered throngs over whom you +have had influence, may it be found that you were among the mightiest +energies that lifted men upon the exalted pathway that leads to the +renown of heaven. Better than to have sat in editorial chair, from +which, with the finger of type, you decided the destinies of empires, +but decided them wrong, that you had been some dungeoned exile, who, +by the light of window iron-grated, on scraps of a New Testament leaf, +picked up from the hearth, spelled out the story of Him who taketh +away the sins of the world. + +IN ETERNITY, DIVES IS THE BEGGAR! + + + + +THE FATAL TEN-STRIKE. + + +While among my readers are those who have passed on into the afternoon +of life, and the shadows are lengthening, and the sky crimsons with +the glow of the setting sun, a large number of them are in early life, +and the morning is coming down out of the clear sky upon them, and the +bright air is redolent with spring blossoms, and the stream of life, +gleaming and glancing, rushes on between flowery banks, making music +as it goes. Some of you are engaged in mercantile establishments, as +clerks and book-keepers; and your whole life is to be passed in the +exciting world of traffic. The sound of busy life stirs you as the +drum stirs the fiery war-horse. Others are in the mechanical arts, to +hammer and chisel your way through life; and success awaits you. +Some are preparing for professional life, and grand opportunities are +before you; nay, some of you already have buckled on the armor. + +But, whatever your age or calling, the subject of gambling, about +which I speak in this chapter, is pertinent. + +Some years ago, when an association for the suppression of gambling +was organized, an agent of the association came to a prominent citizen +and asked him to patronize the society. He said, "No, I can have no +interest in such an organization. I am in no wise affected by that +evil." + +At that very time his son, who was his partner in business, was one of +the heaviest players in "Herne's" famous gaming establishment. Another +refused his patronage on the same ground, not knowing that his first +book-keeper, though receiving a salary of only a thousand dollars, was +losing from fifty to one hundred dollars per night. The president of +a railroad company refused to patronize the institution, saying--"That +society is good for the defence of merchants, but we railroad people +are not injured by this evil;" not knowing that, at that very time, +two of his conductors were spending three nights of each week at faro +tables in New York. Directly or indirectly, this evil strikes at the +whole world. + +Gambling is the risking of something more or less valuable in the hope +of winning more than you hazard. The instruments of gaming may differ, +but the principle is the same. The shuffling and dealing of cards, +however full of temptation, is not gambling, unless stakes are put up; +while, on the other hand, gambling may be carried on without cards, or +dice, or billiards, or a ten-pin alley. The man who bets on horses, +on elections, on battles--the man who deals in "fancy" stocks, +or conducts a business which extra hazards capital, or goes into +transactions without foundation, but dependent upon what men call +"luck," is a gambler. + +It is estimated that one-fourth of the business in London is done +dishonestly. Whatever you expect to get from your neighbor without +offering an equivalent in money or time or skill, is either the +product of theft or gaming. Lottery tickets and lottery policies come +into the same category. Fairs for the founding of hospitals, schools +and churches, conducted on the raffling system, come under the same +denomination. Do not, therefore, associate gambling necessarily with +any instrument, or game, or time, or place, or think the principle +depends upon whether you play for a glass of wine, or one hundred +shares in _Camden and Amboy_. Whether you employ faro or billiards, +rondo and keno, cards, or bagatelle, the very _idea_ of the thing is +dishonest; for it professes to bestow upon you a good for which you +_give no equivalent_. + +This crime is no newborn sprite, but a haggard transgression that +comes staggering down under a mantle of curses through many centuries. +All nations, barbarous and civilized, have been addicted to it. Before +1838, the French government received revenue from gaming houses. +In 1567, England, for the improvement of her harbors, instituted a +lottery, to be held at the front door of St. Paul's Cathedral. Four +hundred thousand tickets were sold, at ten shillings each. The +British Museum and Westminster Bridge were partially built by similar +procedures. The ancient Germans would sometimes put up themselves and +families as prizes, and suffer themselves to be bound, though stronger +than the persons who won them. + +But now the laws of the whole civilized world denounce the system. +Enactments have been passed, but only partially enforced. The men +interested in gaming houses wield such influence, by their numbers and +affluence, that the judge, the jury, and the police officer must +be bold indeed who would array themselves against these infamous +establishments. Within ten years the House of Commons of England has +adjourned on "Derby Day" to go out to bet on the races; and in the +best circles of society in this country to-day are many hundreds of +professedly respectable men who are acknowledged gamblers. + +Hundreds of thousands of dollars in this land are every day being won +and lost through sheer gambling. Says a traveller through the West--"I +have travelled a thousand miles at a time upon the Western waters +and seen gambling at every waking moment from the commencement to the +termination of the journey." The South-west of this country reeks with +this abomination. In New Orleans every third or fourth house in many +of the streets is a gaming place, and it may be truthfully averred +that each and all of our cities are cursed with this evil. + +In themselves most of the games employed in gambling are without harm. +Billiard-tables are as harmless as tea-tables, and a pack of cards as +a pack of letter envelopes, unless stakes be put up. But by their use +for gambling purposes they have become significant of an infinity +of wretchedness. In New York city there are said to be six thousand +houses devoted to this sin; in Philadelphia about four thousand; in +Cincinnati about one thousand; at Washington the amount of gaming is +beyond calculation. There have been seasons when, by night, Senators, +Representatives, and Ministers of Foreign Governments were found +engaged in this practice. + +Men wishing to gamble will find places just suited to their capacity, +not only in the underground oyster-cellar, or at the table back of the +curtain, covered with greasy cards, or in the steamboat smoking cabin, +where the bloated wretch with rings in his ears deals out his pack, +and winks in the unsuspecting traveller,--providing free drinks all +around,--but in gilded parlors and amid gorgeous surroundings. + +This sin works ruin, first, by unhealthful stimulants. Excitement is +pleasurable. Under every sky, and in every age, men have sought it. +The Chinaman gets it by smoking his opium; the Persian by chewing +hashish; the trapper in a buffalo hunt; the sailor in a squall; the +inebriate in the bottle, and the avaricious at the gaming-table. + +We must at times have excitement. A thousand voices in our nature +demand it. It is right. It is healthful. It is inspiriting. It is a +desire God-given. But anything that first gratifies this appetite and +hurls it back in a terrific reaction is deplorable and wicked. Look +out for the agitation that, like a rough musician, in bringing out the +tune, plays so hard he breaks down the instrument! + +God never made man strong enough to endure the wear and tear of +gambling excitement. No wonder if, after having failed in the game, +men have begun to sweep off imaginary gold from the side of the table. +The man was sharp enough when he started at the game, but a maniac at +the close. At every gaming-table sit on one side Ecstasy, Enthusiasm, +Romance--the frenzy of joy; on the other side, Fierceness, Rage, +and Tumult. The professional gamester schools himself into apparent +quietness. The keepers of gambling rooms are generally fat, +rollicking, and obese; but thorough and professional gamblers, in nine +cases out of ten, are pale, thin, wheezing, tremulous, and exhausted. + +A young man, having suddenly heired a large property, sits at the +hazard-table, and takes up in a dice-box the estate won by a father's +lifetime sweat, and shakes it, and tosses it away. + +Intemperance soon stigmatizes its victim--kicking him out, a slavering +fool, into the ditch, or sending him, with the drunkard's hiccough, +staggering up the street where his family lives. But gambling does +not, in that way, expose its victims. The gambler may be eaten up by +the gambler's passion, yet only discover it by the greed in his eyes, +the hardness of his features, the nervous restlessness, the threadbare +coat, and his embarrassed business. Yet he is on the road to hell, +and no preacher's voice, or startling warning, or wife's entreaty, can +make him stay for a moment his headlong career. The infernal spell +is on him; a giant is aroused within; and though you bind him with +cables, they would part like thread; and though you fasten him seven +times round with chains, they would snap like rusted wire; and though +you piled up in his path, heaven-high, Bibles, tracts and sermons, and +on the top should set the cross of the Son of God, over them all the +gambler would leap like a roe over the rocks, on his way to perdition. + +Again, this sin works ruin by killing industry. + +A man used to reaping scores or hundreds of dollars from the +gaming-table will not be content with slow work. He will say, "What is +the use of trying to make these fifty dollars in my store when I can +get five times that in half an hour down at 'Billy's'?" You never knew +a confirmed gambler who was industrious. The men given to this vice +spend their time not actively employed in the game in idleness, or +intoxication, or sleep, or in corrupting new victims. This sin has +dulled the carpenter's saw, and cut the band of the factory wheel, +sunk the cargo, broken the teeth of the farmer's harrow, and sent a +strange lightning to shatter the battery of the philosopher. + +The very first idea in gaming is at war with all the industries of +society. Any trade or occupation that is of use is ennobling. The +street sweeper advances the interests of society by the cleanliness +effected. The cat pays for the fragments it eats by clearing the house +of vermin. The fly that takes the sweetness from the dregs of the cup +compensates by purifying the air and keeping back the pestilence. But +the gambler gives not anything for that which he takes. + +I recall that sentence. He _does_ make a return; but it is disgrace to +the man that he fleeces, despair to his heart, ruin to his business, +anguish to his wife, shame to his children, and eternal wasting away +to his soul. He pays in tears and blood, and agony, and darkness, and +woe. + +What dull work is ploughing to the farmer, when in the village saloon, +in one night, he makes and loses the value of a summer harvest? Who +will want to sell tape, and measure nankeen, and cut garments, and +weigh sugars, when in a night's game he makes and loses, and makes +again, and loses again, the profits of a season? + +John Borack was sent as mercantile agent from Bremen to England and +this country. After two years his employers mistrusted that all was +not right. He was a defaulter for eighty-seven thousand dollars. It +was found that he had lost in Lombard street, London, twenty-nine +thousand dollars; in Fulton street, New York, ten thousand dollars; +and in New Orleans, three thousand dollars. He was imprisoned, but +afterwards escaped and went into the gambling profession. He died in a +lunatic asylum. + +This crime is getting its pry under many a mercantile house in our +cities, and before long down will come the great establishment, +crushing reputation, home, comfort, and immortal souls. How it diverts +and sinks capital may be inferred from some authentic statements +before us. The ten gaming-houses that once were authorized in Paris +passed through the banks, yearly, three hundred and twenty-five +millions of francs! The houses of this kind in Germany yield vast sums +to the government. The Hamburg establishment pays to the government +treasury forty thousand florins; and Baden Baden one hundred +and twenty thousand florins. Each one of the banks in the large +gaming-houses of Germany has forty or fifty croupiers standing in its +service. + +Where does all the money come from? _The whole world is robbed!_ What +is most sad, there are no consolations for the loss and suffering +entailed by gaming. If men fail in lawful business, God pities, and +society commiserates; but where in the Bible, or in society, is there +any consolation for the gambler? From what tree of the forest oozes +there a balm that can soothe the gamester's heart? In that bottle +where God keeps the tears of his children, are there any tears of the +gambler? Do the winds that come to kiss the faded cheek of sickness, +and to cool the heated brow of the laborer, whisper hope and cheer to +the emaciated victim of the game of hazard? When an honest man is in +trouble, he has sympathy. "Poor fellow!" they say. But do gamblers +come to weep at the agonies of the gambler? In Northumberland was one +of the finest estates in England. Mr. Porter owned it, and in a year +gambled it all away. Having lost the last acre of the estate, he came +down from the saloon and got into his carriage; went back; put up his +horses, and carriage, and town house, and played. He threw and +lost. He started home, and on a side alley met a friend from whom +he borrowed ten guineas; went back to the saloon, and before a great +while had won twenty thousand pounds. He died at last a beggar in St. +Giles. How many gamblers felt sorry for Mr. Porter? Who consoled him +on the loss of his estate? What gambler subscribed to put a stone over +the poor man's grave? Not one! + +Furthermore, this sin is the source of uncounted dishonesties. The +game of hazard itself is often a cheat. How many tricks and deceptions +in the dealing of the cards! The opponent's hand is ofttimes found +out by fraud. Cards are marked so that they may be designated from the +back. Expert gamesters have their accomplices, and one wink may +decide the game. The dice have been found loaded with platina, so +that "doublets" come up every time. These dice are introduced by the +gamblers unobserved by the honest men who have come into the play; +and this accounts for the fact that ninety-nine out of a hundred who +gamble, however wealthy they began, at the end are found to be poor, +miserable, ragged wretches, that would not now be allowed to sit on +the door-step of the house that they once owned. + +In a gaming-house in San Francisco, a young man having just come +from the mines deposited a large sum upon the ace, and won twenty-two +thousand dollars. But the tide turns. Intense anxiety comes upon the +countenances of all. Slowly the cards went forth. Every eye is fixed. +Not a sound is heard, until the ace is revealed favorable to the bank. +There are shouts of "Foul! Foul!" but the keepers of the table +produce their pistols and the uproar is silenced, and the bank has won +ninety-five thousand dollars. Do you call this a game of chance? There +is no chance about it. + +But these dishonesties in the carrying on of the game are nothing when +compared with the frauds which are committed in order to get money +to go on with the nefarious work. Gambling, with its greedy hand, has +snatched away the widow's mite and the portion of the orphans; has +sold the daughter's virtue to get means to continue the game; has +written the counterfeit signature, emptied the banker's money vault, +and wielded the assassin's dagger. There is no depth of meanness to +which it will not stoop. There is no cruelty at which it is appalled. +There is no warning of God that it will not dare. Merciless, +unappeasable, fiercer and wilder it blinds, it hardens, it rends, it +blasts, it crushes, it damns. It has peopled Moyamensing, and Auburn, +and Sing Sing. + +How many railroad agents, and cashiers, and trustees of funds, it has +driven to disgrace, incarceration, and suicide! Witness a cashier of +the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, who stole one +hundred and three thousand dollars to carry on his gaming practices. +Witness the forty thousand dollars stolen from a Brooklyn bank; and +the one hundred and eighty thousand dollars taken from a Wall Street +Insurance Company for the same purpose! These are only illustrations +on a large scale of the robberies _every day_ committed for the +purpose of carrying out the designs of gamblers. Hundreds of thousands +of dollars every year leak out without observation from the merchant's +till into the gambling hell. + +A man in London keeping one of these gambling houses boasted that he +had ruined a nobleman a day; but if all the saloons of this land were +to speak out, they might utter a more infamous boast, for they have +destroyed a thousand noblemen a year. + +Notice also the effect of this crime upon domestic happiness. It hath +sent its ruthless ploughshare through hundreds of families, until the +wife sat in rags, and the daughters were disgraced, and the sons grew +up to the same infamous practices, or took a short cut to destruction +across the murderer's scaffold. Home has lost all charms for the +gambler. How tame are the children's caresses and a wife's devotion to +the gambler! How drearily the fire burns on the domestic hearth! There +must be louder laughter, and something to win and something to lose; +an excitement to drive the heart faster and fillip the blood and fire +the imagination. No home, however bright, can keep back the gamester. +The sweet call of love bounds back from his iron soul, and all +endearments are consumed in the flame of his passion. The family Bible +will go after all other treasures are lost, and if his everlasting +crown in heaven were put into his hand he would cry: "Here goes, one +more game, my boys! On this one throw I stake my crown of heaven." + +A young man in London, on coming of age, received a fortune of one +hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and through gambling in three +years was thrown on his mother for support. + +An only son went to New Orleans. He was rich, intellectual, and +elegant in manners. His parents gave him, on his departure from home, +their last blessing. The sharpers got hold of him. They flattered him. +They lured him to the gaming-table and let him win almost every time +for a good while, and patted him on the back and said, "First-rate +player." But, fully in their grasp, they fleeced him; and his thirty +thousand dollars were lost. Last of all he put up his watch and lost +that. Then he began to think of home and of his old father and mother, +and wrote thus:-- + + "MY BELOVED PARENTS:--You will doubtless feel a momentary joy + at the reception of this letter from the child of your bosom, + on whom you have lavished all the favors of your declining + years. But should a feeling of joy for a moment spring up + in your hearts when you shall have received this from, me, + cherish it not. I have fallen deep--never to rise. Those gray + hairs that I should have honored and protected I shall bring + down with sorrow to the grave. I will not curse my destroyer, + but oh! may God avenge the wrongs and impositions practised + upon the unwary in a way that shall best please Him. This, my + dear parents, is the last letter you will ever receive from + me. I humbly pray your forgiveness. It is my dying prayer. + Long before you shall have received this letter from me the + cold grave will have closed upon me forever. Life is to me + insupportable. I cannot, nay, I will not suffer the shame of + having ruined you. Forget and forgive is the dying prayer of + your unfortunate son." + +The old father came to the post-office, got the letter, and fell to +the floor. They thought he was dead at first; but they brushed back +the white hair from his brow and fanned him. He had only fainted. I +wish he had been dead; for what is life worth to a father after his +son is destroyed? + +When things go wrong at a gaming-table, they shout "Foul! foul!" Over +all the gaming-tables of the world I cry out "Foul! foul! Infinitely +foul!" + +In modern days, in addition to the other forms of gambling, have +come up the thoroughly organized and, in some States, _legalized_ +institution of lotteries. There are hundreds of citizens on the way to +ruin through the lottery system. Some of the finest establishments in +town are by this process being demolished, and the whole land feels +the exhaustion of this accumulating evil. The wheel of Fortune is the +Juggernaut that is crushing out the life of this nation. The records +of the Insolvent Court of one city show that, in five years, two +hundred thousand dollars were lost by dealing in lottery tickets. All +the officers of the celebrated Bank of the United States who failed +were found to have expended the money embezzled for lottery tickets. + +A man drew in a lottery fifty thousand dollars, sold his ticket for +forty-two thousand five hundred dollars, and yet did not have enough +to pay the charges against him for lottery tickets. He owed the +brokers forty-five thousand dollars. + +An editor writes--"A man who, a few years ago, was blest with about +twenty thousand dollars (lottery money), yesterday applied to us for +ninepence to pay for a night's lodging." + +A highly respectable gentleman drew twenty thousand dollars in a +lottery; bought more tickets, and drew again; bought more--drew more +largely; then rushed down headlong until he was pronounced by the +select men of the village a vagabond, and his children were picked up +from the street half starved and almost naked. + +A hard-working machinist draws a thousand dollars; thenceforth he is +disgusted with work, opens a rum grocery, is utterly debauched, and +people go in his store to find him dead, close beside his rum-cask. + +It would take a pen plucked from the wing of the destroying angel and +dipped in blood to describe this lottery business. + +A man committed suicide in New York, and upon his person was found a +card of address giving a grog-shop as his boarding house, three blank +lottery tickets, and a leaf from _Seneca's Morals_, containing an +apology for self-murder. + +One lottery in London was followed by the suicide of fifty persons who +held unlucky numbers. + +There are men now, with lottery tickets in their pocket, which, if +they have not sense enough to tear up or throw into the fire, will be +their admission ticket at the door of the damned. As the brazen gates +swing open they will show their tickets, and pass in and pass down. As +the wheel of eternal Fortune turns slowly round, they will find that +the doom of those who have despised God and imperilled their souls +will be their awful prize. + +God forbid that you, my reader, should ever take to yourself the +lamentation of the Boston clerk, who, in eight months, had embezzled +eighteen thousand dollars from his employer and expended it all in +lottery tickets. "I have for the last seven months gone fast down the +broad road. There was a time, and that but a few months since, when +I was happy, because I was free from debt and care. The moment of the +first steps in my downfall was about the middle of last June, when +I took a share in a company, bought lottery tickets whereby I was +successful in obtaining a share of one-half of the capital prize, +since which I have gone for myself. I have lived and dragged out a +miserable existence for two or three months past. Oh, that the seven +or eight months past of my existence could be blotted out; but I must +go, and, ere this paper is read, my spirit has gone to my Maker, +to give an account of my misdeeds here, and to receive the eternal +sentence for self-destruction and abused confidence. Relatives +and friends I have, from whom I do not wish to part under such +circumstances, but necessity compels. Oh, wretch! lottery tickets have +been thy ruin. But I cannot add more." + +There are multitudes of people who disapprove of ordinary lotteries, +yet have been thoroughly deceived by iniquity under a more attractive +nomenclature. The lottery in which our most highly respectable and +Christian people invest is some "Art Association," or some benevolent +"Gift Enterprise," in which they fondly believe there can be no harm +in drawing Bierstadt's _Yosemite Valley_, or Cropsey's _American +Autumn_! + +At no time have lottery tickets been sown so broadcast as to-day, +notwithstanding the law forbids the old-style lottery. + +A few years ago our newspapers flamed with the advertisements of the +Crosby Opera House scheme. A citizen of Chicago, finding on his hands +an unprofitable building, calls upon the whole country to help him +out. Rooms are opened in all the great cities. In rush, not the +abandoned and the reprobate (for _they_ like the old styles of +swindling better), but the educated and refined and polished, until a +host of people are in imminent peril of having thrown upon their hands +a splendid Opera House. Philadelphia buys thirty thousand dollars +worth of tickets. The portentous day approaches. The rail trains from +many of the prominent cities bring in dignified "Committees" who +come to see that the great abomination is conducted in a decent and +Christian manner. The throng presses in. Hold fast your tickets, all +you respectable New Yorkers, Philadelphians, and Bostonians, for the +wheel begins to move. The long agony is over. Hundreds of thousands +of people have made a narrow escape from being ruined by sudden +affluence. Swift horses are despatched, that, foam-lathered, dash up +to the house of him who owns the successful ticket. The lightnings +tell it to the four winds of heaven, and our weekly pictorials hasten +forward the photographers to take the picture of the famous man who +owned the ticket numbered 58,600. Multitudes think that there has been +foul play, and that, after all, they themselves, if the truth were +known, did draw the Opera House. Ten years from now there will stand +on the scaffold, or behind the prison door, or in the lonely room in +which the suicide writes his farewell to wife or parents, men who will +say that the first misstep of their life that put them on the wrong +road was the ticket they bought in the Crosby Opera House. + +The man who won that prize is already dead of his dissipations, and, +strange to say, the beautiful building thus raffled away was found to +be owned by its original possessor when all the excitement in regard +to the matter had died away. + +I care not on what street the office was, nor who were the abettors +of the undertaking, nor who bought the tickets. I pronounce the whole +scheme to have been a swindle, a crime, and an insult to God and the +nation. + +In this class of gambler-makers I also put the "gift stores," which +are becoming abundant throughout the country. With a book, or knife, +or sewing machine, or coat, or carriage there goes a _prize_. At those +stores people get something thrown in with their purchase. It may be a +gold watch or a set of silver, a ring or a farm. Sharp way to get off +unsalable goods. It has filled the land with fictitious articles and +covered up our population with brass finger-rings, and despoiled +the moral sense of the community, and is fast making us a nation of +gamblers. + +The Church of God has not seemed willing to allow the world to have +all the advantage of these games of chance. A church fair opens, and +towards the close it is found that some of the more valuable articles +are unsalable. Forthwith the conductors of the enterprise conclude +that they will _raffle_ for some of the valuable articles, and, under +pretence of anxiety to make their minister a present, or please some +popular member of the church, fascinating persons are despatched +through the room, pencil in hand, to "solicit" shares; or perhaps each +draws for his own advantage, and scores of people go home with their +trophies, thinking that all is right, for Christian ladies did the +embroidery, and Christian men did the raffling, and the proceeds went +towards a new communion set. But you may depend on it that, as far as +morality is concerned, you might as well have won by the crack of the +billiard-ball or the turn of the dice-box. + +Some good people cannot stand this raffling, and so, at fairs, they go +to "voting," sometimes for editors, and sometimes for ministers, at +a dollar a vote. Now the Methodist minister is ahead; now the +Presbyterian leads, and now the Baptist. But, just at the last moment, +when one of the ministers of the more popular sect seems sure to get +the prize, the members from some obscure denomination, that do not +deserve the prize, come in, and by a large contribution carry off for +_their_ minister the silver tea-set. + +Do you wonder that churches built, lighted, or upholstered by such +processes as that come to great financial and spiritual decrepitude? +The devil says: "_I_ helped build that house of worship, and I have as +much right there as you have;" and for once the devil is right. + +We do not read that they had a lottery for building the church at +Corinth or Antioch, or for getting up a gold-headed cane or for an +embroidered surplice for Saint Paul. All this I style ecclesiastical +gambling. More than one man who is destroyed can say that his first +step on the wrong road was when he won something at a church fair. + +The gambling spirit has not stopped for any indecency. There lately +transpired, in Maryland, a lottery in which people drew for lots in +a burying-ground! The modern habit of betting about everything is +productive of immense mischief. The most healthful and innocent +amusements of yachting and base-ball playing have been the occasion of +putting up excited and extravagant wagers. That which to many has +been advantageous to body and mind has been to others the means of +financial and moral loss. The custom is pernicious in the extreme +where scores of men in respectable life give themselves up to betting, +now on this boat now on that--now on the Atlantics and now on the +Athletics. + +Betting, that once was chiefly the accompaniment of the race-course, +is fast becoming a national habit, and in some circles any +opinion advanced on finance or politics is accosted with the +interrogatory--"How much will you bet on _that_, sir?" + +This custom may make no appeal to slow, lethargic temperaments, +but there are in the country tens of thousands of quick, nervous, +sanguine, excitable temperaments ready to be acted upon, and their +feet will soon take hold on death. For some months and perhaps for +years they will linger in the more polite and elegant circle of +gamesters, but, after a while, their pathway will come to the fatal +plunge. Finding themselves in the rapids, they will try to back out, +and, hurled over the brink, they will clutch the side of the boat +until their finger-nails, blood-tipped, will pierce the wood, and +then, with white cheek and agonized stare, and the horrors of the lost +soul lifting the very hair from the scalp, they will plunge down where +no grappling hooks can drag them out. + +Young man! stand back from all styles of gambling! The end thereof +is death. The gamblers enter the ten-pin alley where are husbands, +brothers, and fathers. "Put down your thousand dollars all in gold +eagles! Let the boy set up the pins at the other end of the alley! Now +stand back, and give the gamester full sweep! Roll the first--there! +it strikes! and down goes his respectability. Try it again. Roll the +second--there! it strikes! and down goes the last feeling of humanity. +Try it again. Roll the third--there! it strikes! and down goes his +soul forever. It was not so much the pins that fell as the soul! the +soul! FATAL TEN-STRIKE FOR ETERNITY!" + +Shall I sketch the history of the gambler? Lured by bad company, he +finds his way into a place where honest men ought never to go. He +sits down to his first game only for pastime and the desire of being +thought sociable. The players deal out the cards. They unconsciously +play into Satan's hands, who takes all the tricks, and both the +players' souls for trumps--he being a sharper at any game. A slight +stake is put up just to add interest to the play. Game after game is +played. Larger stakes and still larger. They begin to move nervously +on their chairs. Their brows lower and eyes flash, until now they who +win and they who lose, fired alike with passion, sit with set jaws, +and compressed lips, and clenched fists, and eyes like fire-balls +that seem starting from their sockets, to see the final turn before +it comes; if losing, pale with envy and tremulous with unuttered +oaths cast back red-hot upon the heart--or, winning, with hysteric +laugh--"Ha! Ha! I have it! I have it!" + +A few years have passed, and he is only the wreck of a man. Seating +himself at the game ere he throws the first card, he stakes the last +relic of his wife, and the marriage-ring which sealed the solemn vows +between them. The game is lost, and, staggering back in exhaustion, +he dreams. The bright hours of the past mock his agony, and in his +dreams, fiends, with eyes of fire and tongues of flame, circle about +him with joined hands, to dance and sing their orgies with hellish +chorus, chanting--"Hail! brother!" kissing his clammy forehead until +their loathsome locks, flowing with serpents, crawl into his bosom +and sink their sharp fangs and suck up his life's blood, and coiling +around his heart pinch it with chills and shudders unutterable. + +Take warning! You are no stronger than tens of thousands who have, by +this practice, been overthrown. No young man in our cities can escape +being tempted. _Beware of the first beginnings!_ This road is a +down-grade, and every instant increases the momentum. Launch not upon +this treacherous sea. Split hulks strew the beach. Everlasting storms +howl up and down, tossing the unwary crafts into the Hell-gate. I +speak of what I have seen with my own eyes. I have looked off into the +abyss and have seen the foaming, and the hissing, and the whirling +of the horrid deep in which the mangled victims writhed, one +upon another, and struggled, strangled, blasphemed, and died--the +death-stare of eternal despair upon their countenances as the waters +gurgled over them. + +To a gambler's death-bed there comes no hope. He will probably die +alone. His former associates come not nigh his dwelling. When the +hour comes, his miserable soul will go out of a miserable life into +a miserable eternity. As his poor remains pass the house where he was +ruined, old companions may look out a moment and say--"There goes the +old carcass--dead at last," but they will not get up from the table. +Let him down now into his grave. Plant no tree to cast its shade +there, for the long, deep, eternal gloom that settles there is shadow +enough. Plant no "forget-me-nots" or eglantines around the spot, for +flowers were not made to grow on such a blasted heath. Visit it not in +the sunshine, for that would be mockery, but in the dismal night, when +no stars are out, and the spirits of darkness come down horsed on the +wind, _then_ visit the grave of the gambler! + + + + +SOME OF THE CLUB-HOUSES. + + +Iniquity never gives a fair fight. It springs out from ambush upon +the unsuspecting. Of the tens of thousands who have fallen into bad +habits, not one deliberately leaped off, but all were caught in some +sly trap. You may have watched a panther or a cat about to take its +prey. It crouches down, puts its mouth between its paws, and is hardly +to be seen in the long grass. So iniquity always crouches down in +unexpected shapes, takes aim with unerring eye, and then springs +upon you with sudden and terrific leap. In secret places and in +unlooked-for shapes it murders the innocent. + +Men are gregarious. Cattle in herds. Fish in schools. Birds in flocks. +Men in social circles. You may, by the discharge of a gun, scatter +a flock of quails, or by the plunge of the anchor send apart the +denizens of the sea; but they will gather themselves together again. +If you, by some new power, could break the associations in which men +now stand, they would again adhere. God meant it so. He has gathered +all the flowers and shrubs into associations. You may plant one +"forget-me-not" or "hearts-ease" alone, away off upon the hillside, +but it will soon hunt up some other "forget-me-not" or "hearts-ease." +Plants love company; you will find them talking to each other in the +dew. A galaxy of stars is only a mutual life-insurance company. You +sometimes see a man with no out-branchings of sympathy. His nature is +cold and hard, like a ship's mast, ice-glazed, which the most agile +sailor could never climb. Others have a thousand roots and a thousand +branches. Innumerable tendrils climb their hearts, and blossom all the +way up; and the fowls of heaven sing in the branches. + +In consequence of this tendency, we find men coming together in +tribes, in communities, in churches, in societies. Some gather +together to cultivate the arts; some to plan for the welfare of the +State; some to discuss religious themes; some to kindle their mirth; +some to advance their craft. So every active community is divided into +associations of artists, of merchants, of bookbinders, of carpenters, +of masons, of plasterers, of shipwrights, of plumbers. Do you cry out +against it? Then you cry out against a tendency divinely implanted. +Your tirades will accomplish no more than if you should preach to a +busy ant-hill or bee-hive a long sermon against secret societies. + +Here we find in our path the oft-discussed question, whether +associations that do their work with closed doors, and admit their +members by pass-words, and greet each other with a secret grip, are +right or wrong. I answer that it depends entirely upon the nature of +the object for which they meet. Is it to pass the hours in revelry, +wassail, blasphemy, and obscene talk, or to plot trouble to the State, +or to debauch the innocent? Then I say, with an emphasis that no man +can mistake, "NO." But is the object the improvement of the mind, +or the enlargement of the heart, or the advancement of art, or +the defence of the government, or the extirpation of crime, or the +kindling of a pure-hearted sociality? Then I say, with just as much +emphasis, "YES." + +There is no need that we who plan for the conquest of right over wrong +should publish to all the world our intentions. The general of an +army never sends to the opposing troops information as to the coming +attack. Shall we who have enlisted in the cause of God and humanity +expose our plans to the enemy? No! We will in secret plot the ruin of +all the enterprises of Satan and his cohorts. When they expect us by +day, we will fall upon them by night. While they are strengthening +their left wing, we will double up their right. By a plan of battle +formed in secret conclave, we will come suddenly upon them, crying: +"The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" + +Secrecy of plot and execution are wrong only when the object and +influence are nefarious. Every family is a secret society; every +business firm, and every banking and insurance institution. Those men +who have no capacity to keep a secret are unfit for positions of trust +anywhere. There are thousands of men whose vital need is culturing in +capacity to keep a secret. Men talk too much--and women too. There +is a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak. Although not +belonging to any of the great secret societies about which there has +been so much violent discussion, I have only words of praise for +those associations which have for their object the reclamation of +inebriates, or like the score of mutual benefit societies, called by +different names, that provide temporary relief for widows and orphans, +and for men incapacitated by sickness or accident for earning a +livelihood. + +I suppose there are club-houses in our cities to which men go with +clear consciences, and from which they come after an hour or two +of intellectual talk, and cheerful interview, to enjoy the domestic +circle. But that this is not the character of scores and hundreds of +club-houses we all know. Can I, then, pass this subject by without +exposition of the monstrous evil? There are multitudes who are +unconsciously having their physical, moral, and eternal well-being +endangered by club-room dissipation. Was it right to expose the plot +of Guy Fawkes, by which he would have destroyed the Parliament of +England? And am I wrong in disclosing a peril which threatens not only +your well-being here, but your throne in heaven? + +I deplore this ruin the more because this style of dissipation is +taking down our finest men. The admission-fee sifts out the penurious +and takes only those who are called the best fellows. Oh! how changed +you are! Not so kind to your wife as you used to be; not so patient +with your children. Your conscience is not so much at rest. You laugh +more now, and sing louder than once, but are not half so happy. It is +not the public drinking-saloon that is taking you down, nor theatrical +amusements, nor the houses of sin that have cost thousands of other +men their eternity: but it is simply and undeniably your club-room. +You do not make yourself as agreeable in your family as once. You go +home at twelve o'clock with an unnatural flush upon your cheek and +a strange color in your eye that you got at the club. You merely +acknowledge that you feel queer. You say that champagne never +intoxicates; that it only exhilarates, makes the conversation fluent, +shakes up the humor, and has no bad effect except a headache next day. +Be not deceived. Champagne may not, like whiskey, throw a man under +the table; but if, through anything you drink, you gain an unnatural +fluency of speech and glow of feeling, you are simply drunk. + +If those imperilled were heartless young men, stingy young men, I +would not be so sorry as I am; but there are many of them generous to +a fault, frank, honest, cheerful, talented. I begrudge the devil such +a prize. After a while these persons will lose all the frankness and +honor for which they are now distinguished. Their countenances will +get haggard, and instead of looking one in the eye when they talk, +they will look down. After a while, when the mother kindly asks, "What +kept you out so late?" they will make no answer, or will say "That is +my business!" They will come cross and befogged to the store and +bank, and ever and anon neglect some duty, and after a while will be +dismissed: and then, with nothing to do, will rise in the morning at +ten o'clock, cursing the servant because the breakfast is cold, and +then go down town and stand on the steps of a fashionable hotel, and +criticise the passers-by. While the young man who was a clerk in a +cellar has come up to be the first clerk, and he who a few years ago +ran errands for the bank has got to be cashier, and thousands of other +young men of the city have gone up to higher and more responsible +positions, he has been going down, until there he passes through the +street with bloated lip, and bloodshot eye, and staggering step, and +hat mud-spattered and set sidewise on a shock of greasy hair, the +ashes of his cigar dashed upon his cravat. Here he goes! Look at him, +all ye pure-hearted young men, and see the work of the fashionable +club-room. I knew one such who, after the contaminations of his +club-house, leaped out of the third-story window to put an end to his +wretchedness. + +Many who would not be seen drinking at the bar of a restaurant, think +there is no dishonor and no peril connected with sitting down at a +marble stand in an elegantly furnished parlor, to which they go with a +private key, and where none are present except gentlemen as elegant +as themselves. Everything so chaste in the surroundings! Soft carpets, +beautiful pictures, cut glass, Italian top tables, frescoed walls. In +just such places there are thousands of young men, middle-aged men, +and old men, preparing themselves for overthrow. + +In many of these club-rooms the talk is not as pure and elevated as +it might be. How is it, men and brothers, at half-past eleven o'clock, +when the tankards are well emptied, and the smoke curls up from every +lip? Do they ever swear? Are there stories told unworthy a man who +venerates the name of his mother? Does God, whose presence cannot be +hindered by bolt, and who comes in without a pass-word, and is making +up His record for the judgment-day, approve of the blasphemies you +utter? + +You think that there is no special danger, yet acknowledge that you +have felt _queer_ sometimes. Your head was not right, and your stomach +was disturbed. I will tell you what was the matter. _You were drunk_. +You understood not that protracted hiccough; it was the drunkard's +hiccough. You could not explain that nausea; it was the drunkard's +vomit. The fact is that some of you, who have never in your own eyes +or in the eyes of others fully sacrificed your respectability, have +for six months been written down in God's book as drunkards. + +How far down need a man go before he becomes an inebriate? Must he +fall into the ditch? No! Must he get into a porter-house fight? No! +Must he be senseless in the street? Must he have the delirium +tremens? No! He may wear satin and fine linen; he may walk with hat +scrupulously brushed; may swing a gold-headed cane, and step in boots +of French leather, dismount from a carriage, or draw tight rein over +a swift, sleek, high-mettled, full-blooded Arabian span, but yet be +so thoroughly under the power of strong drink that he is utterly +offensive to his Maker and rotten as a heap of compost. + +The fact that this whole land to-day swelters with drunkenness I +charge upon the drinking club houses. They wield an influence that +makes it respectable, and I will not put my head to the pillow +to-night until I have written against them one burning anathema +maranatha! When I see them dragging down scores of our young men, and +slaying professed Christians at the very altar, and snatching off +the garlands of life from those who would otherwise reign forever and +forever, I tell you I hate them with a perfect hatred, and pray for +more height, and depth, and length, and breadth of capacity with which +to hate them. + +Along this blossoming and over-arched pathway, and through this long +line of temptations that throw their garlands upon the brow, and ring +their music into the ear, go a great host. + +No one can estimate the homes that have been shattered by the +dissipations of the club-house. There are weak women who would never +consent to a husband's absence in the evening, however important the +duty that takes him away. Any man who wishes to take his share of the +public burdens and is willing to work for the political, educational, +and social advancement of the community must of necessity spend some +of his evenings away from home. There are associations and churches +that have a right to demand a share of a man's presence and means, and +that is a weak woman who always looks offended when her husband goes +out in the evening. + +But club-houses become a pest when they demand all a man's evenings; +and that is a result we are called to deplore. Every head of a +household is called to be its educator, its companion, its religious +instructor and exemplar; not only to furnish the wardrobe and to make +the money to pay the bills when they come in, but to give his +highest intellectual energies and social faculties to the amusement, +instruction, and improvement of the household. + +But I describe the history of thousands of households when I say that +the tea is rapidly taken, and while yet the family linger the father +shoves back his chair, has "an engagement," lights his cigar and +starts out, not returning until after midnight. That is the history of +three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, except when he is sick +and cannot get out. + +How about home duties? Have you fulfilled all your vows? Would your +wife ever have married you with such a prospect? Wait until your sons +get to be sixteen or seventeen years of age, and they too will shove +back from the tea-table, have an "engagement," light their cigars, go +over to their club-houses, their night-key rattling in your door after +midnight--the effect of your example. And as your son's constitution +may not be as strong as yours, and the liquor he drinks more terribly +drugged, he will catch up with you on the road to death although you +got the start of him. And so you will both go to hell together! A +revolving Drummond-light on the front of a locomotive casts its gleam +through the darkness as it is turned around; so I catch up the lamp of +God's truth and turn it round until its tremendous glare flashes into +all the club-houses of our cities. + +Flee the presence of the dissipating club-houses. "Paid your money?" +Sacrifice that rather than your soul. "Good fellows," are they? They +cannot stay what they are under such influences. Mollusca live two +hundred fathoms down in the Norwegian seas. The Siberian stag grows +fat on the stunted growth of Altaian peaks. The Hedysarium thrives +amid the desolation of Sahara. Tufts of osier and birch grow on the +hot lips of volcanic Schneehalten. But good character and a useful +life thrive amid club-room dissipations--_Never!_ + +The best way to make a wild beast cower is to look him in the eye, but +the best way to treat the temptations I have described is to turn your +back and fly! O! my heart aches! I see men struggling to get out of +the serfdom of bad habits, and I want to help them. I have knelt with +them and heard their cry for help. I have had them put one hand +on each of my shoulders, and look me in the eye, with an agony of +earnestness that the judgment shall have no power to make me forget, +and from their lips, scorched with the fires of ruin, have heard +them cry "God help me!" There is no rescue for such, save in the Lord +Almighty. + +Well, what we do, we had better do right away. The clock ticks now and +we hear it. After a while the clock will tick and we shall not hear +it. Seated by a country fireside, I saw the fire kindle, blaze, and go +out. I gathered up from the hearth enough for profitable reflections. +Our life is just like the fire on that hearth. We put on fresh fagots, +and the fire bursts through and up, and out, gay of flash, gay of +crackle--emblem of boyhood. Then the fire reddens into coals. The +heat is fiercer; and the more it is stirred, the more it reddens. With +sweep of flame it cleaves its way, until all the hearth glows with +the intensity--emblem of full manhood. Then comes a whiteness to the +coals. The heat lessens. The flickering shadows have died along the +wall. The fagots drop apart. The household hover over the expiring +embers. The last breath of smoke has been lost in the chimney. Fire is +out. Shovel up the white remains. ASHES! + + + + +FLASK, BOTTLE, AND DEMIJOHN. + + +[NOTE.--This chapter, in its first shape, was given some currency +under the title of "The Evil Beast." I have, however, so revised and +added to that Lecture, that, as here given, it is essentially a new +presentation of the dreadful Abomination of Rum, and it is in +this present shape that I wish the public to receive it as a full +expression of my views thereon. T.D.W.T.] + +There has in all ages and climes been a tendency to the improper use +of stimulants. Noah, as if disgusted with the prevalence of water in +his time, took to strong drink. By this vice Alexander the Conqueror +was conquered. The Romans, at their feasts, fell off their seats with +intoxication. Four hundred millions of our race are opium-eaters. +India, Turkey, and China have groaned with the desolation; and by it +have been quenched such lights as Haller and De Quincey. One hundred +millions are the victims of the betel-nut, which has specially +accursed the East Indies. Three hundred millions chew hashish, and +Persia, Brazil, and Africa suffer the delirium. The Tartars employ +murowa; the Mexicans the agave; the people of Guarapo an intoxicating +quality taken from sugar-cane; while a great multitude, that no man +can number, are the disciples of alcohol. To it they bow. In its +trenches they fall. In its awful prison they are incarcerated. On its +ghastly holocaust they burn. + +Could the muster-roll of this great army be called, and they could +come up from the dead, what eye could endure the reeking, festering +putrefaction and beastliness! What heart could endure the groans of +agony! + +Drunkenness: Does it not jingle the burglar's key? Does it not whet +the assassin's knife? Does it not cock the highwayman's pistol? Does +it not wave the incendiary's torch? Has it not sent the physician +reeling into the sick-room; and the minister, with his tongue thick, +into the pulpit? Did not an exquisite poet, from the very height of +reputation, fall, a gibbering sot, into the gutter, on his way to be +married to one of the fairest daughters of New England, and at the +very hour when the bride was decking herself for the altar; and did he +not die of delirium tremens, almost unattended, in a New York hotel? +Tamerlane asked for one hundred and sixty thousand skulls, with which +to build a pyramid to his own honor. He got the skulls, and built the +pyramid. But if the bones of all those who have fallen as a prey to +dissipation could be piled up, it would make a monster pyramid. Talk +not of Waterloo and Austerlitz, for they were not fields of blood +compared with this great Golgotha. + +Who will gird himself for the journey, and try with me to scale this +mountain of the dead--going up miles high on human carcasses, to find +still other peaks far above, mountain above mountain, white with the +bleached bones of drunkards! + +Hang not your head or shut your eyes until we have seen it. We must +get a sight at the monster before we can shoot him. + +I will begin at our national and State capitals. Like government, +like people. Henry VIII. blasts all England with his example of +uncleanness. Catharine of Russia drags down a whole empire with her +nefarious behavior. No Christian man can be indifferent to what +every hour of every day goes on at Washington. While the Presidential +Impeachment trial advanced, some of the men who were to render their +solemn verdict on the subject were reeling in and out of the Senate +chamber,--the intoxicated representatives of a free Christian people. +It was a great question whether several members of that high court +could be got sober in time to vote. + +Only recently a Senator from New England rises up with tongue so +thick, and with utterance so nonsensical, that he is led into the +anteroom. He was a good "Republican." + +One of the Middle States has a representative who very rarely appears +in his seat, for the reason that he is so great an inebriate that he +can neither walk nor ride. He is a good Democrat. + +As God looks down on our State and national legislatures, he holds us +responsible. We cast the votes. We lift up the legislators. + +Will the time never come when this nation shall rise up higher than +partisanship, and cast its suffrage for sober men? + +The fact is that the two millions of dollars which the liquor dealers +raised for the purpose of swaying State and national legislation has +done its work, and the nation is debauched. Higher than legislatures +or the Congress of the United States is the Whiskey Ring! + +The Sabbath has been sacrificed to the rum traffic. To many of our +people the best day of the week is the worst. Bakers must keep their +shops closed on the Sabbath. It is dangerous to have loaves of bread +going out on Sunday. The shoe-store is closed; severe penalty will +attack the man who sells boots on the Sabbath. But down with the +window-shutters of the grog shops. Our laws shall confer particular +honors upon the rum traffickers. All other traders must stand aside +for these. Let our citizens who have disgraced themselves by trading +in clothing, and hosiery, and hardware, and lumber, and coal, take +off their hats to the rum-seller, elected to particular honor. It is +unsafe for any other class of men to be allowed license for Sunday +work. But swing out your signs, oh ye traffickers in the peace of +families, and in the souls of immortal men! Let the corks fly, and the +beer foam, and the rum go tearing down the half-consumed throat of the +inebriate. God does not see, does he? Judgment will never come, will +it? + +People say--"Let us have some law to correct this evil." We have more +law now than we execute. In what city is there a mayoralty that dare +do it? There is no advantage in having the law higher than public +opinion. What would be the use of the Maine Law in New York? Neal Dow, +the Mayor of Portland, came out with a _posse_ and threw the rum of +the city into the street. From the alms-house a woman came out and +said, "Oh! if this had only been done ten years ago, my husband would +not have died a drunkard, and I would not have been a widow in the +almshouse." + +But there are not enough police in the city of New York to stand by +its Mayor in such an undertaking; public opinion is not educated. + +I do not know but that God is determined to let drunkards triumph; and +the husbands and sons of thousands of our best families be destroyed +by this vice, in order that our people, amazed and indignant, may rise +up and demand the extermination of this municipal crime. + +There is a way of driving down the hoops of a barrel until the hoops +break. + +We are in this country, at this time, trying to regulate this evil +by a tax on whiskey. You might as well try to regulate the Asiatic +cholera, or the small-pox, by taxation. The men who distil liquors +are, for the most part, unscrupulous; and the higher the tax, the more +inducement to illicit distillation. New York produces forty thousand +gallons of whiskey every twenty-four hours; and the most of it escapes +the tax. The most vigilant officials fail to discover the cellars, and +vaults, and sheds where this work is done. + +Oh, the folly of trying to restrain an evil by government tariffs! If +every gallon of whiskey made, if every flask of wine produced, should +be taxed a thousand dollars, it would not be enough to pay for the +tears it has wrung out of the eyes of widows and orphans, nor for the +blood it has dashed on the altars of the Christian Church, nor for the +catastrophe of the millions it has destroyed forever. + +Oh! we are a Christian people! From Boston a ship sailed for +Africa, with three missionaries, and twenty-two thousand gallons +of New-England rum on board. Which will have the most effect: the +missionaries, or the rum? + +Rum is victor. Some time when you have leisure, just go down any +of our streets, and count the number of drinking places. Here they +are--first-class hotels. Marble floors. Counter polished. Fine picture +hanging over the decanters. Cut glass. Silver water-coolers. Pictured +punch-bowls. High-priced liquors. Customers pull off their gloves, +and take up the glasses, and click them, and with immaculate +pocket handkerchief wipe their mouth, and go up-stairs, or into the +reading-room, and complete extensive bargains. + +Here it is--the restaurant. All sorts of viands, but chiefly all +styles of beverage. They who frequent this place have fairly started +on the down grade. Having drunk once, they lounge at the corner of the +bar until a friend comes up, and then the beverage is repeated. After +a while they sit at the little table by the wall and order a rarer +wine; for they feel richer now, and able to get almost anything. +Towards bed-time they take out their watch and say they must go home. +They start, but cannot stand straight. With a gentleman at each arm, +they start up the street. More and more overcome, the man begins to +whoop, and shout, and swear, and refuse to go any farther. Hat falls +off. Hair gets over his eyes. Door-bell of fine house rings. Wife +comes down the stairs. Daughters look over the banisters. Sobbing in +the dark hall. Quick--shut the front door, for I do not want to look +in. God help them! + +Here it is--a wine-cellar. Going into the door are depraved men and +lost women. Some stagger. All blaspheme. Men with rings in their ears +instead of their nose; and blotches of breast-pin. Pictures on the +wall cut out of the _Police Gazette_. A slush of beer on floor and +counter. A pistol falls out of a ruffian's pocket. By the gas-light a +knife flashes. Low songs. They banter, and jeer, and howl, and vomit. +An awful goal, to which hundreds of people better than you have come. + +All these different styles of drinking-places are multiplying. They +smite a young man's vision at every turn. They pour the stench of +their abomination on every wave of air. + +I sketch two houses in this street. The first is bright as home can +be. The father comes at nightfall, and the children run out to meet +him. Luxuriant evening meal, gratulation, and sympathy, and laughter. +Music in the parlor. Fine pictures on the wall. Costly books on the +stand. Well-clad household. Plenty of everything to make home happy. + +House the second. Piano sold yesterday by the sheriff. Wife's furs at +pawnbroker's shop. Clock gone. Daughter's jewelry sold to get flour. +Carpets gone off the floor. Daughters in faded and patched dresses. +Wife sewing for the stores. Little child with an ugly wound on her +face, struck in an angry blow. Deep shadow of wretchedness falling in +every room. Doorbell rings. Little children hide. Daughters turn +pale. Wife holds her breath. Blundering steps in the hall. Door opens. +Fiend, brandishing his fist, cries--"Out! Out! What are you doing +here!" + +Did I call this house the second? No; it is the same house. Rum +transformed it. Rum imbruted the man. Rum sold the shawl. Rum tore +up the carpets. Rum shook its fist. Rum desolated the hearth. _Rum_ +changed that paradise into a hell! + +I sketch two men that you know very well. The first graduated from one +of our literary institutions. His father, mother, brothers and sisters +were present to see him graduate. They heard the applauding thunders +that greeted his speech. They saw the bouquets tossed to his feet. +They saw the degree conferred and the diploma given. He never looked +so well. Everybody said, "What a noble brow! What a fine eye! What +graceful manners! What brilliant prospects!" All the world opens +before him and cries, "Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +Man the second. Lies in the station-house to-night. The doctor has +just been sent for to bind up the gashes received in a fight. His hair +is matted, and makes him look like a wild beast. His lip is bloody and +cut. + +Who is the battered and bruised wretch that was picked up by the +police and carried in drunk, and foul, and bleeding? Did I call +him man the second? He is man the _first_! Rum transformed him. Rum +destroyed his prospects. Rum disappointed parental expectation. Rum +withered those garlands of commencement-day. Rum cut his lip. Rum +dashed out his manhood. RUM, accursed RUM! + +This foul thing gives one swing to its scythe, and our best merchants +fall; their stores are sold, and they slink into dishonored graves. + +Again it swings its scythe, and some of our best physicians fall into +sufferings that their wisest prescriptions cannot cure. + +Again it swings its scythe, and ministers of the gospel fall from the +heights of Zion with long-resounding crash of ruin and shame. + +Some of your own household have already been shaken. Perhaps you +can hardly admit it; but where was your son last night? Where was he +Friday night? Where was he Thursday night? Wednesday night? Tuesday +night? Monday night? + +Nay, have not some of you, in your own bodies, felt the power of this +habit? You think that you could stop? Are you sure you could? Go on +a little further, and I am sure you cannot. I think, if some of you +should try to break away, you would find a chain on the right wrist, +and one on the left; one on the right foot, and another on the left. +This serpent does not begin to hurt until it has wound around and +round. Then it begins to tighten, and strangle, and crush until the +bones crack, and the blood trickles, and the eyes start from their +sockets, and the mangled wretch cries "O God! O God! Help! Help!" But +it is too late; and nothing but the fires of woe can melt the chain +when once it is fully fastened. + +The child of a drunkard died. My friend, a minister of the Gospel, sat +in a carriage with the drunkard, and the coffin of the little child. +On the way to the grave, the drunkard put his hand on the lid of his +child's coffin and swore that he never would drink again. Before the +next morning had come he was dead drunk! + +I spread out before you the starvation, the cruelty, the ghastliness, +the woes, the terror, the anguish, the perdition of this evil, and +then ask, Are you ready, fully and forever, to surrender our churches, +our homes, our civilization, our glorious Christianity? One or the +other must surrender. It can be no "drawn battle." + +But how are we to contend? + +First, by getting our children right on this subject. Let them grow up +with an utter aversion to strong drink. Take care how you administer +it even as medicine. If you find that they have a natural love for +it, as some have, put in a glass of it some horrid stuff and make it +utterly nauseous. Teach them as faithfully as you do the catechism, +that rum is a fiend. Take them to the alms-house and show them the +wreck and ruin it works. Walk with them into the homes that have been +scourged by it. If a drunkard hath fallen into a ditch, take them +right up where they can see his face, bruised, savage and swollen, and +say, "Look, my son: Rum did that!" + +Looking out of your window at some one who, intoxicated to madness, +goes through the street, brandishing his fist, blaspheming God,--a +howling, defying, shouting, reeling, raving and foaming maniac,--say +to your son, "Look; that man was once a child like you." As you go by +the grog-shop, let your boy know that that is the place where men are +slain, and their wives made paupers, and their children slaves. Hold +out to your children all warnings, all rewards, all counsels, lest in +after days they break your heart, and curse your gray hairs. + +A man laughed at my father for his scrupulous temperance principles, +and said--"I am more liberal than you. I always give my children the +sugar in the glass after we have been taking a drink." + +Three of his sons have died drunkards; and the fourth is imbecile +through intemperate habits. + +Again, we will battle this evil at the ballot-box. How many men are +there who can rise above the feelings of partisanship, and demand that +our officials shall be sober men? + +I maintain that the question of sobriety is higher than the question +of availability; and that however eminent a man's services may be, if +he have habits of intoxication, he is unfit for any office in the gift +of a Christian people. Our laws will be no better than the men who +make them. + +Spend a few days at Harrisburg, or Albany, or Washington, and you will +find out why, upon these subjects, it is impossible to get righteous +enactments. + +Again, we will war upon this evil by organized societies. The +friends of the rum traffic have banded together; annually issue their +circulars; raise fabulous sums of money to advance their interests; +and by grips, pass-words, signs, and stratagems set at defiance public +morals. Let us confront them with organizations just as secret, +and, if need be, with grips, and pass-words, and signs maintain our +position. There is no need that our philanthropic societies tell all +their plans. + +I am in favor of all lawful strategy in the carrying on of this +conflict. I wish to God we could lay under the wine-casks a train, +which, once ignited, would shake the earth with the explosion of this +monstrous iniquity. + +Again: we will try the power of the pledge. There are thousands of men +who have been saved by putting their names to such a document. I know +it is laughed at; but there are men who, having once promised a thing, +do it. "Some have broken the pledge." Yes; they were liars. But all +men are not liars. I do not say that it is the duty of all persons +to make such signature; but I do say that it will be the salvation of +many of you. + +The glorious work of Theobald Mathew can never be estimated. At +his hand four millions of people took the pledge, including eight +prelates, and seven hundred of the Roman Catholic clergy. A multitude +of them were faithful. + +Dr. Justin Edwards said that ten thousand drunkards had been +permanently reformed in five years. + +Through the great Washingtonian movement in Ohio, sixty thousand took +the pledge. In Pennsylvania, twenty-nine thousand. In Kentucky, thirty +thousand, and multitudes in all parts of the land. Many of these had +been habitual drunkards. One hundred and fifty thousand of them, it is +estimated, were permanently reclaimed. Two of these men became foreign +ministers; one a governor of a State; several were sent to +Congress. Hartford reported six hundred reformed drunkards; Norwich, +seventy-two; Fairfield, fifty; Sheffield, seventy-five. All over the +land reformed men were received back into the churches that they had +before disgraced; and households were re-established. All up and +down the land there were gratulations, and praise to God. The pledge +signed, to thousands has been the proclamation of emancipation. + +I think that we are coming at last to treat inebriation as it ought to +be treated, namely, as an awful disease, self-inflicted, to be sure, +but nevertheless a disease. Once fastened upon a man, sermons will not +cure him; temperance lectures will not eradicate the taste; religious +tracts will not remove it; the Gospel of Christ will not arrest it. +Once under the power of this awful thirst, the man is bound to go on; +and if the foaming glass were on the other side of perdition, he would +wade through the fires of hell to get it. A young man in prison had +such a strong thirst for intoxicating liquors, that he cut off his +hand at the wrist, called for a bowl of brandy in order to stop the +bleeding, thrust his wrist into the bowl, and then drank the contents. + +Stand not, when the thirst is on him, between a man and his cups! +Clear the track for him! Away with the children: he would tread their +life out! Away with the wife: he would dash her to death! Away with +the Cross: he would run it down! Away with the Bible: he would tear +it up for the winds! Away with heaven: he considers it worthless as a +straw! "Give me the drink! Give it to me! Though hands of blood pass +up the bowl, and the soul trembles over the pit,--the drink! give it +to me! Though it be pale with tears; though the froth of everlasting +anguish float in the foam--give it to me! I drink to my wife's woe; to +my children's rags; to my eternal banishment from God, and hope, and +heaven! Give it to me! the drink!" + +Again: we will contend against these evils by trying to persuade +the respectable classes of society to the banishment of alcoholic +beverages. You who move in elegant and refined associations; you +who drink the best liquors; you who never drink until you lose +your balance: consider that you have, under God, in your power the +redemption of this land from drunkenness. Empty your cellars and +wine-closets of the beverage, and then come out and give us your hand, +your vote, your prayers, your sympathies. Do that, and I will promise +three things: First, That you will find unspeakable happiness in +having done your duty; secondly, you will probably save somebody, +perhaps your own child; thirdly, you will not, in your last hour, have +a regret that you made the sacrifice, if sacrifice it be. + +As long as you make drinking respectable, drinking customs will +prevail; and the ploughshare of death, drawn by terrible disasters, +will go on turning up this whole continent, from end to end, with the +long, deep, awful furrow of drunkards' graves. + +Oh, how this Rum Fiend would like to go and hang up a skeleton in your +beautiful house, so that when you opened the front door to go in you +would see it in the hall; and when you sit at your table you would see +it hanging from the wall; and when you open your bed-room you would +find it stretched upon your pillow; and waking at night you would feel +its cold hand passing over your face and pinching at your heart! + +There is no home so beautiful but it may be devastated by the awful +curse. It throws its jargon into the sweetest harmony. What was it +that silenced Sheridan's voice and shattered the golden sceptre with +which he swayed parliaments and courts? What foul sprite turned the +sweet rhythm of Robert Burns into a tuneless ballad? What brought +down the majestic form of one who awed the American Senate with his +eloquence, and after a while carried him home dead drunk from the +office of Secretary of State? What was it that crippled the noble +spirit of one of the heroes of the last war, until the other night, +in a drunken fit, he reeled from the deck of a Western steamer and was +drowned! There was one whose voice we all loved to hear. He was one of +the most classic orators of the century. People wondered why a man +of so pure a heart and so excellent a life should have such a sad +countenance always. They knew not that his wife was a sot. + +"Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink!" If this curse was +proclaimed about the comparatively harmless drinks of olden times, +what condemnation must rest upon those who tempt their neighbors +when intoxicating liquor means copperas, nux vomica, logwood, opium, +sulphuric acid, vitriol, turpentine, and strychnine! "Pure liquors:" +pure destruction! Nearly all the genuine champagne made is taken by +the courts of Europe. What we get is horrible swill! + +I call upon woman for her influence in the matter. Many a man who had +reformed and resolved on a life of sobriety has been pitched off into +old habits by the delicate hand of her whom he was anxious to please. + +Bishop Potter says that a young man who had been reformed sat at a +table, and when the wine was passed to him refused to take it. A lady +sitting at his side said, "Certainly you will not refuse to take a +glass with me?" Again he refused. But when she had derided him for +lack of manliness he took the glass and drank it. He took another and +another; and putting his fist hard down on the table, said, "Now I +drink until I die." In a few months his ruin was consummated. + +I call upon those who are guilty of these indulgences to quit the path +of death. O what a change it would make in your home! Do you see how +everything there is being desolated! Would you not like to bring back +joy to your wife's heart, and have your children come out to meet you +with as much confidence as once they showed? Would you not like to +rekindle the home lights that long ago were extinguished? It is not +too late to change. It may not entirely obliterate from your soul the +memory of wasted years and a ruined reputation, nor smooth out from +anxious brows the wrinkles which trouble has ploughed. It may not call +back unkind words uttered or rough deeds done--for perhaps in those +awful moments you struck her! It may not take from your memory the +bitter thoughts connected with some little grave: but it is not too +late to save yourself and secure for God and your family the remainder +of your fast-going life. + +But perhaps you have not utterly gone astray. I may address one who +may not have quite made up his mind. Let your better nature speak out. +You take one side or the other in the war against drunkenness. +Have you the courage to put your foot down right, and say to your +companions and friends: "I will never drink intoxicating liquor in all +my life, nor will I countenance the habit in others." Have nothing to +do with strong drink. It has turned the earth into a place of skulls, +and has stood opening the gate to a lost world to let in its victims, +until now the door swings no more upon its hinges, but day and night +stands wide open to let in the agonized procession of doomed men. + +Do I address one whose regular work in life is to administer to this +appetite? I beg you--get out of the business. If a woe be pronounced +upon the man who gives his neighbor drink, how many woes must be +hanging over the man who does this every day, and every hour of the +day! + +A philanthropist, going up to the counter of a grog-shop, as the +proprietor was mixing a drink for a toper standing at the counter, +said to the proprietor, "Can you tell me what your business is good +for?" The proprietor, with an infernal laugh, said, "_It fattens +graveyards!_" + +God knows better than you do yourself the number of drinks you have +poured out. You keep a list; but a more accurate list has been kept +than yours. You may call it Burgundy, Bourbon, Cognac, Heidsick, Hock; +God calls it strong drink. Whether you sell it in low oyster cellar or +behind the polished counter of first-class hotel, the divine curse is +upon you. I tell you plainly that you will meet your customers one day +when there will be no counter between you. When your work is done on +earth, and you enter the reward of your business, all the souls of +the men whom you have destroyed will crowd around you and pour their +bitterness into your cup. They will show you their wounds and say, +"You made them;" and point to their unquenchable thirst, and say, "You +kindled it;" and rattle their chain and say, "You forged it." Then +their united groans will smite your ears; and with the hands out of +which you once picked the sixpences and the dimes, they will push you +off the verge of great precipices; while, rolling up from beneath, and +breaking among the crags of death, will thunder: + +"_Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink!_" + + + + +THE HOUSE OF BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS. + + +Men like to hear the frailties and faults of others chastised. With +what blandness and placidity they sit and hear the religious teacher +excoriate the ambition of Ahab, the treachery of Judas, the treason +of Athaliah, and the wickedness of the Amalekites. Indeed, I have +sometimes felt sorry for the Amalekites, for in all ages, and on all +occasions, they are smitten, denounced, and pursued. They have had +their full share of censure and excoriation. It is high time that +in our addresses in pulpits, and in domestic circles, we turn our +attention to the driving out of these worse Amalekites which are +swarming in society to-day, thicker than in the olden time. The +ancient Amalekites lived for one or two hundred years; but these +are not weakened after a thousand years. Those traversed only a few +leagues of land; these stalk the earth and ford the sea. Those had +each a sword or spear; these fight with a million swords, and strike +with a million stings, and smite with a million catastrophes. Those +were conquered with human weapons; but to overcome these we must bring +out God's great fieldpieces, and employ an enginery that can sweep +from eternity to eternity. + +There is one subject which we are expected, in all our teachings, to +shun, or only to hint at: I mean the wickedness of an impure life. +Though God thunders against this appalling iniquity from the heavens +curse after curse, anathema after anathema, by our unwillingness to +repeat the divine utterance we seem to say, "Lord, not so loud! Speak +about everything else; but if this keeps on there will be trouble!" +Meanwhile the foundations of social life are being slowly undermined; +and many of the upper circles of life have putrefied until they have +no more power to rot. + +If a fox or a mink come down to the farmyard and carry off a chicken, +the whole family join in the search. + +If a panther come down into the village and carry off a child, the +whole neighborhood go out with clubs and guns to bring it down. + +But this monster-crime goes forth, carrying off body and soul; and +yet, if we speak, a thousand voices bid us be silent. + +I shall try to cut to the vitals of the subject, and proceed with the +_post-mortem_ of this carcass of death. It is time to speak on this +subject. All the indignation of the community upon this subject is +hurled upon woman's head. If, in an evil hour, she sacrifice her +honor, the whole city goes howling after her. She shall take the whole +blame. Out with her from all decent circles! Whip her. Flay her. +Bar all the doors of society against her return. Set on her all the +blood-hounds. Shove her off precipice after precipice. Push her down. +Kick her out! If you see her struggling on the waves, and with her +blood-tipped fingers clinging to the verge of respectability, drop a +mill-stone on her head. + +For a woman's sin, men have no mercy; and the heart of other women is +more cruel than death. + +For her, in the dark hour of her calamity, the women who, with the +same temptation, might have fallen into deeper damnation, have no +commiseration and no prayer. + +The heaviest stroke that comes down upon a fallen woman's soul is the +merciless indignation of her sisters. + +If the multitudes of the fallen could be placed in a straight line, it +would reach from here to the gates of the lost, and back again. + +But what of the destroyer? + +We take his arm. We flatter his appearance. We take off our hats. +He is admitted to our parlors. For him we cast our votes. For him +we speak our eulogies. And when he has gone we read over the heap of +compost: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from +their labors and their works do follow them." + +In the fashionable city to-day there walk a thousand libertines. They +are a moving pest. Their breath is the sirocco of the desert. Their +bones have in them the decay of the pit. They have the eye of +a basilisk. They have been soaked in filth, and steeped in +uncleanliness, and consumed in sin, and they are all adrip with the +loathsomeness of eternal death. I take hold of the robe of one of +these elegant gentlemen, and pull it aside, and say, "Behold a Leper!" + +First, if you desire to shun this evil, you will have nothing to do +with bad books and impure newspapers. With such an affluent literature +as is coming forth from our swift-revolving printing-presses, there +is no excuse for dragging one's self through sewers of unchastity. Why +walk in the ditch, when right beside the ditch is the solid flagging? +It seems that in the literature of the day the ten plagues of Egypt +have returned, and the frogs and lice have hopped and skipped over our +parlor tables. + +Waiting impatiently in the house of some parishioner, for the +completion of a very protracted toilet, I have picked up a book from +the parlor table, and found that every leaf was a scale of leprosy. + +Parents are delighted to have their children read, but they should be +sure as to what they read. You do not have to walk a day or two in an +infected district to get the cholera or typhoid fever; and one wave +of moral unhealth will fever and blast an immortal nature. Perhaps, +knowing not what you did, you read a bad book. Do you not remember it +altogether? Yes; and perhaps you will never get over it. + +However strong and exalted your character, _never read a bad book_. By +the time you get through the first chapter you will see the drift; If +you find the marks of the hoofs of the devil in the pictures, or in +the style, or in the plot, away with it. You may tear your coat, or +break a vase, and repair them again, but the point where the rip or +fracture took place will always be evident. It takes less than an +hour to do your heart a damage which no time can entirely repair. Look +carefully over your child's library; see what book it is that he reads +after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned upon the pillow. Do +not always take it for granted that a book is good because it is +a Sunday-school book. As far as possible know _who_ wrote it, who +illustrated it, who published it, who sold it. + +Young man, as you value Heaven, never buy a book from one of those men +who meet you in the square, and, after looking both ways, to see +if the police are watching, shows you a book--very cheap. Have +him arrested as you would kill a rattle-snake. Grab him, and shout +"Police! police!" + +But there is more danger, I think, from many of the family papers, +published once a week; in those stories of vice and shame, full +of infamous suggestions, going as far as they can without exposing +themselves to the clutch of the law. I name none of them; but say that +on some fashionable tables there lie "family newspapers" that are the +very vomit of the pit. + +The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three dollars to go to +Philadelphia; six dollars to Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; +but, by the purchase of a bad paper for ten cents, you may get a +through ticket to hell, by express, with few stopping-places, and +the final halting like the tumbling of the lightning train down the +draw-bridge at Norwalk--sudden, terrific, deathful, never to rise. + +O, the power of an iniquitous pen! If a needle puncture the body at a +certain point, life is destroyed; but the pen is a sharper instrument, +for with its puncture you may kill the soul. And that very thing many +of our acutest minds are to-day doing. Do not think that this which +you drain from the glass, because it is sweet, is therefore healthful: +some of the worst poisons are pleasant to the taste. The pen which +for the time fascinates you may be dipped in the slime of unclean +literature. + +Look out for the books that come from France. It has sent us some +grand histories, poems, and pure novels, but they are few in number +compared with the nastiness that it has spewed out upon our shore. + +Do we not read in our Bibles that the ancient flood covered all the +earth? I would have thought that France had escaped, for it does not +seem as if it had ever had a thorough washing. + +In the next place, if you would shun an impure life, avoid those who +indulge in impure conversation. There are many people whose chief +mirthfulness is in that line. They are full of innuendo, and phrases +of double meaning, and are always picking out of the conversation of +decent men something vilely significant. It is astonishing in company, +how many, professing to be _Christians_, will tell vile stories; and +that some Christian women, in their own circles, have no hesitation at +the same style of talking. + +You take a step down hill, when, without resistance, you allow any one +to put into your ear a vile innuendo. If, forgetting who you are, +any man attempts to say such things in your presence, let your +better nature assert itself, look the offender full in the face, and +ask--"What do you mean by saying such a thing in my presence!" Better +allow a man to smite you in the face than to utter such conversation +before you. I do not care who the men or women are that utter impure +thoughts; they are guilty of a mighty wrong; and their influence upon +our young people is baleful. + +If in the club where you associate; if in the social circle where you +move, you hear depraved conversation, fly for your life! A man is +no better than his talk; and no man can have such interviews without +being scarred. + +I charge our young men against considering uncleanness more tolerable, +because it is sanctioned by the customs, habits, and practices of +what is called high life. If this sin wears kid gloves, and patent +leathers, and coat of exquisite fit, and carries an opera-glass of +costliest material, and lives in a big house, and rides in a splendid +turn-out, is it to be any the less reprehended? No! No! + +I warn you not so much against the abomination that hides in the lower +courts and alleys of the town, as against the more damnable vice that +hides behind the white shutters and brownstone fronts of the upper +classes. + +God, once in a while, hitches up the fiery team of vengeance, and +ploughs up the splendid libertinism, and we stand aghast. + +Sin, crawling out of the ditch of poverty and shame, has but few +temptations; but, gliding through the glittering drawing-room with +magnificent robe, it draws the stars of heaven after it. + +Poets and painters have represented Satan as horned and hoofed. If I +were a poet I should describe him with manners polished to the +last perfection, hair flowing in graceful ringlets, eye a little +blood-shot, but floating in bewitching languor; hands soft and +diamonded; step light and artistic; voice mellow as a flute; boot +elegantly shaped; conversation facile, carefully toned, and Frenchy; +breath perfumed until it would seem that nothing had ever touched his +lips save balm and myrrh. But his heart I would encase with the scales +of a monster, then fill with pride, with beastliness of desire, +with recklessness, with hypocrisy, with death. Then I would have +him touched with some rod of disenchantment until his two eyes would +become the cold orbs of the adder; and on his lip would come the foam +of raging intoxication; and to his feet the spring of the panther; +and his soft hand should become the clammy hand of a wasted +skeleton; while suddenly from his heart would burst in crackling and +all-devouring fury the unquenchable flames; and in the affected lisp +of his tongue would come the hiss of the worm that never dies. + +But, until disenchanted, nothing but myrrh, and balm, and ringlet, and +diamond, and flute-like voice, and conversation aromatic, facile, and +Frenchy. + +There are practices in respectable circles, I am told by physicians, +which need public reprehension. Herod's massacre of the innocents was +as nothing compared with that of millions and millions by what I shall +call _ante-natal_ murders. You may escape the grip of the law, because +the existence of such life was not known by society; but I tell +you that at last God will shove down on you the avalanche of his +indignation; and though you may not have wielded knife or pistol in +your deeds of darkness, yet, in the day when John Wilkes Booth and +Antony Probst come to judgment, you will have on _your_ brow the brand +of _murderer_. + +Hear me when I repeat, that the practices of high life ought not to +make sin in your eyes seem tolerable. God is no respecter of persons; +and robes and rags will stand on the same platform in the day when the +archangel, with one foot on the sea and the other on the land, swears, +by Him that liveth forever and ever, that Time shall be no more. + +O, it is beautiful to see a young man living a life of purity, +standing upright where thousands of other young men fall. You will +move in honorable circles all your days; and some old friend of your +father will meet you and say: "My son, how glad I am to see you look +so well. Just like your father, for all the world. I thought you would +turn out well when I used to hold you on my knee. Do you ever hear +from the old folks?" + +After a while you yourself will be old, and lean quite heavily on your +cane, and take short steps, and hold the book off to the other side +of the light. And men will take off their hats in your presence. Your +body, unharmed by early indulgences, will get weaker, only as the +sleepy child gets more and more unable to hold up its head, and falls +back into its mother's lap: so you shall lay yourself down into the +arms of the Christian's tomb, and on the slab that marks the place +will be chiselled: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see +God." + +But here is a young man who takes the other route. The voices of +uncleanness charm him away. He reads bad books. Lives in vicious +circles. Loses the glow from his cheek, the sparkle from his eye, and +the purity from his soul. The good shun him. Down he goes, little by +little. They who knew him when he came to town, while yet lingering +on his head was a pure mother's blessing, and on his lip the dew of a +pure sister's kiss, now pass him, and nay, "What an awful wreck!" +His eye bleared with frequent carousals. His cheek bruised in the +grog-shop fight. His lip swollen with evil indulgences. Look out what +you say to him. For a trifle he will take your life. Lower down and +lower down, until, outcast of God and man, he lies in the alms-house, +a blotch of loathsomeness and pain. Sometimes he calls out for God; +and then for more drink. Now he prays; now curses. Now laughs as +fiends laugh. Then bites his nails to the quick. Then runs both hands +through the shock of hair that hangs about his head--like the mane +of a wild beast. Then shivers--until the cot shakes--with unutterable +terror. Then, with uplifted fist, fights back the devils, or clutches +the serpents that seem winding him in their coil. Then asks for water, +which is instantly consumed by his cracked lips. Going his round some +morning, the surgeon finds him dead. + +Straighten the limbs. You need not try to comb out or shove back the +matted locks. Wrap him in a sheet. Put him in a box. Two men will +carry it down to the wagon at the door. With chalk, write on the top +of the box the name of the exhausted libertine. + +Do you know who it is? + +That is _you_, O man, if, yielding to the temptations to an impure +life, you go out, and perish. + +There is a way that seemeth bright, and fair, and beautiful; but the +end thereof is BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS FOREVER. + + + + +THE GUN THAT KICKS OVER THE MAN WHO SHOOTS IT OFF. + + +Blasphemy is a crime that aims at God, but does its chief harm to the +one that fires it off. + +So I compare it to a piece of imperfect firearms to which the marksman +puts his eye, and, pulling the trigger, by the rebound finds himself +in the dust. + +I tell you a story, Oriental and marvellous. History speaks of the +richest man in all the East. He had camels, oxen, asses, sheep, and +what would make any man rich even if he had nothing else--seven sons +and three daughters. It was the custom of this man's children to +have family reunions. One day he is at home, thinking of his darling +children, who are keeping banquet at their elder brother's house. +Yonder comes a messenger in hot haste, evidently, from his looks, +bearing evil tidings. Recovering himself sufficiently to speak, he +says: "The oxen and the asses have been captured by a foraging party +of Sabeans, and all the servants are butchered except myself." Another +messenger is coming. He says that the sheep and the shepherds have +been struck by lightning. Another messenger is coming. He says that +the Chaldeans have come and captured the camels, and killed all but +himself. Another messenger, who says: "While thy sons and daughters +were at the feast, a hurricane struck the corner of the tent, and they +are all dead!" But his misfortunes are not yet completed. The old man +is smitten with the elephantiasis, or black leprosy. Tumors from head +to foot; face distorted; forehead ridged with offensive tubercles; +eyelashes fall out; nostrils excoriated; voice destroyed; intolerable +exhalation from the whole body; until, with none to dress his sores, +he sits down in the ashes, with nothing but broken pieces of pottery +to use in the surgery of his wounds. At this point, when he needed +all consolation and encouragement, his wife comes to him, and says, +virtually: "This is intolerable! Our property gone, our children +slain, and now this loathsome, disgusting disease is upon you. Why +don't you swear? Curse God and die!" + +But profanity would not have removed one tumor from his agonized body; +would not have brought to his door one of the captured camels; would +not have restored any one of the dead children. Swearing would have +made the pain more unbearable, the pauperism into which he had plunged +more distressing, the bereavement more excruciating. + +And yet, from the swearing and blasphemy with which our land is +cursed, one would think there were some great advantage to be reaped +from the practice. There is to-day in all our land no more prevalent +custom, and no more God-defying abomination, than profane swearing. +You can hardly walk our streets five minutes without having your ears +stung and your sensibilities shocked. The drayman swearing at his +horse; the tinman at his solder; the sewing-girl imprecating her +tangled thread; the bricklayer cursing at his trowel; the carpenter at +his plane; the sailor at the tackling; the merchant at the customer; +the customer at the merchant; the printer at the miserable proofsheet; +the accountant at the troublesome line of figures;--swearing in the +cellar and in the loft, before the counter and behind the counter, in +the shop and on the street, in low saloon and fashionable bar-room. +Children swear, men swear, ladies (!) swear. Profanity from the lowest +haunt calling upon the Almighty, to the fashionable "O Lord!" of the +glittering drawing-room. + +This whole country is blasted with the evil. Coming from the West, +a gentleman sat behind two persons conversing. Profanities were so +frequent in the conversation of the two persons in front, that the +gentleman behind took out his pencil and paper and made a record. The +profanities filled several sheets in the course of two days, at the +close of which time the gentleman handed the manuscript to the persons +conversing. The men said: "Is it possible that we have uttered so +many profanities in the course of two days?" The gentleman said: +"Yes."--"Then," said one of the men, "I shall never swear again." + +I make no abstract discussion. I hate abstractions. I had rather come +right out and have a talk with you about a habit that you admit to be +wrong. This habit has grown from the fact that the young often think +it an evidence of manliness. There are thousands of boys and youth +who indulge in it. I hear children along the street, but just able to +walk, practising this iniquity. They cannot talk straight, but they +get enough distinctness to let you know that they are damning their +own souls and the souls of others. Oh! it is horrible to see a little +child, the first time it lifts its feet to walk, set them down on +the burning pavement of hell! Between sixteen and twenty years of age +there is apt to come a time when a young man is as much ashamed of +not being able to deliver an oath as he is of the dizziness that comes +from his first cigar. He has his hat and coat and boots of the +right pattern, and there is but one thing more now to bring him into +_fashion_, and that is a capacity to swear. + +So there are some of our young men surrounded by an atmosphere of +profanities. Oaths sit on their lips, they roll under their tongues, +and nest in the shock of hair. In elegant drawing-rooms they abstain +from such utterances, but fill club-room and street with their +immoralities of speech. You suggest the wrongfulness of the habit, and +they thrust their finger in the sleeve of their vest, and swagger, and +say: "Who cares!" They have no regard for God, but great respect for +the ladies. Ah! there is no manliness in that. + +The most ungentlemanly thing a man can do is to swear. This habit is +becoming more and more prevalent because of the immorality of parents +and employers. There are very many fathers who indulge in this habit. +They feel moved to utter themselves in this way, but first look around +to see if their children are present. They have no idea that their +children know anything about it. The probability is that if you swear, +your children swear. They were in the next room and heard you, or +somebody told them about your habit. Your child is practising to do +just as you do. He is laughed at, at first, for his awkwardness, but +after a while he will swear as well as you. + +Then look at the example of master carpenters, masons, roofers, and +hatters. You know how some of you go around the building, and, when +the work of your journeyman and subordinates does not please you, what +do you say? It is not praying, is it? Forthwith, your journeymen +and subordinates learn the habit. Hence our hat-shops, and +house-scaffoldings, and side-walks, and wharves, and dockyards, and +cellars, and lofts ring with blasphemies. + +Men argue that, if it is right for a man worth fifty or a hundred +thousand dollars to swear, it can be overlooked in men who have merely +their day's wages. Because they are poor must they be denied this one +luxury? + +This habit becomes more prevalent because of the infirmities of +temper. There are many men who, when at peace, are most fastidious +of speech, but when aroused into the violence of passion, blaze with +imprecation. The Oriental's wife spoken of would not have liked her +husband to be profane under ordinary circumstances, but now that the +camels are gone, and the sheep are gone, and the property is gone, +and the boils have come, she says: "Why don't you swear? Curse God +and die!" Others, all the year round, have not the froth of profanity +wiped from their lips, but try to expend all the fury of a twelvemonth +in one red-hot paragraph of five minutes. A man apologized for his +occasional swearing by saying that, once in a year, in this way +he cleared himself out. There are men who have no control of their +blasphemous utterances, who want us to send them to Congress. Others +have blasphemed in senatorial places, pretending afterwards that it +was a mere rhetorical flourish. + +Many fall into this habit through the frequent use of what are called +by-words. I suppose that all have favorite phrases of this kind in +which there is no harm; but a profusion of this style of speech often +ends in bald profanity. It is, "I declare!" "My stars!" "Mercy on me!" +"Good gracious!" "By George!" "By Jove!" and "By heavens!" and no harm +is intended; but it is a very easy transition from this kind of +talk to that which is positively obnoxious. The English language is +magnificent, and capable of expressing every shade of feeling and +every degree of energy and zeal; and there is no need that we take +to ourselves unlawful words. If you are happy, Noah Webster offers +to your tongue ten thousand epithets in which you may express your +exhilaration; and if you are righteously indignant, there are in +his dictionary whole armories of denunciation and scorn, sarcasm and +irony, caricature and wrath. Utter yourself against some meanness or +hypocrisy in all the blasphemies that ever smoked up from perdition, +and I will go on to denounce the same meanness and hypocrisy with a +hundred-fold more stress and vehemency in words across which no slime +has ever trailed, and through which no infernal fires have shot their +forked tongues,--words pure, innocent, all-impressive, God-honored, +Anglo-Saxon,--in which Milton sang, and Bunyan dreamed, and +Shakespeare wrote. + +But whatever be the source of this habit, it is on the increase. At +sixteen, boys swear with as much facility as the grandfather did at +sixty. Our streets are cursed by it from end to end. Our hotels, from +morning until midnight, resound with it. Men curse on the way to the +bar to get their morning dram; curse the news-boy who cries the paper; +curse the breakfast for being cold; curse at the bank, and curse at +the store; curse on the way to bed; curse at the stone against which +they strike their foot; and curse at the splinter that gets under the +nail. If you do not know that this is so, it is because your ear has +been hardened by the perpetual din of profanities that are enough to +bring down upon any city the hurricane of fire that consumed Sodom. + +The habit is creeping up into the higher circles. Every woman despises +flat and unvarnished imprecations; but in the most elevated circles +there are women who swear without knowing it. They have read Bulwer, +and George Sand, and the exaggerated style of some of our imported as +well as home-made periodical literature, until they do not actually +know what is decency of speech. With fairy fan to their lips they +utter their oaths, and, under chandeliers which discover not the +faintest blush, recklessly speak the holiest of names. This is helped +on by the second glass of wine, that is _perfectly harmless_; and +though no one dare charge her, being so finely dressed, with anything +like intoxication, yet there comes a glassiness to the eye, and a glow +to the cheek, and a style of speech to the tongue that were not known +before she took the second glass that was _perfectly harmless_. + +One wild, terrific wave of blasphemy is sweeping over the land. See +the effects of this widespread profanity in the increasing perjury. +If men in ordinary conversation so commonly use the name of God, is it +wonderful that in the jury-box, and in the alderman's office, and +in the custom-house so many swear falsely? Notice the way an oath is +administered. They toss the Bible at a man, and in the most trivial +way say: "So help you God--kiss the book." I suppose enough lies are +every day told in the custom-house to sink it. Smuggling, although it +be done against positive oath, is in some circles considered a grand +joke; and you say some day to your friend, "How can you sell those +goods so cheaply?" and your friend says with an eye-twinkle, "The +Custom-House tariff was not as high on those things as it might have +been." Men more easily break their solemn oaths than formerly. What +strange verdicts juries do sometimes render! What peculiar charges +judges do sometimes make! What unaccountable slowness sheriffs and +their deputies sometimes exhibit in the execution of their writs! What +erratic railroad enterprises suddenly pass at our State capitals! What +wonderful changes Congress makes in the tariff on liquors! + +What is an oath? Anything solemn? Anything appealing to the Almighty? +Anything stupendous in man's history? No! It is "kissing the book!" +In a land where the name of God so often becomes the foot-ball of what +are called respectable circles, how can we expect that it can excite +any veneration when, in the presence of county clerk, or alderman, or +judge, or legislative assembly, it is used in solemn adjuration? This +habit lowers, bedwarfs, and destroys the entire moral nature. You +might as well expect to raise harvests and vineyards on the side of +belching Stromboli as to have any great excellency grow upon your soul +when it so often overflows with the scorię of this awful propensity. +You will never swear yourself up. You will swear yourself down. The +Mohammedans, when they find a slip of paper they cannot read, put +it aside, for fear the name of God is on it. That, you say, is one +extreme. We go to the other. + +You are willing to acknowledge this a miserable habit, and would like +to have some recipe for its cure. + +Reflect much upon the uselessness of the habit. Did a volley of oaths +ever start a heavy load? Did curses ever unravel a tangled skein? Did +they ever extirpate the meanness of a customer? Did they ever collect +a bad debt? Did they ever cure a toothache? Did they ever stop a +twinge of the gout? Did they ever save you a dollar, or put you a step +forward in any great enterprise? or enable you to gain a position, or +to accomplish anything that you ever wanted to do? How much did +you ever make by swearing? What, in all the round of a lifetime of +profanity, did you ever _gain_ by the habit? + +Reflect, also, upon the fact that it arouses God's indignation. The +Bible reiterates, in paragraph after paragraph, and chapter after +chapter, the fact that all swearers and blasphemers are accursed now, +and are to be forever miserable. There is no iniquity that has been so +often visited with the immediate curse of God. + +At New Brunswick, a young man was standing on the railroad track +blaspheming. The cars passed, and he was found on the track with his +tongue cut out. People could not understand how, with comparatively +little bruising of the rest of his body, his tongue could have been +cut out. Not long ago, in Chicago, a man told a falsehood, and said +that he hoped, if what he said was not true, God would strike him +dead. He instantly fell. There was no longer any pulse. There was no +reason for his death, except that he asked God to strike him dead, +and God did it. In Scotland a club was formed, in which the members +competed as to which could use the most horrid oaths. The man who +succeeded best in the infamy was made president of the club. His +tongue began to swell. It protruded from his mouth. He could not draw +it in. He died within three days. Physicians were astounded. There was +nothing like it in all the books. What was the matter with him? _He +cursed God, and died!_ Near Catskill, N.Y., during a thunder-storm, a +group of men were standing in a blacksmith-shop. There came a crash +of thunder, and the men were startled. One man said that he was not +afraid; and he made a wager that he dared go out in front of the shop, +while the lightnings were flying, and dare the Almighty. He went +out; shook his fist at the heavens, crying, "Strike, if you dare!" +Instantly a thunder-bolt struck him. He was dead. He cursed God, and +died! + +God will not abide this sin. He will not let it escape. There is a +kind of manifold paper by which a man may, with a heavy pencil, write +upon a dozen sheets at once--the writing going down through all the +sheets. So every oath and blasphemy goes through, and is written +indelibly on every leaf of God's remembrance. Ah! how much our Father +bears! Can you make an estimate of how many blasphemies will roll up +from the streets and saloons of our cities to-night? If you go out +and look up you cannot see them. There will be no trail of fire on the +sky. But the air is full of them. The name of Christ is not so often +spoken in worship as in derision. God will be cursed to-night by +hundreds of lips. The grog-shops will curse him. The houses of shame +will curse him. Five Points will curse him. Bedford street will curse +him. Chestnut street will curse him. Madison square will curse him. +Beacon street will curse him. Every street in all our cities will +curse him. + +This blasphemy is an abomination that no words of mine can describe. +And God hears it. They curse His name. They curse his Sabbath. They +curse his Bible. They curse his people. They curse his Only Begotten +Son. Yes; they swear by the name of Jesus! It makes my hair rise, and +my flesh creep, and my blood chill, and my breath catch, and my foot +halt. + +Dionysius had a cave where men were incarcerated. At the top of the +cave was an aperture to which he could put his ear, and could hear +every sigh, every groan, every word of the inmates. This world is so +arranged that all its voices go up to heaven. God puts down his ear +and hears every word of praise offered, and every word of blasphemy +spoken. + +Our cities must come to judgment. All these oaths must be answered +for. They die on the air, but they have an eternal echo. Listen +for the echo. It rolls back from the ages to come. Listen:--"_All +blasphemers shall have their place in the lake that burneth with fire +and brimstone_." Some have thought that a lost soul in the future +world will do that which it was most prone to do in this world. If so, +then think of a man blaspheming God through all eternity! + +This habit grows upon a man, until at last it pushes him off forever. +I saw a man die with an oath between his teeth. Voltaire rose from +his dying pillow, and, supposing that he saw Christ in the room, cried +out, "Crush the wretch!" A celebrated officer during the last war fell +mortally wounded, and the only word he sent to his wife was: "Tell her +I fought like hell!" + +There are thousands of men who are having all their moral nature +pulled down by the fiery fingers of this habit. At last, pinched, +shrivelled, and consumed, they will get down on their beds to die, and +at the step of the doctor in the hall, or the shutting of the front +door, they will start up, thinking they hear the sepulchral gates +creak open. + +Who is this God that you should maltreat his name? Has he been +haunting you, starving you, or freezing you all your life? No! He is +your Father, patient and loving. He rocked your cradle with blessings, +from the time you were born. He clothes you now, and always has +clothed you. You never had a sickness but he was sorry for you. He has +brooded over you with wings of love. He has tried to press you to his +heart of kindness and compassion. He wants to forgive you. He wants to +help you. He wants to make you happy. He watched last night over your +pillow while you slept. He will watch to-night. He was your father's +God, and your mother's. He has housed them safe from the blast, and he +wants to shelter you. Do you trifle with his name? Do you smite him in +the face? Do you thrust him back by your imprecations? + +Who is this Jesus Christ that I hear men swearing by? Who is he? Some +destroyer, that they so treat his name? What foul thing hath he done, +that our great cities speak his name in thousand-voiced jeer and +contempt? Who is he? A Lamb, whose blood simmered in the fires of +sacrifice, to save you. A Brother, who put down his crown of glory +that you might take it up. For many years he has been striving, night +and day, to win your affections. There is nothing in heaven that he +is not willing to give you. He came with blistered feet and streaming +eyes, with aching head and broken heart to relieve you. On the craft +of a doomed humanity he pushed out into the sea, to pick you off the +rock. Who will ever again malign his name? Is there a hand that will +ever again be lifted to wound him? If so, let that hand, blood-dipped, +be lifted now. Which one of my readers will ever again utter his +sacred name in imprecation? If any, now let them speak. Not one! Not +one! + +One summer among the New England hills there was an evening memorable +for storm and darkness. The clouds, which had been all day gathering, +at last unlimbered their batteries. The Housatonic, that flows +in silence save as the paddles of pleasure-parties rattle in the +row-lock, was lashed into foam and its waves staggered, not knowing +where to lay themselves. The hills jarred at the rumbling of God's +chariots. Blinding sheets of rain drove the cattle to the bars, and +beat against the window-pane as if to dash it in. The corn-fields +crouched in the fury, and the ripened grain-fields threw their crowns +of gold at the feet of the storm-king. After the night shut in, it +was a double night. Its black mantle was rent with the lightnings, and +into its locks were twisted the leaves of uprooted oaks, and shreds +of canvas torn from the masts of the beached shipping. It was such a +night as makes you thank God for shelter, and bids you open the door +to let in even the spaniel howling outside with the terror. We went +to sleep under the full blast of heaven's great orchestra, and the +forests with uplifted voice, in choiring hosts that filled all the +side of the mountains, praising the Lord. + +We waked not until the fingers of the sunny morn touched our eyelids. +We looked out and. Housatonic slept as quiet as a baby's dream. +Pillars of white cloud set up along the heavens looked like the +castles of the blest, built for hierarchs of heaven on the beach of +the azure sea. The trees sparkled as though there had been some great +grief in heaven, and each leaf had been God-appointed to catch an angel's +tear. It seemed as if God our Father had looked down upon earth, his +wayward child, and stooped to her tear-wet cheek, and kissed it. + +Even so will the darkness of our country's crime and suffering be +lifted. God will roll back the night of storm, and bring in the +morning of joy. Its golden light will gild the city spire, and strike +the forests of Maine, and tinge the masts of Mobile; and with one end +resting upon the Atlantic beach and the other on the Pacific coast, +God will spring a great rainbow arch of peace, in token of everlasting +covenant that the land shall never again be deluged with crime. + + + + +LIES: WHITE AND BLACK. + + +There are ten thousand ways of telling a lie. A man's entire life may +be a falsehood, while with his lips he may not once directly falsify. +There are those who state what is positively untrue, but afterwards +say, "may be," softly. These departures from the truth are called +"white lies;" but there is really no such thing as a white lie. The +whitest lie that was ever told was as black as perdition. No +inventory of public crimes will be sufficient that omits this gigantic +abomination. There are men, high in Church and State, actually useful, +self-denying, and honest in many things, who, upon certain subjects, +and in certain spheres, are not at all to be depended upon for +veracity. Indeed, there are multitudes of men who have their notions +of truthfulness so thoroughly perverted, that they do not know when +they _are_ lying. With many it is a cultivated sin; with some it seems +a natural infirmity. I have known people who seemed to have been born +liars. The falsehoods of their lives extended from cradle to grave. +Prevarication, misrepresentation, and dishonesty of speech appeared +in their first utterances and was as natural to them as any of +their infantile diseases, and was a sort of moral croup or spiritual +scarlatina. But many have been placed in circumstances where this +tendency has day by day, and hour by hour, been called to larger +development. They have gone from attainment to attainment, and from +class to class, until they have become regularly graduated liars. + +The air of the city is filled with falsehoods. They hang pendent from +the chandeliers of our finest residences; they crowd the shelves of +some of our merchant princes; they fill the side-walk from curb-stone +to brown-stone facing. They cluster around the mechanic's hammer, +and blossom from the end of the merchant's yard-stick, and sit in +the doors of churches. Some call them "fiction." Some style them +"fabrication." You might say that they were subterfuge, +disguise, delusion, romance, evasion, pretence, fable, deception, +misrepresentation; but, as I am ignorant of anything to be gained by +the hiding of a God-defying outrage under a lexicographer's blanket, I +shall chiefly call them what my father taught me to call them--_lies_. + +I shall divide them into agricultural, mercantile, mechanical, and +ecclesiastical lies; leaving those that are professional, social, and +political for some other chapter. + +First, then, I will speak of those that are more particularly +_agricultural_. There is something in the perpetual presence of +natural objects to make a man pure. The trees never issue "false +stock." Wheat-fields are always honest. Rye and oats never move out +in the night, not paying for the place they have occupied. Corn shocks +never make false assignments. Mountain brooks are always "current." +The gold on the grain is never counterfeit. The sunrise never flaunts +in false colors. The dew sports only genuine diamonds. + +Taking farmers as a class, I believe they are truthful, and fair in +dealing, and kind-hearted. But the regions surrounding our cities +do not always send this sort of men to our markets. Day by day there +creak through our streets, and about the market-houses, farm wagons +that have not an honest spoke in their wheels, or a truthful rivet +from tongue to tail-board. During the last few years there have been +times when domestic economy has foundered on the farmer's firkin. +Neither high taxes, nor the high price of dry-goods, nor the +exorbitancy of labor, could excuse much that the city has witnessed +in the behavior of the yeomanry. By the quiet firesides of Westchester +and Bucks counties I hope there may be seasons of deep reflection and +hearty repentance. + +Rural districts are accustomed to rail at great cities as given up to +fraud and every form of unrighteousness; but our cities do not absorb +all the abominations. Our citizens have learned the importance of +not always trusting to the size and style of apples in the top of a +farmer's barrel, as an indication of what may be found farther down. +Many of our people are accustomed to watch to see how correctly a +bushel of beets is measured; and there are not many honest milk-cans. +Deceptions do not all cluster around city halls. When our cities sit +down and weep over their sins, all the surrounding counties ought to +come in and weep with them. + +There is often hostility on the part of producers against traders, +as though the man who raises the corn were necessarily more honorable +than the grain dealer, who pours it into his mammoth bin. There ought +to be no such hostility. The occupation of one is as necessary as that +of the other. Yet producers often think it no wrong to snatch away +from the trader; and they say to the bargain-maker, "You get your +money easy." Do they get it easy? Let those who in the quiet field and +barn get their living exchange places with those who stand to-day amid +the excitements of commercial life, and see if they find it so very +easy. While the farmer goes to sleep with the assurance that his corn +and barley will be growing all the night, moment by moment adding to +his revenue, the merchant tries to go to sleep, conscious that that +moment his cargo may be broken on the rocks, or damaged by the wave +that sweeps clear across the hurricane deck; or that the gold gamblers +may, that very hour, be plotting some monetary revolution, or the +burglars be prying open his safe, or his debtors fleeing the town, or +his landlord raising the rent, or the fires kindling on the block that +contains all his estate. _Easy!_ is it? God help the merchants! It is +hard to have the palms of the hand blistered with out-door work; but a +more dreadful process when, through mercantile anxieties, the brain is +consumed! + +In the next place we notice _mercantile_ lies, those before the +counter and behind the counter. I will not attempt to specify the +different forms of commercial falsehood. There are merchants who +excuse themselves for deviation from truthfulness because of what +they call commercial custom. In other words, the multiplication and +universality of a sin turns it into a virtue. There have been large +fortunes gathered where there was not one drop of unrequited toil +in the wine; not one spark of bad temper flashing from the bronze +bracket; not one drop of needle-woman's heart-blood in the crimson +plush; while there are other great establishments in which there is +not one door-knob, not one brick, not one trinket, not one thread of +lace, but has upon it the mark of dishonor. What wonder if, some day, +a hand of toil that had been wrung, and worn out, and blistered until +the skin came off, should be placed against the elegant wall-paper, +leaving its mark of blood,--four fingers and a thumb; or that, +some day, walking the halls, there should be a voice accosting the +occupant, saying, _Six cents for making a shirt_; and, flying the +room, another voice should say, _Twelve cents for an army blanket_; +and the man should try to sleep at night, but ever and anon be +aroused, until, getting up on one elbow, he should shriek out, _Who's +there?_ + +There are thousands of fortunes made in commercial spheres that are +throughout righteous. God will let his favor rest upon every scroll, +every pictured wall, every traceried window; and the joy that flashes +from the lights, and showers from the music, and dances in the +children's quick feet, pattering through the hall, will utter the +congratulation of men and the approval of God. + +A merchant can, to the last item, be thoroughly honest. There is never +any need of falsehood. Yet how many will, day by day, hour by hour, +utter what they _know_ to be wrong. You say that you are selling at +less than cost. If so, then it is right to say it. But did that thing +cost you less than what you ask for it? If not, then you have lied. +You say that article cost you twenty-five dollars. Did it? If so, +then all right. If it did not, then you have lied. Suppose you are +a purchaser. You are "beating down" the goods. You say that that +article, for which five dollars is charged, is not worth more than +four. Is it worth no more than four dollars? Then all right. If it be +worth more, and, for the sake of getting it for less than its value, +you wilfully depreciate it, you have lied. _You_ may call it a sharp +trade. The recording angel writes it down on the ponderous tomes +of eternity--"Mr. So and So, merchant on Water street, or in Eighth +street, or in State street; or Mrs. So and So, keeping house on Beacon +street, or on Madison avenue, or Rittenhouse square, told one +lie." You may consider it insignificant, because relating to an +insignificant purchase. You would despise the man who would falsify +in regard to some great matter, in which the city or the whole country +was concerned; but this is only a box of buttons, or a row of pins, +or a case of needles. Be not deceived. The article purchased may be so +small you can put it in your vest pocket, but the sin was bigger than +the Pyramids, and the echo of the dishonor will reverberate through +all the mountains of eternity. + +You throw out on your counter some specimens of handkerchiefs. Your +customer asks, "Is that all silk? no cotton in it?" You answer, "It +is all silk." Was it all silk? If so, all right. But was it partly +cotton? Then you have lied. Moreover, you lost by the falsehood. The +customer, though he may live at Lynn, or Doylestown, or Poughkeepsie, +will find out that you defrauded him, and next spring, when he again +comes shopping, he will look at your sign and say: "I will not try +there. That is the place where I got that handkerchief." So that, by +that one dishonest bargain, you picked your own pocket and insulted +the Almighty. + +Would you dare to make an estimate of how many falsehoods in trade +were yesterday told by hardware men, and clothiers, and fruit-dealers, +and dry-goods establishments, and importers, and jewellers, and +lumbermen, and coal-merchants, and stationers, and tobacconists? Lies +about saddles, about buckles, about ribbons, about carpets, about +gloves, about coats, about shoes, about hats, about watches, about +carriages, about books,--about everything. In the name of the Lord +Almighty, I arraign commercial falsehoods as one of the greatest of +abominations in city and town. + +In the next place, I notice _mechanical_ lies. There is no class of +men who administer more to the welfare of the city than artisans. To +their hand we must look for the building that shelters us, for the +garments that clothe us, for the car that carries us. They wield +a widespread influence. There is much derision of what is called +"_muscular Christianity_;" but in the latter day of the world's +prosperity, I think that the Christian will be muscular. We have the +right to expect of those stalwart men of toil the highest possible +integrity. Many of them answer all our expectations, and stand at the +front of religious and philanthropic enterprises. But this class, like +the others that I have named, has in it those who lack in the element +of veracity. They cannot all be trusted. In times when the demand for +labor is great, it is impossible to meet the demands of the public, or +do work with that promptness and perfection that would at other times +be possible. But there are mechanics whose word cannot be trusted +at any time. No man has a right to promise more work than he can do. +There are mechanics who say that they will come Monday, but they do +not come until Wednesday. You put work in their hands that they tell +you shall be completed in ten days, but it is thirty. There have been +houses built of which it might be said that every nail driven, every +foot of plastering put on, every yard of pipe laid, every shingle +hammered, every brick mortared, could tell of falsehood connected +therewith. There are men attempting to do ten or fifteen pieces of +work who have not the time or strength to do more than five or six +pieces; but by promises never fulfilled keep all the undertakings +within their own grasp. This is what they call _"nursing" the job_. + +How much wrong to his soul and insult to God a mechanic would save, if +he promised only so much as he expected to be able to do. Society has +no right to ask of you impossibilities. + +You cannot always calculate correctly, and you may fail because you +cannot get the help that you anticipate. But now I am speaking of the +wilful making of promises that you know you cannot keep. Did you say +that that shoe should be mended, that coat repaired, those brick +laid, that harness sewed, that door grained, that spout fixed, or that +window glazed, by Saturday, knowing that you would neither be able +to do it yourself nor get any one else to do it? Then, before God +and man, you are a liar. You may say that it makes no particular +difference, and that if you had told the truth you would have lost the +job, and that people expect to be disappointed. But that excuse will +not answer. There is a voice of thunder rolling among the drills, and +planes, and shoe-lasts, and shears, which says: "All liars shall have +their place in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." + +I next notice _ecclesiastical_ lies; that is, falsehoods told for +the purpose of advancing churches and sects, or for the purpose of +depleting them. There is no use in asking many a Calvinist what an +Arminian believes, for he will be apt to tell you that the Arminian +believes that a man can convert himself; or to ask the Arminian +what the Calvinist believes, for he will tell you that the Calvinist +believes that God made some men just to damn them. There is no need of +asking a pedo-Baptist what a Baptist believes, for he will be apt to +say that the Baptist believes immersion to be positively necessary to +salvation. It is almost impossible for one denomination of Christians, +without prejudice or misrepresentation, to state the sentiment of +an opposing sect. If a man hates Presbyterians, and you ask him what +Presbyterians believe, he will tell you that they believe that there +are infants in hell a span long. + +It is strange also how individual churches will sometimes make +misstatements about other individual churches. It is especially so in +regard to falsehoods told with reference to prosperous enterprises. +As long as a church is feeble, and the singing is discordant, and the +minister, through the poverty of the church, must go with threadbare +coat, and here and there a worshipper sits in the end of a pew having +all the seat to himself, religious sympathizers of other churches will +say, "What a pity!" But, let a great day of prosperity come, and even +ministers of the gospel, who ought to be rejoiced at the largeness and +extent of the work, denounce, and misrepresent, and falsify,--starting +the suspicion, in regard to themselves, that the reason they do not +like the corn is because it is not ground in their own mill. + +How long before we shall learn to be fair in our religious criticisms! +The keenest jealousies on earth are church jealousies. The field of +Christian work is so large that there is no need that our hoe-handles +hit. + +May God extirpate from the world ecclesiastical lies, commercial lies, +mechanical lies, and agricultural lies, and make every man, the world +over, to speak truth with his neighbor! + + + + +A GOOD TIME COMING. + + +As on some bitter cold night, while threshing our hands about to keep +our thumbs from freezing, we have looked up and seen the northern +lights blazing along the sky, the windows of heaven illumined at +the news of some great victory, so from beyond this bitter night of +abomination a brightness strikes through from the other side. + +I have thought that it would be well, in these chapters on the sins of +the times, to lift before you a vision of what our cities will be +when the work of good men shall have been concluded and our population +redeemed. I doubt not that sometimes men have shut this book, thinking +that the gigantic wrongs we depict may never be discomfited. Lest you +be utterly disheartened, I will show you that we fight in a war in +which we will be completely victorious. This is to be no drawn battle; +for, when it is done, the result will not be disputed by a man on +earth, or an angel in heaven, or a devil in hell. We shall have +captured every one of the strongholds of darkness. You and I will +live to see the day when gambling-hells will be changed into places of +Christian merchandise, and houses of sin swept and garnished for the +residence of the purest home circles. + +Beethoven was deaf, and could not hear the airs he composed; but when +the song of universal disenthralment arises, and white Circassian +stands up by the side of black Ethiopian, and tropical groves wave to +the Lebanon cedars, we shall, standing somewhere, know it and see it, +and hear it. If gone from earth, we will be allowed to come out on the +hills and look. + +We do not talk about impossibilities. We do not propose a medicine +about which we have to say that it will "kill or cure." For this balm +that oozes from the tree of heaven will inevitably cure. + +I remark that this coming time of municipal elevation will be a time +of financial prosperity. Many seem to suppose that when the world's +better days come, the people will forsake their industries, and give +themselves to perpetual psalm-singing, and, being all absorbed in +spiritual things, will become reckless as to dress and dwelling; and +very rigid laws then governing the commercial world, all enterprise +and speculation will cease, and all hilarity be stricken out of the +social circle. There is no warrant for such an absurd anticipation. I +suppose that when society is reconstructed, where there is now, in the +course of a year, one fortune made, there will be a hundred fortunes +made. Every one knows that the commercial world thrives in proportion +as there is confidence between man and man; and the extirpation of all +double-dealing and fraud from society will increase this confidence, +and hence greater prosperity. The heavy commercial disasters that have +smitten this land were the work of godless speculators and infamous +stock-gamblers. It is crime that is the mightiest foe to business; +but when the right shall hurl back into ruin the plots of bad men, +and purify the commercial code, and thunder down fraudulent +establishments, and put into the hands of honest men the keys of +commercial prosperity, blessed will be the bargain-makers of the city. + +That will be a prosperous time, for taxes will be a mere nothing. +Every style of business is taxed now to the utmost. City taxes, county +taxes, State taxes, United States taxes, license taxes, manufacturing +taxes, stamp taxes,--taxes! taxes! taxes! Our citizens must make a +small fortune every year to meet these exactions. What hand fastens +to all of our great industries this tremendous load? Crime! We have +to pay the board of every man and woman who, by intemperance, is +cast into the alms-house. We have to support the orphans of those who +plunge themselves into their graves by beastly indulgences. We support +from our pockets the large machinery of municipal government, which is +vast just in proportion as the criminal proclivities of the city +are great. What makes necessary hospitals, houses of refuge, +police-stations, and alms-houses, the Tombs, Sing Sing, and +Moyamensing? + +In that good time coming there shall be no exhaustive taxation; no +orphans homeless, for parents will be able to leave their children +a competency; no prisons, for crime will have given place to virtue. +Then the vast swindles which now, from time to time, disgrace our +cities, will be unheard of. No voting of public money that, on its way +to some city improvement, falls into the pockets of those who voted +it. No courts of Oyer and Terminer, at vast expense to the people. No +empanelling of juries to inquire into theft, arson, murder, slander, +and black-mail. In that day of redemption there will be better +factories, grander architecture, finer equipages, larger estates, +richer opulence. + +Again: when our cities are purified the churches will be multiplied, +purified, and strengthened. Now, denominations, and the individuals of +the different sects, are often jealous of each other. Christians are +not always kindly disposed toward each other; and ministers of the +gospel sometimes forget the bond of brotherhood. In that day they will +be sympathetic and helpful. There may be differences of opinion and +sentiment, but no acerbity, no hypercriticism, and no exclusiveness. +In that day all the churches will be filled with worshippers. We +have not to-day, in the cities, church-room for one-fourth of our +population; and yet there is a great deal more room than the people +occupy. The churches do not average an attendance of five hundred +people. The vast majority do not attend public worship. But in the +day of which I speak there will be enough church-room to hold all the +people, and the room will be occupied. In that time what rousing songs +will be sung! What earnest sermons will be preached! What fervent +prayers will be offered! In these days a _fashionable_ church is a +place where, after a careful toilet, a few people come in, sit down, +and what time they can get their minds off their stores, or away from +the new style of hat in the seat before them, listen in silence to the +minister--warranted to hit no man's sins--and to the choir, who are +agreed to sing tunes that nobody knows; and, having passed away an +hour in dreamy lounging, go home refreshed. + +I pronounce much of what is called "church music," in our day, a +mockery and a farce. Though I have neither a cultured voice nor a +cultured ear, no man shall do my singing. When the storms, and the +trees, and the dragons are called on to praise the Lord, I feel that +I must sing, for I know more about music than do the dragons. Nothing +can take the place of artistic music. The dollar that I pay to hear +Parepa or Nilsson sing is far from being wasted. But, when the hymn +is read, and the angels of God stoop from their thrones to bear up +on their wings the praise of the great congregation, let us not drive +them away with our indifference. I have preached in churches where +fabulous sums of money were paid to performers, and the harmony was +exquisite as any harmony that ever went up from an Academy of Music; +and yet, for all the purposes of devotion, I would prefer the hearty, +out-breaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting. When these +fancy starveling songs get up to the gate of heaven, how do you +suppose they look, standing beside the great doxologies of the +glorified? Let an operatic performance, floating upward, get many +hours the start, and it shall be caught and passed by the shout of the +Sailors' Bethel, or the hosanna of the Sabbath-school children. + +I know a church where there was no singing except that done by the +choir, save one old Christian man; and they waited upon him by +a committee, and asked him if he would not stop singing, for he +disturbed the choir! + +The day cometh when all the churches will rejoice in this department +of service, rightly conducted, and when from all the great audiences +of attentive worshippers will rise a multitudinous anthem. + +"O God! let all the people praise thee!" Again: when the city is +redeemed, the low haunts of vice and pollution will be extinguished. +Mr. Etzler, of England, proposes, by the forces of tide, and wind, +and wave, and sunshine, to reconstruct the world. In a book of +much genius, which rushed rapidly from edition to edition, he +says:--"Fellow-men: I promised to show the means of creating a +paradise within ten years, where everything desirable for human life +may be had by every man in superabundance, without labor and without +pay; where the whole face of nature shall be changed into the most +beautiful forms, and man may live in the most magnificent palaces, +in all imaginable refinements of luxury, and in the most delightful +gardens; where he may accomplish without labor, in one year, more than +hitherto could be done in thousands of years; may level continents; +sink valleys; create lakes; drain lakes and swamps, and intersect the +land everywhere with beautiful canals and roads for transporting heavy +loads of many thousand tons, and for travelling a thousand miles in +twenty-four hours; may cover the ocean with floating islands, movable +in any desired direction, with an immense power and celerity, in +perfect security, and with all the comforts and luxuries; bearing +gardens and palaces, with thousands of families, and provided with +rivulets of sweet water; may explore the interior of the globe, and +travel from pole to pole in a fortnight; provide himself with means +yet unheard of for increasing his knowledge of the world, and so his +intelligence; leading a life of continual happiness, of enjoyment yet +unknown; free himself from almost all the evils that afflict mankind +except death, and even put death far beyond the common period of human +life, and, finally, render it less afflicting. From the houses to be +built will be afforded the most enrapturing views to be fancied; +from the galleries, from the roof, and from its turrets may be seen +gardens, as far as the eye can see, full of fruits and flowers, +arranged in the most beautiful order, with walks, colonnades, +aqueducts, canals, ponds, plains, amphitheatres, terraces, fountains, +sculptured works, pavilions, gondolas, places for public amusement, +to delight the eye and fancy. All this to be done by urging the water, +the wind, and the sunshine to their full development." Mr. Etzler +gives plates of the machinery by which all this is to be done. He +proposes the organization of a company; and says small shares of +twenty dollars will be sufficient--in all from two hundred thousand to +three hundred thousand dollars--to create the first establishment for +a whole community, of from three to four thousand individuals. "At the +end of five years we shall have a principal of two hundred millions +of dollars; and so paradise will be wholly regained at the end of the +tenth year." + +There is more reason in this than in many of the plans proposed; but +mechanical forces can never recreate the world. I shall take no shares +in the large company that is proposed; my faith is that Christianity +will yet make the worst street of our cities better than the best +street now is. + +Archimedes consumed the enemies of Syracuse by a great sun-glass. As +the ships came up the harbor, the sun's rays were concentrated upon +them: now the sails are wings of fire; the masts fall, and the vessels +sink. So, by the great sun-glass of the Gospel, the rays of heaven +will be concentred upon all the filth and unchastity and crime of our +great towns, and under the heat they will blaze and expire. When the +day comes that I have shown will come, suppose you that there will +be any midnight brawls? any shivering mendicants, kicked off from the +marble steps? any droves of unwashed, uncombed, unfed children? any +blasphemers in the street? any staggering past of inebriates? No! No +wine-cellars. No lager-beer saloons. No distilleries where they make +the XXX. No bloated cheeks. No blood-shot eyes. No fist-battered +foreheads. The grandchildren of that woman who now walks up the street +with a curse, as the boys stone her, will be philanthropists, and heal +the sick, and manage great commercial enterprises. + +When our cities are so raised, we shall have a different style of +municipal government. The great question, in regard to the execution +of the law, now is: "What is popular?" Our city governments +slumber--great carcasses of insufficiency, sending up their stench +into the nostrils of high heaven, while there are thousands of +gambling-houses, and drinking-saloons, and more places of damnable +lust than the decency of the country has time to count. Do you tell me +that the authorities do not know it? They do know it. All the police +know it. The sheriff and his deputies know it. The aldermen know it. +The mayors know it. Everybody who keeps his eyes and ears open knows +it. In the name of God I impeach the municipal authorities of many of +our cities, that they neglect to execute the law. You cannot charge +it upon any one party. Within the past few years both parties, and +all kinds of parties, have been in power; but the work has never been +done. You have but to pass the City Hall, or look in upon the rooms of +some of our city officials, to see to what sort of men our cities have +been abandoned. Look at the swearing, bloated, sensual wretches who +stand on the outside of the New York City Hall, picking their teeth, +waiting for some crumbs of emolument to fall at their feet; and then +tell me how far it is from New York to Sodom. Who are those wretched +women sent up in the city van to the police-court, apprehended for +drunkenness? They will be locked up in jail; but what will be done +with the groggeries that made them drunk? Who are these men in the +city-prison? That man stole a pair of shoes; that boy, one dollar from +the counter; that girl snatched a purse--all villanies of less than +twenty or thirty dollars' damage to the community; but for +that gambler, who last night took that young man's thousand +dollars--nothing! For that man who broke in upon the purity of a +Christian household, and by a perfidy and adroitness that beat the +strategy of hell, flung that girl into the chasm of earthly +despair, from which her lost soul goes shrieking to the bottomless +pit--nothing! For those who "fleeced" a young man, and induced him to +filch from his employers vast sums of money, until, in his agony, he +came to an officer of the church, and frantically asked what he should +do--nothing! + +Verily, small crimes ought to be punished; but it were more just if +our authorities would turn out from our jails and penitentiaries the +small villains, the petty criminals, the infantile offenders, the +ten-dollar desperadoes, and fill their places with some of these +monsters of abomination, who drive their roan span through our fine +streets until honest men have to fly to escape being run over; and +if they would turn out from their incarceration the poor girls of +the town, and put in some of the magnificent ladies who cover up the +sidewalk with their unpaid-for fineries, and with scornful look, in +the church-aisle, pass the daughters of poverty, who with their +faded dress and plain hat _dare_ to come to worship God in the same +sanctuary. + +But all these wrongs shall be righted. Our streets shall hear the +tramp of a regenerated multitude. Three hundred and sixty bells were +rung in Moscow when the prince was married; but when righteousness +and peace shall "kiss each other" in all the earth, ten thousand bells +will strike the jubilee. Poverty enriched. Hunger fed. Disease cured. +Crime purified. The cities saved. + + +THE END. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abominations of Modern Society +by Rev. T. 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T. De Witt Talmage + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Abominations of Modern Society + +Author: Rev. T. De Witt Talmage + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13104] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, David Newman, Alison Hadwin and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY.</h1> + +<h3>BY REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE,</h3> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "CRUMBS SWEPT UP"</h3> + +<h3>1872.</h3> + + + + +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>This is a buoy swung over the rocks. If it shall +keep ship, bark, fore-and-aft schooner, or hermaphrodite +brig from driving on a lee shore, "all's well."</p> + +<p>The book is not more for young men than old. +The Calabria was wrecked "the last day out."</p> + +<p>Nor is the book more for men than women. The +best being that God ever made is a good woman, and +the worst that the devil ever made is a bad one. If +anything herein shall be a warning either to man or +woman, I will be glad that the manuscript was caught +up between the sharp teeth of the type.</p> + +<p>T.D.W.T.</p> + +<p>BROOKLYN, January 1st, 1872.</p> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<p>The Curtain Lifted <a href="#page9">9</a><br /></p> + +<p>Winter Nights <a href="#page25">25</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Power of Clothes <a href="#page38">38</a><br /></p> + +<p>After Midnight <a href="#page59">59</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Indiscriminate Dance <a href="#page79">79</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Massacre by Needle and Sewing-Machine <a href="#page94">94</a><br /></p> + +<p>Pictures in the Stock Gallery <a href="#page114">114</a><br /></p> + +<p>Leprous Newspapers <a href="#page137">137</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Fatal Ten-Strike <a href="#page154">154</a><br /></p> + +<p>Some of the Club-Houses <a href="#page186">186</a><br /></p> + +<p>Flask, Bottle, and Demijohn <a href="#page201">201</a><br /></p> + +<p>House of Blackness of Darkness <a href="#page226">226</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Gun that Kicks over the Man who Shoots it off <a href="#page241">241</a><br /></p> + +<p>Lies: White and Black <a href="#page262">262</a><br /></p> + +<p>The Good Time Coming <a href="#page276">276</a><br /></p> + + + + +<h1>THE ABOMINATIONS.</h1> +<a name="page9" + id="page9"></a> +<h2>THE CURTAIN LIFTED.</h2> + + +<p>Pride of city is natural to men, in all times, +if they live or have lived in a metropolis noted +for dignity or prowess. Cæsar boasted of his +native Rome; Lycurgus of Sparta; Virgil of +Andes; Demosthenes of Athens; Archimedes of +Syracuse; and Paul of Tarsus. I should suspect +a man of base-heartedness who carried about +with him no feeling of complacency in regard to +the place of his residence; who gloried not in its +arts, or arms, or behavior; who looked with no +exultation upon its evidences of prosperity, its +artistic embellishments, and its scientific attainments.</p> + +<p>I have noticed that men never like a place +where they have not behaved well. Swarthout +did not like New York; nor Dr. Webster, +Boston. Men who have free rides in prison-vans +never like the city that furnishes the +vehicle.</p> + +<p>When I see in history Argos, Rhodes, Smyrna, +Chios, Colophon, and several other cities +claiming Homer, I conclude that Homer behaved +well.</p> + +<p>Let us not war against this pride of city, +nor expect to build up ourselves by pulling +others down. Let Boston have its <i>Common</i>, +its <i>Faneuil Hall</i>, its <i>Coliseum</i>, and its <i>Atlantic +Monthly</i>. Let Philadelphia talk about its <i>Mint</i>, +and <i>Independence Hall</i>, and <i>Girard College</i>. +When I find a man living in either of those +places, who has nothing to say in favor of +them, I feel like asking him, "What mean +thing did you do, that you do not like your +native city?"</p> + +<p>New York is a goodly city. It is one city +on both sides of the river. The East River is +only the main artery of its great throbbing life. +After a while four or five bridges will span the +water, and we shall be still more emphatically +one than now. When, therefore, I say "New +York city," I mean more than a million of people, +including everything between Spuyten +Duyvil Creek and Gowanus. That which tends +to elevate a part, elevates all. That which +blasts part, blasts all. Sin is a giant; and he +comes to the Hudson or Connecticut River, and +passes it, as easily as we step across a figure in +the carpet. The blessing of God is an angel; +and when it stretches out its two wings, one +of them hovers over that, and the other over +this.</p> + +<p>In infancy, the great metropolis was laid down +by the banks of the Hudson. Its infancy was +as feeble as that of Moses, sleeping in the bulrushes +by the Nile; and like Miriam, there our +fathers stood and watched it. The royal spirit +of American commerce came down to the water +to bathe; and there she found it. She took it +in her arms, and the child grew and waxed +strong; and the ships of foreign lands brought +gold and spices to its feet; and, stretching itself +up into the proportions of a metropolis, it has +looked up to the mountains, and off upon the +sea,—one of the mightiest of the energies of +American civilization.</p> + +<p>The character of the founder of a city will be +seen for many years in its inhabitants. Romulus +impressed his life upon Rome. The Pilgrims +relax not their hold upon the cities of +New England. William Penn has left Philadelphia +an inheritance of integrity and fair dealing; +and on any day in that city you may see in the +manners, customs, and principles of its people, +his tastes, his coat, his hat, his wife's bonnet, +and his plain meeting-house. The Hollanders +still wield an influence over New York.</p> + +<p>Grand Old New York! What southern +thoroughfare was ever smitten by pestilence, +when our physicians did not throw themselves +upon the sacrifice! What distant land has cried +out in the agony of famine, and our ships have +not put out with bread-stuffs! What street of +Damascus, or Beyrout, or Madras that has not +heard the step of our missionaries! What +struggle for national life, in which our citizens +have not poured their blood into the trenches! +What gallery of exquisite art, in which our +painters have not hung their pictures! What +department of literature or science to which our +scholars have not contributed! I need not +speak of our public schools, where the children +of the cordwainer, and milkman, and glass-blower +stand by the side of the flattered sons +of millionnaires and merchant princes; or of the +insane asylums on all these islands, where they +who came out cutting themselves, among the +tombs, now sit, clothed and in their right +mind; or of the Magdalen asylums, where the +lost one of the street comes to bathe the Saviour's +feet with her tears, and wipe them with the +hairs of her head,—confiding in the pardon of +Him who said—"Let him who is without sin +cast the first stone at her." I need not speak of +the institutions for the blind, the lame, the deaf +and the dumb, for the incurables, for the widow, +the orphan, and the outcast; or of the thousand-armed +machinery that sends streaming down +from the reservoir the clear, bright, sparkling, +God-given water that rushes through our aqueducts, +and dashes out of the hydrants, and tosses +up in our fountains, and hisses in our steam-engines, +and showers out the conflagration, +and sprinkles from the baptismal font of our +churches; and with silver note, and golden +sparkle, and crystalline chime, says to hundreds +of thousands of our population, in the authentic +words of Him who made it—"I WILL: BE THOU +CLEAN!"</p> + +<p>They who live in any of the American cities +have a goodly heritage; and it is in no depreciation +of our advantages that I speak, but because, +in the very contrast with our opportunities +and mission, THE ABOMINATIONS +are tenfold more abominable.</p> + +<p>The sources from which I will bring the array +of facts will be police, detective, and alms-house +reports; city missionaries' explorations, and the +testimony of the abandoned and sin-blasted, +who, about to take the final plunge, have staggered +back just for a moment, to utter the wild +shriek of their warning, and the agonizing wail +of their despair.</p> + +<p>I shall call upon you to consider the drunkenness, +the stock-gambling, the rampant dishonesties, +the club-houses so far as they are nefarious, +the excess of fashion, the horrors of unchastity, +the bad books and unclean newspapers, +and the whole range of sinful amusements; and +with the plough-share of truth turn up the whole +field.</p> + +<p>If we could call up the victims themselves, +they would give the most impressive story. People +knew not how Turner, the painter, got such +vivid conceptions of a storm at sea, until they +heard the story that oftentimes he had been +lashed to the deck in the midst of the tempest, +in order that he might study the wrath of the sea.</p> + +<p>Those who have themselves been tossed on +the wave of infamous transgressions could give +us the most vivid picture of what it is to sin and +to die. With hand tremulous with exhausting +disease, and hardly able to get the accursed +bowl to his lips—put into such a hand the +pencil, and it can sketch, as can no one else, the +darkness, the fire, the wild terror, the headlong +pitch, and the hell of those who have surrendered +themselves to iniquity. While we +dare only come near the edge, and, balancing +ourselves a while, look off, and our head swims, +and our breath catches,—those can tell the story +best who have fallen to the depths with wilder +dash than glacier from the top of a Swiss cliff, +and stand, in their agony, looking up for a relief +that comes not, and straining their eyes for a +hope that never dawns—crying, "O God!" +"O God!"</p> + +<p>It is terrible to see a lion dashing for escape +against the sides of his cage; but a more awful +thing it is to behold a man, caged in bad +habit, trying to break out,—blood on the soul, +blood on the cage.</p> + +<p>Others may throw garlands upon Sin, picturing +the overhanging fruits which drop in her +pathway, and make every step graceful as the +dance; but we cannot be honest without presenting +it as a giant, black with the soot of the forges +where eternal chains are made, and feet rotting +with disease, and breath foul with plagues, and +eyes glaring with woe, and locks flowing in serpent +fangs, and voice from which shall rumble +forth the blasphemies of the damned.</p> + +<p>I open to you a door, through which you +see—what? Pictures and fountains, and mirrors +and flowers? No: it is a lazar-house of disease. +The walls drip, drip, drip with the damps of +sepulchres. The victims, strewn over the floor, +writhe and twist among each other in contortions +indescribable, holding up their ulcerous wounds, +tearing their matted hair, weeping tears of +blood: some hooting with revengeful cry; some +howling with a maniac's fear; some chattering +with idiot's stare; some calling upon God; some +calling upon fiends; wasting away; thrusting +each other back; mocking each other's pains; +tearing open each other's ulcers; dropping with +the ichor of death! The wider I open the door, +the ghastlier the scene.—Worse the horrors. +More desperate recoils. Deeper curses. More +blood. I can no longer endure the vision, and +I shut the door, and cover my eyes, and turn +my back, and cry, "God pity them!"</p> + +<p>Some one may say, "What is the use of such an +exposure as you propose to make? Our families +are all respectable." I answer, that no family, +however elevated and exclusive, can be independent +of the state of public morals.</p> + +<p>However pleasant the block of houses in +which you dwell, the wretchedness, the temptation, +and the outrage of municipal crime will put +its hand on your door-knob, and dash its awful +surge against the marble of your door-steps, as +the stormy sea drives on a rocky beach.</p> + +<p>That condition of morals is now being formed, +amid which our children must walk. Do you +tell me it is none of my business what street +profanity shall curse my boy's ear, on his way to +school? Think you it is no concern of yours +what infamous advertisements, placarded on the +walls, or in the public newspaper, shall smite the +vision of your innocent little ones? Shall I be +nervous about a stagnant pool of water, lest it +breed malaria, and be careless when there are in +the very heart of our city thousands of houses, +devoted to various forms of dissipation, which +day and night steam with miasma, and pour out +the fiery lava of pollution, and darken the air +with their horrors, and fill the skies with the +smoke of their torment, that ascendeth up forever +and ever? If a slaughter-house be opened +in the midst of the town, we hasten down to the +Mayor to have the nuisance abated. But now +I make complaint, not to the Mayor or Common +Council, but to the masses of the people, +who have the power to lift men up to office, +and to cast them down, against a hundred thousand +slaughter-houses in our American cities. +In the name of our happy homes, of our refined +circles, of our schools, of our churches,—in the +name of all that is dear and beautiful and valuable +and holy,—I enter the complaint. If you +now sit unconcerned, and leave to professed +philanthropists the work, and care not who are +in authority or what laws remain unexecuted, +you may live to see the time when you will +curse the day in which your children were born.</p> + +<p>My belief is that such an exposition of public +immoralities will do good, by exciting pity for +the victims and wholesale indignation against +the abettors and perpetrators.</p> + +<p>Who is that man fallen against the curbstone, +covered with bruises and beastliness? He was +as bright-faced a lad as ever looked up from +your nursery. His mother rocked him, prayed +for him, fondled him, would not let the night +air touch his cheek, and held him up and looked +down into his loving eyes, and wondered for +what high position he was being fitted. He +entered life with bright hopes. The world beckoned +him, friends cheered him, but the archers +shot at him; vile men set traps for him, bad +habits hooked fast to him with their iron grapples; +his feet slipped on the way; and there +he lies. Who would think that that uncombed +hair was once toyed with by a father's fingers? +Who would think that those bloated cheeks +were ever kissed by a mother's lips? Would +you guess that that thick tongue once made a +household glad with its innocent prattle? Utter +no harsh words in his ear. Help him up. +Put the hat over that once manly brow. Brush +the dust from that coat that once covered a +generous heart. Show him the way to the +home that once rejoiced at the sound of his +footstep, and with gentle words tell his children +to stand back as you help him through the +hall.</p> + +<p>That was a kind husband once and an indulgent +father. He will kneel with them no +more as once he did at family prayers—the +little ones with clasped hands looking up into +the heavens with thanksgiving for their happy +home. But now at midnight he will drive +them from their pillows and curse them down +the steps, and howl after them as, unclad, they +fly down the street, in night-garments, under the +calm starlight.</p> + +<p>Who slew that man? Who blasted that +home? Who plunged those children into worse +than orphanage—until the hands are blue with +cold, and the cheeks are blanched with fear, +and the brow is scarred with bruises, and the +eyes are hollow with grief? Who made that +life a wreck, and filled eternity with the uproar +of a doomed spirit?</p> + +<p>There are those whose regular business it +is to work this death. They mix a cup that +glows and flashes and foams with enchantment. +They call it Cognac, or Hock, or Heidsick, or +Schnapps, or Old Bourbon, or Brandy, or +Champagne; but they tell not that in the ruddy +glow there is the blood of sacrifice, and in +its flash the eye of uncoiled adders, and in the +foam the mouth-froth of eternal death. Not +knowing what a horrible mixture it is, men +take it up and drink it down—the sacrificial +blood, the adder's venom, the death-froth—and +smack their lips and call it a delightful +beverage.</p> + +<p>Oh! if I had some art by which I could break +the charm of the tempter's bowl, and with mailed +hand lift out the long serpent of eternal despair, +and shake out its coils, and cast it down, +and crush it to death!</p> + +<p>But the enchantment cannot thus be broken. +It hides in the bottom of the bowl; and not until +a man is entirely fallen does the monster lift +itself up, and strike with its terrific fangs, and +answer all his implorations for mercy with fiendish +hiss. We must arouse public opinion, until +city, State, and national officials shall no +longer dare to neglect the execution of the law. +We have enough enactments now to revolutionize +our cities and strike terror through the +drinking-houses and gambling-dens and houses +of sin. Tracts distributed will not do it; Bibles +printed will not accomplish it; city missionaries +have not power for the work.</p> + +<p><i>Will</i> tracts do it? As well try with three +or four snow-flakes to put out Cotapaxi!</p> + +<p>We want police officers, common councilmen, +aldermen, sheriffs, mayors, who will execute +the law. Give us for two weeks in our cities +an honest city hall, and public pollution would +fall like lightning from heaven!</p> + +<p>If you republicans, and you democrats, do +not do your duty in this regard, we will, after a +while, form a party of our own, and put men in +position pledged to anti-rum, anti-dirt, +anti-nuisances, anti-monopolies, anti-abominations, +and will give to those of you who have been so +long feeding on public spoils, careless of public +morals, not so much as the wages of a street +sweeper.</p> + +<p>We are not discouraged. It may seem to +many that all of our battling against these evils +will come to naught. But if the coral insects +can lift an island, our feeble efforts, under God, +may raise a break-water that will dash back the +surges of municipal abomination. Beside, we +toil not in our own strength.</p> + +<p>It seemed insignificant for Moses to stretch +his hand over the Red Sea. What power +could that have over the waters? But the east +wind blew all night; the waters gathered into +two glittering palisades on either side. The +billows reared as God's hand pulled back upon +their crystal bits. Wheel into line, O Israel! +March! March! Pearls crash under the feet. +The flying spray springs a rainbow arch over +the victors. The shout of hosts mounting the +beach answers the shout of hosts mid-sea; until, +as the last line of the Israelites have gained the +beach, the shields clang, and the cymbals +clap; and as the waters whelm the pursuing +foe, the swift-fingered winds on the white +keys of the foam play the grand march of Israel +delivered, and the awful dirge of Egyptian +overthrow.</p> + +<p>So we go forth; and stretch out the hand of +prayer and Christian effort over these dark, +boiling waters of crime and suffering. "Aha! +Aha!" say the deriding world. But wait. +The winds of divine help will begin to blow; +the way will clear for the great army of Christian +philanthropists; the glittering treasures of +the world's beneficence will line the path of our +feet; and to the other shore we will be greeted +with the clash of all heaven's cymbals; while +those who resist and deride and pursue us will +fall under the sea, and there will be nothing left +of them but here and there, cast high and dry +upon the beach, the splintered wheel of a chariot, +and, thrust out from the surf, the breathless +nostril of a riderless charger.</p> + + + +<a name="page25" + id="page25"></a> +<h2>WINTER NIGHTS.</h2> + + +<p>The inhabitants of one of the old cities were +told that they would have to fly for their lives. +Such flight would be painful, even in the flush +of spring-time, but superlatively aggravating if +in cold weather; and therefore they were told +to pray that their flight be not in the winter.</p> + +<p>There is something in the winter season that +not only tests our physical endurance, but, especially +in the city, tries our moral character. +It is the winter months that ruin, morally, and +forever, many of our young men. We sit in +the house on a winter's night, and hear the +storm raging on the outside, and imagine the +helpless crafts driven on the coast; but if our +ears were only good enough, we could, on any +winter night, hear the crash of a hundred moral +shipwrecks.</p> + +<p>Many who came last September to town, by +the first of March will have been blasted. It +only takes one winter to ruin a young man. +When the long winter evenings have come, +many of our young men will improve them in +forming a more intimate acquaintance with +books, contracting higher social friendships, and +strengthening and ennobling their characters. +But not so with all. I will show you before I +get through that, at this season of the year, +temptations are especially rampant: and my +counsel is, <i>Look out how you spend your winter +nights!</i></p> + +<p>I remark, first, that there is no season of the +year in which vicious allurements are so active.</p> + +<p>In warm weather, places of dissipation win +their tamest triumphs. People do not feel like +going, in the hot nights of summer, among the +blazing gas-lights, or breathing the fetid air of +assemblages. The receipts of the grog-shops +in a December night are three times what they +are in any night in July or August. I doubt +not there are larger audiences in the casinos in +winter than in the summer weather. Iniquity +plies a more profitable trade. December, January, +and February are harvest-months for the +devil. The play-bills of the low entertainments +then are more charming, the acting is more +exquisite, the enthusiasm of the spectators more +bewitching. Many a young man who makes +out to keep right the rest of the year, capsizes +now. When he came to town in the autumn, +his eye was bright, his cheek rosy, his step +elastic; but, before spring, as you pass him +you will say to your friend, "What is the matter +with that young man?" The fact is that one +winter of dissipation has done the work of ruin.</p> + +<p>This is the season for parties; and, if they are +of the right kind, our social nature is improved, +and our spirits cheered up. But many of them +are not of the right kind; and our young people, +night after night, are kept in the whirl of unhealthy +excitement until their strength fails, and +their spirits are broken down, and their taste +for ordinary life corrupted; and, by the time +the spring weather comes, they are in the doctor's +hands, or sleeping in the cemetery. The +certificate of their death is made out, and the +physician, out of regard for the family, calls the +disease by some Latin name, when the truth is +that they died of too many parties.</p> + +<p>Away with these wine-drinking convivialities! +How dare you, the father of a household, trifle +with the appetites of our young people? Perhaps, +out of regard for the minister, or some +other weak temperance man, you have the decanter +in a side-room, where, after refreshments, +only a select few are invited; and you come +back with a glare in your eye, and a stench in +your breath, that shows that you have been out +serving the devil.</p> + +<p>Some one asks, "For what purpose are these +people gone into that side-room?"</p> + +<p>"O," replies one who has just come out, +smacking his lips, "they have gone in to see +the white dog!"</p> + +<p>The excuse which Christian men often give for +this is, that it is necessary, after such late eating, +by some sort of stimulant to help digestion. +My plain opinion is, that if a man have no more +control over his appetite than to stuff himself +until his digestive organs refuse to do their office, +he ought not to call himself a man, but +rather to class himself among the beasts that +perish. I take the words of the Lord Almighty, +and cry, "Woe to him that putteth the bottle to +his neighbor's lips!"</p> + +<p>Young man, take it as the counsel of a friend, +when I bid you <i>be cautious where you spend +your winter evenings</i>. Thank God that you +have lived to see the glad winter days in which +your childhood was made cheerful by the faces +of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, +some of whom, alas! will never again wish you +a "happy New Year," or a "Merry Christmas."</p> + +<p>Let no one tempt you out of your sobriety. +I have seen respectable young men of the best +families drunk on New Year's day. The excuse +they gave for the inebriation was that the <i>ladies</i> +insisted on their taking it. There have been +instances where the delicate hand of woman hath +kindled a young man's taste for strong drink, +who after many years, when the attractions of +that holiday scene were all forgotten, crouched +in her rags, and her desolation, and her woe +under the uplifted hand of the drunken monster +who, on that Christmas morning so long ago, +took the glass from her hand. And so, the +woman stands on the abutment of the bridge, on +the moon-lit night, wondering if, down under +the water, there is not some quiet place for a +broken heart. She takes one wild leap,—and +all is over!</p> + +<p>Ah! mingle not with the harmless beverage +of your festive scene this poison of adders! +Mix not with the white sugar of the cup the +snow of this awful leprosy! Mar not the clatter +of cutlery at the holiday feast with the clank of +a madman's chain!</p> + +<p>Stop and look into the window of that pawnbroker's +shop. Elegant furs. Elegant watches. +Elegant scarfs. Elegant flutes. People stand +with a pleased look gazing at these things; but +I look in with a shudder, as though I had seen +into a window of hell.</p> + +<p>Whose elegant watch was that? It was a +drunkard's watch!</p> + +<p>Whose furs? They belonged to a drunkard's +wife!</p> + +<p>Whose flute? Whose shoes? Whose scarf? +They belonged to a drunkard's child!</p> + +<p>If I could, I would take the three brazen balls +hanging at the door-way, and clang them together +until they tolled the awful knell of the +drunkard's soul. The pawnbroker's shop is +only one eddy of the great stream of municipal +drunkenness.</p> + +<p>Stand back, young man! Take not the first +step in the path that leads here. Let not the +flame of strong drink ever scorch your tongue. +You may tamper with these things and escape, +but your influence will be wrong. Can you not +make a sacrifice for the good of others?</p> + +<p>When the good ship <i>London</i> went down, the +captain was told that there was a way of escape +in one of the life-boats. He said—"No; I will +go down with the rest of the passengers!" All +the world acknowledged that heroism.</p> + +<p>Can you not deny yourself insignificant indulgences +for the good of others? Be not allured +by the fact that you drink only the moderate +beverages. You take only ale; and a man has +to drink a large amount of it to become intoxicated. +Yes; but there is not in all the city to-day +an inebriate that did not <i>begin</i> with ale.</p> + +<p>"XXX:" What does that mark mean? +XXX on the beer-barrel: XXX on the brewer's +dray: XXX on the door of the gin-shop: XXX +on the side of the bottle. Not being able to +find any one who could tell me what this mark +means, I have had to guess that the whole thing +was an allegory: XXX—that is, thirty heartbreaks. +Thirty agonies. Thirty desolated +homes. Thirty chances for a drunkard's grave. +Thirty ways to perdition.</p> + +<p>"XXX." If I were going to write a story, +the first chapter would be XXX.; the last—"A +pawnbroker's shop."</p> + +<p>Be watchful! At this season all the allurements +to dissipation will be especially busy. +Let not your flight to hell be in the winter.</p> + +<p>I also remark that the winter evenings, +through their very length, allow great swing +for indulgences. Few young men would have +the taste to go to their room at seven o'clock, +and sit until eleven, reading <i>Motley's Dutch +Republic</i> or <i>John Foster's Essays</i>. The young +men who have been confined to the store all +day want fresh air and sight-seeing; and they +must go somewhere. The most of them have, +of a winter's evening, three or four hours of +leisure. After the evening repast, the young +man puts on his hat and coat and goes out.</p> + +<p>"Come in here," cries one form of allurement.</p> + +<p>"Come in here," cries another.</p> + +<p>"Go;" says Satan. "You ought to see for +yourself."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you go?" says a comrade. "It +is a shame for a young man to be as <i>green</i> +as you are. By this time you ought to have +seen everything."</p> + +<p>Especially is temptation strong in such times +as this, when business is dull. I have noticed +that men spend more money when they have +little to spend.</p> + +<p>The tremendous question to be settled by +our great populace, day by day, is how to get +a livelihood. Many of our young men, just +starting for themselves, are very much discouraged. +They had hoped before this to have set +up a household of their own. But their gains +have been slow, and their discouragements +many. The young man can hardly take care +of himself. How can he take care of another? +And, to the curse of modern society, before a +young man is able to set up a home of his own, +he is expected to have enough to support in +idleness somebody else; when God intended +that they should begin together, and jointly +earn a livelihood. So, many of our young men +are utterly discouraged, and utterly unfit to +resist temptation.</p> + +<p>The time the pirate bears down upon the ship +is when its sails are down and it is making no +headway.</p> + +<p>People wish they had more time to think. +The trouble is now, that people have too much +time to think. Give to many of our commercial +men the four hours of these winter nights, +with nothing to divert them, and before spring +they will have lodgings in an insane asylum.</p> + +<p>I remark further, that the winter is especially +trying to the moral character of our young men, +because some of their homes in winter are especially +unattractive. In summer they can sit +on the steps, or have a bouquet in the vase on +the mantel; and the evenings are so short that +soon after gas-light they feel like retiring. +Parents do not take enough pains to make these +long winter nights attractive.</p> + +<p>It is strange that old people know so little +about young people. One would think that +they had never been young themselves, but +had been born with their spectacles on. It is +dolorous for young people to spend the three +or four hours of a winter's evening with parents +who sit talking over their own ailments and +misfortunes, and the nothingness of this world. +How dare you talk such blasphemy? God +was busy six days in making the world, and +has allowed it to hang six thousand years on his +holy heart; and that world hath fed you, and +clothed you, and shone on you for fifty years: +and yet you talk about the nothingness of this +world! Do you expect the young people in +your family to sit a whole evening and hear +you groan about this magnificent, star-lighted, +sun-warmed, shower-baptized, flower-strewn, +angel-watched, God-inhabited planet? From +such homes young men make a wild plunge +into dissipation. Many of you have the +means: why do you not buy them a violin or +a picture? or have your daughter cultured in +music until she can help to make home attractive?</p> + +<p>There are ten thousand ways of lighting up +the domestic circle. It requires no large income, +no big house, no rich wardrobe, no +chased silver, no gorgeous upholstery, but a +parental heart awake to its duty.</p> + +<p>Have a doleful home and your children will +not stay in it, though you block up the door +with Bibles, and tie fast to them a million Heidelberg +catechisms.</p> + +<p>I said to a man, "This is a beautiful tree in +front of your house."</p> + +<p>He answered, with a whine, "Yes; but it +will fade."</p> + +<p>I said to him, "You have a beautiful garden."</p> + +<p>He replied, "Yes; but it will perish."</p> + +<p>I found out afterward that his son was a +vagabond, and I was not surprised at it.</p> + +<p>You cannot groan men into decency, but you +can groan them out.</p> + +<p>Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter! +Devote these December, January and +February evenings to high pursuits, innocent +amusements, intelligent socialities, and Christian +attainments. Do not waste this winter. We +shall soon have seen the last snow-shower, and +have passed up into the companionship of Him +whose raiment is exceeding white as snow—as +no fuller on earth can whiten it.</p> + +<p>To the right-hearted, the winter nights of +earth will soon end in the June morning of +heaven.</p> + +<p>The River of God, from under the Throne, +never freezes over. The foliage of Life's fair +tree is never frost-bitten. The festivals, and +hilarities, and family gatherings of Christmas +times on earth, will give way to the larger reunions, +and the brighter lights, and the gladder +scenes, and the sweeter garlands, and the richer +feastings of the great holiday of Heaven.</p> + + + +<a name="page38" + id="page38"></a> +<h2>THE POWER OF CLOTHES.</h2> + + +<p>One cannot always tell by a man's coat what +kind of a heart he has under it; still, his dress +is apt to be the out-blossoming of his character, +and is not to be disregarded.</p> + +<p>We make no indiscriminate onslaught upon +customs of dress. Why did God put spots on +the pansy, or etch the fern leaf? And what are +china-asters good for if style and color are of +no importance?</p> + +<p>The realm is as wide as the world, and as +far-reaching as all the generations, over which +fashion hath extended her sceptre. For thousands +of years she hath sat queen over all the +earth, and the revolutions that rock down all +other thrones have not in the slighest affected +her domination. Other constitutions have been +torn, and other laws trampled; but to her decrees +conquerors have bowed their plumes, and +kings have uncovered. Victoria is not Queen +of England; Napoleon was not Emperor of +France; Isabella was not Queen of Spain. +<i>Fashion</i> has been regnant over all the earth; +and lords and dukes, kings and queens, have +been the subjects of her realm.</p> + +<p>She arranged the mantle of the patriarch, and +the toga of the Roman; the small shoe of the +Chinese women, and the turban of the Turk; +the furs of the Laplander, and the calumet of the +Indian chieftain. Hottentot and Siberian obey +the mandate, as well as Englishman and American. +Her laws are written on parchment and +palm-leaf, on broken arch and cathedral tracery. +She arranged how the Egyptian mummy should +be wound, and how Cæsar should ride, and how +the Athenians should speak, and how through +the Venetian canals the gondoliers should row +their pleasure-boat. Her hand hath hung the +pillars with embroidery, and strewn the floor +with plush. Her loom hath woven fabrics +graceful as the snow and pure as the light. +Her voice is heard in the gold mart, in the roar +of the street, in the shuffle of the crowded bazaars, +in the rattle of the steam-presses, and in +the songs of the churches.</p> + +<p>You have limited your observation of the +sway of fashion if you have considered it only +as it decides individual and national costumes. +It makes the rules of behavior. It wields an +influence in artistic spheres—often deciding +what pictures shall hang in the house, what +music shall be played, what ornaments shall +stand upon the mantle. The poor man will not +have on his wall the cheap wood-cut that he +can afford, because he cannot have a great daub +like that which hangs on the rich man's wall, +and costing three hundred dollars.</p> + +<p>Fashion helps to make up religious belief. It +often decides to what church we shall go, and +what religious tenets we shall adopt. It goes +into the pulpit, and decides the gown, and the +surplice, and the style of rhetoric.</p> + +<p>It goes into literature and arranges the binding, +the type, the illustrations of the book, and +oftentimes the sentiments expressed and the +theories evolved.</p> + +<p>Men the most independent in feeling are by +it compelled to submit to social customs. And +before I stop I want to show you that fashion +has been one of the most potent of reformers, +and one of the vilest of usurpers. Sometimes +it has been an angel from heaven, and at others +it has been the mother of harlots.</p> + +<p>As the world grows better there will be as +much fashion as now, but it will be a different +fashion. In the future life white robes always +have been and always will be in the fashion.</p> + +<p>There is a great outcry against this submission +to social custom, as though any consultation of +the tastes and feelings of others were deplorable; +but without it the world would have neither law, +order, civilization, nor common decency.</p> + +<p>There has been a canonization of bluntness. +There are men and women who boast that they +can tell you all they know and hear about you, +especially if it be unpleasant. Some have mistaken +rough behavior for frankness, when the +two qualities do not belong to the same family. +You have no right, with your eccentricities, to +crash in upon the sensitiveness of others. There +is no virtue in walking with hoofs over fine carpets. +The most jagged rock is covered with +blossoming moss. The storm that comes jarring +down in thunder strews rainbow colors upon the +sky, and silvery drops on orchard and meadow.</p> + +<p>There are men who pride themselves on their +capacity to "stick" others. They say "I have +brought him down: Didn't I make him +squirm!"</p> + +<p>Others pride themselves on their outlandish +apparel. They boast of being out of the fashion. +They wear a queer hat. They ride in an +odd carriage. By dint of perpetual application +they would persuade the world that they +are perfectly indifferent to public opinion. +They are more proud of being "out of fashion" +than others are of being in. They are +utterly and universally disagreeable. Their +rough corners have never been worn off. They +prefer a hedge-hog to a lamb.</p> + +<p>The accomplishments of life are in nowise +productive of effeminacy or enervation. Good +manners and a respect for the tastes of others +is indispensable. The Good Book speaks favorably +of those who are a "<i>peculiar</i>" people; +but that does not sanction the behavior of <i>queer</i> +people. There is no excuse, under any circumstances, +for not being and acting the lady +or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. We have no +words too ardent to express our admiration for +the refinements of society. There is no law, +moral or divine, to forbid elegance of demeanor, +ornaments of gold or gems for the person, +artistic display in the dwelling, gracefulness of +gait and bearing, polite salutation, or honest +compliments; and he who is shocked or offended +by these had better, like the old Scythians, +wear tiger-skins, and take one wild leap +back into midnight barbarism.</p> + +<p>As Christianity advances there will be better +apparel, higher styles of architecture, more exquisite +adornments, sweeter music, grander pictures, +more correct behavior, and more thorough +ladies and gentlemen.</p> + +<p>But there is another story to be told. Excessive +fashion is to be charged with many of the +worst evils of society, and its path has often +been strewn with the bodies of the slain.</p> + +<p>It has often set up a false standard by which +people are to be judged. Our common sense, +as well as all the divine intimations on the subject, +teach us that people ought to be esteemed +according to their individual and moral attainments. +The man who has the most nobility of +soul should be first, and he who has the least of +such qualities should stand last. No crest, or +shield, or escutcheon, can indicate one's moral +peerage. Titles of duke, lord, esquire, earl, +viscount, or patrician, ought not to raise one +into the first rank. Some of the meanest men I +have ever known had at the end of their name +D.D., LL.D., and F.R.S. Truth, honor, +charity, heroism, self-sacrifice, should win highest +favor; but inordinate fashion says—"Count +not a woman's virtues; count her rings;" +"Look not at the contour of the head, but see +the way she combs her hair;" "Ask not +what noble deeds have been accomplished by +that man's hand; but is it white and soft?" +Ask not what good sense was in her conversation, +but "in what was she dressed." Ask +not whether there was hospitality and cheerfulness +in the house, but "in what style do they +live."</p> + +<p>As a consequence, some of the most ignorant +and vicious men are at the top, and some of the +most virtuous and intelligent at the bottom. +During the late war we suddenly saw men hurled +up into the highest social positions. Had +they suddenly reformed from evil habits? or +graduated in a science? or achieved some good +work for society? No! They simply had obtained +a government contract!</p> + +<p>This accounts for the utter chagrin which +men feel at the treatment they receive when +they lose their property. Hold up your head +amid financial disaster, like a Christian! Fifty +thousand subtracted from a good man leaves +how much? Honor; Truth; Faith in God; +Triumphant Hope; and a kingdom of ineffable +glory, over which he is to reign forever and +ever.</p> + +<p>If a millionnaire should lose a penny out of his +pocket, would he sit down on a curb-stone and +cry? And shall a man possessed of everlasting +fortunes wear himself out with grief because he +has lost worldly treasure? You have only lost +that in which hundreds of wretched misers +surpass you; and you have saved that which +the Cæsars, and the Pharaohs, and the Alexanders +could never afford.</p> + +<p>And yet society thinks differently; and you +see the most intimate friendships broken up as +the consequence of financial embarrassments. +You say to some one—"How is your friend—?" +The man looks bewildered, and says, "I do +not know." You reply, "Why; you used to +be intimate." "Well," says the man, "our +friendship has been dropped: the man has +failed."</p> + +<p>Proclamation has gone forth: "Velvets must +go up, and homespun must come down;" and +the question is "How does the coat fit?"—not, +"Who wears it?" The power that bears +the tides of excited population up and down +our streets, and rocks the world of commerce, +and thrills all nations, Transatlantic and Cisatlantic, +is—<i>clothes</i>. It decides the last offices +of respect; and how long the dress shall be +totally black; and when it may subside into +spots of grief on silk, calico, or gingham. Men +die in good circumstances, but by reason of +extravagant funeral expenses are well nigh +insolvent before they get buried. Many men +would not die at all, if they had to wait until +they could afford it.</p> + +<p>Excessive fashion is productive of a most +ruinous strife. The expenditure of many +households is adjusted by what their neighbors +have, not by what they themselves can afford +to have; and the great anxiety is as to who +shall have the finest house and the most costly +equipage. The weapons used in the warfare +of social life are not Minié rifles, and Dahlgren +guns, and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs +and mirrors, and vases, and Gobelins, and Axminsters. +Many household establishments are +like racing steamboats, propelled at the utmost +strain and risk, and just coming to a terrific +explosion. "Who cares," say they, "if we +only come out ahead?"</p> + +<p>There is no one cause to-day of more financial +embarrassment, and of more dishonesties, +than this determination, at all hazards, to live as +well as or better than other people. There are +persons who will risk their eternity upon one +fine looking-glass, or who will dash out the +splendors of heaven to get another trinket.</p> + +<p>"My house is too small." "But," says some +one, "you cannot pay for a larger." "Never +mind that; my friends have a better residence, +and so will I." "A dress of that pattern I must +have. I cannot afford it by a great deal; but +who cares for that? My neighbor had one from +that pattern, and I must have one." There are +scores of men in the dungeons of the penitentiary, +who risked honor, business,—everything, +in the effort to shine like others. Though the +heavens fall, they must be "in the fashion."</p> + +<p>The most famous frauds of the day have resulted +from this feeling. It keeps hundreds of +men struggling for their commercial existence. +The trouble is that some are caught and incarcerated, +if their larceny be small. If it be great, +they escape, and build their castle on the Rhine. +Men go into jail, not because they steal, but +because they did not steal enough.</p> + +<p>Again: excessive fashion makes people unnatural +and untrue. It is a factory from which +has come forth more hollow pretences, and +unmeaning flatteries, and hypocrisies, than the +Lowell Mills ever turned out shawls and garments.</p> + +<p>Fashion is the greatest of all liars. It has +made society insincere. You know not what to +believe. When people ask you to come, you +do not know whether or not they want you to +come. When they send their regards, you do +not know whether it is an expression of their +heart, or an external civility. We have learned +to take almost everything at a discount. Word +is sent, "Not at home," when they are only too +lazy to dress themselves. They say, "The furnace +has just gone out," when in truth they +have had no fire in it all winter. They apologize +for the unusual barrenness of their table, when +they never live any better. They decry their +most luxurious entertainments, to win a shower +of approval. They apologize for their appearance, +as though it were unusual, when always +at home they look just so. They would make +you believe that some nice sketch on the wall +was the work of a master painter. "It was an +heir-loom, and once hung on the walls of a +castle; and a duke gave it to their grandfather." +People who will lie about nothing +else, will lie about a picture. On a small income +we must make the world believe that we +are affluent, and our life becomes a cheat, a +counterfeit, and a sham.</p> + +<p>Few persons are really natural. When I say +this, I do not mean to slur cultured manners. +It is right that we should have more admiration +for the sculptured marble than for the unhewn +block of the quarry. From many circles in +life fashion has driven out vivacity and enthusiasm. +A frozen dignity instead floats about the +room, and iceberg grinds against iceberg. +You must not laugh outright: it is vulgar. +You must <i>smile</i>. You must not dash rapidly +across the room: you must <i>glide</i>. There is a +round of bows, and grins, and flatteries, and +oh's! and ah's! and simperings, and namby-pambyism—a +world of which is not worth one +good, round, honest peal of laughter. From +such a hollow round the tortured guest retires +at the close of the evening, and assures his host +that he has enjoyed himself.</p> + +<p>Thus social life has been contorted, and deformed, +until, in some mountain cabin, where +rustics gather to the quilting or the apple-paring, +there is more good cheer than in all the frescoed +ice-houses of the metropolis.</p> + +<p>We want, in all the higher circles of society, +more warmth of heart and naturalness of behavior, +and not so many refrigerators.</p> + +<p>Again: inordinate fashion is incompatible +with happiness. Those who depend for their +comfort upon the admiration of others are +subject to frequent disappointment. Somebody +will criticise their appearance, or surpass them +in brilliancy, or will receive more attention. +Oh! the jealousy, and detraction, and heart-burnings +of those who move in this bewildered +maze!</p> + +<p>The clock strikes <i>one</i>, and the company begins +to disperse. The host has done everything +to make all his guests happy; but now that +they are on the street, hear their criticisms of +everybody and everything. "Did you see her +in such and such apparel?" "Wasn't she a +perfect fright!" "What a pity that such an +one is so awkward and uncouth!" "Well, really,—I +would rather never be spoken to than +be seen with such a man as that!"</p> + +<p>Poor butterflies! Bright wings do not always +bring happiness. "She that liveth in +pleasure is dead while she liveth." The revelations +of high life that come to the challenge +and the fight are only the occasional croppings +out of disquietudes that are, underneath, like +the stars of heaven for multitude, but like the +demons of the pit for hate. The misery that +to-night in the cellar cuddles up in the straw is +not so utter as the princely disquietude which +stalks through splendid drawing-rooms, brooding +over the slights and offences of high life. +The bitterness of trouble seems not so unfitting, +when drunk out of a pewter mug, as when it +pours from the chased lips of a golden chalice. +In the sharp crack of the voluptuary's pistol, +putting an end to his earthly misery, I hear the +confirmation that in a hollow, fastidious life +there is no peace.</p> + +<p>Again: Excessive devotion to fashion is productive +of physical disease, mental imbecility, +and spiritual withering.</p> + +<p>Apparel insufficient to keep out the cold and +the rain, or so fitted upon the person that the +functions of life are restrained; late hours, filled +with excitement and feasting; free draughts of +wine, that make one not beastly intoxicated, +but only fashionably drunk; and luxurious indolence—are +the instruments by which this unreal +life pushes its disciples into valetudinarianism +and the grave. Along the walks of high +life Death goes a mowing—and such harvests +as are reaped! <i>Materia medica</i> has been exhausted +to find curatives for these physiological +devastations. Dropsies, cancers, consumptions, +gout, and almost every infirmity in all the realm +of pathology, have been the penalty paid. To +counteract the damage, pharmacy has gone +forth with medicament, panacea, elixir, embrocation, +salve, and cataplasm.</p> + +<p>To-night, with swollen feet, upon cushioned +ottoman, and groaning with aches innumerable, +is the votary of luxurious living, not half so +happy as his groom or coal-heaver.</p> + +<p>Fashion is the world's undertaker, and drives +thousands of hearses to Laurel Hill and Greenwood.</p> + +<p>But, worse than that, this folly is an intellectual +depletion. This endless study of proprieties +and etiquette, patterns and styles, is +bedwarfing to the intellect. I never knew a +man or a woman of extreme fashion that knew +much. How belittling the study of the cut of a +coat, or the tie of a cravat, or the wrinkle in a +shoe, or the color of a ribbon! How they are +worried if something gets untied, or hangs +awry, or is not nicely adjusted! With a mind +capable of measuring the height and depth of +great subjects; able to unravel mysteries; to +walk through the universe; to soar up into the +infinity of God's attributes,—hovering perpetually +over a new style of mantilla! I have +known men, reckless as to their character, and +regardless of interests momentous and eternal, +exasperated by the shape of a vest-button!</p> + +<p>What is the matter with that woman—wrought +up into the agony of despair? O, her muff +is out of fashion!</p> + +<p>Worse than all—this folly is not satisfied +until it has extirpated every moral sentiment, +and blasted the soul. A wardrobe is the rock +upon which many a soul has been riven. The +excitement of a luxurious life has been the +vortex that has swallowed up more souls than +the Maelstrom off Norway ever devoured ships. +What room for elevating themes in a heart +filled with the trivial and unreal? Who can +wonder that in this haste for sun-gilded bawbles +and winged thistle-down, men should tumble +into ruin? The travellers to destruction are not +all clothed in rags. On that road chariot jostles +against chariot; and behind steeds in harness +golden-plated and glittering, they go down, +coach and four, herald and postilion, racketing +on the hot pavements of hell. Clear the track! +Bazaars hang out their colors over the road; +and trees of tropical fruitfulness overbranch the +way. No sound of woe disturbs the air; but +all is light and song, and wine and gorgeousness. +The world comes out to greet the dazzling procession +with Hurrah! and Hurrah! But, suddenly, +there is a halt and an outcry of dismay, +and an overthrow worse than the Red Sea +tumbling upon the Egyptians. Shadow of +grave-stones upon finest silk! Wormwood +squeezed into impearled goblets! Death, with +one cold breath, withering the leaves and freezing +the fountains.</p> + +<p>In the wild tumult of the last day—the +mountains falling, the heavens flying, the thrones +uprising, the universe assembling; amid the +boom of the last great thunder-peal, and under +the crackling of a burning world—what will +become of the fop and the dandy?</p> + +<p>He who is genuinely refined will be useful +and happy. There is no gate that a gentleman's +hand cannot open. During his last sickness +there will be a timid knock at the basement +door by those who have come to see how +he is.</p> + +<p>But watch the career of one thoroughly artificial. +Through inheritance, or perhaps his own +skill, having obtained enough for purposes of +display, he feels himself thoroughly established. +He sits aloof from the common herd, and looks +out of his window upon the poor man, and says—"Put +that dirty wretch off my steps immediately!" +On Sabbath days he finds the church, +but mourns the fact that he must worship with +so many of the inelegant, and says, "They are +perfectly awful!" "That man that you put in +my pew had a coat on his back that did not +cost five dollars." He struts through life unsympathetic +with trouble, and says, "I cannot +be bothered." Is delighted with some doubtful +story of Parisian life, but thinks that there are +some very indecent things in the Bible. Walks +arm in arm with a millionnaire, but does not +know his own brother. Loves to be praised for +his splendid house; and when told that he looks +younger than ten years ago, says—"Well, +really; do you think so!"</p> + +<p>But the brief strut of his life is about over. +Up-stairs—he dies. No angel wings hovering +about him. No gospel promises kindling up +the darkness;—but exquisite embroidery, elegant +pictures, and a bust of Shakespeare on +the mantel. The pulses stop. The minister +comes in to read of the Resurrection, that day +when the dead shall come up—both he that +died on the floor, and he that expired under +princely upholstery. He is carried out to +burial. Only a few mourners, but a great +array of carriages. Not one common man at +the funeral. No befriended orphan to weep a +tear upon his grave. No child of want pressing +through the ranks of the weeping, saying—"He +is the last friend I have; and I must see +him."</p> + +<p>What now? He was a great man: Shall not +chariots of salvation come down to the other +side of the Jordan, and escort him up to the +palace? Shall not the angels exclaim—"Turn +out! a prince is coming." Will the bells +chime? Will there be harpers with their harps, +and trumpeters with their trumpets?</p> + +<p>No! No! No! There will be a shudder, as +though a calamity had happened. Standing +on heaven's battlement, a watchman will see +something shoot past, with fiery downfall, +and shriek: "Wandering star—for whom +is reserved the blackness of darkness forever!"</p> + +<p>With the funeral pageant the brilliant career +terminated. There was a great array of carriages.</p> + + + +<a name="page59" + id="page59"></a> +<h2>AFTER MIDNIGHT.</h2> + + +<p>When night came down on Babylon, Nineveh, +and Jerusalem, they needed careful watching, +otherwise the incendiary's torch might +have been thrust into the very heart of the +metropolitan splendor; or enemies, marching +from the hills, might have forced the gates. +All night long, on top of the wall and in front +of the gates, might be heard the measured step +of the watchman on his solitary beat; silence +hung in air, save as some passer-by raised the +question: "Watchman, what of the night?"</p> + +<p>It is to me a deeply suggestive and solemn +thing to see a man standing guard by night. +It thrilled through me, as at the gate of an +arsenal in Charleston, the question once smote +me, "Who comes there?" followed by the +sharp command: "Advance and give the countersign." +Every moral teacher stands on picket, +or patrols the wall as watchman. His +work is to sound the alarm; and whether it be +in the first watch, in the second watch, in the +third watch, or in the fourth watch, to be vigilant +until the daybreak flings its "morning +glories" of blooming cloud across the arching +trellis of the sky.</p> + +<p>The ancients divided their night into four +parts—the first watch, from six to nine; the +second, from nine to twelve; the third, from +twelve to three; and the fourth, from three to +six.</p> + +<p>I speak now of the city in the third watch, or +from twelve to three o'clock.</p> + +<p>I never weary of looking upon the life and +brilliancy of the city in the <i>first</i> watch. That +is the hour when the stores are closing. The +laboring men, having quitted the scaffolding and +the shop, are on their way home. It rejoices me +to give them my seat in the city car. They +have stood and hammered away all day. Their +feet are weary. They are exhausted with the +tug of work. They are mostly cheerful. With +appetites sharpened on the swift turner's wheel +and the carpenter's whetstone, they seek the +evening meal. The clerks, too, have broken +away from the counter, and with brain weary +of the long line of figures, and the whims of +those who go a-shopping, seek the face of +mother, or wife and child. The merchants are +unharnessing themselves from their anxieties, +on their way up the street. The boys that lock +up are heaving away at the shutters, shoving +the heavy bolts, and taking a last look at the +fire to see that all is safe. The streets are +thronged with young men, setting out from the +great centres of bargain-making.</p> + +<p>Let idlers clear the street, and give right of +way to the besweated artisans and merchants! +They have <i>earned</i> their bread, and are now on +their way home to get it.</p> + +<p>The lights in full jet hang over ten thousand +evening repasts—the parents at either end of +the table, the children between. Thank God! +"who setteth the solitary in families!"</p> + +<p>A few hours later, and all the places of +amusement, good and bad, are in full tide. +Lovers of art, catalogue in hand, stroll through +the galleries and discuss the pictures. The ball-room +is resplendent with the rich apparel of +those who, on either side of the white, glistening +boards, await the signal from the orchestra. +The footlights of the theatre flash up; the bell +rings, and the curtain rises; and out from the +gorgeous scenery glide the actors, greeted with +the vociferation of the expectant multitudes. +Concert-halls are lifted into enchantment with +the warble of one songstress, or swept out on a +sea of tumultuous feeling by the blast of brazen +instruments. Drawing-rooms are filled with all +gracefulness of apparel, with all sweetness of +sound, with all splendor of manner; mirrors are +catching up and multiplying the scene, until it +seems as if in infinite corridors there were garlanded +groups advancing and retreating.</p> + +<p>The out-door air rings with laughter, and with +the moving to and fro of thousands on the great +promenades. The dashing span, adrip with the +foam of the long country ride, rushes past as +you halt at the curb-stone.</p> + +<p>Mirth, revelry, beauty, fashion, magnificence +mingle in the great metropolitan picture, until +the thinking man goes home to think more seriously, +and the praying man to pray more earnestly.</p> + +<p>A beautiful and overwhelming thing is the +city in the first and second watches of the night.</p> + +<p>But the clock strikes twelve, and the third +watch begins. The thunder of the city has rolled +from the air. Slight sounds now cut the +night with a distinctness that excites your attention. +You hear the tinkling of the bell of the +street-car in the far distance; the baying of the +dog; the stamp of the horse in the adjoining +street; the slamming of a saloon door; the hiccoughing +of the inebriate; and the shriek of the +steam-whistle five miles away. Solemn and +stupendous is this third watch. There are respectable +men abroad. The city missionary is +going up that court, to take a scuttle of coal to +a poor family. The undertaker goes up the +steps of that house, from which there comes a +bitter cry, as though the destroying angel had +smitten the first-born. The minister of Jesus +passes along; he has been giving the sacrament +to a dying Christian. The physician hastens +past, the excited messenger a few steps ahead, +impatient to reach the threshold. Men who are +forced to toil into the midnight are hastening to +their pillow. But the great multitudes are +asleep. The lights are out in the dwellings, +save here and there one. That is the light of +the watcher, for the remedies must be administered, +and the fever guarded, and the restless +tossing of the coverlet resisted, and the ice +kept upon the temples, and the perpetual prayer +offered by hearts soon to be broken. The +street-lamps, standing in long line, reveal the +silence and the slumber of the town.</p> + +<p>Stupendous thought: a great city asleep! +Weary arm gathering strength for to-morrow's +toil. Hot brain getting cooled off. Rigid +muscles relaxing. Excited nerves being soothed. +White locks of the octogenarian in thin +drifts across the white pillow—fresh fall of flakes +on snow already fallen. Children with dimpled +hands thrown put over the pillow, with every +breath inhaling a new store of fun and frolic.</p> + +<p>Let the great hosts sleep! A slumberless +Eye will watch them. Silent be the alarm-bells +and merciful the elements! Let one great wave +of refreshing slumber roll across the heart of the +great town, submerging trouble and weariness +and pain. It is the third watch of the night, +and time for the city to sleep.</p> + +<p>But be not deceived. There are thousands +of people in the great town who will not sleep a +moment to-night. Go up that dark court. Be +careful, or you will fall over the prostrate form +of a drunkard lying on his own worn step. Look +about you, or you will feel the garroter's hug. +Try to look in through that broken pane! +What do you see? Nothing. But listen. +What is it? "God help us!" No footlights, +but tragedy—mightier, ghastlier than Ristori or +Edwin Booth ever acted. No bread. No light. +No fire. No cover. They lie strewn upon the +floor—two whole families in one room. They +shiver in the darkness. They have had no food +to-day. You say: "Why don't they beg?" +They did beg, but got nothing. You say: +"Hand them over to the almshouse."</p> + +<p>Ah! they had rather die than go to the almshouse. +Have you never heard the bitter cry of +the man or of the child when told that he must +go to the almshouse?</p> + +<p>You say that these are vicious poor, and have +brought their own misfortune on themselves.</p> + +<p>So much the more to be pitied. The Christian +poor—God helps them! Through their +night there twinkles the round, merry star of +hope, and through the cracked window-pane of +their hovel they see the crystals of heaven. +But the vicious are the more to be pitied. +They have no hope. They are in hell now. +They have put out their last light. People excuse +themselves from charity by saying they do +not deserve to be helped. If I have ten prayers +for the innocent, I shall have twenty for the +guilty. If a ship be dashed upon the rocks, the +fisherman, in his hut on the beach, will wrap +the warmest flannels around those who are the +most chilled and battered. The vicious poor +have suffered two awful wrecks, the wreck of +the body, and the wreck of the soul; a wreck +for time and a wreck for eternity.</p> + +<p>Go up that alley! Open the door. It is not +locked. They have nothing to lose. No burglar +would want anything that is there. There +is only a broken chair set against the door. +Strike a match and look around you. Beastliness +and rags! A shock of hair hanging over +the scarred visage. Eyes glaring upon you. +Offer no insult. Be careful what you say. +Your life is not worth much in such a place. +See that red mark on the wall. That is the +mark of a murderer's hand. From the corner +a wild face starts out of the straw and +moves toward you, just as your light goes +out.</p> + +<p>Strike another match. Here is a little babe. +It does not laugh. It never will laugh. A sea-flower +flung on an awfully barren beach: O that +the Shepherd would fold that lamb! Wrap +your shawl about you, for the January wind +sweeps in. Strike another match. The face of +that young woman is bruised and gashed now, +but a mother once gazed upon it in ecstasy of +fondness. Awful stare of two eyes that seem +looking up from the bottom of woe. Stand +back. No hope has dawned on that soul for +years. Hope never will dawn upon it. Utter +no scorn. The match has gone out. Light it +not again, for it would seem to be a mockery.</p> + +<p>Pass out! Pass on! Know that there are +thousands of such abodes in our cities. An +awful, gloomy, and overwhelming picture is +the city in the third watch.</p> + +<p>After midnight the crime of the city does its +chief work. At eight and a half o'clock in the +evening the criminals of the city are at leisure. +They are mostly in the drinking saloons. It +needs courage to do what they propose to do. +Rum makes men reckless. They are getting +their brain and hand just right. Toward midnight +they go to their garrets. They gather +their tools. Soon after the third watch they +stalk forth, silently, looking out for the police, +through the alleys to their appointed work. +This is a burglar; and the door-lock will fly +open at the touch of the false keys. That +is an incendiary; and before morning there +will be a light on the sky, and a cry of "Fire! +Fire!" That is an assassin; and a lifeless +body will be found to-morrow in some of the +vacant lots.</p> + +<p>During all the day there are hundreds of villains +to be found lounging about, a part of the +time asleep, apart of the time awake; but at +twelve to-night they will rouse up, and their +eyes will be keen, and their minds acute, and +their arms strong, and their foot fleet to fly or +pursue. Many of them have been brought up +to the work. They were born in a thief's garret. +Their childish plaything was a burglar's +dark lantern. As long ago as they can remember, +they saw, toward morning, the mother +binding up the father's head, wounded by a +watchman's billet. They began by picking +boys' pockets, and now they can dig an underground +passage to the cellar of the bank, or will +blast open the door of the gold vault. So long +as the children of the street are neglected there +will be no lack of desperadoes.</p> + +<p>In the third watch of the night the gambling-houses +are in full blast. What though the +hours of the night are slipping away, and the +wife sits waiting in the cheerless home! Stir +up the fires! Bring on the drinks! Put up +the stakes! A whole fortune may be made before +morning! Some of the firms that two +years ago first put out their sign of copartnership +have already foundered on the gambler's table. +The money-drawer in many a mercantile house +will this year mysteriously spring a leak. Gaming +is a portentous vice, and is making great +efforts to become respectable. Recently a +member of Congress played with a member +elect, carrying off a trophy of one hundred and +twenty thousand dollars. The old-fashioned +way of getting a fortune is too slow! Let us +toss up and see who shall have it!</p> + +<p>And so it goes, from the wheezing wretches +who pitch pennies in a rum grocery, to the millionnaire +gamblers in the gold-market.</p> + +<p>After midnight the eye of God will look +down and see uncounted gambling-saloons plying +their destruction. Passing down the street +to-night, you may hear the wrangling of the +gamblers mingling with the rattle of the dice, +and the clear, sharp crack of the balls on the +billiard-table.</p> + +<p>The finest rooms in the city are gambling +dens. In gilded parlor, amid costly tapestry, +you may behold these dens of death. These +houses have walls attractive with elaborate +fresco and gems of painting—no sham artist's +daub, but a masterpiece. Mantel and table +glitter with vases and statuettes. Divans and +lounges with deep cushions, the perfection of +upholstery, invite to rest and repose. Aquaria +alive with fins and strewn with tinged shells +and zoophytes. Tufts of geranium, from bead +baskets, suspended mid-room, drop their +witching perfume. Fountains gushing up, +sprinkling the air with sparkles, or gushing +through the mouth of the marble lion. Long +mirrors, mounted with scrolls and wings and +exquisite carvings, catching and reflecting back +the magnificence. At their doors merchant-princes +dismount from their carriages; official +dignitaries enter; legislators, tired of making +laws, here take a respite in breaking them.</p> + +<p>From all classes this crime is gathering its +victims: the importer of foreign silks, and the +Chatham street dealer in pocket-handkerchiefs; +clerks taking a game in the store after the +shutters are put up; and officers of the court +whiling away the time while the jury are out. +In the woods around Baden Baden, in the +morning, it is no rare thing to find the suspended +bodies of suicides. No splendor of surroundings +can hide the dreadful nature of this +sin. In the third watch of this very night, the +tears of thousands of orphans and widows will +dash up in those fountains. The thunders of +eternal destruction roll in the deep rumble of +that ten-pin alley. And as from respectable +circles young men and old are falling in line of +procession, all the drums of woe begin to beat +the dead march of ten thousand souls.</p> + +<p>Seven millions of dollars are annually lost in +New York city at the gaming-table. Some of +your own friends may be at it. The agents of +these gaming-houses around our hotels are well +dressed. They meet a stranger in the city; +they ask him if he would like to see the city; +he says, "Yes;" they ask him if he has seen +that splendid building up town, and he says +"No." "Then," says the villain to the greenhorn, +"I will show you the lions and the +elephants." After seeing the lions and the +elephants, I would not give much for a young +man's chance for decency or heaven. He looks +in, and sees nothing objectionable; but let him +beware, for he is on enchanted ground. Look +out for the men who have such sleek hats—always +sleek hats—and such a patronizing air, +and who are so unaccountably interested in +your welfare and entertainment. All that they +want of you is your money. A young man on +Chestnut street, Philadelphia, lost in a night all +his money at the gaming-table, and, before he +left the table, blew his brains out; but before +the maid had cleaned up the blood the players +were again at the table, shuffling away. A +wolf has more compassion for the lamb whose +blood it licks up; a highwayman more love for +the belated traveller upon whose carcass he +piles the stone; the frost more feeling for the +flower it kills; the fire more tenderness for the +tree-branch it consumes; the storm more pity +for the ship that it shivers on Long Island +coast, than a gambler's heart has mercy for his +victim.</p> + +<p>Deed of darkness unfit for sunlight, or early +evening hour! Let it come forth only when +most of the city lights are out, in the third +watch of the night!</p> + +<p>Again, it is after twelve o'clock that drunkenness +shows its worst deformity! At eight or +nine o'clock the low saloons are not so ghastly. +At nine o'clock the victims are only talkative. +At ten o'clock they are much flushed. At +eleven o'clock their tongue is thick, and their +hat occasionally falls from the head. At +twelve they are nauseated and blasphemous, +and not able to rise. At one they fall to the +floor, asking for more drink. At two o'clock, +unconscious and breathing hard. They would +not fly though the house took fire. Soaked, +imbruted, dead drunk! They are strewn all +over the city, in the drinking saloons,—fathers, +brothers, and sons; men as good as you, +naturally—perhaps better.</p> + +<p>Not so with the higher circles of intoxication. +The "gentlemen" coax their fellow-reveller to +bed, or start with him for home, one at each +arm, holding him up; the night air is filled +with his hooting and cursing. He will be helped +into his own door. He will fall into the +entry. Hush it up! Let not the children of +the house be awakened to hear the shame. +He is one of the merchant princes.</p> + +<p>But you cannot always hush it up.</p> + +<p>Drink makes men mad. One of its victims +came home and found that his wife had died +during his absence; and he went into the room +where she had been prepared for the grave, and +shook her from the shroud, and tossed her body +out of the window. Where sin is loud and +loathsome and frenzied, it is hard to keep it +still. This whole land is soaked with the abomination. +It became so bad in Massachusetts, +that the State arose in indignation; and having +appointed agents for the sale of alcohol for +mechanical and medicinal purposes, prohibited +the general traffic under a penalty of five hundred +dollars. The popular proprietors of the +Revere, Tremont, and Parker Houses were arrested. +The grog-shops diminished in number +from six thousand to six hundred. God grant +that the time may speed on when all the cities +and States shall rouse up, and put their foot +upon this abomination.</p> + +<p>As you pass along the streets, night by night, +you will see the awful need that something radical +be done. But you do not see the worst. +That will come to pass long after you are sleeping—in +the third watch of the night.</p> + +<p>Oh! ye who have been longing for fields of +work, here they are before you. At the London +midnight meetings, thirteen thousand of the +daughters of sin were reformed; and uncounted +numbers of men, who were drunken and debauched, +have been redeemed. If from our +highest circles a few score of men and women +would go forth among the wandering and the +destitute, they might yet make the darkest alley +of the town kindle with the gladness of heaven. +Do not go in your warm furs, and from your +well-laden tables, thinking that pious counsel +will stop the gnawing of empty stomachs or +warm their stockingless feet. Take food and +medicine, and raiment, as well as a prayer. +When the city missionary told the destitute +woman she ought to love God, she said: "Ah! +if you were as cold and hungry as I am, you +could think of nothing else."</p> + +<p>I am glad to know that not one earnest prayer, +not one heartfelt alms-giving, not one kind +word, ever goes unblessed. Among the mountains +of Switzerland there is a place where, if +your voice be uttered, there will come back a +score of echoes. But utter a kind, sympathetic, +and saving word in the dark places of the town, +and there will come back ten thousand echoes +from all the thrones of heaven.</p> + +<p>There may be some one reading this who +knows by experience of the tragedies enacted +in the third watch of the night. I am not the +man to thrust you back with one harsh word. +Take off the bandage from your soul, and put +on it the salve of the Saviour's compassion. +There is rest in God for your tired soul. +Many have come back from their wanderings. +I see them coming now. Cry up the news to +heaven! Set all the bells a-ringing! Under +the high arch spread the banquet of rejoicing. +Let all the crowned heads of heaven come in +and keep the jubilee. I tell you there is more +joy in heaven over one man who reforms than +over ninety-and-nine who never got off the +track.</p> + +<p>But there is a man who will never return +from his evil ways. How many acts are there +in a tragedy? Five, I believe:</p> + +<p>ACT I.—<i>Young man starting from home. +Parents and sisters weeping to have him go. +Wagon passing over the hills. Farewell kiss +thrown back. Ring the bell and let the curtain +drop.</i></p> + +<p>ACT II.—<i>Marriage altar. Bright lights. +Full organ. White veil trailing through the +aisle. Prayer and congratulation, and exclamations +of "How well she looks!" Ring the +bell, and let the curtain drop</i>.</p> + +<p>ACT III.—<i>Midnight. Woman waiting for +staggering steps. Old garments stuck into the +broken window-pane. Many marks of hardship +on the face. Biting of the nails of bloodless +fingers. Neglect, cruelty, disgrace. Ring the +bell, and let the curtain drop</i>.</p> + +<p>ACT IV.—<i>Three graves in a very dark place. +Grave of child who died from lack of medicine. +Grave of wife who died of a broken heart. +Grave of husband and father who died of dissipation. +Plenty of weeds, but no flowers. O +what a blasted heath with three graves! Ring +the bell, and let the curtain drop</i>.</p> + +<p>ACT V.—<i>A destroyed soul's eternity. No +light; no music; no hope! Despair coiling +around the heart with unutterable anguish. +Blackness of darkness forever</i>.</p> + +<p>Woe! Woe! Woe! I cannot bear longer +to look. I close my eyes at this last act of the +tragedy. Quick! Quick! Ring the bell and +let the curtain drop.</p> + + + +<a name="page79" + id="page79"></a> +<h2>THE INDISCRIMINATE DANCE.</h2> + + +<p>It is the anniversary of Herod's birthday. +The palace is lighted. The highways leading +thereto are ablaze with the pomp of invited +guests. Lords, captains, merchant princes, and +the mightiest men of the realm are on the way +to mingle in the festivities. The tables are filled +with all the luxuries that the royal purveyors +can gather,—spiced wines, and fruits, and rare +meats. The guests, white-robed, anointed and +perfumed, take their places. Music! The +jests evoke roars of laughter. Riddles are propounded. +Repartees indulged. Toasts drunk. +The brain befogged. Wit gives place to uproar +and blasphemy. And yet they are not satisfied. +Turn on more light. Give us more music. +Sound the trumpet. Clear the floor for the +dance. Bring in Salome, the graceful and accomplished +princess.</p> + +<p>The doors are opened and in bounds the +dancer. Stand back and give plenty of room +for the gyrations. The lords are enchanted. +They never saw such poetry of motion. Their +souls whirl in the reel, and bound with the +bounding feet. Herod forgets crown and +throne,—everything but the fascinations of Salome. +The magnificence of his realm is as +nothing compared with that which now whirls +before him on tiptoe. His heart is in transport +with Salome as her arms are now tossed in the +air, and now placed akimbo. He sways with +every motion of the enchantress. He thrills +with the quick pulsations of her feet, and is bewitched +with the posturing and attitudes that +he never saw before, in a moment exchanged +for others just as amazing. He sits in silence +before the whirling, bounding, leaping, flashing +wonder. And when the dance stops, and the +tinkling cymbals pause, and the long, loud +plaudits that shook the palace with their thunders +had abated, the entranced monarch swears +unto the princely performer: "Whatsoever +thou shalt ask of me I will give it to thee, to +the half of my kingdom."</p> + +<p>Now there was in prison a minister by the +name of John the Baptist, who had made much +trouble by his honest preaching. He had denounced +the sins of the king, and brought down +upon himself the wrath of the females in the +royal family. At the instigation of her mother, +Salome takes advantage of the king's extravagant +promise and demands the head of John +the Baptist on a dinner-plate.</p> + +<p>There is a sound of heavy feet, and the clatter +of swords outside of the palace. Swing +back the door. The executioners are returning, +from their awful errand. They hand a platter +to Salome. What is that on the platter? A +new tankard of wine to rekindle the mirth of the +lords? No! It is redder than wine, and costlier. +It is the ghastly, bleeding head of John +the Baptist! Its locks dabbled in gore. Its +eyes set in the death-stare. The distress of the +last agony in the features. That fascinating +form, that just now swayed so gracefully in the +dance, bends over the horrid burden without a +shudder. She gloats over the blood; and just +as the maid of your household goes, bearing +out on a tray the empty glasses of the evening's +entertainment, so she carried out on a platter +the dissevered head of that good man, while all +the banqueters shouted, and thought it a grand +joke, that, in such a brief and easy way, they +had freed themselves from such a plain-spoken, +troublesome minister.</p> + +<p>What could be more innocent than a birthday +festival? All the kings from the time of Pharaoh +had celebrated such days; and why not +Herod? It was right that the palace should be +lighted, and that the cymbals should clap, and +that the royal guests should go to a banquet; +but, before the rioting and wassail that closed +the scene of that day, every pure nature revolts.</p> + +<p>Behold the work, the influence, and the end +of an infamous dancer!</p> + +<p>I am, by natural temperament and religious +theory, utterly opposed to the position of those +who are horrified at every demonstration of +mirth and playfulness in social life, and who +seem to think that everything, decent and immortal, +depends upon the style in which people +carry their feet. On the other hand, I can see +nothing but ruin, moral and physical, in the +dissipations of the ball-room, which have despoiled +thousands of young men and women +of all that gives dignity to character, or usefulness +to life.</p> + +<p>Dancing has been styled "the graceful +movement of the body adjusted by art, to +the measures or tune of instruments, or of +the voice." All nations have danced. The +ancients thought that Pollux and Castor at first +taught the practice to the Lacedæmonians; +but, whatever be its origin, all climes have +adopted it.</p> + +<p>In other days there were festal dances, and +funeral dances, and military dances, and "mediatorial" +dances, and bacchanalian dances. +Queens and lords have swayed to and fro in +their gardens; and the rough men of the backwoods +in this way have roused up the echo of +the forest. There seems to be something in +lively and coherent sounds to evoke the movement +of hand and foot, whether cultured or +uncultured. Men passing the street unconsciously +keep step to the music of the band; and +Christians in church unconsciously find themselves +keeping time with their feet, while their +soul is uplifted by some great harmony. Not +only is this true in cultured life, but the red +men of Oregon have their scalp dances, and +green-corn dances, and war dances. It is, +therefore, no abstract question that you ask me—Is +it right to dance?</p> + +<p>The ancient fathers, aroused by the indecent +dances of those days, gave emphatic evidence +against any participation in the dance. St. +Chrysostom says:—"The feet were not given +for dancing, but to walk modestly; not to leap +impudently like camels."</p> + +<p>One of the dogmas of the ancient church +reads: "A dance is the devil's possession; +and he that entereth into a dance, entereth +into his possession. The devil is the gate to +the middle and to the end of the dance. As +many passes as a man makes in dancing, so +many passes doth he make to hell." Elsewhere, +these old dogmas declare—"The woman +that singeth in the dance is the princess of the +devil; and those that answer are his clerks; +and the beholders are his friends, and the music +are his bellows, and the fiddlers are the ministers +of the devil; for, as when hogs are strayed, +if the hogs'-herd call one, all assemble together, +so the devil calleth one woman to sing in the +dance, or to play on some instrument, and presently +all the dancers gather together."</p> + +<p>This wholesale and indiscriminate denunciation +grew out of the utter dissoluteness of those +ancient plays. So great at one time was the +offence to all decency, that the Roman Senate +decreed the expulsion of all dancers and dancing-masters +from Rome.</p> + +<p>Yet we are not to discuss the customs of that +day, but the customs of the present. We cannot +let the fathers decide the question for us. +Our reason, enlightened by the Bible, shall be +the standard. I am not ready to excommunicate +all those who lift their feet beyond a +certain height. I would not visit our youth +with a rigor of criticism that would put out all +their ardor of soul. I do not believe that all +the inhabitants of Wales, who used to step to +the sound of the rustic pibcorn, went down to +ruin. I would give to all of our youth the +right to romp and play. God meant it, or he +would not have surcharged our natures with +such exuberance. If a mother join hands with +her children, and while the eldest strikes the +keys, fill all the house with the sound of agile +feet, I see no harm. If a few friends, gathered +in happy circle, conclude to cross and recross +the room to the sound of the piano well played, +I see no harm. I for a long while tried to see +in it a harm, but I never could, and I probably +never will. I would to God men kept young +for a greater length of time. Never since my +school-boy days have I loved so well as now +the hilarities of life. What if we have felt +heavy burdens, and suffered a multitude of hard +knocks, is it any reason why we should stand +in the path of those who, unstung by life's +misfortunes, are exhilarated and full of glee?</p> + +<p>God bless the young! They will have to live +many a day if they want to hear me say one +word to dampen their ardor or clip their wings, +or to throw a cloud upon their life by telling +them that it is hard, and dark, and doleful. It +is no such thing. You will meet with many a +trial; but, speaking from my own experience, +let me tell you that you will be treated a great +deal better than you deserve.</p> + +<p>Let us not grudge to the young their joy. As +we go further on in life, let us go with the remembrance +that we have had our gleeful days. +When old age frosts our locks, and stiffens our +limbs, let us not block up the way, but say, +"We had our good times: now let others have +theirs." As our children come on, let us cheerfully +give them our places. How glad will I be +to let them have everything,—my house, my +books, my place in society, my heritage! By +the time we get old we will have had our way +long enough. Then let our children come on +and we'll have it their way. For thirty, forty, or +fifty years, we have been drinking from the cup +of life; and we ought not to complain if called +to pass the cup along and let others take a drink.</p> + +<p>But, while we have a right to the enjoyments +of life, we never will countenance sinful indulgences. +I here set forth a group of what +might be called the dissipations of the ball-room. +They swing an awful scythe of death. Are we +to stand idly by, and let the work go on, lest in +the rebuke we tread upon the long trail of some +popular vanity? The whirlpool of the ball-room +drags down the life, the beauty, and the +moral worth of the city. In this whirlwind of +imported silks goes out the life of many of our +best families. Bodies and souls innumerable +are annually consumed in this conflagration of +ribbons.</p> + +<p>This style of dissipation is the abettor of +pride, the instigator of jealousy, the sacrificial +altar of health, the defiler of the soul, the avenue +of lust, and the curse of the town. The tread +of this wild, intoxicating, heated midnight +dance jars all the moral hearthstones of the city. +The physical ruin is evident. What will become +of those who work all day and dance all +night? A few years will turn them out nervous, +exhausted imbeciles. Those who have given +up their midnights to spiced wines, and hot +suppers, and ride home through winter's cold, +unwrapped from the elements, will at last be +recorded suicides.</p> + +<p>There is but a short step from the ball-room +to the grave-yard. There are consumptions +and fierce neuralgias close on the track. Amid +that glittering maze of ball-room splendors, diseases +stand right and left, and balance and +chain. A sepulchral breath floats up amid the +perfume, and the froth of death's lip bubbles up +in the champagne.</p> + +<p>Many of our brightest homes are being sacrificed. +There are families that have actually +quit keeping house, and gone to boarding, that +they may give themselves more exclusively to +the higher duties of the ball-room. Mothers +and daughters, fathers and sons, finding their +highest enjoyment in the dance, bid farewell to +books, to quiet culture, to all the amenities of +home. The father will, after a while, go down +into lower dissipations. The son will be tossed +about in society, a nonentity. The daughter +will elope with a French dancing-master. The +mother, still trying to stay in the glitter, and by +every art attempting to keep the color in her +cheek, and the wrinkles off her brow, attempting, +without any success, all the arts of the +belle,—an old flirt, a poor, miserable butterfly +without any wings.</p> + +<p>If anything on the earth is beautiful to my +eye, it is an aged woman; her hair floating +back over the wrinkled brow, not frosted, but +white with the blossoms of the tree of life; her +voice tender with past memories, and her face +a benediction. The children pull at grandmother's +dress as she passes through the room, +and almost pull her down in her weakness; yet +she has nothing but a cake, or a candy, or a +kind word for the little darlings. When she +goes away from us there is a shadow on the +table, a shadow on the hearth, and a shadow in +the dwelling.</p> + +<p>But if anything on earth is distressful to look +at, it is an old woman ashamed of being old. +What with paint and false hair, she is too +much for my gravity. I laugh, even in church, +when I see her coming. One of the worst +looking birds I know of is a peacock after it +has lost its feathers. I would not give one lock +of my mother's gray hair for fifty thousand such +caricatures of old age. The first time you find +these faithful disciples of the ball-room diligently +engaged and happy in the duties of the +home circle, send me word, for I would go a +great way to see such a phenomenon. These +creatures have no home. Their children unwashed. +Their furniture undusted. Their +china closets disordered. The house a scene +of confusion, misrule, cheerlessness, and dirt. +One would think you might discover even amid +the witcheries of the ball-room the sickening +odors of the unswept, unventilated, and unclean +domestic apartments.</p> + +<p>These dissipations extinguish all love of usefulness. +How could you expect one to be +interested in the alleviations of the world's +misery, while there is a question to be decided +about the size of a glove or the shade of a +pongee? How many of these men and women +of the ball-room visit the poor, or help dress +the wounds of a returned soldier in the hospital? +When did the world ever see a perpetual dancer +distributing tracts? Such persons are turned in +upon themselves. And it is very poor pasture!</p> + +<p>This gilded sphere is utterly bedwarfing to +intellect and soul. This constant study of little +things; this harassing anxiety about dress; +this talk of fashionable infinitesimals; this shoe-pinched, +hair-frizzled, fringe-spattered group—that +simper and look askance at the mirrors and +wonder, with infinity of interest, "how that +one geranium leaf does look;" this shrivelling +up of man's moral dignity, until it is no more +observable with the naked eye; this taking of +a woman's heart, that God meant should be +filled with all amenities, and compressing it +until all the fragrance, and simplicity, and artlessness +are squeezed out of it; this inquisition +of a small shoe; this agony of tight lacing; +this wrapping up of mind and heart in a ruffle; +this tumbling down of a soul that God meant +for great upliftings!</p> + +<p>I prophesy the spiritual ruin of all participators +in this rivalry. Have the white, polished, +glistening boards ever been the road to +heaven? Who at the flash of those chandeliers +hath kindled a torch for eternity? From +the table spread at the close of that excited and +besweated scene, who went home to say his +prayers?</p> + +<p>To many, alas! this life is a masquerade ball. +As, at such entertainments, gentlemen and +ladies appear in the dress of kings or queens, +mountain bandits or clowns, and at the close +of the dance throw off their disguises, so, in +this dissipated life, all unclean passions move in +mask. Across the floor they trip merrily. +The lights sparkle along the wall, or drop from +the ceiling—a very cohort of fire! The music +charms. The diamonds glitter. The feet bound. +Gemmed hands, stretched out, clasp gemmed +hands. Dancing feet respond to dancing feet. +Gleaming brow bends low to gleaming brow. On +with the dance! Flash, and rustle, and laughter, +and immeasurable merry-making! But the +languor of death comes over the limbs, and +blurs the sight. <i>Lights lower!</i> Floor hollow +with sepulchral echo. Music saddens into a +wail. <i>Lights lower!</i> The maskers can hardly +now be seen. Flowers exchange their fragrance +for a sickening odor, such as comes from +garlands that have lain in vaults of cemeteries. +<i>Lights lower!</i> Mists fill the room. Glasses +rattle as though shaken by sullen thunder. +Sighs seem caught among the curtains. Scarf +falls from the shoulder of beauty,—a shroud! +<i>Lights lower!</i> Over the slippery boards, in +dance of death, glide jealousies, disappointments, +lust, despair. Torn leaves and withered +garlands only half hide the ulcered feet. The +stench of smoking lamp-wicks almost quenched. +Choking damps. Chilliness. Feet still. +Hands folded. Eyes shut. Voices hushed.</p> + +<p>LIGHTS OUT!</p> + + + +<a name="page94" + id="page94"></a> +<h2>THE MASSACRE BY NEEDLE AND SEWING-MACHINE.</h2> + + +<p>Very long ago the needle was busy. It was +considered honorable for women to toil in olden +time. Alexander the Great stood in his palace +showing garments made by his own mother. +The finest tapestries at Bayeux were made by +the Queen of William the Conqueror. Augustus +the Emperor would not wear any garments +except those that were fashioned by some +member of his royal family. So let the toiler +everywhere be respected!</p> + +<p>The greatest blessing that could have happened +to our first parents was being turned out of +Eden after they had done wrong. Adam and +Eve, in their perfect state, might have got along +without work, or only such slight employment +as a perfect garden, with no weeds in it, demanded. +But, as soon as they had sinned, the +best thing for them was to be turned out where +they would have to work. We know what a +withering thing it is for a man to have nothing +to do. Old Ashbel Green, at fourscore years, +when asked why he kept on working, said, "I +do so to keep out of mischief." We see that a +man who has a large amount of money to start +with has no chance. Of the thousand prosperous +and honorable men that you know, nine +hundred and ninety-nine had to work vigorously +at the beginning.</p> + +<p>But I am now to tell you that industry is just +as important for a woman's safety and happiness. +The most unhappy women in our communities +to-day are those who have no engagements +to call them up in the morning; who, +once having risen and breakfasted, lounge +through the dull forenoon in slippers down at +the heel and with dishevelled hair, reading +George Sand's last novel; and who, having +dragged through a wretched forenoon and +taken their afternoon sleep, and having spent +an hour and a half at their toilet, pick up their +card-case and go out to make calls; and who +pass their evenings waiting for somebody to +come in and break up the monotony. Arabella +Stuart never was imprisoned in so dark a +dungeon as that.</p> + +<p>There is no happiness in an idle woman. It +may be with hand, it may be with brain, it may +be with foot; but work she must, or be wretched +forever. The little girls of our families must +be started with that idea. The curse of our +American society is that our young women are +taught that the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, +sixth, seventh, tenth, fiftieth, thousandth thing +in their life is to get somebody to take care of +them. Instead of that, the first lesson should +be, how, under God, they may take care of +themselves. The simple fact is that a majority +of them do have to take care of themselves, and +that, too, after having, through the false notions +of their parents, wasted the years in which they +ought to have learned how successfully to maintain +themselves. We now and here declare the +inhumanity, cruelty, and outrage of that father +and mother, who pass their daughters into +womanhood, having given them no facility for +earning their livelihood. Madame de Staël +said: "It is not these writings that I am proud +of, but the fact that I have facility in ten occupations, +in any one of which I could make a +livelihood."</p> + +<p>You say you have a fortune to leave them. +O man and woman! have you not learned that, +like vultures, like hawks, like eagles, riches +have wings and fly away? Though you should +be successful in leaving a competency behind +you, the trickery of executors may swamp it in +a night; or some elders or deacons of our +churches may get up an oil company, or some +sort of religious enterprise sanctioned by the +church, and induce your orphans to put their +money into a hole in Venango County; and if, +by the most skilful derricks, the sunken money +cannot be pumped up again, prove to them +that it was eternally decreed that that was the +way they were to lose it, and that it went in the +most orthodox and heavenly style.</p> + +<p>O the damnable schemes that professed +Christians will engage in—until God puts his +fingers into the collar of the hypocrite's robe +and rips it clear down to the bottom!</p> + +<p>You have no right, because you are well off, +to conclude that your children are going to be +as well off. A man died, leaving a large fortune. +His son, a few months ago, fell dead in +a Philadelphia grog-shop. His old comrades +came in and said, as they bent over his corpse: +"What is the matter with you, Boggsey?" +The surgeon standing over him said: "Hush +up! he is dead!"—"Ah, he is dead!" they +said. "Come, boys, let us go and take a drink +in memory of poor Boggsey!"</p> + +<p>Have you nothing better than money to leave +your children? If you have not, but send +your daughters into the world with empty brain +and unskilled hand, you are guilty of assassination, +homicide, regicide, infanticide—compared +with which that of poor Hester Vaughan was +innocence. There are women toiling in our +cities for three and four dollars per week, who +were the daughters of merchant princes. These +suffering ones now would be glad to have the +crumbs that once fell from their father's table. +That worn-out, broken shoe that she wears is +the lineal descendant of the twelve-dollar gaiters +in which her mother walked; and that torn +and faded calico had ancestry of magnificent +brocade, that swept Broadway clean without +any expense to the street commissioners. +Though you live in an elegant residence, and +fare sumptuously every day, let your daughters +feel it is a disgrace to them not to know how to +work. I denounce the idea, prevalent in society, +that though our young women may embroider +slippers, and crochet, and make mats +for lamps to stand on, without disgrace, the +idea of doing anything for a livelihood is dishonorable. +It is a shame for a young woman, +belonging to a large family, to be inefficient +when the father toils his life away for her support. +It is a shame for a daughter to be idle +while her mother toils at the wash-tub. It is +as honorable to sweep house, make beds, or +trim hats, as it is to twist a watch-chain.</p> + +<p>As far as I can understand, the line of respectability +lies between that which is useful +and that which is useless. If women do that +which is of no value, their work is honorable. +If they do practical work, it is dishonorable. +That our young women may escape the censure +of doing dishonorable work, I shall particularize. +You may knit a tidy for the back of an armchair, +but by no means make the money wherewith +to buy the chair. You may, with delicate +brush, beautify a mantel-ornament, but die +rather than earn enough to buy a marble mantel. +You may learn artistic music until you +can squall Italian, but never sing "Ortonville" +or "Old Hundred." Do nothing practical, if +you would, in the eyes of refined society, preserve +your respectability.</p> + +<p>I scout these finical notions. I tell you a +woman, no more than a man, has a right to occupy +a place in this world unless she pays a +rent for it.</p> + +<p>In the course of a lifetime you consume +whole harvests, and droves of cattle, and every +day you live breathe forty hogsheads of good +pure air. You must, by some kind of usefulness, +<i>pay</i> for all this. Our race was the last +thing created,—the birds and fishes on the +fourth day, the cattle and lizards on the fifth +day, and man on the sixth day. If geologists +are right, the earth was a million of years in the +possession of the insects, beasts, and birds, before +our race came upon it. In one sense, we +were innovators. The cattle, the lizards, and +the hawks had pre-emption right. The question +is not what we are to do with the lizards and +summer insects, but what the lizards and summer +insects are to do with us.</p> + +<p>If we want a place in this world we must <i>earn</i> +it. The partridge makes its own nest before it +occupies it. The lark, by its morning song, +earns its breakfast before it eats it; and the Bible +gives an intimation that the first duty of an +idler is to starve, when it says if he "will not +work, neither shall he eat." Idleness ruins the +health; and very soon Nature says, "This man +has refused to pay his rent; out with him!"</p> + +<p>Society is to be reconstructed on the subject +of woman's toil. A vast majority of those who +would have woman industrious shut her up to a +few kinds of work. My judgment in this matter +is, that a woman has a right to do anything +she can do well. There should be no department +of merchandise, mechanism, art, or science +barred against her. If Miss Hosmer has +genius for sculpture, give her a chisel. If Rosa +Bonheur has a fondness for delineating animals, +let her make "The Horse Fair." If Miss +Mitchell will study astronomy, let her mount +the starry ladder. If Lydia will be a merchant, +let her sell purple. If Lucretia Mott will preach +the Gospel, let her thrill with her womanly eloquence +the Quaker meeting-house.</p> + +<p>It is said, if woman is given such opportunities, +she will occupy places that might be taken +by men. I say, if she have more skill and +adaptedness for any position than a man has, let +her have it! She has as much right to her +bread, to her apparel, and to her home, as men +have.</p> + +<p>But it is said that her nature is so delicate +that she is unfitted for exhausting toil. I ask, +in the name of all past history, what toil on +earth is more severe, exhausting, and tremendous +than that toil of the needle to which for +ages she has been subjected? The battering-ram, +the sword, the carbine, the battle-axe +have made no such havoc as the needle. I +would that these living sepulchres in which women +have for ages been buried might be opened, +and that some resurrection trumpet might +bring up these living corpses to the fresh air +and sunlight.</p> + +<p>Go with me, and I will show you a woman +who, by hardest toil, supports her children, her +drunken husband, her old father and mother, +pays her house-rent, always has wholesome +food on her table, and, when she can get some +neighbor on the Sabbath to come in and take +care of her family, appears in church, with hat +and cloak that are far from indicating the toil to +which she is subjected.</p> + +<p>Such a woman as that has body and soul +enough to fit her for <i>any</i> position. She could +stand beside the majority of your salesmen and +dispose of more goods. She could go into your +wheelwright shops and beat one-half of your +workmen at making carriages. We talk about +woman as though we had resigned to her all +the light work, and ourselves had shouldered +the heavier. But the day of judgment, which +will reveal the sufferings of the stake and inquisition, +will marshal before the throne of God +and the hierarchs of heaven the martyrs of +wash-tub and needle.</p> + +<p>Now, I say, if there be any preference in occupation, +let woman have it. God knows her +trials are the severest. By her acuter sensitiveness +to misfortune, by her hour of anguish, I +demand that no one hedge up her pathway to +a livelihood. O the meanness, the despicability +of men who begrudge a woman the right to +work anywhere, in any honorable calling!</p> + +<p>I go still further, and say that women should +have equal compensation with men. By what +principle of justice is it that women in many of +our cities get only two-thirds as much pay as +men, and in many cases only half? Here is the +gigantic injustice—that for work equally well, +if not better done, woman receives far less compensation +than man. Start with the National +Government: women clerks in Washington get +nine hundred dollars for doing that for which +men receive eighteen hundred.</p> + +<p>To thousands of young women of New York +to-day there is only this alternative: starvation +or dishonor. Many of the largest mercantile +establishments of our cities are accessory to +these abominations; and from their large establishments +there are scores of souls being +pitched off into death; <i>and their employers +know it!</i></p> + +<p>Is there a God? Will there be a judgment? +I tell you, if God rises up to redress woman's +wrongs, many of our large establishments will +be swallowed up quicker than a South-American +earthquake ever took down a city. God +will catch these oppressors between the two +mill-stones of his wrath, and grind them to +powder!</p> + +<p>Why is it that a female principal in a school +gets only eight hundred and twenty-five dollars +for doing work for which a male principal gets +sixteen hundred and fifty?</p> + +<p>I hear from all this land the wail of woman-hood. +Man has nothing to answer to that wail +but flatteries. He says she is an angel. She is +not. She knows she is not. She is a human +being, who gets hungry when she has no food, +and cold when she has no fire. Give her no +more flatteries: give her <i>justice!</i></p> + +<p>There are thirty-five thousand sewing-girls in +New York and Brooklyn. Across the darkness +of this night I hear their death-groan. It is not +such a cry as comes from those who are suddenly +hurled out of life, but a slow, grinding, +horrible wasting away. Gather them before +you and look into their faces, pinched, ghastly, +hunger-struck! Look at their fingers, needle-picked +and blood-tipped! See that premature +stoop in the shoulders! Hear that dry, hacking, +merciless cough!</p> + +<p>At a large meeting of these women, held in a +hall in Philadelphia, grand speeches were delivered, +but a needle-woman took the stand, +threw aside her faded shawl, and, with her shrivelled +arm, hurled a very thunder-bolt of eloquence, +speaking out of the horrors of her own +experience.</p> + +<p>Stand at the corner of a street in New York +at half-past five or six o'clock in the morning, as +the women go to their work. Many of them +had no breakfast except the crumbs that were +left over from the night before, or a crust they +chew on their way through the street. Here +they come! the working girls of New York and +Brooklyn! These engaged in bead-work, these +in flower-making, in millinery, enamelling, cigar +making, book-binding, labelling, feather-picking, +print-coloring, paper-box making, but, +most overworked of all, and least compensated, +the sewing-women. Why do they not take the +city-cars on their way up? They cannot afford +the five cents! If, concluding to deny herself +something else, she get into the car, give her a +seat! You want to see how Latimer and Ridley +appeared in the fire: look at that woman +and behold a more horrible martyrdom, a hotter +fire, a more agonizing death! Ask that woman +how much she gets for her work, and she will +tell you six cents for making coarse shirts, and +finds her own thread!</p> + +<p>Last Sabbath night, in the vestibule of my +church, after service, a woman fell in convulsions. +The doctor said she needed medicine +not so much as something to eat. As she began +to revive in her delirium, she said, gaspingly: +"Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight +cents! I wish I could get it done! I am so +tired! I wish I could get some sleep, but I +must get it done! Eight cents! Eight cents!" +We found afterwards that she was making garments +for eight cents apiece, and that she could +make but three of them in a day! Hear it! +Three times eight are twenty-four! Hear it, +men and women who have comfortable homes!</p> + +<p>Some of the worst villains of the city are the +employers of these women. They beat them +down to the last penny, and try to cheat them +out of that. The woman must deposit a dollar +or two before she gets the garments to work on. +When the work is done it is sharply inspected, +the most insignificant flaws picked out, and +the wages refused, and sometimes the dollar deposited +not given back. The Women's Protective +Union reports a case where one of these +poor souls, finding a place where she could get +more wages, resolved to change employers, and +went to get her pay for work done. The employer +says: "I hear you are going to leave +me?"—"Yes," she said, "and I have come to +get what you owe me." He made no answer. +She said: "Are you not going to pay me?"—"Yes," +he said, "I will pay you;" and <i>he +kicked her down the stairs</i>.</p> + +<p>How are these evils to be eradicated? What +have you to answer, you who sell coats, and +have shoes made, and contract for the Southern +and Western markets? What help is there, +what panacea, what redemption? Some say: +"Give women the ballot." What effect such +ballot might have on other questions I am not +here to discuss; but what would be the effect +of female suffrage upon woman's wages? I do +not believe that woman will ever get justice by +woman's ballot.</p> + +<p>Indeed, women oppress women as much as +men do. Do not women, as much as men, beat +down to the lowest figure the woman who sews +for them? Are not women as sharp as men on +washerwomen, and milliners, and mantua-makers? +If a woman asks a dollar for her work, +does not her female employer ask her if she will +not take ninety cents? You say "only ten cents +difference;" but that is sometimes the difference +between heaven and hell. Women often have +less commiseration for women than men. If a +woman steps aside from the path of virtue, man +may forgive,—woman never! Woman will +never get justice done her from woman's ballot.</p> + +<p>Neither will she get it from man's ballot. +How, then? God will rise up for her. God +has more resources than we know of. The +flaming sword that hung at Eden's gate when +woman was driven out will cleave with its terrible +edge her oppressors.</p> + +<p>But there is something for our women to do. +Let our young people prepare to excel in spheres +of work, and they will be able, after a while, to +get larger wages. If it be shown that a woman +can, in a store, sell more goods in a year than a +man, she will soon be able not only to ask but +to <i>demand</i> more wages, and to demand them +successfully. Unskilled and incompetent labor +must take what is given; skilled and competent +labor will eventually make its own standard. +Admitting that the law of supply and demand +regulates these things, I contend that the demand +for skilled labor is very great, and the +supply very small.</p> + +<p>Start with the idea that work is <i>honorable</i>, +and that you can do some one thing better than +any one else. Resolve that, God helping, you +will take care of yourself. If you are, after a +while, called into another relation, you will all +the better be qualified for it by your spirit of +self-reliance; or if you are called to stay as you +are, you can be happy and self-supporting.</p> + +<p>Poets are fond of talking about man as an oak, +and woman the vine that climbs it; but I have +seen many a tree fall that not only went down +itself, but took all the vines with it. I can tell +you of something stronger than an oak for an +ivy to climb on, and that is the throne of the +great Jehovah. Single or affianced, that woman +is strong who leans on God and does her best. +The needle may break; the factory-band may +slip; the wages may fail; but, over every good +woman's head there are spread the two great, +gentle, stupendous wings of the Almighty.</p> + +<p>Many of you will go single-handed through +life, and you will have to choose between two +characters. Young woman, I am sure you will +turn your back upon the useless, giggling, +painted nonentity which society ignominiously +acknowledges to be a woman, and ask God to +make you an humble, active, earnest Christian.</p> + +<p>What will become of this godless disciple of +fashion? What an insult to her sex! Her +manners are an outrage upon decency. She +is more thoughtful of the attitude she strikes +upon the carpet than how she will look in the +judgment; more worried about her freckles than +her sins; more interested in her bonnet-strings +than in her redemption. Her apparel is the +poorest part of a Christian woman, however +magnificently dressed, and no one has so much +right to dress well as a Christian. Not so with +the godless disciple of fashion. Take her +robes, and you take everything. Death will +come down on her some day, and rub the bistre +off her eyelids, and the rouge off her cheeks, +and with two rough, bony hands, scatter +spangles and glass beads and rings and ribbons +and lace and brooches and buckles and sashes +and frisettes and golden clasps.</p> + +<p>The dying actress whose life had been +vicious said: "The scene closes. Draw the +curtain." Generally the tragedy comes first, +and the farce afterward; but in her life it was +first the farce of a useless life, and then the +tragedy of a wretched eternity.</p> + +<p>Compare the life and death of such an one +with that of some Christian aunt that was once +a blessing to your household. I do not know +that she was ever offered the hand in marriage. +She lived single, that untrammelled she might +be everybody's blessing. Whenever the sick +were to be visited, or the poor to be provided +with bread, she went with a blessing. She +could pray, or sing "Rock of Ages," for any +sick pauper who asked her. As she got older, +there were days when she was a little sharp, +but for the most part Auntie was a sunbeam—just +the one for Christmas-eve. She knew +better than any one else how to fix things. +Her every prayer, as God heard it, was full of +everybody who had trouble. The brightest +things in all the house dropped from her +fingers. She had peculiar notions, but the +grandest notion she ever had was to make you +happy. She dressed well—Auntie always +dressed well; but her highest adornment was +that of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the +sight of God, is of great price. When she +died, you all gathered lovingly about her; and +as you carried her out to rest, the Sunday-school +class almost covered the coffin with +japonicas; and the poor people stood at the +end of the alley, with their aprons to their +eyes, sobbing bitterly; and the man of the +world said, with Solomon, "Her price was +above rubies;" and Jesus, as unto the maiden +in Judea, commanded: "I SAY UNTO THEE, +ARISE!"</p> + + + +<a name="page114" + id="page114"></a> +<h2>PICTURES IN THE STOCK GALLERY.</h2> + + +<p>[NOTE.—This chapter, though largely devoted to "Oil," is +to be construed as reaching any other "Kite" that the stock +gambler flies—any other scheme which his unprincipled ideas of +right and wrong will permit him to work to his own gain and +others' loss. The oil mania was only a more popular or attractive +<i>vice</i> of the stock-boards, which is reproduced, in spirit and +motive, almost every month of the year.]</p> + +<p>At my entrance upon this discussion, I must +deplore the indiscriminate terms of condemnation +employed by many well-meaning persons +in regard to stock operations. The business of +the stock-broker is just as legitimate and necessary +as that of a dealer in clothes, groceries, or +hardware; and a man may be as pure-minded +and holy a Christian at the Board of Brokers as +in a prayer-meeting. The broker is, in the +sight of God, as much entitled to his commissions +as any hard-working mechanic is entitled +to his day's wages. Any man has as much +right to make money by the going up of stocks +as by the going up of sugar, rice, or tea. The +inevitable board-book that the operator carries +in his hand may be as pure as the clothing +merchant's ledger. It is the work of the +brokers to facilitate business; to make transfer +of investment; to watch and report the tides of +business; to assist the merchant in lawful enterprises.</p> + +<p>Because there are men in this department of +business, sharp, deceitful, and totally iniquitous, +you have no right to denounce the entire class. +Importers, shoe-dealers, lumbermen, do not +want to be held responsible for the moral +deficits of their comrades in business. Neither +have you a right to excoriate those who are +conscientiously operating through the channels +spoken of. If they take a risk, so do all business +men. The merchant who buys silk at five +dollars per yard takes his chances; he expects +it to go up to six dollars; it may fall to four +dollars. If a man, by straightforward operations +in stocks, meets with disaster and fails, he +deserves sympathy just as much as he who sold +spices or calicoes, and through some miscalculation +is struck down bankrupt.</p> + +<p>We have no right to impose restrictions upon +this class of men that we impose upon no other. +What right have you to denounce the operation +"buyer—ten days" or "buyer—twenty days," +when you take a house, "buyer—three hundred +and sixty-five days?" Perhaps the entire payment +is to be made at the end of a year, when +you do not know but that, by that time, you +will be penniless. Give all men their due, if +you would hold beneficent influence over them. +Do not be too rough in pulling out the weeds, +lest you uproot also the marigolds and verbenas. +In the Board of Brokers there are some of the +most conscientious, upright Christian men of +our cities—men who would scorn a lie, or a +subterfuge. Indeed, there are men in these +boards who might, in some respects, teach a +lesson of morality to other commercial circles.</p> + +<p>I will not deny that there are special temptations +connected with this business even when +carried on legitimately. So there are dangers +to the engineer on a railroad. He does not +know what night he may dash into the coal-train. +But engines must be run, and stocks +must be sold. A nervous, excitable man ought +to be very slow to undertake either the engine +or the Stock Exchange.</p> + +<p>A clever young man, of twenty-five years of +age, bought ten shares in the Pennsylvania +Central Railroad. The stock went up five dollars +per share, and he made fifty dollars by the +operation. His mother, knowing his temperament, +said to him, "I wish you had lost it." +But, encouraged, he entered another operation, +and took ten shares in another railroad and +made two hundred dollars. By this time he +was ready for the wildest scheme. He lost, in +three years, forty thousand dollars, ruined his +health, and broke his wife's heart. Her father +supports them chiefly now. The unfortunate +has a shingle up, in a small court, among low +operators. Such a man as this is unfit for this +commercial sphere. He would have been unfit +for a pilot, unfit for military command, unfit for +any place that demands steady nerve, cool brain, +and well-balanced temperament.</p> + +<p>But, while there is a legitimate sphere for the +broker and operator, there are transactions +every day undertaken in our cities that can only +be characterized as superb outrage and villany; +and there are members of Christian churches +who have been guilty of speculations that, in +the last day, will blanch their cheek, and thunder +them down to everlasting companionship +with the lowest gamblers that ever pitched +pennies for a drink.</p> + +<p>It is not necessary that I should draw the difficult +line between honorable and dishonorable +speculation. God has drawn it through every +man's conscience. The broker guilty of "cornering" +as well knows that he is sinning +against God and man, as though the flame +of Mount Sinai singed his eyebrows. He hears +that a brother broker has sold "short," and immediately +goes about with a wise look, saying: +"Erie is going down—Erie is going down; +prepare for it." Immediately the people begin +to sell; he buys up the stock; monopolizes the +whole affair; drags down the man who sold +short; makes largely, pockets the gain, and +thanks the Lord for great prosperity in business. +You call it "cornering." I call it gambling, +theft, highway robbery, villany accursed.</p> + +<p>It is astonishing how some men, who are +kind in their families, useful in the church, +charitable to the poor, are utterly transformed +of the devil as soon as they enter the Stock +Exchange. A respectable member of one of +the churches of the city went into a broker's +office and said: "Get me one hundred shares +of Reading, and carry it; I will leave a margin +of five hundred dollars." Instead of going up, +according to anticipation, the stock fell. Every +few days the operator called to ask the broker +what success. The stock still declined. The +operator was so terribly excited that the broker +asked him what was the matter. He replied: +"To tell you the truth, I borrowed that five +hundred dollars that I lost, and, in anticipation +of what I was sure I was going to get by the +operation, I made a very large subscription to +the Missionary Society."</p> + +<p>The nation has become so accustomed to +frauds that no astonishment is excited thereby. +The public conscience has for many years been +utterly debauched by what were called fancy +stocks, morus multicaulis, Western city enterprises, +and New England developments.</p> + +<p>If a man find on his farm something as large +as the head of a pin, that, in a strong sunlight, +sparkles a little, a gold company is formed; +books are opened; working capital declared; +a select number go in on the "ground floor;" +and the estates of widows and orphans are +swept into the vortex. Very little discredit +is connected with any such transaction, if it is +only on a large scale. We cannot bear small +and insignificant dishonesties, but take off our +hats and bow almost to the ground in the presence +of the man who has made one hundred +thousand dollars by one swindle. A woman +was arrested in the streets of one of our cities +for selling molasses candy on Sunday. She +was tried, condemned, and imprisoned. Coming +out of prison, she went into the same business +and sold molasses candy on Sunday. Again she +was arrested, condemned, and imprisoned. On +coming out—showing the total depravity of a +woman's heart—she again went into the same +business, and sold molasses candy on Sunday. +Whereupon the police, the mayor and the public +sentiment of the city rose up and declared that, +though the heavens fell, no woman should be +allowed to sell molasses candy on Sunday. Yet +the law puts its hands behind its back, and +walks up and down in the presence of a thousand +abominations and dares not whisper.</p> + +<p>There are scores of men to-day on the streets, +whose costly family wardrobes, whose rosewood +furniture, whose splendid turn-outs, whose +stately mansions, are made out of the distresses +of sewing-women, whose money they gathered +up in a stock swindle. There is human sweat +in the golden tankards. There is human blood +in the crimson plush. There are the bones of +unrequited toil in the pearly keys of the piano. +There is the curse of an incensed God hovering +over all their magnificence. Some night the +man will not be able to rest. He will rise up +in bewilderment and look about him, crying: +"Who is there?" Those whom he has wronged +will thrust their skinny arms under the tapestry, +and touch his brow, and feel for his heart, +and blow their sepulchral breath into his face, +crying: "Come to judgment!"</p> + +<p>For the warning of young men, I shall specify +but two of the world's most gigantic swindles—one +English, and the other American. In +England, in the early part of the last century, +reports were circulated of the fabulous wealth +of South America. A company was formed, +with a stock of what would be equal to thirty +millions of our dollars. The government guaranteed +to the company the control of all the +trade to the South Sea, and the company was +to assume the entire debt of England, then +amounting to one hundred and forty millions of +dollars. Magnificent project! The English +nation talked and dreamed of nothing but Peruvian +gold and Mexican silver, the national debt +liquidated, and Eldorados numberless and illimitable! +When five million pounds of new stock +was offered at three hundred pounds per share, +it was all snatched up with avidity. Thirty +million dollars of the stock was subscribed for, +when there were but five millions offered. +South Sea went up, until in the midsummer +month the stock stood at one thousand per +cent. The whole nation was intoxicated. +Around about this scheme, as might have been +expected, others just as wild arose. A company +was formed with ten million dollars of +capital for importing walnut trees from Virginia. +A company for developing a wheel to go by +perpetual motion, with a capital of four million +dollars. A company for developing a new kind +of soap. A company for insuring against losses +by servants, with fifteen million dollars capital. +One scheme was entitled: "A company for +carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, +but nobody to know what it is—capital two +million five hundred thousand dollars, in shares +of five hundred each. Further information to +be given in a month."</p> + +<p>The books were opened at nine o'clock in the +morning. Before night a thousand shares were +taken, and two thousand pounds paid in. So +successful was the day's work, that that night +the projector of the enterprise went out of the +business, and forever vanished from the public. +But it was not a perfect loss. The subscribers +had their ornamented certificates of stock to +comfort them. Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, +speaking of those times, says "that from morning +until evening 'Change Alley was filled to +overflowing with one dense mass of living beings +composed of the most incongruous materials, +and, in all things save the mad pursuit in +which they were employed, the very opposite +in habits and conditions."</p> + +<p>What was the end of this chapter of English +enterprise? Suddenly the ruin came. Down +went the whole nation—members of Parliament, +tradesmen, physicians, clergymen, lawyers, royal +ladies, and poor needle-women—in one stupendous +calamity. The whole earth, and all the +ages, heard that bubble burst.</p> + +<p>But I am not through. Our young men shall +hear more startling things. We surpass England +in having higher mountains, deeper rivers, +greater cataracts, and larger armies. Yea, we +have surpassed it in magnitude of swindles. I +wish to unfold before the young men of the +country, and before those in whose hands may +now be the price of blood, the wide-spread, +ghastly, and almost infinitely greater wickedness +of the gamblers in oil stock. Now, the +obtaining of lands, the transporting of machinery, +and the forming of companies for the production +of oil, is just as honorable as any +organization for the obtaining of coal, iron, +copper, or zinc. God poured out before +this nation a river of oil, and intended us to +gather it up, transport it, and use it; and +there were companies formed that have withstood +all commercial changes, and continued, +year after year, in the prosecution of an honorable +business. I have just as much respect for +the man who has made fifty thousand dollars by +oil as I have for him who has made it by spices.</p> + +<p>Out of twelve hundred petroleum companies, +how many do you suppose were honestly formed +and rightfully conducted? Do you say six +hundred? You make large demands upon +one's credulity; but let us be generous, and +suppose that six hundred companies bought +land, issued honest circulars, sent out machinery, +and plunged into the earth for the rightful development +of resources. To form the other six +hundred companies, only three or four things +were necessary: First, an attractive circular, +regardless of expense. It must have all the +colors and hues of earth, and sea, and heaven. +Let the letters flame with all the beauty of gold, +and jasper, and amethyst. It must state the +date of incorporation, and the fact that "all subscribers +shall get the benefit of the original +undertaking. While it does not make so much +pretension as some other companies, it must be +distinctly announced that this is a safe and permanent +investment." The circular must state +that "there are a goodly number of flowing +wells, and others which the company are happy +to say have a very good smell of oil." "The +books will be open only five days, as there are +only a few shares yet to be taken." Connected +with this circular is an elaborate map, drawn +by the artist of the company. Never mind the +geography of the country. Our map must have +a creek running through it, so crooked as to +traverse as much of the land as possible, and +make it all water-front. "Ah!" said one man +to his artist, "you make only one creek."—"Well," +said the artist, "if you want three +creeks you can have them at very little expense. +There—you have them now—three creeks!"</p> + +<p>Then the circular must have good names +attached to it. How to get them? The president +and directors must be prominent men. If +celebrated for piety, all the better. The estimable +man approached says: "I know nothing +about this company."—"Well," says the committee +waiting on him, "we will give you five +hundred dollars' worth of shares." Immediately +the estimable man begins to "know about it," +and accepts the position of president. Three +or four directors are obtained in the same way. +Now the thing is easy. After this you can get +anybody. Ordinary Christians and sinners feel +it a joy to be in such celebrated society.</p> + +<p>Another thing important is that the company +purchase three or four vials of oil to stand in +the window—some in the crude state, the rest +clarified. Genuine specimens from Venango +County.</p> + +<p>Another important thing: there must be a +large working capital, for the company do not +mean to be idle. They have derricks already +building; and there will be large monthly dividends. +Let it be known that there were companies +in some cities who, claiming to have a +capital of four hundred thousand dollars, yet had +that capital exhausted when they had sunk one +well costing five thousand dollars. But never +mind. The thing must be right, for some of +the directors are eminent for respectability. +You say it is certainly important that there be +some land out of which the oil is to be obtained. +Oh! no. Why be troubled with any land at +all? It is an expense for nothing. You have +the circular, and the glowing map, with the +creeks and three vials of oil in the window, and +a flaming advertisement in the newspapers. +Now let the books be opened! Better if you +can have a half-dozen offices in one room; then +the agent can accommodate you with anything +you desire. If you want to take a "flyer" in +this and a "flyer" in that, you shall have it.</p> + +<p>Coming in from the country are farmers, +dairymen, day-laborers. Great chances now for +speedy emoluments. Pour in the hard-earned +treasures. Sure enough, a dividend of one per +cent. per month! Forthwith, another multitude +are convinced of the safety of the investment. +The second month another dividend. The +third month another. Whence do these dividends +come? From the product of the wells? +Oh! no. It is your own money they are paying +you back. How generous of this company +to give you five dollars back, when you might +have lost it all!</p> + +<p>But the dividends stop. What is the matter? +Instead of the advertisement which covered a +whole column of the newspapers, there comes a +modest little notice that "a special meeting of +the stockholders will be held for the purpose +of transacting business of importance." Perhaps +it may be to assess the stockholders for +the purpose of keeping the little land they +have, if they have any. Or it may be for the +election of a new group of officers, for the present +incumbents do not want to be always +before the public. They are modest men. +They believe in rotation of office. They cannot +consent any longer to serve. Where have they +gone to? They are busy putting up a princely +mansion at Long Branch, Germantown, or +Chelsea. They have served their day and generation, +and have gone to their flocks and herds. +Where is the Church of God, that she allows +in her membership such gigantic abominations? +Were the thirty pieces of silver that Judas received +denounced as unfit, and shall the Church +of God have nothing to say about this price of +blood? Is sin to be excused because it is as +high as heaven, or deep as hell? The man +who allows his name to be used as president or +director in connection with an enterprise that +he knows is to result in the sale of twenty +thousand shares of an undeveloped nothing—God +will tear off the cloak of his hypocrisy, and +in the last day show him to all the universe—a +brazen-faced gambler. His house will be accursed. +God's anathemas will flash in the +chandelier, and rattle in the swift hoofs of his +silver-bitted grays; and the day of fire will see +him willing to leap into a burning oil-well to +hide himself from the face of the Lamb. The +hundred thousand dollars gotten in unrighteousness +will not be enough to build a barricade +against the advance of the divine judgments.</p> + +<p>Think of the elder in a church who, from the +oil regions, sends an exciting telegram, so that +one man buys a large amount of stock at +twelve, on Wednesday. The next day it is put +on the stock-board at six. The enterprising +man, who sold it at twelve, goes out to buy one +of the grandest estates within ten miles of the +city. The man who bought it goes into the +dust; and the secret gets out that the exciting +telegram sent by the elder arose, not from any +oil actually discovered, but because in boring +they had found a magnificent odor of oil.</p> + +<p>If he who steals a dollar from a money-drawer +is a thief, then he who by dishonesty gets five +hundred thousand dollars is five hundred thousand +times more a thief. And so the last day +will declare him.</p> + +<p>Did not the law right the injured man? No! +The poor who were wronged would not undertake +a suit against a company that could bring +fifty thousand dollars to the enlightenment of +judge, jury, and lawyer; while, on the other +hand, the affluent who had been gouged would +not go to the courts for justice. Why! how +would it sound, if it got out, that Mr. So and +So, one of the first merchants on Wall, or +Third, or State street, had got swindled? They +will keep it still.</p> + +<p>The guilty range to-day undisturbed through +society, and will continue to do so until +the Lord God shall bring them to an unerring +settlement, and proclaim to an astonished universe +how many lies they told about the land, +about the derricks, about the yield, about the +dividends. What shall such an one say, when +God shall, in the great day of account, hold up +before him the circular, and the map, and the +newspaper advertisement? Speechless!</p> + +<p>Before that day shall come I warn you—Disgorge! +you infamous stock gamblers! Gather +together so many of your company as have any +honesty left, and join in the following circular:—"<i>We +the undersigned, do hereby repent of our +villainies, and beg pardon of the public for all +the wrongs that we have done them; and hereby +ask the widows and orphans whom we have +made penniless to come next Saturday, between +ten and three o'clock, and receive back what we +stole from them. We hereby confess that the +wells spoken of in our circular never yielded any +oil; and that the creeks running through our ornamented +map were an entire fiction; and that the +elder who piously rolled up his eyes and said it +was a safe investment, was not as devout as +he looked to be. Signed by the subscribers at +their office, in the year of our Lord</i> 1871."</p> + +<p>Then your conscience will be clear, and you +can die in peace. But I have no faith in such a +reformation. When the devil gets such a fair +hold of a man he hardly ever lets go.</p> + +<p>To the young I turn and utter a word of +warning. While you are determined to be +acute business men, resolve at the very threshold +that you will have nothing to do with +stock-<i>gambling</i>. This country can richly afford +to lose the eight hundred millions of dollars +swindled out of honest people, if our young +men, by it, will be warned for all the future. +Think you such enterprises are forever passed +away? No! they begin already to clamor for +public attention and patronage. There are +now hundreds of printing-presses busy in making +pamphlets and circulars for schemes as +hollow and nefarious as those I have mentioned. +There are silver-mining companies, founded +upon nobody knows what—to accomplish what, +nobody cares. There will be other Canada +gold companies; there will be other copper-mining +companies; there will be more mutual +consumers' coal companies, who, not satisfied +with the price of ordinary coal-dealers, will +resolve themselves into consumers' associations, +where the thing consumed is not the +coal, but themselves—the companies that were +to be immaculate, setting the whole community +to playing the game of "Who's got the +money?"</p> + +<p>Stand off from all <i>doubtful</i> enterprises! +Resolve that if, in a lawful way, you cannot +earn a living, then you will die an +honest man, and be buried in an honest +sepulchre.</p> + +<p>There are two or three reasons why you +should have nothing to do with such operations. +Mentioning the lowest motive first, it will desolate +you financially. I asked a man of large +observation and undoubted integrity, how many +of the professed stock-gamblers made a <i>permanent</i> +fortune. He answered, "Not one! not +one of those who made this their only business." +For a little while you may plunge in a round of +seeming prosperity; but your money is put into +a bag with holes. You cannot successfully bury +a dishonest dollar. You may put it down into +the very heart of the earth; you may heave +rocks upon the top of it; on top of the rocks +you may put banks and all moneyed institutions, +but that dishonest dollar beneath will +begin to heave and toss and upturn itself, and +keep on until it comes to the resurrection of +damnation.</p> + +<p>Then this stock-gambling life is wretchedly +unhappy. It makes the nerves shake, and the +brain hot, and the heart sad, and the life disquieted.</p> + +<p>A man in Philadelphia, who seems to be an +exception to the rule—that such men do not +permanently prosper—who has well on towards +a million of dollars, and is nearly seventy +years of age, may be seen, every day, going +in and out, eaten up of stocks, torn in an +inquisition of stocks, rode by a nightmare of +stocks; and, with the earnestness of a drowning +man, he rushes into a broker's shop, crying +out: "Did you get me those shares?" +In such an anxious, exciting life there are +griefs, disappointments, anguish, but there is +no happiness.</p> + +<p>Worse than all, it destroys the soul. The +day must come when the worthless scrip will +fall out of the clutches of the stock-gambler. +Satan will play upon him the "cornering" +game which, down on Wall street, he played +upon a fellow-operator. Now he would be +glad to exchange all his interest in Venango +County for one share in the Christian's prospect +of heaven. Hopeless, he falls back in his last +sickness. His delirium is filled with senseless +talk about "percentages" and "commissions" +and "buyer, sixty days," and "stocks up," +and "stocks down." He thinks that the physician +who feels his pulse is trying to steal his +"board book." He starts up at midnight, +saying: "One thousand shares of Reading at +116-1/2. Take it!" <i>Falls back dead. No more +dividends.... Swindled out of heaven</i>. STOCKS +DOWN!</p> + + + +<a name="page137" + id="page137"></a> +<h2>LEPROUS NEWSPAPERS.</h2> + + +<p>The newspaper is the great educator of the +nineteenth century. There is no force compared +with it. It is book, pulpit, platform, +forum, all in one. And there is not an interest—religious, +literary, commercial, scientific, agricultural, +or mechanical—that is not within its +grasp. All our churches, and schools, and colleges, +and asylums, and art-galleries feel the +quaking of the printing-press. I shall try to +bring to your parlor-tables the periodicals that +are worthy of the Christian fireside, and try to +pitch into the gutter of scorn and contempt +those newspapers that are not fit for the hand of +your child or the vision of your wife.</p> + +<p>The institution of newspapers arose in Italy. +In Venice the first newspaper was published, +and monthly, during the time that Venice was +warring against Solyman the Second in Dalmatia. +It was printed for the purpose of giving +military and commercial information to the +Venetians. The first newspaper published in +England was in 1588, and called the <i>English +Mercury</i>. Others were styled the <i>Weekly Discoverer</i>, +the <i>Secret Owl</i>, <i>Heraclitus Ridens</i>, etc.</p> + +<p>Who can estimate the political, scientific, +commercial, and religious revolutions roused up +in England for many years past by <i>Bell's Weekly +Dispatch</i>, the <i>Standard</i>, the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, +the <i>Post</i>, and the <i>London Times</i>?</p> + +<p>The first attempt at this institution in France +was in 1631, by a physician, who published the +<i>News</i>, for the amusement and health of his patients. +The French nation understood fully +how to appreciate this power. Napoleon, with +his own hand, wrote articles for the press, and +so early as in 1829 there were in Paris 169 +journals. But in the United States the newspaper +has come to unlimited sway. Though in +1775 there were but thirty-seven in the whole +country, the number of published journals is +now counted by thousands; and to-day—we +may as well acknowledge it as not—the religious +and secular newspapers are the great <i>educators +of the country</i>.</p> + +<p>In our pulpits we preach to a few hundreds or +thousands of people; the newspaper addresses +an audience of twenty thousand, fifty thousand, +or two hundred thousand. We preach three or +four times a week; they every morning or evening +of the year. If they are right, they are +gloriously right; if they are wrong, they are +awfully wrong.</p> + +<p>I find no difficulty in accounting for the +world's advance. Four centuries ago, in Germany, +in courts of justice, men fought with +their fists to see who should have the decision +of the court; and if the judge's decision was unsatisfactory, +then the judge fought with the +counsel. Many of the lords could not read the +deeds of their own estates. What has made the +change?</p> + +<p>"Books," you say.</p> + +<p>No, sir! The vast majority of citizens do not +read books. Take this audience, or any other +promiscuous assemblage, and how many histories +have they read? How many treatises on +constitutional law, or political economy, or +works of science? How many elaborate poems +or books of travel? How much of Boyle, or +De Tocqueville, Xenophon, or Herodotus, or +Percival? Not many!</p> + +<p>In the United States, the people would not +average one such book a year for each individual!</p> + +<p>Whence, then, this intelligence—this capacity +to talk about all themes, secular and religious—this +acquaintance with science and art—this +power to appreciate the beautiful and grand? +Next to the Bible, the <i>newspaper</i>,—swift-winged, +and everywhere present, flying over the +fences, shoved under the door, tossed into the +counting-house, laid on the work-bench, hawked +through the cars! All read it: white and +black, German, Irishman, Swiss, Spaniard, +American, old and young, good and bad, sick +and well, before breakfast and after tea, Monday +morning, Saturday night, Sunday and +week day!</p> + +<p>I now declare that I consider the newspaper +to be the grand agency by which the Gospel is +to be preached, ignorance cast out, oppression +dethroned, crime extirpated, the world raised, +heaven rejoiced, and God glorified.</p> + +<p>In the clanking of the printing-press, as the +sheets fly out, I hear the voice of the Lord Almighty +proclaiming to all the dead nations of +the earth,—"Lazarus, come forth!" And to +the retreating surges of darkness,—"Let there +be light!" In many of our city newspapers, +professing no more than secular information, +there have appeared during the past ten years +some of the grandest appeals in behalf of religion, +and some of the most effective interpretations +of God's government among the nations.</p> + +<p>That man has a shrivelled heart who begrudges +the five pennies he pays to the newsboy +who brings the world to his feet. There +are to-day connected with the editorial and reportorial +corps of newspaper establishments men +of the highest culture and most unimpeachable +morality, who are living on the most limited +stipends, martyrs to the work to which they feel +themselves called. While you sleep in the midnight +hours, their pens fly, and their brains ache +in preparing the morning intelligence. Many +of them go, unrested and unappreciated, their +cheeks blanched and their eyes half quenched +with midnight work, toward premature graves, +to have the "proof-sheet" of their life corrected +by Divine mercy, glad at last to escape the +perpetual annoyances of a fault-finding public, +and the restless, impatient cry for "more +copy."</p> + +<p>"Nations are to be born in a day." Will this +great inrush come from personal presence of +missionary or philanthropist? No. When the +time comes for that grand demonstration I think +the press in all the earth will make the announcement, +and give the call to the nations. +As at some telegraphic centre, an operator will +send the messages, north and south, and east +and west, San Francisco and Heart's Content +catching the flash at the same instant; so, +standing at some centre to which shall reach all +the electric wires that cross the continent and +undergird the sea, some one shall, with the +forefinger of the right hand, click the instrument +that shall thrill through all lands, across +all islands, under all seas, through all palaces, +into all dungeons, and startle both hemispheres +with the news, that in a few moments shall rush +out from the ten thousand times ten thousand +printing-presses of the earth: "Glory to God +in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will +toward men!"</p> + +<p>You see, therefore, that, in the plain words +to be written, I have no grudges to gratify +against the newspaper press. Professional men +are accustomed to complain of injustice done +them, but I take the censure I have sometimes +received and place it on one side the scales, and +the excessive praise, and place it on the other +side, and they balance, and so I consider I +have had simple justice. But we are all aware +that there is a class of men in towns and cities +who send forth a baleful influence from their +editorial pens. There are enough bad newspapers +weekly poured out into the homes of +our country to poison a vast population. In +addition to the home manufacture of iniquitous +sheets, the mail-bags of other cities come in +gorged with abominations. New York scoops +up from the sewers of other cities, and adds to +its own newspaper filth. And to-night, lying +on the tables of this city, or laid away on the +shelf, or in the trunk, for more private perusal, +are papers the mere mention of the names of +which would send a blush to the cheek, and +make the decent and Christian world cry out: +"God save the city!"</p> + +<p>There is a paper published in Boston of outrageous +character, and yet there are seven +thousand copies of that paper coming weekly +to New York for circulation. I will not mention +the name, lest some of you should go +right away and get it. It is wonderful how +quick the fingers of the printer-boy fly, but the +fingers of sin and pollution can set up fifty +thousand types in an instant. The supply of +bad newspapers in New York does not meet +the insatiable appetite of our people for refuse, +and garbage, and moral swill. We must, therefore, +import corrupt weeklies published elsewhere, +that make our newspaper stands groan +under the burden.</p> + +<p>But we need not go abroad. There are +papers in New York that long ago came to +perfection of shamelessness, and there is no +more power in venom and mud and slime to +pollute them. They have dashed their iniquities +into the face of everything decent and +holy. And their work will be seen in the crime +and debauchery and the hell of innumerable +victims. Their columns are not long and +broad enough to record the tragedies of their +horrible undoing of immortal men and women.</p> + +<p>God, after a while, will hold up these reeking, +stenchful, accursed sheets, upon which they +spread out their guilt, and the whole universe +will cry out for their damnation. See the work +of bad newspapers in the false tidings they +bring! There are hundreds of men to-day +penniless, who were, during the war, hurled +from their affluent positions by incorrect accounts +of battles that shook the money-market, +and the gold gamblers, with their hoofs, +trampled these honest men into the mire. And +many a window was hoisted at the hour of +midnight as the boy shouted: "Extra! +Extra!" And the father and mother who had +an only son at the front, with trembling hand, +and blanched cheek, and sinking heart, read of +battles that had never occurred. God pity the +father and mother who have a boy at the front +when evil tidings come! If an individual +makes a false statement, one or twenty persons +may be damaged; but a newspaper of large +circulation that wilfully makes a misstatement +in one day tells fifty thousand falsehoods.</p> + +<p>The most stupendous of all lies is a newspaper +lie.</p> + +<p>A bad newspaper scruples not at any slander. +It may be that, to escape the grip of the law, +the paragraphs will be nicely worded, so that +the suspicion is thrown out and the damage +done without any exposure to the law. Year +by year, thousands of men are crushed by the +ink-roller. An unscrupulous man in the +editorial chair may smite as with the wing of a +destroying angel. What to him is commercial +integrity, or professional reputation, or woman's +honor, or home's sanctity? It seems as if he +held in his hand a hose with which, while all the +harpies of sin were working at the pumps, he +splashed the waters of death upon the best +interests of society.</p> + +<p>The express-train in England halts not to +take in water, but between the tracks there is a +trough, one-fourth of a mile in length, filled +with water; and the engine drops a hose that +catches up the water while the train flies. So +with bad newspapers that fly along the track of +death without pausing a moment, yet scooping +up into themselves the pollution of society, +and in the awful rush making the earth tremble.</p> + +<p>The most abandoned man of the city may go +to the bad newspaper and get a slander inserted +about the best man. If he cannot do it in any +other way, he can by means of an anonymous +communication. Now, a man who, to injure +another, will write an anonymous letter, is, in +the first place, a coward, and, in the second +place, a villain. Many of these offensive +anonymous letters you see in the bad newspaper +have been found to be <i>written in the +editorial chair</i>.</p> + +<p>The bad newspaper stops not at any political +outrage. It would arouse a revolution, and +empty the hearts of a million brave men in the +trenches, rather than not have its own circulation +multiply. What to it are the hard-earned +laurels of the soldier or the exalted reputation +of the statesman? Its editors would, if they +dared, blow up the Capitol of the nation if they +could only successfully carry off the frieze of +one of the corridors. There are enough falsehoods +told at any one of our autumnal elections +to make the "Father of Lies" disown his monstrous +progeny. Now it is the Mayor, then +the Governor, now the Secretary of State, and +then the President, until the air is so full of +misrepresentation that truth is hidden from the +view, as beautiful landscapes by the clouds of +summer insects blown up from the marshes.</p> + +<p>The immoral newspaper stops not at the +unclean advertisement. It is so much for so +many words, and in such a sheet it will cost no +more to advertise the most impure book than +the new edition of Pilgrim's Progress. A book +such as no decent man would touch was a few +months ago advertised in a New York paper, +and the getter-up of the book, passing down +one of our streets the other day, acknowledged +to one of my friends that he had made $18,000 +out of the enterprise.</p> + +<p>In one column of a paper we see a grand +ethical discussion, and in another the droppings +of most accursed nastiness. Oh! you cannot +by all your religion, in one column, atone for +one of your abominations in another! I am +rejoiced that some of our papers have addressed +those who have proposed to compensate them +for bad use of their columns, in the words of +Peter to Simon Magus: "Thy money perish +with thee!" But I arraign the newspapers that +give their columns to corrupt advertising for +the nefarious work they are doing. The most +polluted plays that ever oozed from the poisonous +pen of leprous dramatist have won their +deathful power through the medium of newspapers; +the evil is stupendous!</p> + +<p>O ye reckless souls! get money—though +morality dies, and society is dishonored, and +God defied, and the doom of the destroyed +opens before you—get money! Though the +melted gold be poured upon your naked, blistered, +and consuming soul—get money! Get +money! It will do you good when it begins to +eat like a canker! It will solace the pillow of +death, and soothe the pangs of an agonized +eternity! Though in the game thou dost stake +thy soul, and lose it forever—get money!</p> + +<p>The bad newspaper hesitates not to assault +Christianity and its disciples. With what exhilaration +it puts in capitals, that fill one-fourth +of a column, the defalcation of some agent of a +benevolent society! There is enough meat in +such a carcass of reputation to gorge all the +carrion-crows of an iniquitous printing-press. +They put upon the back of the Church all the +inconsistencies of hypocrites—as though a banker +were responsible for all the counterfeits upon +his institution! They jeer at religion, and lift +up their voices until all the caverns of the lost +resound with the howl of their derision. They +forget that Christianity is the only hope for the +world, and that, but for its enlightenment, they +would now be like the Hottentots, living in +mud hovels, or like the Chinese, eating rats.</p> + +<p>What would you think of a wretch who, +during a great storm, while the ship was being +tossed to and fro on the angry waves, should +climb up into the light-house and blow out the +light? And what do you think of these men, +who, while all the Christian and the glorious +institutions of the world are being tossed and +driven hither and thither, are trying to climb +up and put out the only light of a lost world?</p> + +<p>The bad newspaper stops not at publishing +the most damaging and unclean story. The +only question is: "Will it pay?" And there +are scores of men who, day by day, bring into +the newspaper offices manuscripts for publication +which unite all that is pernicious; and, +before the ink is fairly dry, tens of thousands +are devouring with avidity the impure issue. +Their sensibilities deadened, their sense of right +perverted, their purity of thought tarnished, +their taste for plain life despoiled—the printing-press, +with its iron foot, hath dashed their life +out! While I speak, there are many people, +with feet on the ottoman, and the gas turned +on, looking down on the page, submerged, +mind and soul, in the perusal of this God-forsaken +periodical literature; and the last Christian +mother will have put the hands of the little +child under the coverlet for the night, before +they will rouse up, as the city clock strikes the +hour of midnight, to go death-struck to their +prayerless pillows.</p> + +<p>One of the proprietors of a great paper in +this country gave his advice to a young man +then about to start a paper: "If you want to +succeed," said he, "make your paper trashy, +intensely trashy,—make it all trash!"</p> + +<p>Brilliant advice to a young man just entering +business!</p> + +<p>It is very often that, as a paper purifies itself, +its circulation decreases, and sometimes when a +paper becomes positively religious, it becomes +bankrupt, unless some benevolent and Christian +men come up to sustain it by contributions of +money and means. But few religious newspapers +in this country are self-supporting. +The reason urged is—the country cannot +stand so much religion! Hear it! Christian +men and philanthropists!</p> + +<p>Many papers that are most rapidly increasing +to-day are unscrupulous. The facts are momentous +and appalling. And I put young +men and women and Christian parents and +guardians on the look-out. This stuff cannot be +handled without pollution. Away with it from +parlor, and shop, and store! There is so much +newspaper literature that <i>is</i> pure, and cheap, +and elegant; shove back this leprosy from your +door.</p> + +<p>Mark it well: <i>a man is no better than the +newspaper he habitually reads</i>.</p> + +<p>You may think it a bold thing thus to arraign +an unprincipled printing-press, but I know there +are those reading this who will take my counsel; +and, in the discharge of my duty to God and +man, I defy all the hostilities of earth and hell!</p> + +<p>Representatives of the secular and religious +press! I thank you, in the name of Christianity +and civilization, for the enlightenment of ignorance, +the overthrow of iniquity, and the words +you have uttered in the cause of God and your +country. But I charge you in the name of God, +before whom you must account for the tremendous +influence you hold in this country, to consecrate +yourselves to higher endeavors. You +are the men to fight back this invasion of corrupt +literature. Lift up your right hand and +swear new allegiance to the cause of philanthropy +and religion. And when, at last, standing +on the plains of judgment, you look out upon +the unnumbered throngs over whom you have +had influence, may it be found that you were +among the mightiest energies that lifted men +upon the exalted pathway that leads to the renown +of heaven. Better than to have sat in +editorial chair, from which, with the finger of +type, you decided the destinies of empires, but +decided them wrong, that you had been some +dungeoned exile, who, by the light of window +iron-grated, on scraps of a New Testament leaf, +picked up from the hearth, spelled out the story +of Him who taketh away the sins of the world.</p> + +<p>IN ETERNITY, DIVES IS THE BEGGAR!</p> + + + +<a name="page154" + id="page154"></a> +<h2>THE FATAL TEN-STRIKE.</h2> + + +<p>While among my readers are those who have +passed on into the afternoon of life, and the +shadows are lengthening, and the sky crimsons +with the glow of the setting sun, a large number +of them are in early life, and the morning is +coming down out of the clear sky upon them, +and the bright air is redolent with spring blossoms, +and the stream of life, gleaming and +glancing, rushes on between flowery banks, +making music as it goes. Some of you are engaged +in mercantile establishments, as clerks +and book-keepers; and your whole life is to be +passed in the exciting world of traffic. The +sound of busy life stirs you as the drum stirs +the fiery war-horse. Others are in the mechanical +arts, to hammer and chisel your way +through life; and success awaits you. Some are +preparing for professional life, and grand opportunities +are before you; nay, some of you +already have buckled on the armor.</p> + +<p>But, whatever your age or calling, the subject +of gambling, about which I speak in this +chapter, is pertinent.</p> + +<p>Some years ago, when an association for the +suppression of gambling was organized, an +agent of the association came to a prominent +citizen and asked him to patronize the society. +He said, "No, I can have no interest in such +an organization. I am in no wise affected by +that evil."</p> + +<p>At that very time his son, who was his partner +in business, was one of the heaviest players +in "Herne's" famous gaming establishment. +Another refused his patronage on the same +ground, not knowing that his first book-keeper, +though receiving a salary of only a thousand +dollars, was losing from fifty to one hundred +dollars per night. The president of a railroad +company refused to patronize the institution, +saying—"That society is good for the defence +of merchants, but we railroad people are not injured +by this evil;" not knowing that, at that +very time, two of his conductors were spending +three nights of each week at faro tables in New +York. Directly or indirectly, this evil strikes +at the whole world.</p> + +<p>Gambling is the risking of something more or +less valuable in the hope of winning more than +you hazard. The instruments of gaming may +differ, but the principle is the same. The shuffling +and dealing of cards, however full of +temptation, is not gambling, unless stakes are +put up; while, on the other hand, gambling +may be carried on without cards, or dice, or +billiards, or a ten-pin alley. The man who bets +on horses, on elections, on battles—the man +who deals in "fancy" stocks, or conducts a +business which extra hazards capital, or goes +into transactions without foundation, but dependent +upon what men call "luck," is a +gambler.</p> + +<p>It is estimated that one-fourth of the business +in London is done dishonestly. Whatever you +expect to get from your neighbor without offering +an equivalent in money or time or skill, is +either the product of theft or gaming. Lottery +tickets and lottery policies come into the same +category. Fairs for the founding of hospitals, +schools and churches, conducted on the raffling +system, come under the same denomination. +Do not, therefore, associate gambling necessarily +with any instrument, or game, or time, or place, +or think the principle depends upon whether +you play for a glass of wine, or one hundred +shares in <i>Camden and Amboy</i>. Whether you +employ faro or billiards, rondo and keno, cards, +or bagatelle, the very <i>idea</i> of the thing is +dishonest; for it professes to bestow upon you +a good for which you <i>give no equivalent</i>.</p> + +<p>This crime is no newborn sprite, but a haggard +transgression that comes staggering down under +a mantle of curses through many centuries. +All nations, barbarous and civilized, have been +addicted to it. Before 1838, the French government +received revenue from gaming houses. +In 1567, England, for the improvement of her +harbors, instituted a lottery, to be held at the +front door of St. Paul's Cathedral. Four hundred +thousand tickets were sold, at ten shillings +each. The British Museum and Westminster +Bridge were partially built by similar procedures. +The ancient Germans would sometimes +put up themselves and families as prizes, and +suffer themselves to be bound, though stronger +than the persons who won them.</p> + +<p>But now the laws of the whole civilized world +denounce the system. Enactments have been +passed, but only partially enforced. The men +interested in gaming houses wield such influence, +by their numbers and affluence, that the judge, +the jury, and the police officer must be bold +indeed who would array themselves against +these infamous establishments. Within ten +years the House of Commons of England has +adjourned on "Derby Day" to go out to bet +on the races; and in the best circles of society +in this country to-day are many hundreds of +professedly respectable men who are acknowledged +gamblers.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of thousands of dollars in this land +are every day being won and lost through sheer +gambling. Says a traveller through the West—"I +have travelled a thousand miles at a time +upon the Western waters and seen gambling at +every waking moment from the commencement +to the termination of the journey." The South-west +of this country reeks with this abomination. +In New Orleans every third or fourth house in +many of the streets is a gaming place, and it +may be truthfully averred that each and all of +our cities are cursed with this evil.</p> + +<p>In themselves most of the games employed in +gambling are without harm. Billiard-tables are +as harmless as tea-tables, and a pack of cards as +a pack of letter envelopes, unless stakes be put +up. But by their use for gambling purposes +they have become significant of an infinity of +wretchedness. In New York city there are said +to be six thousand houses devoted to this sin; +in Philadelphia about four thousand; in Cincinnati +about one thousand; at Washington the +amount of gaming is beyond calculation. +There have been seasons when, by night, +Senators, Representatives, and Ministers of +Foreign Governments were found engaged in +this practice.</p> + +<p>Men wishing to gamble will find places just +suited to their capacity, not only in the underground +oyster-cellar, or at the table back of the +curtain, covered with greasy cards, or in the +steamboat smoking cabin, where the bloated +wretch with rings in his ears deals out his pack, +and winks in the unsuspecting traveller,—providing +free drinks all around,—but in gilded parlors +and amid gorgeous surroundings.</p> + +<p>This sin works ruin, first, by unhealthful stimulants. +Excitement is pleasurable. Under +every sky, and in every age, men have sought +it. The Chinaman gets it by smoking his +opium; the Persian by chewing hashish; the +trapper in a buffalo hunt; the sailor in a squall; +the inebriate in the bottle, and the avaricious at +the gaming-table.</p> + +<p>We must at times have excitement. A thousand +voices in our nature demand it. It is right. +It is healthful. It is inspiriting. It is a desire +God-given. But anything that first gratifies this +appetite and hurls it back in a terrific reaction is +deplorable and wicked. Look out for the agitation +that, like a rough musician, in bringing out +the tune, plays so hard he breaks down the instrument!</p> + +<p>God never made man strong enough to endure +the wear and tear of gambling excitement. +No wonder if, after having failed in the game, +men have begun to sweep off imaginary gold +from the side of the table. The man was sharp +enough when he started at the game, but a +maniac at the close. At every gaming-table sit +on one side Ecstasy, Enthusiasm, Romance—the +frenzy of joy; on the other side, Fierceness, +Rage, and Tumult. The professional gamester +schools himself into apparent quietness. The +keepers of gambling rooms are generally fat, +rollicking, and obese; but thorough and professional +gamblers, in nine cases out of ten, are +pale, thin, wheezing, tremulous, and exhausted.</p> + +<p>A young man, having suddenly heired a large +property, sits at the hazard-table, and takes up +in a dice-box the estate won by a father's lifetime +sweat, and shakes it, and tosses it away.</p> + +<p>Intemperance soon stigmatizes its victim—kicking +him out, a slavering fool, into the ditch, +or sending him, with the drunkard's hiccough, +staggering up the street where his family lives. +But gambling does not, in that way, expose its +victims. The gambler may be eaten up by the +gambler's passion, yet only discover it by the +greed in his eyes, the hardness of his features, +the nervous restlessness, the threadbare coat, +and his embarrassed business. Yet he is on +the road to hell, and no preacher's voice, or +startling warning, or wife's entreaty, can make +him stay for a moment his headlong career. +The infernal spell is on him; a giant is aroused +within; and though you bind him with cables, +they would part like thread; and though you +fasten him seven times round with chains, they +would snap like rusted wire; and though you +piled up in his path, heaven-high, Bibles, tracts +and sermons, and on the top should set the +cross of the Son of God, over them all the gambler +would leap like a roe over the rocks, on his +way to perdition.</p> + +<p>Again, this sin works ruin by killing industry.</p> + +<p>A man used to reaping scores or hundreds of +dollars from the gaming-table will not be content +with slow work. He will say, "What is the +use of trying to make these fifty dollars in my +store when I can get five times that in half an +hour down at 'Billy's'?" You never knew a +confirmed gambler who was industrious. The +men given to this vice spend their time not +actively employed in the game in idleness, or +intoxication, or sleep, or in corrupting new victims. +This sin has dulled the carpenter's saw, +and cut the band of the factory wheel, sunk the +cargo, broken the teeth of the farmer's harrow, +and sent a strange lightning to shatter the battery +of the philosopher.</p> + +<p>The very first idea in gaming is at war with +all the industries of society. Any trade or occupation +that is of use is ennobling. The street +sweeper advances the interests of society by the +cleanliness effected. The cat pays for the fragments +it eats by clearing the house of vermin. +The fly that takes the sweetness from the dregs +of the cup compensates by purifying the air and +keeping back the pestilence. But the gambler +gives not anything for that which he takes.</p> + +<p>I recall that sentence. He <i>does</i> make a return; +but it is disgrace to the man that he +fleeces, despair to his heart, ruin to his business, +anguish to his wife, shame to his children, and +eternal wasting away to his soul. He pays in +tears and blood, and agony, and darkness, and +woe.</p> + +<p>What dull work is ploughing to the farmer, +when in the village saloon, in one night, he +makes and loses the value of a summer harvest? +Who will want to sell tape, and measure nankeen, +and cut garments, and weigh sugars, when +in a night's game he makes and loses, and makes +again, and loses again, the profits of a season?</p> + +<p>John Borack was sent as mercantile agent +from Bremen to England and this country. +After two years his employers mistrusted that +all was not right. He was a defaulter for +eighty-seven thousand dollars. It was found +that he had lost in Lombard street, London, +twenty-nine thousand dollars; in Fulton street, +New York, ten thousand dollars; and in New +Orleans, three thousand dollars. He was imprisoned, +but afterwards escaped and went into +the gambling profession. He died in a lunatic +asylum.</p> + +<p>This crime is getting its pry under many a +mercantile house in our cities, and before long +down will come the great establishment, crushing +reputation, home, comfort, and immortal +souls. How it diverts and sinks capital may be +inferred from some authentic statements before +us. The ten gaming-houses that once were +authorized in Paris passed through the banks, +yearly, three hundred and twenty-five millions +of francs! The houses of this kind in Germany +yield vast sums to the government. The Hamburg +establishment pays to the government +treasury forty thousand florins; and Baden +Baden one hundred and twenty thousand florins. +Each one of the banks in the large gaming-houses +of Germany has forty or fifty croupiers +standing in its service.</p> + +<p>Where does all the money come from? <i>The +whole world is robbed!</i> What is most sad, +there are no consolations for the loss and suffering +entailed by gaming. If men fail in lawful +business, God pities, and society commiserates; +but where in the Bible, or in society, is there +any consolation for the gambler? From what +tree of the forest oozes there a balm that can +soothe the gamester's heart? In that bottle +where God keeps the tears of his children, are +there any tears of the gambler? Do the winds +that come to kiss the faded cheek of sickness, +and to cool the heated brow of the laborer, +whisper hope and cheer to the emaciated victim +of the game of hazard? When an honest man +is in trouble, he has sympathy. "Poor fellow!" +they say. But do gamblers come to weep at +the agonies of the gambler? In Northumberland +was one of the finest estates in England. +Mr. Porter owned it, and in a year gambled it +all away. Having lost the last acre of the +estate, he came down from the saloon and got +into his carriage; went back; put up his horses, +and carriage, and town house, and played. He +threw and lost. He started home, and on a +side alley met a friend from whom he borrowed +ten guineas; went back to the saloon, and +before a great while had won twenty thousand +pounds. He died at last a beggar in St. Giles. +How many gamblers felt sorry for Mr. Porter? +Who consoled him on the loss of his estate? +What gambler subscribed to put a stone over +the poor man's grave? Not one!</p> + +<p>Furthermore, this sin is the source of uncounted +dishonesties. The game of hazard itself +is often a cheat. How many tricks and deceptions +in the dealing of the cards! The opponent's +hand is ofttimes found out by fraud. +Cards are marked so that they may be designated +from the back. Expert gamesters have +their accomplices, and one wink may decide the +game. The dice have been found loaded with +platina, so that "doublets" come up every +time. These dice are introduced by the gamblers +unobserved by the honest men who have +come into the play; and this accounts for the +fact that ninety-nine out of a hundred who gamble, +however wealthy they began, at the end +are found to be poor, miserable, ragged wretches, +that would not now be allowed to sit on the +door-step of the house that they once owned.</p> + +<p>In a gaming-house in San Francisco, a young +man having just come from the mines deposited +a large sum upon the ace, and won twenty-two +thousand dollars. But the tide turns. Intense +anxiety comes upon the countenances of all. +Slowly the cards went forth. Every eye is fixed. +Not a sound is heard, until the ace is revealed +favorable to the bank. There are shouts +of "Foul! Foul!" but the keepers of the table +produce their pistols and the uproar is silenced, +and the bank has won ninety-five thousand dollars. +Do you call this a game of chance? +There is no chance about it.</p> + +<p>But these dishonesties in the carrying on of +the game are nothing when compared with the +frauds which are committed in order to get +money to go on with the nefarious work. +Gambling, with its greedy hand, has snatched +away the widow's mite and the portion of the +orphans; has sold the daughter's virtue to get +means to continue the game; has written the +counterfeit signature, emptied the banker's +money vault, and wielded the assassin's dagger. +There is no depth of meanness to which it will +not stoop. There is no cruelty at which it is +appalled. There is no warning of God that it +will not dare. Merciless, unappeasable, fiercer +and wilder it blinds, it hardens, it rends, it +blasts, it crushes, it damns. It has peopled +Moyamensing, and Auburn, and Sing Sing.</p> + +<p>How many railroad agents, and cashiers, and +trustees of funds, it has driven to disgrace, incarceration, +and suicide! Witness a cashier of +the Central Railroad and Banking Company of +Georgia, who stole one hundred and three thousand +dollars to carry on his gaming practices. +Witness the forty thousand dollars stolen from a +Brooklyn bank; and the one hundred and +eighty thousand dollars taken from a Wall Street +Insurance Company for the same purpose! +These are only illustrations on a large scale of +the robberies <i>every day</i> committed for the purpose +of carrying out the designs of gamblers. +Hundreds of thousands of dollars every year +leak out without observation from the merchant's +till into the gambling hell.</p> + +<p>A man in London keeping one of these gambling +houses boasted that he had ruined a nobleman +a day; but if all the saloons of this land +were to speak out, they might utter a more infamous +boast, for they have destroyed a thousand +noblemen a year.</p> + +<p>Notice also the effect of this crime upon +domestic happiness. It hath sent its ruthless +ploughshare through hundreds of families, until +the wife sat in rags, and the daughters were disgraced, +and the sons grew up to the same infamous +practices, or took a short cut to destruction +across the murderer's scaffold. Home has lost +all charms for the gambler. How tame are the +children's caresses and a wife's devotion to the +gambler! How drearily the fire burns on the +domestic hearth! There must be louder laughter, +and something to win and something to +lose; an excitement to drive the heart faster +and fillip the blood and fire the imagination. +No home, however bright, can keep back the +gamester. The sweet call of love bounds back +from his iron soul, and all endearments are consumed +in the flame of his passion. The family +Bible will go after all other treasures are lost, +and if his everlasting crown in heaven were put +into his hand he would cry: "Here goes, one +more game, my boys! On this one throw I +stake my crown of heaven."</p> + +<p>A young man in London, on coming of age, +received a fortune of one hundred and twenty +thousand dollars, and through gambling in three +years was thrown on his mother for support.</p> + +<p>An only son went to New Orleans. He was +rich, intellectual, and elegant in manners. His +parents gave him, on his departure from home, +their last blessing. The sharpers got hold of him. +They flattered him. They lured him to the gaming-table +and let him win almost every time for a +good while, and patted him on the back and said, +"First-rate player." But, fully in their grasp, +they fleeced him; and his thirty thousand dollars +were lost. Last of all he put up his watch and +lost that. Then he began to think of home and +of his old father and mother, and wrote thus:—</p> + +<blockquote><p> +"MY BELOVED PARENTS:—You will doubtless feel a momentary +joy at the reception of this letter from the child of your bosom, +on whom you have lavished all the favors of your declining +years. But should a feeling of joy for a moment spring up in +your hearts when you shall have received this from, me, cherish +it not. I have fallen deep—never to rise. Those gray hairs +that I should have honored and protected I shall bring down +with sorrow to the grave. I will not curse my destroyer, but +oh! may God avenge the wrongs and impositions practised upon +the unwary in a way that shall best please Him. This, my dear +parents, is the last letter you will ever receive from me. I humbly +pray your forgiveness. It is my dying prayer. Long before +you shall have received this letter from me the cold grave will +have closed upon me forever. Life is to me insupportable. I +cannot, nay, I will not suffer the shame of having ruined you. +Forget and forgive is the dying prayer of your unfortunate son." +</p></blockquote> + + +<p>The old father came to the post-office, got +the letter, and fell to the floor. They thought +he was dead at first; but they brushed back +the white hair from his brow and fanned him. +He had only fainted. I wish he had been +dead; for what is life worth to a father after his +son is destroyed?</p> + +<p>When things go wrong at a gaming-table, +they shout "Foul! foul!" Over all the +gaming-tables of the world I cry out "Foul! +foul! Infinitely foul!"</p> + +<p>In modern days, in addition to the other +forms of gambling, have come up the thoroughly +organized and, in some States, <i>legalized</i> +institution of lotteries. There are hundreds of +citizens on the way to ruin through the lottery +system. Some of the finest establishments in +town are by this process being demolished, and +the whole land feels the exhaustion of this accumulating +evil. The wheel of Fortune is the +Juggernaut that is crushing out the life of this +nation. The records of the Insolvent Court of +one city show that, in five years, two hundred +thousand dollars were lost by dealing in lottery +tickets. All the officers of the celebrated +Bank of the United States who failed were +found to have expended the money embezzled +for lottery tickets.</p> + +<p>A man drew in a lottery fifty thousand dollars, +sold his ticket for forty-two thousand five +hundred dollars, and yet did not have enough +to pay the charges against him for lottery +tickets. He owed the brokers forty-five thousand +dollars.</p> + +<p>An editor writes—"A man who, a few years +ago, was blest with about twenty thousand +dollars (lottery money), yesterday applied to us +for ninepence to pay for a night's lodging."</p> + +<p>A highly respectable gentleman drew twenty +thousand dollars in a lottery; bought more +tickets, and drew again; bought more—drew +more largely; then rushed down headlong until +he was pronounced by the select men of the +village a vagabond, and his children were picked +up from the street half starved and almost +naked.</p> + +<p>A hard-working machinist draws a thousand +dollars; thenceforth he is disgusted with work, +opens a rum grocery, is utterly debauched, and +people go in his store to find him dead, close +beside his rum-cask.</p> + +<p>It would take a pen plucked from the wing +of the destroying angel and dipped in blood to +describe this lottery business.</p> + +<p>A man committed suicide in New York, and +upon his person was found a card of address +giving a grog-shop as his boarding house, +three blank lottery tickets, and a leaf from +<i>Seneca's Morals</i>, containing an apology for +self-murder.</p> + +<p>One lottery in London was followed by the +suicide of fifty persons who held unlucky +numbers.</p> + +<p>There are men now, with lottery tickets in +their pocket, which, if they have not sense +enough to tear up or throw into the fire, will +be their admission ticket at the door of the +damned. As the brazen gates swing open they +will show their tickets, and pass in and pass +down. As the wheel of eternal Fortune turns +slowly round, they will find that the doom of +those who have despised God and imperilled +their souls will be their awful prize.</p> + +<p>God forbid that you, my reader, should ever +take to yourself the lamentation of the Boston +clerk, who, in eight months, had embezzled +eighteen thousand dollars from his employer +and expended it all in lottery tickets. "I have +for the last seven months gone fast down the +broad road. There was a time, and that but a +few months since, when I was happy, because I +was free from debt and care. The moment of +the first steps in my downfall was about the +middle of last June, when I took a share in a +company, bought lottery tickets whereby I was +successful in obtaining a share of one-half of the +capital prize, since which I have gone for +myself. I have lived and dragged out a miserable +existence for two or three months past. +Oh, that the seven or eight months past of my +existence could be blotted out; but I must go, +and, ere this paper is read, my spirit has gone +to my Maker, to give an account of my misdeeds +here, and to receive the eternal sentence for +self-destruction and abused confidence. Relatives +and friends I have, from whom I do not +wish to part under such circumstances, but +necessity compels. Oh, wretch! lottery tickets +have been thy ruin. But I cannot add +more."</p> + +<p>There are multitudes of people who disapprove +of ordinary lotteries, yet have been thoroughly +deceived by iniquity under a more +attractive nomenclature. The lottery in which +our most highly respectable and Christian +people invest is some "Art Association," or +some benevolent "Gift Enterprise," in which +they fondly believe there can be no harm in +drawing Bierstadt's <i>Yosemite Valley</i>, or Cropsey's +<i>American Autumn</i>!</p> + +<p>At no time have lottery tickets been sown so +broadcast as to-day, notwithstanding the law +forbids the old-style lottery.</p> + +<p>A few years ago our newspapers flamed with +the advertisements of the Crosby Opera House +scheme. A citizen of Chicago, finding on his +hands an unprofitable building, calls upon the +whole country to help him out. Rooms are +opened in all the great cities. In rush, not the +abandoned and the reprobate (for <i>they</i> like the +old styles of swindling better), but the educated +and refined and polished, until a host of people +are in imminent peril of having thrown upon +their hands a splendid Opera House. Philadelphia +buys thirty thousand dollars worth of +tickets. The portentous day approaches. +The rail trains from many of the prominent +cities bring in dignified "Committees" who +come to see that the great abomination is conducted +in a decent and Christian manner. The +throng presses in. Hold fast your tickets, all +you respectable New Yorkers, Philadelphians, +and Bostonians, for the wheel begins to move. +The long agony is over. Hundreds of thousands +of people have made a narrow escape +from being ruined by sudden affluence. Swift +horses are despatched, that, foam-lathered, +dash up to the house of him who owns the +successful ticket. The lightnings tell it to the +four winds of heaven, and our weekly pictorials +hasten forward the photographers to take the +picture of the famous man who owned the +ticket numbered 58,600. Multitudes think that +there has been foul play, and that, after all, they +themselves, if the truth were known, did draw +the Opera House. Ten years from now there +will stand on the scaffold, or behind the prison +door, or in the lonely room in which the suicide +writes his farewell to wife or parents, men who +will say that the first misstep of their life that +put them on the wrong road was the ticket +they bought in the Crosby Opera House.</p> + +<p>The man who won that prize is already dead +of his dissipations, and, strange to say, the +beautiful building thus raffled away was found +to be owned by its original possessor when all +the excitement in regard to the matter had died +away.</p> + +<p>I care not on what street the office was, nor +who were the abettors of the undertaking, nor +who bought the tickets. I pronounce the +whole scheme to have been a swindle, a crime, +and an insult to God and the nation.</p> + +<p>In this class of gambler-makers I also put +the "gift stores," which are becoming abundant +throughout the country. With a book, or knife, +or sewing machine, or coat, or carriage there +goes a <i>prize</i>. At those stores people get something +thrown in with their purchase. It may +be a gold watch or a set of silver, a ring or a +farm. Sharp way to get off unsalable goods. +It has filled the land with fictitious articles and +covered up our population with brass finger-rings, +and despoiled the moral sense of the +community, and is fast making us a nation of +gamblers.</p> + +<p>The Church of God has not seemed willing to +allow the world to have all the advantage of +these games of chance. A church fair opens, +and towards the close it is found that some of +the more valuable articles are unsalable. Forthwith +the conductors of the enterprise conclude +that they will <i>raffle</i> for some of the valuable articles, +and, under pretence of anxiety to make +their minister a present, or please some popular +member of the church, fascinating persons are +despatched through the room, pencil in hand, to +"solicit" shares; or perhaps each draws for his +own advantage, and scores of people go home +with their trophies, thinking that all is right, for +Christian ladies did the embroidery, and Christian +men did the raffling, and the proceeds went +towards a new communion set. But you may +depend on it that, as far as morality is concerned, +you might as well have won by the crack of +the billiard-ball or the turn of the dice-box.</p> + +<p>Some good people cannot stand this raffling, +and so, at fairs, they go to "voting," sometimes +for editors, and sometimes for ministers, +at a dollar a vote. Now the Methodist +minister is ahead; now the Presbyterian leads, +and now the Baptist. But, just at the last +moment, when one of the ministers of the more +popular sect seems sure to get the prize, the +members from some obscure denomination, +that do not deserve the prize, come in, and by +a large contribution carry off for <i>their</i> minister +the silver tea-set.</p> + +<p>Do you wonder that churches built, lighted, +or upholstered by such processes as that +come to great financial and spiritual decrepitude? +The devil says: "<i>I</i> helped build that +house of worship, and I have as much right +there as you have;" and for once the devil is +right.</p> + +<p>We do not read that they had a lottery for +building the church at Corinth or Antioch, +or for getting up a gold-headed cane or for an +embroidered surplice for Saint Paul. All this I +style ecclesiastical gambling. More than one +man who is destroyed can say that his first step +on the wrong road was when he won something +at a church fair.</p> + +<p>The gambling spirit has not stopped for any +indecency. There lately transpired, in Maryland, +a lottery in which people drew for lots in +a burying-ground! The modern habit of betting +about everything is productive of immense +mischief. The most healthful and +innocent amusements of yachting and base-ball +playing have been the occasion of putting up +excited and extravagant wagers. That which +to many has been advantageous to body and +mind has been to others the means of financial +and moral loss. The custom is pernicious in +the extreme where scores of men in respectable +life give themselves up to betting, now on this +boat now on that—now on the Atlantics and +now on the Athletics.</p> + +<p>Betting, that once was chiefly the accompaniment +of the race-course, is fast becoming a +national habit, and in some circles any opinion +advanced on finance or politics is accosted with +the interrogatory—"How much will you bet on +<i>that</i>, sir?"</p> + +<p>This custom may make no appeal to slow, +lethargic temperaments, but there are in the +country tens of thousands of quick, nervous, +sanguine, excitable temperaments ready to be +acted upon, and their feet will soon take hold +on death. For some months and perhaps for +years they will linger in the more polite and +elegant circle of gamesters, but, after a while, +their pathway will come to the fatal plunge. +Finding themselves in the rapids, they will try +to back out, and, hurled over the brink, they +will clutch the side of the boat until their +finger-nails, blood-tipped, will pierce the wood, +and then, with white cheek and agonized stare, +and the horrors of the lost soul lifting the very +hair from the scalp, they will plunge down +where no grappling hooks can drag them out.</p> + +<p>Young man! stand back from all styles of +gambling! The end thereof is death. The +gamblers enter the ten-pin alley where are husbands, +brothers, and fathers. "Put down your +thousand dollars all in gold eagles! Let the +boy set up the pins at the other end of the alley! +Now stand back, and give the gamester full +sweep! Roll the first—there! it strikes! and +down goes his respectability. Try it again. +Roll the second—there! it strikes! and down +goes the last feeling of humanity. Try it again. +Roll the third—there! it strikes! and down +goes his soul forever. It was not so much the +pins that fell as the soul! the soul! FATAL +TEN-STRIKE FOR ETERNITY!"</p> + +<p>Shall I sketch the history of the gambler? +Lured by bad company, he finds his way into a +place where honest men ought never to go. +He sits down to his first game only for pastime +and the desire of being thought sociable. +The players deal out the cards. They unconsciously +play into Satan's hands, who takes all +the tricks, and both the players' souls for trumps—he +being a sharper at any game. A slight +stake is put up just to add interest to the play. +Game after game is played. Larger stakes and +still larger. They begin to move nervously on +their chairs. Their brows lower and eyes flash, +until now they who win and they who lose, +fired alike with passion, sit with set jaws, and +compressed lips, and clenched fists, and eyes +like fire-balls that seem starting from their sockets, +to see the final turn before it comes; if losing, +pale with envy and tremulous with unuttered +oaths cast back red-hot upon the heart—or, +winning, with hysteric laugh—"Ha! Ha! I +have it! I have it!"</p> + +<p>A few years have passed, and he is only the +wreck of a man. Seating himself at the game +ere he throws the first card, he stakes the last +relic of his wife, and the marriage-ring which +sealed the solemn vows between them. The +game is lost, and, staggering back in exhaustion, +he dreams. The bright hours of the past mock +his agony, and in his dreams, fiends, with eyes +of fire and tongues of flame, circle about him +with joined hands, to dance and sing their orgies +with hellish chorus, chanting—"Hail! +brother!" kissing his clammy forehead until +their loathsome locks, flowing with serpents, +crawl into his bosom and sink their sharp fangs +and suck up his life's blood, and coiling around +his heart pinch it with chills and shudders unutterable.</p> + +<p>Take warning! You are no stronger than +tens of thousands who have, by this practice, +been overthrown. No young man in our cities +can escape being tempted. <i>Beware of the first +beginnings!</i> This road is a down-grade, and +every instant increases the momentum. Launch +not upon this treacherous sea. Split hulks +strew the beach. Everlasting storms howl up +and down, tossing the unwary crafts into the +Hell-gate. I speak of what I have seen with +my own eyes. I have looked off into the abyss +and have seen the foaming, and the hissing, and +the whirling of the horrid deep in which the +mangled victims writhed, one upon another, and +struggled, strangled, blasphemed, and died—the +death-stare of eternal despair upon their +countenances as the waters gurgled over them.</p> + +<p>To a gambler's death-bed there comes no +hope. He will probably die alone. His former +associates come not nigh his dwelling. When +the hour comes, his miserable soul will go out +of a miserable life into a miserable eternity. As +his poor remains pass the house where he was +ruined, old companions may look out a moment +and say—"There goes the old carcass—dead +at last," but they will not get up from the table. +Let him down now into his grave. Plant no +tree to cast its shade there, for the long, deep, +eternal gloom that settles there is shadow +enough. Plant no "forget-me-nots" or eglantines +around the spot, for flowers were not +made to grow on such a blasted heath. Visit +it not in the sunshine, for that would be mockery, +but in the dismal night, when no stars are +out, and the spirits of darkness come down +horsed on the wind, <i>then</i> visit the grave of the +gambler!</p> + + + +<a name="page186" + id="page186"></a> +<h2>SOME OF THE CLUB-HOUSES.</h2> + + +<p>Iniquity never gives a fair fight. It springs +out from ambush upon the unsuspecting. Of +the tens of thousands who have fallen into bad +habits, not one deliberately leaped off, but all +were caught in some sly trap. You may have +watched a panther or a cat about to take its +prey. It crouches down, puts its mouth between +its paws, and is hardly to be seen in the +long grass. So iniquity always crouches down +in unexpected shapes, takes aim with unerring +eye, and then springs upon you with sudden +and terrific leap. In secret places and in unlooked-for +shapes it murders the innocent.</p> + +<p>Men are gregarious. Cattle in herds. Fish +in schools. Birds in flocks. Men in social +circles. You may, by the discharge of a gun, +scatter a flock of quails, or by the plunge of the +anchor send apart the denizens of the sea; but +they will gather themselves together again. If +you, by some new power, could break the +associations in which men now stand, they +would again adhere. God meant it so. He +has gathered all the flowers and shrubs into +associations. You may plant one "forget-me-not" +or "hearts-ease" alone, away off upon the +hillside, but it will soon hunt up some other +"forget-me-not" or "hearts-ease." Plants +love company; you will find them talking to +each other in the dew. A galaxy of stars is +only a mutual life-insurance company. You +sometimes see a man with no out-branchings of +sympathy. His nature is cold and hard, like a +ship's mast, ice-glazed, which the most agile +sailor could never climb. Others have a thousand +roots and a thousand branches. Innumerable +tendrils climb their hearts, and blossom all +the way up; and the fowls of heaven sing in +the branches.</p> + +<p>In consequence of this tendency, we find men +coming together in tribes, in communities, in +churches, in societies. Some gather together +to cultivate the arts; some to plan for the welfare +of the State; some to discuss religious +themes; some to kindle their mirth; some to +advance their craft. So every active community +is divided into associations of artists, of +merchants, of bookbinders, of carpenters, of +masons, of plasterers, of shipwrights, of plumbers. +Do you cry out against it? Then you +cry out against a tendency divinely implanted. +Your tirades will accomplish no more than if +you should preach to a busy ant-hill or bee-hive +a long sermon against secret societies.</p> + +<p>Here we find in our path the oft-discussed +question, whether associations that do their +work with closed doors, and admit their +members by pass-words, and greet each other +with a secret grip, are right or wrong. I +answer that it depends entirely upon the nature +of the object for which they meet. Is it to pass +the hours in revelry, wassail, blasphemy, and +obscene talk, or to plot trouble to the State, +or to debauch the innocent? Then I say, +with an emphasis that no man can mistake, +"NO." But is the object the improvement of +the mind, or the enlargement of the heart, +or the advancement of art, or the defence of +the government, or the extirpation of crime, +or the kindling of a pure-hearted sociality? +Then I say, with just as much emphasis, +"YES."</p> + +<p>There is no need that we who plan for the +conquest of right over wrong should publish to +all the world our intentions. The general of an +army never sends to the opposing troops information +as to the coming attack. Shall we who +have enlisted in the cause of God and humanity +expose our plans to the enemy? No! We +will in secret plot the ruin of all the enterprises +of Satan and his cohorts. When they expect +us by day, we will fall upon them by night. +While they are strengthening their left wing, we +will double up their right. By a plan of battle +formed in secret conclave, we will come suddenly +upon them, crying: "The sword of the Lord +and of Gideon!"</p> + +<p>Secrecy of plot and execution are wrong only +when the object and influence are nefarious. +Every family is a secret society; every business +firm, and every banking and insurance institution. +Those men who have no capacity to +keep a secret are unfit for positions of trust +anywhere. There are thousands of men whose +vital need is culturing in capacity to keep a +secret. Men talk too much—and women too. +There is a time to keep silence, as well as a +time to speak. Although not belonging to any +of the great secret societies about which there +has been so much violent discussion, I have +only words of praise for those associations +which have for their object the reclamation of +inebriates, or like the score of mutual benefit +societies, called by different names, that provide +temporary relief for widows and orphans, and +for men incapacitated by sickness or accident +for earning a livelihood.</p> + +<p>I suppose there are club-houses in our cities +to which men go with clear consciences, and +from which they come after an hour or two of +intellectual talk, and cheerful interview, to enjoy +the domestic circle. But that this is not +the character of scores and hundreds of club-houses +we all know. Can I, then, pass this +subject by without exposition of the monstrous +evil? There are multitudes who are unconsciously +having their physical, moral, and +eternal well-being endangered by club-room +dissipation. Was it right to expose the plot +of Guy Fawkes, by which he would have destroyed +the Parliament of England? And am I +wrong in disclosing a peril which threatens not +only your well-being here, but your throne in +heaven?</p> + +<p>I deplore this ruin the more because this +style of dissipation is taking down our finest +men. The admission-fee sifts out the penurious +and takes only those who are called the best +fellows. Oh! how changed you are! Not so +kind to your wife as you used to be; not so +patient with your children. Your conscience +is not so much at rest. You laugh more now, +and sing louder than once, but are not half so +happy. It is not the public drinking-saloon +that is taking you down, nor theatrical amusements, +nor the houses of sin that have cost +thousands of other men their eternity: but it is +simply and undeniably your club-room. You +do not make yourself as agreeable in your +family as once. You go home at twelve o'clock +with an unnatural flush upon your cheek and a +strange color in your eye that you got at the +club. You merely acknowledge that you feel +queer. You say that champagne never intoxicates; +that it only exhilarates, makes the conversation +fluent, shakes up the humor, and has +no bad effect except a headache next day. +Be not deceived. Champagne may not, like +whiskey, throw a man under the table; but if, +through anything you drink, you gain an +unnatural fluency of speech and glow of feeling, +you are simply drunk.</p> + +<p>If those imperilled were heartless young men, +stingy young men, I would not be so sorry as +I am; but there are many of them generous +to a fault, frank, honest, cheerful, talented. I +begrudge the devil such a prize. After a while +these persons will lose all the frankness and +honor for which they are now distinguished. +Their countenances will get haggard, and instead +of looking one in the eye when they talk, +they will look down. After a while, when the +mother kindly asks, "What kept you out so +late?" they will make no answer, or will say +"That is my business!" They will come cross +and befogged to the store and bank, and ever +and anon neglect some duty, and after a while +will be dismissed: and then, with nothing to do, +will rise in the morning at ten o'clock, cursing +the servant because the breakfast is cold, and +then go down town and stand on the steps of a +fashionable hotel, and criticise the passers-by. +While the young man who was a clerk in a +cellar has come up to be the first clerk, and he +who a few years ago ran errands for the bank +has got to be cashier, and thousands of other +young men of the city have gone up to higher +and more responsible positions, he has been +going down, until there he passes through the +street with bloated lip, and bloodshot eye, and +staggering step, and hat mud-spattered and set +sidewise on a shock of greasy hair, the ashes of +his cigar dashed upon his cravat. Here he +goes! Look at him, all ye pure-hearted young +men, and see the work of the fashionable club-room. +I knew one such who, after the contaminations +of his club-house, leaped out of +the third-story window to put an end to his +wretchedness.</p> + +<p>Many who would not be seen drinking at the +bar of a restaurant, think there is no dishonor +and no peril connected with sitting down at a +marble stand in an elegantly furnished parlor, +to which they go with a private key, and where +none are present except gentlemen as elegant as +themselves. Everything so chaste in the surroundings! +Soft carpets, beautiful pictures, +cut glass, Italian top tables, frescoed walls. In +just such places there are thousands of young +men, middle-aged men, and old men, preparing +themselves for overthrow.</p> + +<p>In many of these club-rooms the talk is not +as pure and elevated as it might be. How is +it, men and brothers, at half-past eleven o'clock, +when the tankards are well emptied, and the +smoke curls up from every lip? Do they ever +swear? Are there stories told unworthy a man +who venerates the name of his mother? Does +God, whose presence cannot be hindered by +bolt, and who comes in without a pass-word, +and is making up His record for the judgment-day, +approve of the blasphemies you utter?</p> + +<p>You think that there is no special danger, +yet acknowledge that you have felt <i>queer</i> sometimes. +Your head was not right, and your +stomach was disturbed. I will tell you what +was the matter. <i>You were drunk</i>. You understood +not that protracted hiccough; it was +the drunkard's hiccough. You could not explain +that nausea; it was the drunkard's vomit. +The fact is that some of you, who have never +in your own eyes or in the eyes of others fully +sacrificed your respectability, have for six +months been written down in God's book as +drunkards.</p> + +<p>How far down need a man go before he becomes +an inebriate? Must he fall into the +ditch? No! Must he get into a porter-house +fight? No! Must he be senseless in the +street? Must he have the delirium tremens? +No! He may wear satin and fine linen; he +may walk with hat scrupulously brushed; may +swing a gold-headed cane, and step in boots of +French leather, dismount from a carriage, or +draw tight rein over a swift, sleek, high-mettled, +full-blooded Arabian span, but yet be so thoroughly +under the power of strong drink that he +is utterly offensive to his Maker and rotten as a +heap of compost.</p> + +<p>The fact that this whole land to-day swelters +with drunkenness I charge upon the drinking +club houses. They wield an influence that makes +it respectable, and I will not put my head to the +pillow to-night until I have written against them +one burning anathema maranatha! When I +see them dragging down scores of our young +men, and slaying professed Christians at the very +altar, and snatching off the garlands of life from +those who would otherwise reign forever and +forever, I tell you I hate them with a perfect +hatred, and pray for more height, and depth, +and length, and breadth of capacity with which +to hate them.</p> + +<p>Along this blossoming and over-arched pathway, +and through this long line of temptations +that throw their garlands upon the brow, and +ring their music into the ear, go a great host.</p> + +<p>No one can estimate the homes that have +been shattered by the dissipations of the club-house. +There are weak women who would +never consent to a husband's absence in the +evening, however important the duty that takes +him away. Any man who wishes to take his +share of the public burdens and is willing to +work for the political, educational, and social +advancement of the community must of necessity +spend some of his evenings away from +home. There are associations and churches +that have a right to demand a share of a man's +presence and means, and that is a weak woman +who always looks offended when her husband +goes out in the evening.</p> + +<p>But club-houses become a pest when they demand +all a man's evenings; and that is a result +we are called to deplore. Every head of a +household is called to be its educator, its companion, +its religious instructor and exemplar; +not only to furnish the wardrobe and to make +the money to pay the bills when they come in, +but to give his highest intellectual energies and +social faculties to the amusement, instruction, +and improvement of the household.</p> + +<p>But I describe the history of thousands of +households when I say that the tea is rapidly +taken, and while yet the family linger the father +shoves back his chair, has "an engagement," +lights his cigar and starts out, not returning +until after midnight. That is the history of +three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, +except when he is sick and cannot get out.</p> + +<p>How about home duties? Have you fulfilled +all your vows? Would your wife ever have +married you with such a prospect? Wait until +your sons get to be sixteen or seventeen years +of age, and they too will shove back from the +tea-table, have an "engagement," light their +cigars, go over to their club-houses, their night-key +rattling in your door after midnight—the +effect of your example. And as your son's constitution +may not be as strong as yours, and the +liquor he drinks more terribly drugged, he will +catch up with you on the road to death although +you got the start of him. And so you will both +go to hell together! A revolving Drummond-light +on the front of a locomotive casts its gleam +through the darkness as it is turned around; so +I catch up the lamp of God's truth and turn it +round until its tremendous glare flashes into all +the club-houses of our cities.</p> + +<p>Flee the presence of the dissipating club-houses. +"Paid your money?" Sacrifice that +rather than your soul. "Good fellows," are +they? They cannot stay what they are under +such influences. Mollusca live two hundred +fathoms down in the Norwegian seas. The Siberian +stag grows fat on the stunted growth +of Altaian peaks. The Hedysarium thrives +amid the desolation of Sahara. Tufts of osier +and birch grow on the hot lips of volcanic +Schneehalten. But good character and a useful +life thrive amid club-room dissipations—<i>Never!</i></p> + +<p>The best way to make a wild beast cower is +to look him in the eye, but the best way to treat +the temptations I have described is to turn your +back and fly! O! my heart aches! I see men +struggling to get out of the serfdom of bad habits, +and I want to help them. I have knelt with +them and heard their cry for help. I have had +them put one hand on each of my shoulders, +and look me in the eye, with an agony of +earnestness that the judgment shall have no +power to make me forget, and from their lips, +scorched with the fires of ruin, have heard them +cry "God help me!" There is no rescue for +such, save in the Lord Almighty.</p> + +<p>Well, what we do, we had better do right +away. The clock ticks now and we hear it. +After a while the clock will tick and we shall +not hear it. Seated by a country fireside, I +saw the fire kindle, blaze, and go out. I gathered +up from the hearth enough for profitable +reflections. Our life is just like the fire on that +hearth. We put on fresh fagots, and the fire +bursts through and up, and out, gay of flash, +gay of crackle—emblem of boyhood. Then the +fire reddens into coals. The heat is fiercer; +and the more it is stirred, the more it reddens. +With sweep of flame it cleaves its way, until all +the hearth glows with the intensity—emblem +of full manhood. Then comes a whiteness to +the coals. The heat lessens. The flickering +shadows have died along the wall. The fagots +drop apart. The household hover over the expiring +embers. The last breath of smoke has +been lost in the chimney. Fire is out. Shovel +up the white remains. ASHES!</p> + + + +<a name="page201" + id="page201"></a> +<h2>FLASK, BOTTLE, AND DEMIJOHN.</h2> + + +<p>[NOTE.—This chapter, in its first shape, was given some currency +under the title of "The Evil Beast." I have, however, +so revised and added to that Lecture, that, as here given, it is +essentially a new presentation of the dreadful Abomination of +Rum, and it is in this present shape that I wish the public to receive +it as a full expression of my views thereon. T.D.W.T.]</p> + +<p>There has in all ages and climes been a tendency +to the improper use of stimulants. +Noah, as if disgusted with the prevalence of +water in his time, took to strong drink. By +this vice Alexander the Conqueror was conquered. +The Romans, at their feasts, fell off +their seats with intoxication. Four hundred +millions of our race are opium-eaters. India, +Turkey, and China have groaned with the desolation; +and by it have been quenched such +lights as Haller and De Quincey. One hundred +millions are the victims of the betel-nut, which +has specially accursed the East Indies. Three +hundred millions chew hashish, and Persia, Brazil, +and Africa suffer the delirium. The Tartars +employ murowa; the Mexicans the agave; the +people of Guarapo an intoxicating quality taken +from sugar-cane; while a great multitude, that +no man can number, are the disciples of alcohol. +To it they bow. In its trenches they fall. In +its awful prison they are incarcerated. On its +ghastly holocaust they burn.</p> + +<p>Could the muster-roll of this great army be +called, and they could come up from the dead, +what eye could endure the reeking, festering +putrefaction and beastliness! What heart +could endure the groans of agony!</p> + +<p>Drunkenness: Does it not jingle the burglar's +key? Does it not whet the assassin's +knife? Does it not cock the highwayman's +pistol? Does it not wave the incendiary's +torch? Has it not sent the physician reeling +into the sick-room; and the minister, with his +tongue thick, into the pulpit? Did not an exquisite +poet, from the very height of reputation, +fall, a gibbering sot, into the gutter, on his way +to be married to one of the fairest daughters of +New England, and at the very hour when the +bride was decking herself for the altar; and did +he not die of delirium tremens, almost unattended, +in a New York hotel? Tamerlane asked for +one hundred and sixty thousand skulls, with +which to build a pyramid to his own honor. +He got the skulls, and built the pyramid. But +if the bones of all those who have fallen as a +prey to dissipation could be piled up, it would +make a monster pyramid. Talk not of Waterloo +and Austerlitz, for they were not fields of +blood compared with this great Golgotha.</p> + +<p>Who will gird himself for the journey, and try +with me to scale this mountain of the dead—going +up miles high on human carcasses, to find +still other peaks far above, mountain above +mountain, white with the bleached bones of +drunkards!</p> + +<p>Hang not your head or shut your eyes until +we have seen it. We must get a sight at the +monster before we can shoot him.</p> + +<p>I will begin at our national and State capitals. +Like government, like people. Henry +VIII. blasts all England with his example of +uncleanness. Catharine of Russia drags down +a whole empire with her nefarious behavior. +No Christian man can be indifferent to what +every hour of every day goes on at Washington. +While the Presidential Impeachment trial +advanced, some of the men who were to render +their solemn verdict on the subject were reeling +in and out of the Senate chamber,—the intoxicated +representatives of a free Christian people. +It was a great question whether several members +of that high court could be got sober in +time to vote.</p> + +<p>Only recently a Senator from New England +rises up with tongue so thick, and with utterance +so nonsensical, that he is led into the anteroom. +He was a good "Republican."</p> + +<p>One of the Middle States has a representative +who very rarely appears in his seat, for the reason +that he is so great an inebriate that he can +neither walk nor ride. He is a good Democrat.</p> + +<p>As God looks down on our State and national +legislatures, he holds us responsible. We cast +the votes. We lift up the legislators.</p> + +<p>Will the time never come when this nation +shall rise up higher than partisanship, and cast +its suffrage for sober men?</p> + +<p>The fact is that the two millions of dollars +which the liquor dealers raised for the purpose +of swaying State and national legislation has +done its work, and the nation is debauched. +Higher than legislatures or the Congress of the +United States is the Whiskey Ring!</p> + +<p>The Sabbath has been sacrificed to the rum +traffic. To many of our people the best day of +the week is the worst. Bakers must keep their +shops closed on the Sabbath. It is dangerous +to have loaves of bread going out on Sunday. +The shoe-store is closed; severe penalty will attack +the man who sells boots on the Sabbath. +But down with the window-shutters of the grog +shops. Our laws shall confer particular honors +upon the rum traffickers. All other traders +must stand aside for these. Let our citizens +who have disgraced themselves by trading in +clothing, and hosiery, and hardware, and lumber, +and coal, take off their hats to the rum-seller, +elected to particular honor. It is unsafe +for any other class of men to be allowed license +for Sunday work. But swing out your signs, +oh ye traffickers in the peace of families, and in +the souls of immortal men! Let the corks fly, +and the beer foam, and the rum go tearing +down the half-consumed throat of the inebriate. +God does not see, does he? Judgment will +never come, will it?</p> + +<p>People say—"Let us have some law to +correct this evil." We have more law now +than we execute. In what city is there a +mayoralty that dare do it? There is no advantage +in having the law higher than public +opinion. What would be the use of the Maine +Law in New York? Neal Dow, the Mayor of +Portland, came out with a <i>posse</i> and threw the +rum of the city into the street. From the +alms-house a woman came out and said, "Oh! +if this had only been done ten years ago, my +husband would not have died a drunkard, and +I would not have been a widow in the almshouse."</p> + +<p>But there are not enough police in the city +of New York to stand by its Mayor in such an +undertaking; public opinion is not educated.</p> + +<p>I do not know but that God is determined to +let drunkards triumph; and the husbands and +sons of thousands of our best families be destroyed +by this vice, in order that our people, +amazed and indignant, may rise up and demand +the extermination of this municipal crime.</p> + +<p>There is a way of driving down the hoops of +a barrel until the hoops break.</p> + +<p>We are in this country, at this time, trying +to regulate this evil by a tax on whiskey. You +might as well try to regulate the Asiatic cholera, +or the small-pox, by taxation. The men +who distil liquors are, for the most part, unscrupulous; +and the higher the tax, the more +inducement to illicit distillation. New York +produces forty thousand gallons of whiskey +every twenty-four hours; and the most of it +escapes the tax. The most vigilant officials fail +to discover the cellars, and vaults, and sheds +where this work is done.</p> + +<p>Oh, the folly of trying to restrain an evil by +government tariffs! If every gallon of whiskey +made, if every flask of wine produced, should +be taxed a thousand dollars, it would not be +enough to pay for the tears it has wrung out of +the eyes of widows and orphans, nor for the +blood it has dashed on the altars of the Christian +Church, nor for the catastrophe of the +millions it has destroyed forever.</p> + +<p>Oh! we are a Christian people! From Boston +a ship sailed for Africa, with three missionaries, +and twenty-two thousand gallons +of New-England rum on board. Which will +have the most effect: the missionaries, or the +rum?</p> + +<p>Rum is victor. Some time when you have +leisure, just go down any of our streets, and +count the number of drinking places. Here +they are—first-class hotels. Marble floors. +Counter polished. Fine picture hanging over +the decanters. Cut glass. Silver water-coolers. +Pictured punch-bowls. High-priced liquors. +Customers pull off their gloves, and +take up the glasses, and click them, and with +immaculate pocket handkerchief wipe their +mouth, and go up-stairs, or into the reading-room, +and complete extensive bargains.</p> + +<p>Here it is—the restaurant. All sorts of viands, +but chiefly all styles of beverage. They +who frequent this place have fairly started on +the down grade. Having drunk once, they +lounge at the corner of the bar until a friend +comes up, and then the beverage is repeated. +After a while they sit at the little table by the +wall and order a rarer wine; for they feel richer +now, and able to get almost anything. Towards +bed-time they take out their watch and say they +must go home. They start, but cannot stand +straight. With a gentleman at each arm, they +start up the street. More and more overcome, +the man begins to whoop, and shout, and swear, +and refuse to go any farther. Hat falls off. +Hair gets over his eyes. Door-bell of fine +house rings. Wife comes down the stairs. +Daughters look over the banisters. Sobbing +in the dark hall. Quick—shut the front door, +for I do not want to look in. God help +them!</p> + +<p>Here it is—a wine-cellar. Going into the +door are depraved men and lost women. Some +stagger. All blaspheme. Men with rings in +their ears instead of their nose; and blotches of +breast-pin. Pictures on the wall cut out of the +<i>Police Gazette</i>. A slush of beer on floor and +counter. A pistol falls out of a ruffian's pocket. +By the gas-light a knife flashes. Low +songs. They banter, and jeer, and howl, and +vomit. An awful goal, to which hundreds of +people better than you have come.</p> + +<p>All these different styles of drinking-places +are multiplying. They smite a young man's +vision at every turn. They pour the stench of +their abomination on every wave of air.</p> + +<p>I sketch two houses in this street. The first +is bright as home can be. The father comes at +nightfall, and the children run out to meet +him. Luxuriant evening meal, gratulation, and +sympathy, and laughter. Music in the parlor. +Fine pictures on the wall. Costly books on the +stand. Well-clad household. Plenty of everything +to make home happy.</p> + +<p>House the second. Piano sold yesterday by +the sheriff. Wife's furs at pawnbroker's shop. +Clock gone. Daughter's jewelry sold to get +flour. Carpets gone off the floor. Daughters +in faded and patched dresses. Wife sewing for +the stores. Little child with an ugly wound on +her face, struck in an angry blow. Deep shadow +of wretchedness falling in every room. Doorbell +rings. Little children hide. Daughters +turn pale. Wife holds her breath. Blundering +steps in the hall. Door opens. Fiend, brandishing +his fist, cries—"Out! Out! What are +you doing here!"</p> + +<p>Did I call this house the second? No; it is +the same house. Rum transformed it. Rum +imbruted the man. Rum sold the shawl. +Rum tore up the carpets. Rum shook its fist. +Rum desolated the hearth. <i>Rum</i> changed that +paradise into a hell!</p> + +<p>I sketch two men that you know very well. +The first graduated from one of our literary institutions. +His father, mother, brothers and +sisters were present to see him graduate. They +heard the applauding thunders that greeted his +speech. They saw the bouquets tossed to his +feet. They saw the degree conferred and the +diploma given. He never looked so well. +Everybody said, "What a noble brow! What +a fine eye! What graceful manners! What +brilliant prospects!" All the world opens before +him and cries, "Hurrah! Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>Man the second. Lies in the station-house +to-night. The doctor has just been sent for to +bind up the gashes received in a fight. His +hair is matted, and makes him look like a wild +beast. His lip is bloody and cut.</p> + +<p>Who is the battered and bruised wretch that +was picked up by the police and carried in +drunk, and foul, and bleeding? Did I call him +man the second? He is man the <i>first</i>! Rum +transformed him. Rum destroyed his prospects. +Rum disappointed parental expectation. +Rum withered those garlands of commencement-day. +Rum cut his lip. Rum dashed +out his manhood. RUM, accursed RUM!</p> + +<p>This foul thing gives one swing to its scythe, +and our best merchants fall; their stores are +sold, and they slink into dishonored graves.</p> + +<p>Again it swings its scythe, and some of our +best physicians fall into sufferings that their +wisest prescriptions cannot cure.</p> + +<p>Again it swings its scythe, and ministers of +the gospel fall from the heights of Zion with +long-resounding crash of ruin and shame.</p> + +<p>Some of your own household have already +been shaken. Perhaps you can hardly admit +it; but where was your son last night? Where +was he Friday night? Where was he Thursday +night? Wednesday night? Tuesday +night? Monday night?</p> + +<p>Nay, have not some of you, in your own +bodies, felt the power of this habit? You +think that you could stop? Are you sure you +could? Go on a little further, and I am sure +you cannot. I think, if some of you should +try to break away, you would find a chain on +the right wrist, and one on the left; one on the +right foot, and another on the left. This serpent +does not begin to hurt until it has wound +around and round. Then it begins to tighten, +and strangle, and crush until the bones crack, +and the blood trickles, and the eyes start from +their sockets, and the mangled wretch cries +"O God! O God! Help! Help!" But it is +too late; and nothing but the fires of woe can +melt the chain when once it is fully fastened.</p> + +<p>The child of a drunkard died. My friend, +a minister of the Gospel, sat in a carriage with +the drunkard, and the coffin of the little child. +On the way to the grave, the drunkard put his +hand on the lid of his child's coffin and swore +that he never would drink again. Before the +next morning had come he was dead drunk!</p> + +<p>I spread out before you the starvation, the +cruelty, the ghastliness, the woes, the terror, the +anguish, the perdition of this evil, and then +ask, Are you ready, fully and forever, to surrender +our churches, our homes, our civilization, +our glorious Christianity? One or the +other must surrender. It can be no "drawn +battle."</p> + +<p>But how are we to contend?</p> + +<p>First, by getting our children right on this +subject. Let them grow up with an utter +aversion to strong drink. Take care how you +administer it even as medicine. If you find +that they have a natural love for it, as some +have, put in a glass of it some horrid stuff and +make it utterly nauseous. Teach them as faithfully +as you do the catechism, that rum is a +fiend. Take them to the alms-house and show +them the wreck and ruin it works. Walk with +them into the homes that have been scourged +by it. If a drunkard hath fallen into a ditch, +take them right up where they can see his +face, bruised, savage and swollen, and say, +"Look, my son: Rum did that!"</p> + +<p>Looking out of your window at some one +who, intoxicated to madness, goes through the +street, brandishing his fist, blaspheming God,—a +howling, defying, shouting, reeling, raving +and foaming maniac,—say to your son, "Look; +that man was once a child like you." As you +go by the grog-shop, let your boy know that +that is the place where men are slain, and their +wives made paupers, and their children slaves. +Hold out to your children all warnings, all +rewards, all counsels, lest in after days they +break your heart, and curse your gray hairs.</p> + +<p>A man laughed at my father for his scrupulous +temperance principles, and said—"I am +more liberal than you. I always give my +children the sugar in the glass after we have +been taking a drink."</p> + +<p>Three of his sons have died drunkards; and +the fourth is imbecile through intemperate +habits.</p> + +<p>Again, we will battle this evil at the ballot-box. +How many men are there who can rise +above the feelings of partisanship, and demand +that our officials shall be sober men?</p> + +<p>I maintain that the question of sobriety is +higher than the question of availability; and +that however eminent a man's services may be, +if he have habits of intoxication, he is unfit +for any office in the gift of a Christian people. +Our laws will be no better than the men who +make them.</p> + +<p>Spend a few days at Harrisburg, or Albany, +or Washington, and you will find out why, +upon these subjects, it is impossible to get +righteous enactments.</p> + +<p>Again, we will war upon this evil by organized +societies. The friends of the rum traffic +have banded together; annually issue their +circulars; raise fabulous sums of money to +advance their interests; and by grips, pass-words, +signs, and stratagems set at defiance +public morals. Let us confront them with +organizations just as secret, and, if need be, with +grips, and pass-words, and signs maintain our +position. There is no need that our philanthropic +societies tell all their plans.</p> + +<p>I am in favor of all lawful strategy in the +carrying on of this conflict. I wish to God +we could lay under the wine-casks a train, +which, once ignited, would shake the earth +with the explosion of this monstrous iniquity.</p> + +<p>Again: we will try the power of the pledge. +There are thousands of men who have been +saved by putting their names to such a document. +I know it is laughed at; but there are +men who, having once promised a thing, do it. +"Some have broken the pledge." Yes; they +were liars. But all men are not liars. I do +not say that it is the duty of all persons to +make such signature; but I do say that it will +be the salvation of many of you.</p> + +<p>The glorious work of Theobald Mathew can +never be estimated. At his hand four millions +of people took the pledge, including eight prelates, +and seven hundred of the Roman Catholic +clergy. A multitude of them were faithful.</p> + +<p>Dr. Justin Edwards said that ten thousand +drunkards had been permanently reformed in +five years.</p> + +<p>Through the great Washingtonian movement +in Ohio, sixty thousand took the pledge. In +Pennsylvania, twenty-nine thousand. In Kentucky, +thirty thousand, and multitudes in all +parts of the land. Many of these had been +habitual drunkards. One hundred and fifty +thousand of them, it is estimated, were permanently +reclaimed. Two of these men became +foreign ministers; one a governor of a State; +several were sent to Congress. Hartford reported +six hundred reformed drunkards; Norwich, +seventy-two; Fairfield, fifty; Sheffield, +seventy-five. All over the land reformed men +were received back into the churches that they +had before disgraced; and households were +re-established. All up and down the land +there were gratulations, and praise to God. +The pledge signed, to thousands has been the +proclamation of emancipation.</p> + +<p>I think that we are coming at last to treat +inebriation as it ought to be treated, namely, +as an awful disease, self-inflicted, to be sure, but +nevertheless a disease. Once fastened upon a +man, sermons will not cure him; temperance +lectures will not eradicate the taste; religious +tracts will not remove it; the Gospel of Christ +will not arrest it. Once under the power of +this awful thirst, the man is bound to go on; +and if the foaming glass were on the other side +of perdition, he would wade through the fires +of hell to get it. A young man in prison had +such a strong thirst for intoxicating liquors, +that he cut off his hand at the wrist, called for a +bowl of brandy in order to stop the bleeding, +thrust his wrist into the bowl, and then drank +the contents.</p> + +<p>Stand not, when the thirst is on him, between +a man and his cups! Clear the track for him! +Away with the children: he would tread their +life out! Away with the wife: he would dash +her to death! Away with the Cross: he +would run it down! Away with the Bible: +he would tear it up for the winds! Away with +heaven: he considers it worthless as a straw! +"Give me the drink! Give it to me! Though +hands of blood pass up the bowl, and the soul +trembles over the pit,—the drink! give it to +me! Though it be pale with tears; though +the froth of everlasting anguish float in the +foam—give it to me! I drink to my wife's +woe; to my children's rags; to my eternal +banishment from God, and hope, and heaven! +Give it to me! the drink!"</p> + +<p>Again: we will contend against these evils +by trying to persuade the respectable classes +of society to the banishment of alcoholic +beverages. You who move in elegant and +refined associations; you who drink the best +liquors; you who never drink until you lose +your balance: consider that you have, under +God, in your power the redemption of this +land from drunkenness. Empty your cellars +and wine-closets of the beverage, and then +come out and give us your hand, your vote, +your prayers, your sympathies. Do that, and +I will promise three things: First, That you +will find unspeakable happiness in having done +your duty; secondly, you will probably save +somebody, perhaps your own child; thirdly, +you will not, in your last hour, have a regret +that you made the sacrifice, if sacrifice it be.</p> + +<p>As long as you make drinking respectable, +drinking customs will prevail; and the ploughshare +of death, drawn by terrible disasters, +will go on turning up this whole continent, +from end to end, with the long, deep, awful +furrow of drunkards' graves.</p> + +<p>Oh, how this Rum Fiend would like to go and +hang up a skeleton in your beautiful house, so +that when you opened the front door to go in +you would see it in the hall; and when you sit +at your table you would see it hanging from the +wall; and when you open your bed-room you +would find it stretched upon your pillow; and +waking at night you would feel its cold hand +passing over your face and pinching at your +heart!</p> + +<p>There is no home so beautiful but it may be +devastated by the awful curse. It throws its +jargon into the sweetest harmony. What was +it that silenced Sheridan's voice and shattered +the golden sceptre with which he swayed parliaments +and courts? What foul sprite turned the +sweet rhythm of Robert Burns into a tuneless +ballad? What brought down the majestic form +of one who awed the American Senate with his +eloquence, and after a while carried him home +dead drunk from the office of Secretary of State? +What was it that crippled the noble spirit of +one of the heroes of the last war, until the other +night, in a drunken fit, he reeled from the deck +of a Western steamer and was drowned! There +was one whose voice we all loved to hear. He +was one of the most classic orators of the century. +People wondered why a man of so pure +a heart and so excellent a life should have such +a sad countenance always. They knew not +that his wife was a sot.</p> + +<p>"Woe to him that giveth his neighbor +drink!" If this curse was proclaimed about +the comparatively harmless drinks of olden +times, what condemnation must rest upon those +who tempt their neighbors when intoxicating +liquor means copperas, nux vomica, logwood, +opium, sulphuric acid, vitriol, turpentine, and</p> + +<p>strychnine! "Pure liquors:" pure destruction! +Nearly all the genuine champagne made +is taken by the courts of Europe. What we +get is horrible swill!</p> + +<p>I call upon woman for her influence in the +matter. Many a man who had reformed and +resolved on a life of sobriety has been pitched +off into old habits by the delicate hand of her +whom he was anxious to please.</p> + +<p>Bishop Potter says that a young man who +had been reformed sat at a table, and when the +wine was passed to him refused to take it. A +lady sitting at his side said, "Certainly you will +not refuse to take a glass with me?" Again +he refused. But when she had derided him for +lack of manliness he took the glass and drank +it. He took another and another; and putting +his fist hard down on the table, said, "Now I +drink until I die." In a few months his ruin +was consummated.</p> + +<p>I call upon those who are guilty of these indulgences +to quit the path of death. O what a +change it would make in your home! Do you +see how everything there is being desolated! +Would you not like to bring back joy to your +wife's heart, and have your children come out +to meet you with as much confidence as once +they showed? Would you not like to rekindle +the home lights that long ago were extinguished? +It is not too late to change. It may not +entirely obliterate from your soul the memory +of wasted years and a ruined reputation, nor +smooth out from anxious brows the wrinkles +which trouble has ploughed. It may not call +back unkind words uttered or rough deeds done—for +perhaps in those awful moments you struck +her! It may not take from your memory the +bitter thoughts connected with some little grave: +but it is not too late to save yourself and secure +for God and your family the remainder of your +fast-going life.</p> + +<p>But perhaps you have not utterly gone astray. +I may address one who may not have quite +made up his mind. Let your better nature +speak out. You take one side or the other in +the war against drunkenness. Have you the +courage to put your foot down right, and say to +your companions and friends: "I will never +drink intoxicating liquor in all my life, nor will I +countenance the habit in others." Have nothing +to do with strong drink. It has turned the +earth into a place of skulls, and has stood opening +the gate to a lost world to let in its victims, +until now the door swings no more upon its +hinges, but day and night stands wide open to +let in the agonized procession of doomed men.</p> + +<p>Do I address one whose regular work in life +is to administer to this appetite? I beg you—get +out of the business. If a woe be pronounced +upon the man who gives his neighbor drink, how +many woes must be hanging over the man who +does this every day, and every hour of the day!</p> + +<p>A philanthropist, going up to the counter of a +grog-shop, as the proprietor was mixing a +drink for a toper standing at the counter, said +to the proprietor, "Can you tell me what your +business is good for?" The proprietor, with +an infernal laugh, said, "<i>It fattens graveyards!</i>"</p> + +<p>God knows better than you do yourself the +number of drinks you have poured out. You +keep a list; but a more accurate list has been +kept than yours. You may call it Burgundy, +Bourbon, Cognac, Heidsick, Hock; God calls it +strong drink. Whether you sell it in low oyster +cellar or behind the polished counter of first-class +hotel, the divine curse is upon you. I tell +you plainly that you will meet your customers +one day when there will be no counter between +you. When your work is done on earth, and you +enter the reward of your business, all the souls +of the men whom you have destroyed will +crowd around you and pour their bitterness into +your cup. They will show you their wounds +and say, "You made them;" and point to their +unquenchable thirst, and say, "You kindled +it;" and rattle their chain and say, "You +forged it." Then their united groans will smite +your ears; and with the hands out of which you +once picked the sixpences and the dimes, they +will push you off the verge of great precipices; +while, rolling up from beneath, and breaking +among the crags of death, will thunder:</p> + +<p>"<i>Woe to him that giveth his neighbor +drink</i>!"</p> + + + +<a name="page226" + id="page226"></a> +<h2>THE HOUSE OF BLACKNESS OF +DARKNESS.</h2> + + +<p>Men like to hear the frailties and faults of +others chastised. With what blandness and +placidity they sit and hear the religious teacher +excoriate the ambition of Ahab, the treachery +of Judas, the treason of Athaliah, and the wickedness +of the Amalekites. Indeed, I have +sometimes felt sorry for the Amalekites, for in +all ages, and on all occasions, they are smitten, +denounced, and pursued. They have had their +full share of censure and excoriation. It is high +time that in our addresses in pulpits, and in domestic +circles, we turn our attention to the driving +out of these worse Amalekites which are +swarming in society to-day, thicker than in the +olden time. The ancient Amalekites lived for +one or two hundred years; but these are not +weakened after a thousand years. Those traversed +only a few leagues of land; these stalk +the earth and ford the sea. Those had each a +sword or spear; these fight with a million +swords, and strike with a million stings, and +smite with a million catastrophes. Those were +conquered with human weapons; but to overcome +these we must bring out God's great fieldpieces, +and employ an enginery that can sweep +from eternity to eternity.</p> + +<p>There is one subject which we are expected, in +all our teachings, to shun, or only to hint at: I +mean the wickedness of an impure life. Though +God thunders against this appalling iniquity from +the heavens curse after curse, anathema after +anathema, by our unwillingness to repeat the +divine utterance we seem to say, "Lord, not so +loud! Speak about everything else; but if this +keeps on there will be trouble!" Meanwhile +the foundations of social life are being slowly +undermined; and many of the upper circles of +life have putrefied until they have no more +power to rot.</p> + +<p>If a fox or a mink come down to the farmyard +and carry off a chicken, the whole family +join in the search.</p> + +<p>If a panther come down into the village and +carry off a child, the whole neighborhood go +out with clubs and guns to bring it down.</p> + +<p>But this monster-crime goes forth, carrying +off body and soul; and yet, if we speak, a thousand +voices bid us be silent.</p> + +<p>I shall try to cut to the vitals of the subject, +and proceed with the <i>post-mortem</i> of this carcass +of death. It is time to speak on this subject. +All the indignation of the community upon this +subject is hurled upon woman's head. If, in an +evil hour, she sacrifice her honor, the whole city +goes howling after her. She shall take the whole +blame. Out with her from all decent circles! +Whip her. Flay her. Bar all the doors of society +against her return. Set on her all the +blood-hounds. Shove her off precipice after +precipice. Push her down. Kick her out! +If you see her struggling on the waves, and with +her blood-tipped fingers clinging to the verge of +respectability, drop a mill-stone on her head.</p> + +<p>For a woman's sin, men have no mercy; and +the heart of other women is more cruel than +death.</p> + +<p>For her, in the dark hour of her calamity, +the women who, with the same temptation, +might have fallen into deeper damnation, have +no commiseration and no prayer.</p> + +<p>The heaviest stroke that comes down upon a +fallen woman's soul is the merciless indignation +of her sisters.</p> + +<p>If the multitudes of the fallen could be placed +in a straight line, it would reach from here to +the gates of the lost, and back again.</p> + +<p>But what of the destroyer?</p> + +<p>We take his arm. We flatter his appearance. +We take off our hats. He is admitted to our +parlors. For him we cast our votes. For him +we speak our eulogies. And when he has gone +we read over the heap of compost: "Blessed are +the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from +their labors and their works do follow them."</p> + +<p>In the fashionable city to-day there walk a +thousand libertines. They are a moving pest. +Their breath is the sirocco of the desert. Their +bones have in them the decay of the pit. They +have the eye of a basilisk. They have been +soaked in filth, and steeped in uncleanliness, and +consumed in sin, and they are all adrip with the +loathsomeness of eternal death. I take hold of +the robe of one of these elegant gentlemen, and +pull it aside, and say, "Behold a Leper!"</p> + +<p>First, if you desire to shun this evil, you will +have nothing to do with bad books and impure +newspapers. With such an affluent literature +as is coming forth from our swift-revolving +printing-presses, there is no excuse for dragging +one's self through sewers of unchastity. +Why walk in the ditch, when right beside the +ditch is the solid flagging? It seems that in +the literature of the day the ten plagues of +Egypt have returned, and the frogs and lice +have hopped and skipped over our parlor tables.</p> + +<p>Waiting impatiently in the house of some +parishioner, for the completion of a very protracted +toilet, I have picked up a book from +the parlor table, and found that every leaf was +a scale of leprosy.</p> + +<p>Parents are delighted to have their children +read, but they should be sure as to what they +read. You do not have to walk a day or two +in an infected district to get the cholera or +typhoid fever; and one wave of moral unhealth +will fever and blast an immortal nature. +Perhaps, knowing not what you did, you read +a bad book. Do you not remember it altogether? +Yes; and perhaps you will never get +over it.</p> + +<p>However strong and exalted your character, +<i>never read a bad book</i>. By the time you get +through the first chapter you will see the drift; +If you find the marks of the hoofs of the devil +in the pictures, or in the style, or in the plot, +away with it. You may tear your coat, or +break a vase, and repair them again, but the +point where the rip or fracture took place will +always be evident. It takes less than an hour +to do your heart a damage which no time can +entirely repair. Look carefully over your +child's library; see what book it is that he reads +after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned +upon the pillow. Do not always take it for +granted that a book is good because it is a Sunday-school +book. As far as possible know +<i>who</i> wrote it, who illustrated it, who published +it, who sold it.</p> + +<p>Young man, as you value Heaven, never buy +a book from one of those men who meet you +in the square, and, after looking both ways, to +see if the police are watching, shows you a +book—very cheap. Have him arrested as you +would kill a rattle-snake. Grab him, and shout +"Police! police!"</p> + +<p>But there is more danger, I think, from +many of the family papers, published once a +week; in those stories of vice and shame, +full of infamous suggestions, going as far as +they can without exposing themselves to the +clutch of the law. I name none of them; but +say that on some fashionable tables there lie +"family newspapers" that are the very vomit +of the pit.</p> + +<p>The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three +dollars to go to Philadelphia; six dollars to +Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; +but, by the purchase of a bad paper for ten +cents, you may get a through ticket to hell, +by express, with few stopping-places, and the +final halting like the tumbling of the lightning +train down the draw-bridge at Norwalk—sudden, +terrific, deathful, never to rise.</p> + +<p>O, the power of an iniquitous pen! If a +needle puncture the body at a certain point, life +is destroyed; but the pen is a sharper instrument, +for with its puncture you may kill the soul. +And that very thing many of our acutest minds +are to-day doing. Do not think that this +which you drain from the glass, because it is +sweet, is therefore healthful: some of the worst +poisons are pleasant to the taste. The pen +which for the time fascinates you may be dipped +in the slime of unclean literature.</p> + +<p>Look out for the books that come from +France. It has sent us some grand histories, +poems, and pure novels, but they are few in +number compared with the nastiness that it has +spewed out upon our shore.</p> + +<p>Do we not read in our Bibles that the ancient +flood covered all the earth? I would have +thought that France had escaped, for it does +not seem as if it had ever had a thorough +washing.</p> + +<p>In the next place, if you would shun an impure +life, avoid those who indulge in impure conversation. +There are many people whose chief +mirthfulness is in that line. They are full of +innuendo, and phrases of double meaning, and +are always picking out of the conversation of +decent men something vilely significant. It is +astonishing in company, how many, professing +to be <i>Christians</i>, will tell vile stories; and that +some Christian women, in their own circles, +have no hesitation at the same style of talking.</p> + +<p>You take a step down hill, when, without +resistance, you allow any one to put into your +ear a vile innuendo. If, forgetting who you are, +any man attempts to say such things in your +presence, let your better nature assert itself, +look the offender full in the face, and ask—"What +do you mean by saying such a thing in +my presence!" Better allow a man to smite +you in the face than to utter such conversation +before you. I do not care who the men or +women are that utter impure thoughts; they +are guilty of a mighty wrong; and their influence +upon our young people is baleful.</p> + +<p>If in the club where you associate; if in the +social circle where you move, you hear depraved +conversation, fly for your life! A man +is no better than his talk; and no man can +have such interviews without being scarred.</p> + +<p>I charge our young men against considering +uncleanness more tolerable, because it is sanctioned +by the customs, habits, and practices of +what is called high life. If this sin wears kid +gloves, and patent leathers, and coat of exquisite +fit, and carries an opera-glass of costliest +material, and lives in a big house, and rides in +a splendid turn-out, is it to be any the less +reprehended? No! No!</p> + +<p>I warn you not so much against the abomination +that hides in the lower courts and alleys of +the town, as against the more damnable vice +that hides behind the white shutters and brownstone +fronts of the upper classes.</p> + +<p>God, once in a while, hitches up the fiery +team of vengeance, and ploughs up the splendid +libertinism, and we stand aghast.</p> + +<p>Sin, crawling out of the ditch of poverty and +shame, has but few temptations; but, gliding +through the glittering drawing-room with magnificent +robe, it draws the stars of heaven +after it.</p> + +<p>Poets and painters have represented Satan as +horned and hoofed. If I were a poet I should +describe him with manners polished to the last +perfection, hair flowing in graceful ringlets, eye +a little blood-shot, but floating in bewitching +languor; hands soft and diamonded; step light +and artistic; voice mellow as a flute; boot elegantly +shaped; conversation facile, carefully +toned, and Frenchy; breath perfumed until it +would seem that nothing had ever touched his +lips save balm and myrrh. But his heart I +would encase with the scales of a monster, then +fill with pride, with beastliness of desire, with +recklessness, with hypocrisy, with death. Then +I would have him touched with some rod of disenchantment +until his two eyes would become +the cold orbs of the adder; and on his lip would +come the foam of raging intoxication; and to +his feet the spring of the panther; and his soft +hand should become the clammy hand of a +wasted skeleton; while suddenly from his heart +would burst in crackling and all-devouring fury +the unquenchable flames; and in the affected +lisp of his tongue would come the hiss of the +worm that never dies.</p> + +<p>But, until disenchanted, nothing but myrrh, +and balm, and ringlet, and diamond, and flute-like +voice, and conversation aromatic, facile, +and Frenchy.</p> + +<p>There are practices in respectable circles, +I am told by physicians, which need public +reprehension. Herod's massacre of the innocents +was as nothing compared with that +of millions and millions by what I shall call +<i>ante-natal</i> murders. You may escape the grip +of the law, because the existence of such life +was not known by society; but I tell you that +at last God will shove down on you the avalanche +of his indignation; and though you may +not have wielded knife or pistol in your deeds +of darkness, yet, in the day when John Wilkes +Booth and Antony Probst come to judgment, +you will have on <i>your</i> brow the brand of <i>murderer</i>.</p> + +<p>Hear me when I repeat, that the practices of +high life ought not to make sin in your eyes +seem tolerable. God is no respecter of persons; +and robes and rags will stand on the +same platform in the day when the archangel, +with one foot on the sea and the other on the +land, swears, by Him that liveth forever and +ever, that Time shall be no more.</p> + +<p>O, it is beautiful to see a young man living a +life of purity, standing upright where thousands +of other young men fall. You will move in +honorable circles all your days; and some old +friend of your father will meet you and say: +"My son, how glad I am to see you look so +well. Just like your father, for all the world. I +thought you would turn out well when I used +to hold you on my knee. Do you ever hear +from the old folks?"</p> + +<p>After a while you yourself will be old, and +lean quite heavily on your cane, and take short +steps, and hold the book off to the other side of +the light. And men will take off their hats in +your presence. Your body, unharmed by early +indulgences, will get weaker, only as the sleepy +child gets more and more unable to hold up its +head, and falls back into its mother's lap: so +you shall lay yourself down into the arms of the +Christian's tomb, and on the slab that marks the +place will be chiselled: "Blessed are the pure +in heart, for they shall see God."</p> + +<p>But here is a young man who takes the other +route. The voices of uncleanness charm him +away. He reads bad books. Lives in vicious +circles. Loses the glow from his cheek, the +sparkle from his eye, and the purity from his +soul. The good shun him. Down he goes, +little by little. They who knew him when he +came to town, while yet lingering on his head +was a pure mother's blessing, and on his lip the +dew of a pure sister's kiss, now pass him, and +nay, "What an awful wreck!" His eye bleared +with frequent carousals. His cheek bruised +in the grog-shop fight. His lip swollen with +evil indulgences. Look out what you say to +him. For a trifle he will take your life. Lower +down and lower down, until, outcast of God +and man, he lies in the alms-house, a blotch of +loathsomeness and pain. Sometimes he calls +out for God; and then for more drink. Now +he prays; now curses. Now laughs as fiends +laugh. Then bites his nails to the quick. Then +runs both hands through the shock of hair that +hangs about his head—like the mane of a wild +beast. Then shivers—until the cot shakes—with +unutterable terror. Then, with uplifted +fist, fights back the devils, or clutches the +serpents that seem winding him in their coil. +Then asks for water, which is instantly consumed +by his cracked lips. Going his round +some morning, the surgeon finds him dead.</p> + +<p>Straighten the limbs. You need not try to +comb out or shove back the matted locks. +Wrap him in a sheet. Put him in a box. Two +men will carry it down to the wagon at the door. +With chalk, write on the top of the box the +name of the exhausted libertine.</p> + +<p>Do you know who it is?</p> + +<p>That is <i>you</i>, O man, if, yielding to the temptations +to an impure life, you go out, and +perish.</p> + +<p>There is a way that seemeth bright, and fair, +and beautiful; but the end thereof is BLACKNESS +OF DARKNESS FOREVER.</p> + + + +<a name="page241" + id="page241"></a> +<h2>THE GUN THAT KICKS OVER THE +MAN WHO SHOOTS IT OFF.</h2> + + +<p>Blasphemy is a crime that aims at God, +but does its chief harm to the one that fires +it off.</p> + +<p>So I compare it to a piece of imperfect firearms +to which the marksman puts his eye, and, +pulling the trigger, by the rebound finds himself +in the dust.</p> + +<p>I tell you a story, Oriental and marvellous. +History speaks of the richest man in all the +East. He had camels, oxen, asses, sheep, and +what would make any man rich even if he had +nothing else—seven sons and three daughters. +It was the custom of this man's children to +have family reunions. One day he is at home, +thinking of his darling children, who are keeping +banquet at their elder brother's house. +Yonder comes a messenger in hot haste, evidently, +from his looks, bearing evil tidings. +Recovering himself sufficiently to speak, he +says: "The oxen and the asses have been +captured by a foraging party of Sabeans, and +all the servants are butchered except myself." +Another messenger is coming. He says that +the sheep and the shepherds have been struck +by lightning. Another messenger is coming. +He says that the Chaldeans have come and +captured the camels, and killed all but himself. +Another messenger, who says: "While thy +sons and daughters were at the feast, a hurricane +struck the corner of the tent, and they are +all dead!" But his misfortunes are not yet +completed. The old man is smitten with the +elephantiasis, or black leprosy. Tumors from +head to foot; face distorted; forehead ridged +with offensive tubercles; eyelashes fall out; +nostrils excoriated; voice destroyed; intolerable +exhalation from the whole body; until, with +none to dress his sores, he sits down in the +ashes, with nothing but broken pieces of pottery +to use in the surgery of his wounds. At +this point, when he needed all consolation +and encouragement, his wife comes to him, +and says, virtually: "This is intolerable! +Our property gone, our children slain, and +now this loathsome, disgusting disease is upon +you. Why don't you swear? Curse God +and die!"</p> + +<p>But profanity would not have removed one +tumor from his agonized body; would not have +brought to his door one of the captured camels; +would not have restored any one of the dead +children. Swearing would have made the pain +more unbearable, the pauperism into which +he had plunged more distressing, the bereavement +more excruciating.</p> + +<p>And yet, from the swearing and blasphemy +with which our land is cursed, one would think +there were some great advantage to be reaped +from the practice. There is to-day in all our +land no more prevalent custom, and no more +God-defying abomination, than profane swearing. +You can hardly walk our streets five +minutes without having your ears stung and +your sensibilities shocked. The drayman swearing +at his horse; the tinman at his solder; the +sewing-girl imprecating her tangled thread; the +bricklayer cursing at his trowel; the carpenter +at his plane; the sailor at the tackling; the +merchant at the customer; the customer at the +merchant; the printer at the miserable proofsheet; +the accountant at the troublesome line +of figures;—swearing in the cellar and in the +loft, before the counter and behind the counter, +in the shop and on the street, in low saloon +and fashionable bar-room. Children swear, +men swear, ladies (!) swear. Profanity from +the lowest haunt calling upon the Almighty, to +the fashionable "O Lord!" of the glittering +drawing-room.</p> + +<p>This whole country is blasted with the evil. +Coming from the West, a gentleman sat behind +two persons conversing. Profanities were so +frequent in the conversation of the two persons +in front, that the gentleman behind took out his +pencil and paper and made a record. The +profanities filled several sheets in the course of +two days, at the close of which time the gentleman +handed the manuscript to the persons +conversing. The men said: "Is it possible +that we have uttered so many profanities in the +course of two days?" The gentleman said: +"Yes."—"Then," said one of the men, "I +shall never swear again."</p> + +<p>I make no abstract discussion. I hate abstractions. +I had rather come right out and +have a talk with you about a habit that you +admit to be wrong. This habit has grown from +the fact that the young often think it an evidence +of manliness. There are thousands of +boys and youth who indulge in it. I hear +children along the street, but just able to walk, +practising this iniquity. They cannot talk +straight, but they get enough distinctness to +let you know that they are damning their own +souls and the souls of others. Oh! it is horrible +to see a little child, the first time it lifts its feet +to walk, set them down on the burning pavement +of hell! Between sixteen and twenty +years of age there is apt to come a time when a +young man is as much ashamed of not being +able to deliver an oath as he is of the dizziness +that comes from his first cigar. He has his +hat and coat and boots of the right pattern, +and there is but one thing more now to bring +him into <i>fashion</i>, and that is a capacity to +swear.</p> + +<p>So there are some of our young men surrounded +by an atmosphere of profanities. +Oaths sit on their lips, they roll under their +tongues, and nest in the shock of hair. In +elegant drawing-rooms they abstain from such +utterances, but fill club-room and street with +their immoralities of speech. You suggest the +wrongfulness of the habit, and they thrust their +finger in the sleeve of their vest, and swagger, +and say: "Who cares!" They have no +regard for God, but great respect for the ladies. +Ah! there is no manliness in that.</p> + +<p>The most ungentlemanly thing a man can do +is to swear. This habit is becoming more and +more prevalent because of the immorality of +parents and employers. There are very many +fathers who indulge in this habit. They feel +moved to utter themselves in this way, but first +look around to see if their children are present. +They have no idea that their children know +anything about it. The probability is that if +you swear, your children swear. They were in +the next room and heard you, or somebody +told them about your habit. Your child is +practising to do just as you do. He is laughed +at, at first, for his awkwardness, but after +a while he will swear as well as you.</p> + +<p>Then look at the example of master carpenters, +masons, roofers, and hatters. You know +how some of you go around the building, and, +when the work of your journeyman and subordinates +does not please you, what do you say? +It is not praying, is it? Forthwith, your journeymen +and subordinates learn the habit. +Hence our hat-shops, and house-scaffoldings, +and side-walks, and wharves, and dockyards, +and cellars, and lofts ring with blasphemies.</p> + +<p>Men argue that, if it is right for a man worth +fifty or a hundred thousand dollars to swear, it +can be overlooked in men who have merely +their day's wages. Because they are poor must +they be denied this one luxury?</p> + +<p>This habit becomes more prevalent because +of the infirmities of temper. There are many +men who, when at peace, are most fastidious of +speech, but when aroused into the violence of +passion, blaze with imprecation. The Oriental's +wife spoken of would not have liked her husband +to be profane under ordinary circumstances, but +now that the camels are gone, and the sheep +are gone, and the property is gone, and the +boils have come, she says: "Why don't you +swear? Curse God and die!" Others, all the +year round, have not the froth of profanity +wiped from their lips, but try to expend all +the fury of a twelvemonth in one red-hot paragraph +of five minutes. A man apologized for +his occasional swearing by saying that, once in +a year, in this way he cleared himself out. +There are men who have no control of their +blasphemous utterances, who want us to send +them to Congress. Others have blasphemed in +senatorial places, pretending afterwards that it +was a mere rhetorical flourish.</p> + +<p>Many fall into this habit through the frequent +use of what are called by-words. I suppose +that all have favorite phrases of this kind in +which there is no harm; but a profusion of this +style of speech often ends in bald profanity. It +is, "I declare!" "My stars!" "Mercy on +me!" "Good gracious!" "By George!" +"By Jove!" and "By heavens!" and no harm +is intended; but it is a very easy transition +from this kind of talk to that which is positively +obnoxious. The English language is magnificent, +and capable of expressing every shade of +feeling and every degree of energy and zeal; +and there is no need that we take to ourselves +unlawful words. If you are happy, Noah Webster +offers to your tongue ten thousand epithets +in which you may express your exhilaration; +and if you are righteously indignant, there are +in his dictionary whole armories of denunciation +and scorn, sarcasm and irony, caricature and +wrath. Utter yourself against some meanness +or hypocrisy in all the blasphemies that ever +smoked up from perdition, and I will go on to +denounce the same meanness and hypocrisy +with a hundred-fold more stress and vehemency +in words across which no slime has ever trailed, +and through which no infernal fires have shot +their forked tongues,—words pure, innocent, +all-impressive, God-honored, Anglo-Saxon,—in +which Milton sang, and Bunyan dreamed, and +Shakespeare wrote.</p> + +<p>But whatever be the source of this habit, it is +on the increase. At sixteen, boys swear with +as much facility as the grandfather did at sixty. +Our streets are cursed by it from end to end. +Our hotels, from morning until midnight, resound +with it. Men curse on the way to the +bar to get their morning dram; curse the news-boy +who cries the paper; curse the breakfast +for being cold; curse at the bank, and curse at +the store; curse on the way to bed; curse at +the stone against which they strike their foot; +and curse at the splinter that gets under the +nail. If you do not know that this is so, it is +because your ear has been hardened by the perpetual +din of profanities that are enough to +bring down upon any city the hurricane of fire +that consumed Sodom.</p> + +<p>The habit is creeping up into the higher circles. +Every woman despises flat and unvarnished +imprecations; but in the most elevated circles +there are women who swear without knowing +it. They have read Bulwer, and George Sand, +and the exaggerated style of some of our imported +as well as home-made periodical literature, +until they do not actually know what is +decency of speech. With fairy fan to their lips +they utter their oaths, and, under chandeliers +which discover not the faintest blush, recklessly +speak the holiest of names. This is helped on +by the second glass of wine, that is <i>perfectly +harmless</i>; and though no one dare charge her, +being so finely dressed, with anything like intoxication, +yet there comes a glassiness to the +eye, and a glow to the cheek, and a style of +speech to the tongue that were not known before +she took the second glass that was <i>perfectly +harmless</i>.</p> + +<p>One wild, terrific wave of blasphemy is sweeping +over the land. See the effects of this widespread +profanity in the increasing perjury. If +men in ordinary conversation so commonly use +the name of God, is it wonderful that in the +jury-box, and in the alderman's office, and in +the custom-house so many swear falsely? Notice +the way an oath is administered. They +toss the Bible at a man, and in the most trivial +way say: "So help you God—kiss the book." +I suppose enough lies are every day told in the +custom-house to sink it. Smuggling, although +it be done against positive oath, is in some circles +considered a grand joke; and you say some +day to your friend, "How can you sell those +goods so cheaply?" and your friend says with +an eye-twinkle, "The Custom-House tariff was +not as high on those things as it might have +been." Men more easily break their solemn +oaths than formerly. What strange verdicts +juries do sometimes render! What peculiar +charges judges do sometimes make! What +unaccountable slowness sheriffs and their deputies +sometimes exhibit in the execution of their +writs! What erratic railroad enterprises suddenly +pass at our State capitals! What wonderful +changes Congress makes in the tariff +on liquors!</p> + +<p>What is an oath? Anything solemn? Anything +appealing to the Almighty? Anything +stupendous in man's history? No! It is +"kissing the book!" In a land where the +name of God so often becomes the foot-ball of +what are called respectable circles, how can we +expect that it can excite any veneration when, +in the presence of county clerk, or alderman, or +judge, or legislative assembly, it is used in solemn +adjuration? This habit lowers, bedwarfs, +and destroys the entire moral nature. You +might as well expect to raise harvests and vineyards +on the side of belching Stromboli as to +have any great excellency grow upon your soul +when it so often overflows with the scoriæ of +this awful propensity. You will never swear +yourself up. You will swear yourself down. +The Mohammedans, when they find a slip of paper +they cannot read, put it aside, for fear the +name of God is on it. That, you say, is one +extreme. We go to the other.</p> + +<p>You are willing to acknowledge this a miserable +habit, and would like to have some recipe +for its cure.</p> + +<p>Reflect much upon the uselessness of the +habit. Did a volley of oaths ever start a heavy +load? Did curses ever unravel a tangled skein? +Did they ever extirpate the meanness of a +customer? Did they ever collect a bad debt? +Did they ever cure a toothache? Did they ever +stop a twinge of the gout? Did they ever save +you a dollar, or put you a step forward in any +great enterprise? or enable you to gain a position, +or to accomplish anything that you ever +wanted to do? How much did you ever make +by swearing? What, in all the round of a lifetime +of profanity, did you ever <i>gain</i> by the +habit?</p> + +<p>Reflect, also, upon the fact that it arouses +God's indignation. The Bible reiterates, in +paragraph after paragraph, and chapter after +chapter, the fact that all swearers and blasphemers +are accursed now, and are to be forever +miserable. There is no iniquity that has been +so often visited with the immediate curse of +God.</p> + +<p>At New Brunswick, a young man was standing +on the railroad track blaspheming. The +cars passed, and he was found on the track with +his tongue cut out. People could not understand +how, with comparatively little bruising of +the rest of his body, his tongue could have been +cut out. Not long ago, in Chicago, a man told +a falsehood, and said that he hoped, if what he +said was not true, God would strike him dead. +He instantly fell. There was no longer any +pulse. There was no reason for his death, except +that he asked God to strike him dead, and +God did it. In Scotland a club was formed, +in which the members competed as to which +could use the most horrid oaths. The man who +succeeded best in the infamy was made president +of the club. His tongue began to swell. +It protruded from his mouth. He could not +draw it in. He died within three days. Physicians +were astounded. There was nothing like +it in all the books. What was the matter with +him? <i>He cursed God, and died!</i> Near Catskill, +N.Y., during a thunder-storm, a group of +men were standing in a blacksmith-shop. There +came a crash of thunder, and the men were +startled. One man said that he was not afraid; +and he made a wager that he dared go out in +front of the shop, while the lightnings were flying, +and dare the Almighty. He went out; +shook his fist at the heavens, crying, "Strike, +if you dare!" Instantly a thunder-bolt struck +him. He was dead. He cursed God, and died!</p> + +<p>God will not abide this sin. He will not let it +escape. There is a kind of manifold paper by +which a man may, with a heavy pencil, write +upon a dozen sheets at once—the writing going +down through all the sheets. So every oath +and blasphemy goes through, and is written indelibly +on every leaf of God's remembrance. +Ah! how much our Father bears! Can you +make an estimate of how many blasphemies will +roll up from the streets and saloons of our cities +to-night? If you go out and look up you cannot +see them. There will be no trail of fire on +the sky. But the air is full of them. The +name of Christ is not so often spoken in worship +as in derision. God will be cursed to-night by +hundreds of lips. The grog-shops will curse +him. The houses of shame will curse him. +Five Points will curse him. Bedford street will +curse him. Chestnut street will curse him. +Madison square will curse him. Beacon street +will curse him. Every street in all our cities +will curse him.</p> + +<p>This blasphemy is an abomination that no +words of mine can describe. And God hears it. +They curse His name. They curse his Sabbath. +They curse his Bible. They curse his people. +They curse his Only Begotten Son. Yes; they +swear by the name of Jesus! It makes my hair +rise, and my flesh creep, and my blood chill, +and my breath catch, and my foot halt.</p> + +<p>Dionysius had a cave where men were incarcerated. +At the top of the cave was an aperture +to which he could put his ear, and could +hear every sigh, every groan, every word of +the inmates. This world is so arranged that +all its voices go up to heaven. God puts down +his ear and hears every word of praise offered, +and every word of blasphemy spoken.</p> + +<p>Our cities must come to judgment. All these +oaths must be answered for. They die on the +air, but they have an eternal echo. Listen for +the echo. It rolls back from the ages to come. +Listen:—"<i>All blasphemers shall have their place +in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone</i>." +Some have thought that a lost soul in +the future world will do that which it was most +prone to do in this world. If so, then think of +a man blaspheming God through all eternity!</p> + +<p>This habit grows upon a man, until at last it +pushes him off forever. I saw a man die with +an oath between his teeth. Voltaire rose from +his dying pillow, and, supposing that he saw +Christ in the room, cried out, "Crush the +wretch!" A celebrated officer during the last +war fell mortally wounded, and the only word +he sent to his wife was: "Tell her I fought like +hell!"</p> + +<p>There are thousands of men who are having +all their moral nature pulled down by the fiery +fingers of this habit. At last, pinched, shrivelled, +and consumed, they will get down on +their beds to die, and at the step of the doctor +in the hall, or the shutting of the front door, +they will start up, thinking they hear the +sepulchral gates creak open.</p> + +<p>Who is this God that you should maltreat his +name? Has he been haunting you, starving +you, or freezing you all your life? No! He +is your Father, patient and loving. He rocked +your cradle with blessings, from the time you +were born. He clothes you now, and always +has clothed you. You never had a sickness +but he was sorry for you. He has brooded +over you with wings of love. He has tried to +press you to his heart of kindness and compassion. +He wants to forgive you. He wants to +help you. He wants to make you happy. He +watched last night over your pillow while you +slept. He will watch to-night. He was your +father's God, and your mother's. He has +housed them safe from the blast, and he wants +to shelter you. Do you trifle with his name? +Do you smite him in the face? Do you thrust +him back by your imprecations?</p> + +<p>Who is this Jesus Christ that I hear men +swearing by? Who is he? Some destroyer, +that they so treat his name? What foul thing +hath he done, that our great cities speak his +name in thousand-voiced jeer and contempt? +Who is he? A Lamb, whose blood simmered +in the fires of sacrifice, to save you. A Brother, +who put down his crown of glory that you +might take it up. For many years he has been +striving, night and day, to win your affections. +There is nothing in heaven that he is not willing +to give you. He came with blistered feet +and streaming eyes, with aching head and +broken heart to relieve you. On the craft of a +doomed humanity he pushed out into the sea, +to pick you off the rock. Who will ever again +malign his name? Is there a hand that will +ever again be lifted to wound him? If so, let +that hand, blood-dipped, be lifted now. Which +one of my readers will ever again utter his +sacred name in imprecation? If any, now let +them speak. Not one! Not one!</p> + +<p>One summer among the New England hills +there was an evening memorable for storm and +darkness. The clouds, which had been all day +gathering, at last unlimbered their batteries. +The Housatonic, that flows in silence save as +the paddles of pleasure-parties rattle in the row-lock, +was lashed into foam and its waves staggered, +not knowing where to lay themselves. +The hills jarred at the rumbling of God's +chariots. Blinding sheets of rain drove the +cattle to the bars, and beat against the window-pane +as if to dash it in. The corn-fields +crouched in the fury, and the ripened grain-fields +threw their crowns of gold at the feet of +the storm-king. After the night shut in, it was +a double night. Its black mantle was rent with +the lightnings, and into its locks were twisted +the leaves of uprooted oaks, and shreds of +canvas torn from the masts of the beached +shipping. It was such a night as makes you +thank God for shelter, and bids you open the +door to let in even the spaniel howling outside +with the terror. We went to sleep under the +full blast of heaven's great orchestra, and the +forests with uplifted voice, in choiring hosts that +filled all the side of the mountains, praising +the Lord.</p> + +<p>We waked not until the fingers of the sunny +morn touched our eyelids. We looked out and. +Housatonic slept as quiet as a baby's dream. +Pillars of white cloud set up along the heavens +looked like the castles of the blest, built +for hierarchs of heaven on the beach of the +azure sea. The trees sparkled as though there +had been some great grief in heaven, and</p> + +<p>each leaf had been God-appointed to catch an +angel's tear. It seemed as if God our Father +had looked down upon earth, his wayward +child, and stooped to her tear-wet cheek, and +kissed it.</p> + +<p>Even so will the darkness of our country's +crime and suffering be lifted. God will roll +back the night of storm, and bring in the morning +of joy. Its golden light will gild the city +spire, and strike the forests of Maine, and +tinge the masts of Mobile; and with one end +resting upon the Atlantic beach and the other +on the Pacific coast, God will spring a great +rainbow arch of peace, in token of everlasting +covenant that the land shall never again be +deluged with crime.</p> + + + +<a name="page262" + id="page262"></a> +<h2>LIES: WHITE AND BLACK.</h2> + + +<p>There are ten thousand ways of telling a lie. +A man's entire life may be a falsehood, while +with his lips he may not once directly falsify. +There are those who state what is positively +untrue, but afterwards say, "may be," softly. +These departures from the truth are called +"white lies;" but there is really no such thing +as a white lie. The whitest lie that was ever +told was as black as perdition. No inventory +of public crimes will be sufficient that omits this +gigantic abomination. There are men, high +in Church and State, actually useful, self-denying, +and honest in many things, who, upon +certain subjects, and in certain spheres, are not +at all to be depended upon for veracity. Indeed, +there are multitudes of men who have +their notions of truthfulness so thoroughly perverted, +that they do not know when they <i>are</i> +lying. With many it is a cultivated sin; with +some it seems a natural infirmity. I have +known people who seemed to have been born +liars. The falsehoods of their lives extended +from cradle to grave. Prevarication, misrepresentation, +and dishonesty of speech appeared +in their first utterances and was as natural to +them as any of their infantile diseases, and was +a sort of moral croup or spiritual scarlatina. +But many have been placed in circumstances +where this tendency has day by day, and hour +by hour, been called to larger development. +They have gone from attainment to attainment, +and from class to class, until they have become +regularly graduated liars.</p> + +<p>The air of the city is filled with falsehoods. +They hang pendent from the chandeliers of our +finest residences; they crowd the shelves of +some of our merchant princes; they fill the +side-walk from curb-stone to brown-stone facing. +They cluster around the mechanic's hammer, +and blossom from the end of the merchant's +yard-stick, and sit in the doors of churches. +Some call them "fiction." Some style them +"fabrication." You might say that they were +subterfuge, disguise, delusion, romance, evasion, +pretence, fable, deception, misrepresentation; +but, as I am ignorant of anything to be +gained by the hiding of a God-defying outrage +under a lexicographer's blanket, I shall chiefly +call them what my father taught me to call +them—<i>lies</i>.</p> + +<p>I shall divide them into agricultural, mercantile, +mechanical, and ecclesiastical lies; leaving +those that are professional, social, and political +for some other chapter.</p> + +<p>First, then, I will speak of those that are +more particularly <i>agricultural</i>. There is something +in the perpetual presence of natural +objects to make a man pure. The trees never +issue "false stock." Wheat-fields are always +honest. Rye and oats never move out in the +night, not paying for the place they have +occupied. Corn shocks never make false assignments. +Mountain brooks are always "current." +The gold on the grain is never counterfeit. +The sunrise never flaunts in false colors. +The dew sports only genuine diamonds.</p> + +<p>Taking farmers as a class, I believe they are +truthful, and fair in dealing, and kind-hearted. +But the regions surrounding our cities do not +always send this sort of men to our markets. +Day by day there creak through our streets, +and about the market-houses, farm wagons that +have not an honest spoke in their wheels, or a +truthful rivet from tongue to tail-board. During +the last few years there have been times +when domestic economy has foundered on the +farmer's firkin. Neither high taxes, nor the +high price of dry-goods, nor the exorbitancy of +labor, could excuse much that the city has witnessed +in the behavior of the yeomanry. By +the quiet firesides of Westchester and Bucks +counties I hope there may be seasons of deep +reflection and hearty repentance.</p> + +<p>Rural districts are accustomed to rail at great +cities as given up to fraud and every form of +unrighteousness; but our cities do not absorb all +the abominations. Our citizens have learned +the importance of not always trusting to the size +and style of apples in the top of a farmer's barrel, +as an indication of what may be found +farther down. Many of our people are accustomed +to watch to see how correctly a bushel of +beets is measured; and there are not many honest +milk-cans. Deceptions do not all cluster +around city halls. When our cities sit down +and weep over their sins, all the surrounding +counties ought to come in and weep with +them.</p> + +<p>There is often hostility on the part of producers +against traders, as though the man who +raises the corn were necessarily more honorable +than the grain dealer, who pours it into his +mammoth bin. There ought to be no such hostility. +The occupation of one is as necessary as +that of the other. Yet producers often think it +no wrong to snatch away from the trader; and +they say to the bargain-maker, "You get your +money easy." Do they get it easy? Let those +who in the quiet field and barn get their living +exchange places with those who stand to-day +amid the excitements of commercial life, and +see if they find it so very easy. While the +farmer goes to sleep with the assurance that his +corn and barley will be growing all the night, +moment by moment adding to his revenue, the +merchant tries to go to sleep, conscious that +that moment his cargo may be broken on the +rocks, or damaged by the wave that sweeps +clear across the hurricane deck; or that the gold +gamblers may, that very hour, be plotting some +monetary revolution, or the burglars be prying +open his safe, or his debtors fleeing the town, or +his landlord raising the rent, or the fires kindling +on the block that contains all his estate. +<i>Easy!</i> is it? God help the merchants! It is +hard to have the palms of the hand blistered +with out-door work; but a more dreadful process +when, through mercantile anxieties, the +brain is consumed!</p> + +<p>In the next place we notice <i>mercantile</i> lies, +those before the counter and behind the counter. +I will not attempt to specify the different forms +of commercial falsehood. There are merchants +who excuse themselves for deviation from truthfulness +because of what they call commercial +custom. In other words, the multiplication and +universality of a sin turns it into a virtue. +There have been large fortunes gathered where +there was not one drop of unrequited toil in the +wine; not one spark of bad temper flashing +from the bronze bracket; not one drop of +needle-woman's heart-blood in the crimson +plush; while there are other great establishments +in which there is not one door-knob, not one +brick, not one trinket, not one thread of lace, +but has upon it the mark of dishonor. What +wonder if, some day, a hand of toil that had +been wrung, and worn out, and blistered until +the skin came off, should be placed against the +elegant wall-paper, leaving its mark of blood,—four +fingers and a thumb; or that, some day, +walking the halls, there should be a voice accosting +the occupant, saying, <i>Six cents for +making a shirt</i>; and, flying the room, another +voice should say, <i>Twelve cents for an army +blanket</i>; and the man should try to sleep at +night, but ever and anon be aroused, until, +getting up on one elbow, he should shriek out, +<i>Who's there?</i></p> + +<p>There are thousands of fortunes made in +commercial spheres that are throughout righteous. +God will let his favor rest upon every +scroll, every pictured wall, every traceried +window; and the joy that flashes from the +lights, and showers from the music, and dances +in the children's quick feet, pattering through +the hall, will utter the congratulation of men +and the approval of God.</p> + +<p>A merchant can, to the last item, be thoroughly +honest. There is never any need of falsehood. +Yet how many will, day by day, hour +by hour, utter what they <i>know</i> to be wrong. +You say that you are selling at less than cost. +If so, then it is right to say it. But did that +thing cost you less than what you ask for it? +If not, then you have lied. You say that +article cost you twenty-five dollars. Did it? +If so, then all right. If it did not, then you +have lied. Suppose you are a purchaser. You +are "beating down" the goods. You say that +that article, for which five dollars is charged, is +not worth more than four. Is it worth no more +than four dollars? Then all right. If it be +worth more, and, for the sake of getting it for +less than its value, you wilfully depreciate it, +you have lied. <i>You</i> may call it a sharp trade. +The recording angel writes it down on the +ponderous tomes of eternity—"Mr. So and So, +merchant on Water street, or in Eighth street, +or in State street; or Mrs. So and So, keeping +house on Beacon street, or on Madison +avenue, or Rittenhouse square, told one lie." +You may consider it insignificant, because relating +to an insignificant purchase. You would +despise the man who would falsify in regard to +some great matter, in which the city or the +whole country was concerned; but this is only +a box of buttons, or a row of pins, or a case of +needles. Be not deceived. The article purchased +may be so small you can put it in your +vest pocket, but the sin was bigger than the +Pyramids, and the echo of the dishonor will reverberate +through all the mountains of eternity.</p> + +<p>You throw out on your counter some specimens +of handkerchiefs. Your customer asks, +"Is that all silk? no cotton in it?" You answer, +"It is all silk." Was it all silk? If +so, all right. But was it partly cotton? Then +you have lied. Moreover, you lost by the +falsehood. The customer, though he may live +at Lynn, or Doylestown, or Poughkeepsie, will +find out that you defrauded him, and next +spring, when he again comes shopping, he will +look at your sign and say: "I will not try +there. That is the place where I got that handkerchief." +So that, by that one dishonest +bargain, you picked your own pocket and insulted +the Almighty.</p> + +<p>Would you dare to make an estimate of how +many falsehoods in trade were yesterday told +by hardware men, and clothiers, and fruit-dealers, +and dry-goods establishments, and importers, +and jewellers, and lumbermen, and +coal-merchants, and stationers, and tobacconists? +Lies about saddles, about buckles, +about ribbons, about carpets, about gloves, +about coats, about shoes, about hats, about +watches, about carriages, about books,—about +everything. In the name of the Lord Almighty, +I arraign commercial falsehoods as +one of the greatest of abominations in city +and town.</p> + +<p>In the next place, I notice <i>mechanical</i> lies. +There is no class of men who administer more +to the welfare of the city than artisans. To +their hand we must look for the building that +shelters us, for the garments that clothe us, for +the car that carries us. They wield a widespread +influence. There is much derision of +what is called "<i>muscular Christianity</i>;" but in +the latter day of the world's prosperity, I think +that the Christian will be muscular. We have +the right to expect of those stalwart men of toil +the highest possible integrity. Many of them +answer all our expectations, and stand at the +front of religious and philanthropic enterprises. +But this class, like the others that I have named, +has in it those who lack in the element of +veracity. They cannot all be trusted. In +times when the demand for labor is great, it is +impossible to meet the demands of the public, or +do work with that promptness and perfection +that would at other times be possible. But +there are mechanics whose word cannot be +trusted at any time. No man has a right to +promise more work than he can do. There are +mechanics who say that they will come Monday, +but they do not come until Wednesday. You +put work in their hands that they tell you shall +be completed in ten days, but it is thirty. +There have been houses built of which it might be +said that every nail driven, every foot of plastering +put on, every yard of pipe laid, every +shingle hammered, every brick mortared, could +tell of falsehood connected therewith. There +are men attempting to do ten or fifteen pieces +of work who have not the time or strength +to do more than five or six pieces; but by promises +never fulfilled keep all the undertakings +within their own grasp. This is what they call +<i>"nursing" the job</i>.</p> + +<p>How much wrong to his soul and insult to +God a mechanic would save, if he promised +only so much as he expected to be able to +do. Society has no right to ask of you impossibilities.</p> + +<p>You cannot always calculate correctly, and +you may fail because you cannot get the help +that you anticipate. But now I am speaking of +the wilful making of promises that you know +you cannot keep. Did you say that that shoe +should be mended, that coat repaired, those +brick laid, that harness sewed, that door +grained, that spout fixed, or that window +glazed, by Saturday, knowing that you would +neither be able to do it yourself nor get any +one else to do it? Then, before God and man, +you are a liar. You may say that it makes no +particular difference, and that if you had told +the truth you would have lost the job, and that +people expect to be disappointed. But that +excuse will not answer. There is a voice of +thunder rolling among the drills, and planes, +and shoe-lasts, and shears, which says: "All +liars shall have their place in the lake that burneth +with fire and brimstone."</p> + +<p>I next notice <i>ecclesiastical</i> lies; that is, falsehoods +told for the purpose of advancing +churches and sects, or for the purpose of depleting +them. There is no use in asking many +a Calvinist what an Arminian believes, for he +will be apt to tell you that the Arminian believes +that a man can convert himself; or to +ask the Arminian what the Calvinist believes, +for he will tell you that the Calvinist believes +that God made some men just to damn them. +There is no need of asking a pedo-Baptist what +a Baptist believes, for he will be apt to say that +the Baptist believes immersion to be positively +necessary to salvation. It is almost impossible +for one denomination of Christians, without prejudice +or misrepresentation, to state the sentiment +of an opposing sect. If a man hates Presbyterians, +and you ask him what Presbyterians +believe, he will tell you that they believe that +there are infants in hell a span long.</p> + +<p>It is strange also how individual churches will +sometimes make misstatements about other +individual churches. It is especially so in regard +to falsehoods told with reference to prosperous +enterprises. As long as a church is feeble, +and the singing is discordant, and the minister, +through the poverty of the church, must +go with threadbare coat, and here and there a +worshipper sits in the end of a pew having all +the seat to himself, religious sympathizers of +other churches will say, "What a pity!" But, +let a great day of prosperity come, and even +ministers of the gospel, who ought to be rejoiced +at the largeness and extent of the work, denounce, +and misrepresent, and falsify,—starting +the suspicion, in regard to themselves, that the +reason they do not like the corn is because it is +not ground in their own mill.</p> + +<p>How long before we shall learn to be fair in +our religious criticisms! The keenest jealousies +on earth are church jealousies. The field of +Christian work is so large that there is no need +that our hoe-handles hit.</p> + +<p>May God extirpate from the world ecclesiastical +lies, commercial lies, mechanical lies, +and agricultural lies, and make every man, the +world over, to speak truth with his neighbor!</p> + + + +<a name="page276" + id="page276"></a> +<h2>A GOOD TIME COMING.</h2> + + +<p>As on some bitter cold night, while threshing +our hands about to keep our thumbs from +freezing, we have looked up and seen the northern +lights blazing along the sky, the windows +of heaven illumined at the news of some great +victory, so from beyond this bitter night of +abomination a brightness strikes through from +the other side.</p> + +<p>I have thought that it would be well, in +these chapters on the sins of the times, to lift +before you a vision of what our cities will be +when the work of good men shall have been +concluded and our population redeemed. I +doubt not that sometimes men have shut this +book, thinking that the gigantic wrongs we +depict may never be discomfited. Lest you +be utterly disheartened, I will show you that +we fight in a war in which we will be completely +victorious. This is to be no drawn +battle; for, when it is done, the result will not +be disputed by a man on earth, or an angel in +heaven, or a devil in hell. We shall have +captured every one of the strongholds of darkness. +You and I will live to see the day when +gambling-hells will be changed into places of +Christian merchandise, and houses of sin swept +and garnished for the residence of the purest +home circles.</p> + +<p>Beethoven was deaf, and could not hear the +airs he composed; but when the song of universal +disenthralment arises, and white Circassian +stands up by the side of black Ethiopian, +and tropical groves wave to the Lebanon +cedars, we shall, standing somewhere, know it +and see it, and hear it. If gone from earth, +we will be allowed to come out on the hills and +look.</p> + +<p>We do not talk about impossibilities. We +do not propose a medicine about which we +have to say that it will "kill or cure." For +this balm that oozes from the tree of heaven +will inevitably cure.</p> + +<p>I remark that this coming time of municipal +elevation will be a time of financial prosperity. +Many seem to suppose that when the world's +better days come, the people will forsake their +industries, and give themselves to perpetual +psalm-singing, and, being all absorbed in +spiritual things, will become reckless as to dress +and dwelling; and very rigid laws then governing +the commercial world, all enterprise and +speculation will cease, and all hilarity be stricken +out of the social circle. There is no warrant +for such an absurd anticipation. I suppose +that when society is reconstructed, where there +is now, in the course of a year, one fortune +made, there will be a hundred fortunes made. +Every one knows that the commercial world +thrives in proportion as there is confidence between +man and man; and the extirpation of +all double-dealing and fraud from society will +increase this confidence, and hence greater +prosperity. The heavy commercial disasters +that have smitten this land were the work of +godless speculators and infamous stock-gamblers. +It is crime that is the mightiest foe to +business; but when the right shall hurl back +into ruin the plots of bad men, and purify the +commercial code, and thunder down fraudulent +establishments, and put into the hands of +honest men the keys of commercial prosperity, +blessed will be the bargain-makers of the +city.</p> + +<p>That will be a prosperous time, for taxes +will be a mere nothing. Every style of business +is taxed now to the utmost. City taxes, +county taxes, State taxes, United States taxes, +license taxes, manufacturing taxes, stamp taxes,—taxes! +taxes! taxes! Our citizens must +make a small fortune every year to meet these +exactions. What hand fastens to all of our +great industries this tremendous load? Crime! +We have to pay the board of every man and +woman who, by intemperance, is cast into the +alms-house. We have to support the orphans +of those who plunge themselves into their +graves by beastly indulgences. We support +from our pockets the large machinery of municipal +government, which is vast just in proportion +as the criminal proclivities of the city are +great. What makes necessary hospitals, houses +of refuge, police-stations, and alms-houses, the +Tombs, Sing Sing, and Moyamensing?</p> + +<p>In that good time coming there shall be no +exhaustive taxation; no orphans homeless, for +parents will be able to leave their children a +competency; no prisons, for crime will have +given place to virtue. Then the vast swindles +which now, from time to time, disgrace our +cities, will be unheard of. No voting of public +money that, on its way to some city improvement, +falls into the pockets of those who voted +it. No courts of Oyer and Terminer, at vast +expense to the people. No empanelling of juries +to inquire into theft, arson, murder, slander, +and black-mail. In that day of redemption +there will be better factories, grander architecture, +finer equipages, larger estates, richer opulence.</p> + +<p>Again: when our cities are purified the +churches will be multiplied, purified, and +strengthened. Now, denominations, and the +individuals of the different sects, are often jealous +of each other. Christians are not always +kindly disposed toward each other; and ministers +of the gospel sometimes forget the bond of +brotherhood. In that day they will be sympathetic +and helpful. There may be differences +of opinion and sentiment, but no acerbity, no +hypercriticism, and no exclusiveness. In that +day all the churches will be filled with worshippers. +We have not to-day, in the cities, church-room +for one-fourth of our population; and yet +there is a great deal more room than the people +occupy. The churches do not average an attendance +of five hundred people. The vast majority +do not attend public worship. But in +the day of which I speak there will be enough +church-room to hold all the people, and the +room will be occupied. In that time what rousing +songs will be sung! What earnest sermons +will be preached! What fervent prayers will +be offered! In these days a <i>fashionable</i> church +is a place where, after a careful toilet, a few +people come in, sit down, and what time they +can get their minds off their stores, or away +from the new style of hat in the seat before +them, listen in silence to the minister—warranted +to hit no man's sins—and to the choir, +who are agreed to sing tunes that nobody +knows; and, having passed away an hour in +dreamy lounging, go home refreshed.</p> + +<p>I pronounce much of what is called "church +music," in our day, a mockery and a farce. +Though I have neither a cultured voice nor a +cultured ear, no man shall do my singing. +When the storms, and the trees, and the dragons +are called on to praise the Lord, I feel that I +must sing, for I know more about music than do +the dragons. Nothing can take the place of +artistic music. The dollar that I pay to hear +Parepa or Nilsson sing is far from being wasted. +But, when the hymn is read, and the angels of +God stoop from their thrones to bear up on their +wings the praise of the great congregation, let us +not drive them away with our indifference. I +have preached in churches where fabulous sums +of money were paid to performers, and the harmony +was exquisite as any harmony that ever +went up from an Academy of Music; and yet, +for all the purposes of devotion, I would prefer +the hearty, out-breaking song of a backwoods +Methodist camp-meeting. When these fancy +starveling songs get up to the gate of heaven, +how do you suppose they look, standing beside +the great doxologies of the glorified? Let +an operatic performance, floating upward, get +many hours the start, and it shall be caught +and passed by the shout of the Sailors' Bethel, +or the hosanna of the Sabbath-school children.</p> + +<p>I know a church where there was no singing +except that done by the choir, save one old +Christian man; and they waited upon him by +a committee, and asked him if he would not +stop singing, for he disturbed the choir!</p> + +<p>The day cometh when all the churches will +rejoice in this department of service, rightly +conducted, and when from all the great audiences +of attentive worshippers will rise a multitudinous +anthem.</p> + +<p>"O God! let all the people praise thee!" +Again: when the city is redeemed, the low +haunts of vice and pollution will be extinguished. +Mr. Etzler, of England, proposes, by the +forces of tide, and wind, and wave, and sunshine, +to reconstruct the world. In a book of +much genius, which rushed rapidly from edition +to edition, he says:—"Fellow-men: I promised +to show the means of creating a paradise within +ten years, where everything desirable for human +life may be had by every man in superabundance, +without labor and without pay; where +the whole face of nature shall be changed into +the most beautiful forms, and man may live +in the most magnificent palaces, in all imaginable +refinements of luxury, and in the most delightful +gardens; where he may accomplish +without labor, in one year, more than hitherto +could be done in thousands of years; may level +continents; sink valleys; create lakes; drain +lakes and swamps, and intersect the land everywhere +with beautiful canals and roads for +transporting heavy loads of many thousand +tons, and for travelling a thousand miles in +twenty-four hours; may cover the ocean with +floating islands, movable in any desired direction, +with an immense power and celerity, in +perfect security, and with all the comforts and +luxuries; bearing gardens and palaces, with +thousands of families, and provided with rivulets +of sweet water; may explore the interior +of the globe, and travel from pole to pole in +a fortnight; provide himself with means yet +unheard of for increasing his knowledge of the +world, and so his intelligence; leading a life of +continual happiness, of enjoyment yet unknown; +free himself from almost all the evils +that afflict mankind except death, and even +put death far beyond the common period of +human life, and, finally, render it less afflicting. +From the houses to be built will be +afforded the most enrapturing views to be +fancied; from the galleries, from the roof, and +from its turrets may be seen gardens, as far as +the eye can see, full of fruits and flowers, +arranged in the most beautiful order, with +walks, colonnades, aqueducts, canals, ponds, +plains, amphitheatres, terraces, fountains, sculptured +works, pavilions, gondolas, places for +public amusement, to delight the eye and fancy. +All this to be done by urging the water, the +wind, and the sunshine to their full development." +Mr. Etzler gives plates of the machinery +by which all this is to be done. He proposes +the organization of a company; and says +small shares of twenty dollars will be sufficient—in +all from two hundred thousand to three +hundred thousand dollars—to create the first +establishment for a whole community, of from +three to four thousand individuals. "At the +end of five years we shall have a principal of +two hundred millions of dollars; and so paradise +will be wholly regained at the end of the tenth +year."</p> + +<p>There is more reason in this than in many of +the plans proposed; but mechanical forces can +never recreate the world. I shall take no shares +in the large company that is proposed; my +faith is that Christianity will yet make the worst +street of our cities better than the best street +now is.</p> + +<p>Archimedes consumed the enemies of Syracuse +by a great sun-glass. As the ships came +up the harbor, the sun's rays were concentrated +upon them: now the sails are wings of fire; +the masts fall, and the vessels sink. So, by the +great sun-glass of the Gospel, the rays of +heaven will be concentred upon all the filth +and unchastity and crime of our great towns, +and under the heat they will blaze and expire. +When the day comes that I have shown will +come, suppose you that there will be any +midnight brawls? any shivering mendicants, +kicked off from the marble steps? any droves +of unwashed, uncombed, unfed children? any +blasphemers in the street? any staggering past +of inebriates? No! No wine-cellars. No +lager-beer saloons. No distilleries where they +make the XXX. No bloated cheeks. No +blood-shot eyes. No fist-battered foreheads. +The grandchildren of that woman who now +walks up the street with a curse, as the boys +stone her, will be philanthropists, and heal the +sick, and manage great commercial enterprises.</p> + +<p>When our cities are so raised, we shall have +a different style of municipal government. The +great question, in regard to the execution of the +law, now is: "What is popular?" Our city +governments slumber—great carcasses of insufficiency, +sending up their stench into the nostrils +of high heaven, while there are thousands of +gambling-houses, and drinking-saloons, and +more places of damnable lust than the decency +of the country has time to count. Do you tell +me that the authorities do not know it? They +do know it. All the police know it. The +sheriff and his deputies know it. The aldermen +know it. The mayors know it. Everybody +who keeps his eyes and ears open knows it. In +the name of God I impeach the municipal +authorities of many of our cities, that they neglect +to execute the law. You cannot charge it +upon any one party. Within the past few years +both parties, and all kinds of parties, have been +in power; but the work has never been done. +You have but to pass the City Hall, or look in +upon the rooms of some of our city officials, to +see to what sort of men our cities have been +abandoned. Look at the swearing, bloated, +sensual wretches who stand on the outside of +the New York City Hall, picking their teeth, +waiting for some crumbs of emolument to fall at +their feet; and then tell me how far it is from +New York to Sodom. Who are those wretched +women sent up in the city van to the police-court, +apprehended for drunkenness? They +will be locked up in jail; but what will be done +with the groggeries that made them drunk? +Who are these men in the city-prison? That +man stole a pair of shoes; that boy, one dollar +from the counter; that girl snatched a purse—all +villanies of less than twenty or thirty dollars' +damage to the community; but for that gambler, +who last night took that young man's +thousand dollars—nothing! For that man who +broke in upon the purity of a Christian household, +and by a perfidy and adroitness that beat +the strategy of hell, flung that girl into the +chasm of earthly despair, from which her lost +soul goes shrieking to the bottomless pit—nothing! +For those who "fleeced" a young +man, and induced him to filch from his employers +vast sums of money, until, in his agony, he +came to an officer of the church, and frantically +asked what he should do—nothing!</p> + +<p>Verily, small crimes ought to be punished; +but it were more just if our authorities would +turn out from our jails and penitentiaries the +small villains, the petty criminals, the infantile +offenders, the ten-dollar desperadoes, and fill +their places with some of these monsters of +abomination, who drive their roan span through +our fine streets until honest men have to fly to +escape being run over; and if they would turn +out from their incarceration the poor girls of +the town, and put in some of the magnificent +ladies who cover up the sidewalk with their +unpaid-for fineries, and with scornful look, in +the church-aisle, pass the daughters of poverty, +who with their faded dress and plain +hat <i>dare</i> to come to worship God in the same +sanctuary.</p> + +<p>But all these wrongs shall be righted. Our +streets shall hear the tramp of a regenerated +multitude. Three hundred and sixty bells were +rung in Moscow when the prince was married; +but when righteousness and peace shall "kiss +each other" in all the earth, ten thousand +bells will strike the jubilee. Poverty enriched. +Hunger fed. Disease cured. Crime purified. +The cities saved.</p> + + +<p>THE END.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abominations of Modern Society +by Rev. T. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Abominations of Modern Society + +Author: Rev. T. De Witt Talmage + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13104] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Boothby, David Newman, Alison Hadwin and PG +Distributed Proofreaders + + + + + + + + + +THE ABOMINATIONS OF MODERN SOCIETY. + +BY REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, + +AUTHOR OF "CRUMBS SWEPT UP" + +1872. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This is a buoy swung over the rocks. If it shall keep ship, bark, +fore-and-aft schooner, or hermaphrodite brig from driving on a lee +shore, "all's well." + +The book is not more for young men than old. The Calabria was wrecked +"the last day out." + +Nor is the book more for men than women. The best being that God ever +made is a good woman, and the worst that the devil ever made is a bad +one. If anything herein shall be a warning either to man or woman, I +will be glad that the manuscript was caught up between the sharp teeth +of the type. + +T.D.W.T. + +BROOKLYN, January 1st, 1872. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Curtain Lifted + +Winter Nights + +The Power of Clothes + +After Midnight + +The Indiscriminate Dance + +The Massacre by Needle and Sewing-Machine + +Pictures in the Stock Gallery + +Leprous Newspapers + +The Fatal Ten-Strike + +Some of the Club-Houses + +Flask, Bottle, and Demijohn + +House of Blackness of Darkness + +The Gun that Kicks over the Man who Shoots it off + +Lies: White and Black + +The Good Time Coming + + + + +THE ABOMINATIONS. + + + * * * * * + + + + +THE CURTAIN LIFTED. + + +Pride of city is natural to men, in all times, if they live or have +lived in a metropolis noted for dignity or prowess. Caesar boasted of +his native Rome; Lycurgus of Sparta; Virgil of Andes; Demosthenes of +Athens; Archimedes of Syracuse; and Paul of Tarsus. I should suspect +a man of base-heartedness who carried about with him no feeling of +complacency in regard to the place of his residence; who gloried not +in its arts, or arms, or behavior; who looked with no exultation upon +its evidences of prosperity, its artistic embellishments, and its +scientific attainments. + +I have noticed that men never like a place where they have not behaved +well. Swarthout did not like New York; nor Dr. Webster, Boston. Men +who have free rides in prison-vans never like the city that furnishes +the vehicle. + +When I see in history Argos, Rhodes, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, and +several other cities claiming Homer, I conclude that Homer behaved +well. + +Let us not war against this pride of city, nor expect to build up +ourselves by pulling others down. Let Boston have its _Common_, +its _Faneuil Hall_, its _Coliseum_, and its _Atlantic Monthly_. Let +Philadelphia talk about its _Mint_, and _Independence Hall_, and +_Girard College_. When I find a man living in either of those places, +who has nothing to say in favor of them, I feel like asking him, "What +mean thing did you do, that you do not like your native city?" + +New York is a goodly city. It is one city on both sides of the river. +The East River is only the main artery of its great throbbing life. +After a while four or five bridges will span the water, and we shall +be still more emphatically one than now. When, therefore, I say "New +York city," I mean more than a million of people, including everything +between Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Gowanus. That which tends to elevate +a part, elevates all. That which blasts part, blasts all. Sin is a +giant; and he comes to the Hudson or Connecticut River, and passes it, +as easily as we step across a figure in the carpet. The blessing of +God is an angel; and when it stretches out its two wings, one of them +hovers over that, and the other over this. + +In infancy, the great metropolis was laid down by the banks of the +Hudson. Its infancy was as feeble as that of Moses, sleeping in the +bulrushes by the Nile; and like Miriam, there our fathers stood and +watched it. The royal spirit of American commerce came down to the +water to bathe; and there she found it. She took it in her arms, +and the child grew and waxed strong; and the ships of foreign lands +brought gold and spices to its feet; and, stretching itself up into +the proportions of a metropolis, it has looked up to the mountains, +and off upon the sea,--one of the mightiest of the energies of +American civilization. + +The character of the founder of a city will be seen for many years in +its inhabitants. Romulus impressed his life upon Rome. The Pilgrims +relax not their hold upon the cities of New England. William Penn has +left Philadelphia an inheritance of integrity and fair dealing; and +on any day in that city you may see in the manners, customs, and +principles of its people, his tastes, his coat, his hat, his wife's +bonnet, and his plain meeting-house. The Hollanders still wield an +influence over New York. + +Grand Old New York! What southern thoroughfare was ever smitten by +pestilence, when our physicians did not throw themselves upon the +sacrifice! What distant land has cried out in the agony of famine, and +our ships have not put out with bread-stuffs! What street of Damascus, +or Beyrout, or Madras that has not heard the step of our missionaries! +What struggle for national life, in which our citizens have not poured +their blood into the trenches! What gallery of exquisite art, in +which our painters have not hung their pictures! What department of +literature or science to which our scholars have not contributed! +I need not speak of our public schools, where the children of the +cordwainer, and milkman, and glass-blower stand by the side of the +flattered sons of millionnaires and merchant princes; or of the +insane asylums on all these islands, where they who came out cutting +themselves, among the tombs, now sit, clothed and in their right mind; +or of the Magdalen asylums, where the lost one of the street comes to +bathe the Saviour's feet with her tears, and wipe them with the hairs +of her head,--confiding in the pardon of Him who said--"Let him who +is without sin cast the first stone at her." I need not speak of the +institutions for the blind, the lame, the deaf and the dumb, for the +incurables, for the widow, the orphan, and the outcast; or of the +thousand-armed machinery that sends streaming down from the reservoir +the clear, bright, sparkling, God-given water that rushes through +our aqueducts, and dashes out of the hydrants, and tosses up in +our fountains, and hisses in our steam-engines, and showers out the +conflagration, and sprinkles from the baptismal font of our churches; +and with silver note, and golden sparkle, and crystalline chime, says +to hundreds of thousands of our population, in the authentic words of +Him who made it--"I WILL: BE THOU CLEAN!" + +They who live in any of the American cities have a goodly heritage; +and it is in no depreciation of our advantages that I speak, but +because, in the very contrast with our opportunities and mission, THE +ABOMINATIONS are tenfold more abominable. + +The sources from which I will bring the array of facts will be police, +detective, and alms-house reports; city missionaries' explorations, +and the testimony of the abandoned and sin-blasted, who, about to take +the final plunge, have staggered back just for a moment, to utter the +wild shriek of their warning, and the agonizing wail of their despair. + +I shall call upon you to consider the drunkenness, the stock-gambling, +the rampant dishonesties, the club-houses so far as they are +nefarious, the excess of fashion, the horrors of unchastity, the +bad books and unclean newspapers, and the whole range of sinful +amusements; and with the plough-share of truth turn up the whole +field. + +If we could call up the victims themselves, they would give the most +impressive story. People knew not how Turner, the painter, got such +vivid conceptions of a storm at sea, until they heard the story that +oftentimes he had been lashed to the deck in the midst of the tempest, +in order that he might study the wrath of the sea. + +Those who have themselves been tossed on the wave of infamous +transgressions could give us the most vivid picture of what it is +to sin and to die. With hand tremulous with exhausting disease, and +hardly able to get the accursed bowl to his lips--put into such a hand +the pencil, and it can sketch, as can no one else, the darkness, the +fire, the wild terror, the headlong pitch, and the hell of those who +have surrendered themselves to iniquity. While we dare only come near +the edge, and, balancing ourselves a while, look off, and our head +swims, and our breath catches,--those can tell the story best who have +fallen to the depths with wilder dash than glacier from the top of a +Swiss cliff, and stand, in their agony, looking up for a relief +that comes not, and straining their eyes for a hope that never +dawns--crying, "O God!" "O God!" + +It is terrible to see a lion dashing for escape against the sides of +his cage; but a more awful thing it is to behold a man, caged in bad +habit, trying to break out,--blood on the soul, blood on the cage. + +Others may throw garlands upon Sin, picturing the overhanging fruits +which drop in her pathway, and make every step graceful as the dance; +but we cannot be honest without presenting it as a giant, black with +the soot of the forges where eternal chains are made, and feet rotting +with disease, and breath foul with plagues, and eyes glaring with woe, +and locks flowing in serpent fangs, and voice from which shall rumble +forth the blasphemies of the damned. + +I open to you a door, through which you see--what? Pictures and +fountains, and mirrors and flowers? No: it is a lazar-house of +disease. The walls drip, drip, drip with the damps of sepulchres. The +victims, strewn over the floor, writhe and twist among each other in +contortions indescribable, holding up their ulcerous wounds, +tearing their matted hair, weeping tears of blood: some hooting with +revengeful cry; some howling with a maniac's fear; some chattering +with idiot's stare; some calling upon God; some calling upon fiends; +wasting away; thrusting each other back; mocking each other's pains; +tearing open each other's ulcers; dropping with the ichor of death! +The wider I open the door, the ghastlier the scene.--Worse the +horrors. More desperate recoils. Deeper curses. More blood. I can no +longer endure the vision, and I shut the door, and cover my eyes, and +turn my back, and cry, "God pity them!" + +Some one may say, "What is the use of such an exposure as you propose +to make? Our families are all respectable." I answer, that no family, +however elevated and exclusive, can be independent of the state of +public morals. + +However pleasant the block of houses in which you dwell, the +wretchedness, the temptation, and the outrage of municipal crime will +put its hand on your door-knob, and dash its awful surge against the +marble of your door-steps, as the stormy sea drives on a rocky beach. + +That condition of morals is now being formed, amid which our children +must walk. Do you tell me it is none of my business what street +profanity shall curse my boy's ear, on his way to school? Think you it +is no concern of yours what infamous advertisements, placarded on +the walls, or in the public newspaper, shall smite the vision of your +innocent little ones? Shall I be nervous about a stagnant pool of +water, lest it breed malaria, and be careless when there are in the +very heart of our city thousands of houses, devoted to various forms +of dissipation, which day and night steam with miasma, and pour out +the fiery lava of pollution, and darken the air with their horrors, +and fill the skies with the smoke of their torment, that ascendeth up +forever and ever? If a slaughter-house be opened in the midst of the +town, we hasten down to the Mayor to have the nuisance abated. But +now I make complaint, not to the Mayor or Common Council, but to the +masses of the people, who have the power to lift men up to office, and +to cast them down, against a hundred thousand slaughter-houses in +our American cities. In the name of our happy homes, of our refined +circles, of our schools, of our churches,--in the name of all that is +dear and beautiful and valuable and holy,--I enter the complaint. If +you now sit unconcerned, and leave to professed philanthropists +the work, and care not who are in authority or what laws remain +unexecuted, you may live to see the time when you will curse the day +in which your children were born. + +My belief is that such an exposition of public immoralities will +do good, by exciting pity for the victims and wholesale indignation +against the abettors and perpetrators. + +Who is that man fallen against the curbstone, covered with bruises and +beastliness? He was as bright-faced a lad as ever looked up from your +nursery. His mother rocked him, prayed for him, fondled him, would +not let the night air touch his cheek, and held him up and looked down +into his loving eyes, and wondered for what high position he was being +fitted. He entered life with bright hopes. The world beckoned him, +friends cheered him, but the archers shot at him; vile men set traps +for him, bad habits hooked fast to him with their iron grapples; his +feet slipped on the way; and there he lies. Who would think that that +uncombed hair was once toyed with by a father's fingers? Who would +think that those bloated cheeks were ever kissed by a mother's lips? +Would you guess that that thick tongue once made a household glad with +its innocent prattle? Utter no harsh words in his ear. Help him up. +Put the hat over that once manly brow. Brush the dust from that coat +that once covered a generous heart. Show him the way to the home that +once rejoiced at the sound of his footstep, and with gentle words tell +his children to stand back as you help him through the hall. + +That was a kind husband once and an indulgent father. He will kneel +with them no more as once he did at family prayers--the little ones +with clasped hands looking up into the heavens with thanksgiving for +their happy home. But now at midnight he will drive them from their +pillows and curse them down the steps, and howl after them as, unclad, +they fly down the street, in night-garments, under the calm starlight. + +Who slew that man? Who blasted that home? Who plunged those children +into worse than orphanage--until the hands are blue with cold, and the +cheeks are blanched with fear, and the brow is scarred with bruises, +and the eyes are hollow with grief? Who made that life a wreck, and +filled eternity with the uproar of a doomed spirit? + +There are those whose regular business it is to work this death. They +mix a cup that glows and flashes and foams with enchantment. They +call it Cognac, or Hock, or Heidsick, or Schnapps, or Old Bourbon, or +Brandy, or Champagne; but they tell not that in the ruddy glow there +is the blood of sacrifice, and in its flash the eye of uncoiled +adders, and in the foam the mouth-froth of eternal death. Not knowing +what a horrible mixture it is, men take it up and drink it down--the +sacrificial blood, the adder's venom, the death-froth--and smack their +lips and call it a delightful beverage. + +Oh! if I had some art by which I could break the charm of the +tempter's bowl, and with mailed hand lift out the long serpent of +eternal despair, and shake out its coils, and cast it down, and crush +it to death! + +But the enchantment cannot thus be broken. It hides in the bottom of +the bowl; and not until a man is entirely fallen does the monster +lift itself up, and strike with its terrific fangs, and answer all +his implorations for mercy with fiendish hiss. We must arouse public +opinion, until city, State, and national officials shall no longer +dare to neglect the execution of the law. We have enough enactments +now to revolutionize our cities and strike terror through the +drinking-houses and gambling-dens and houses of sin. Tracts +distributed will not do it; Bibles printed will not accomplish it; +city missionaries have not power for the work. + +_Will_ tracts do it? As well try with three or four snow-flakes to put +out Cotapaxi! + +We want police officers, common councilmen, aldermen, sheriffs, +mayors, who will execute the law. Give us for two weeks in our cities +an honest city hall, and public pollution would fall like lightning +from heaven! + +If you republicans, and you democrats, do not do your duty in this +regard, we will, after a while, form a party of our own, and put +men in position pledged to anti-rum, anti-dirt, anti-nuisances, +anti-monopolies, anti-abominations, and will give to those of you who +have been so long feeding on public spoils, careless of public morals, +not so much as the wages of a street sweeper. + +We are not discouraged. It may seem to many that all of our battling +against these evils will come to naught. But if the coral insects can +lift an island, our feeble efforts, under God, may raise a break-water +that will dash back the surges of municipal abomination. Beside, we +toil not in our own strength. + +It seemed insignificant for Moses to stretch his hand over the Red +Sea. What power could that have over the waters? But the east wind +blew all night; the waters gathered into two glittering palisades on +either side. The billows reared as God's hand pulled back upon their +crystal bits. Wheel into line, O Israel! March! March! Pearls crash +under the feet. The flying spray springs a rainbow arch over the +victors. The shout of hosts mounting the beach answers the shout of +hosts mid-sea; until, as the last line of the Israelites have gained +the beach, the shields clang, and the cymbals clap; and as the waters +whelm the pursuing foe, the swift-fingered winds on the white keys of +the foam play the grand march of Israel delivered, and the awful dirge +of Egyptian overthrow. + +So we go forth; and stretch out the hand of prayer and Christian +effort over these dark, boiling waters of crime and suffering. "Aha! +Aha!" say the deriding world. But wait. The winds of divine help will +begin to blow; the way will clear for the great army of Christian +philanthropists; the glittering treasures of the world's beneficence +will line the path of our feet; and to the other shore we will be +greeted with the clash of all heaven's cymbals; while those who resist +and deride and pursue us will fall under the sea, and there will be +nothing left of them but here and there, cast high and dry upon the +beach, the splintered wheel of a chariot, and, thrust out from the +surf, the breathless nostril of a riderless charger. + + + + +WINTER NIGHTS. + + +The inhabitants of one of the old cities were told that they would +have to fly for their lives. Such flight would be painful, even in +the flush of spring-time, but superlatively aggravating if in cold +weather; and therefore they were told to pray that their flight be not +in the winter. + +There is something in the winter season that not only tests our +physical endurance, but, especially in the city, tries our moral +character. It is the winter months that ruin, morally, and forever, +many of our young men. We sit in the house on a winter's night, and +hear the storm raging on the outside, and imagine the helpless crafts +driven on the coast; but if our ears were only good enough, we could, +on any winter night, hear the crash of a hundred moral shipwrecks. + +Many who came last September to town, by the first of March will have +been blasted. It only takes one winter to ruin a young man. When the +long winter evenings have come, many of our young men will improve +them in forming a more intimate acquaintance with books, contracting +higher social friendships, and strengthening and ennobling their +characters. But not so with all. I will show you before I get through +that, at this season of the year, temptations are especially rampant: +and my counsel is, _Look out how you spend your winter nights!_ + +I remark, first, that there is no season of the year in which vicious +allurements are so active. + +In warm weather, places of dissipation win their tamest triumphs. +People do not feel like going, in the hot nights of summer, among the +blazing gas-lights, or breathing the fetid air of assemblages. The +receipts of the grog-shops in a December night are three times what +they are in any night in July or August. I doubt not there are +larger audiences in the casinos in winter than in the summer weather. +Iniquity plies a more profitable trade. December, January, and +February are harvest-months for the devil. The play-bills of the low +entertainments then are more charming, the acting is more exquisite, +the enthusiasm of the spectators more bewitching. Many a young man who +makes out to keep right the rest of the year, capsizes now. When he +came to town in the autumn, his eye was bright, his cheek rosy, his +step elastic; but, before spring, as you pass him you will say to your +friend, "What is the matter with that young man?" The fact is that one +winter of dissipation has done the work of ruin. + +This is the season for parties; and, if they are of the right kind, +our social nature is improved, and our spirits cheered up. But many +of them are not of the right kind; and our young people, night after +night, are kept in the whirl of unhealthy excitement until their +strength fails, and their spirits are broken down, and their taste for +ordinary life corrupted; and, by the time the spring weather comes, +they are in the doctor's hands, or sleeping in the cemetery. The +certificate of their death is made out, and the physician, out of +regard for the family, calls the disease by some Latin name, when the +truth is that they died of too many parties. + +Away with these wine-drinking convivialities! How dare you, the +father of a household, trifle with the appetites of our young people? +Perhaps, out of regard for the minister, or some other weak temperance +man, you have the decanter in a side-room, where, after refreshments, +only a select few are invited; and you come back with a glare in your +eye, and a stench in your breath, that shows that you have been out +serving the devil. + +Some one asks, "For what purpose are these people gone into that +side-room?" + +"O," replies one who has just come out, smacking his lips, "they have +gone in to see the white dog!" + +The excuse which Christian men often give for this is, that it is +necessary, after such late eating, by some sort of stimulant to help +digestion. My plain opinion is, that if a man have no more control +over his appetite than to stuff himself until his digestive organs +refuse to do their office, he ought not to call himself a man, but +rather to class himself among the beasts that perish. I take the words +of the Lord Almighty, and cry, "Woe to him that putteth the bottle to +his neighbor's lips!" + +Young man, take it as the counsel of a friend, when I bid you _be +cautious where you spend your winter evenings_. Thank God that you +have lived to see the glad winter days in which your childhood was +made cheerful by the faces of fathers and mothers, brothers and +sisters, some of whom, alas! will never again wish you a "happy New +Year," or a "Merry Christmas." + +Let no one tempt you out of your sobriety. I have seen respectable +young men of the best families drunk on New Year's day. The excuse +they gave for the inebriation was that the _ladies_ insisted on their +taking it. There have been instances where the delicate hand of woman +hath kindled a young man's taste for strong drink, who after many +years, when the attractions of that holiday scene were all forgotten, +crouched in her rags, and her desolation, and her woe under the +uplifted hand of the drunken monster who, on that Christmas morning +so long ago, took the glass from her hand. And so, the woman stands on +the abutment of the bridge, on the moon-lit night, wondering if, down +under the water, there is not some quiet place for a broken heart. She +takes one wild leap,--and all is over! + +Ah! mingle not with the harmless beverage of your festive scene this +poison of adders! Mix not with the white sugar of the cup the snow +of this awful leprosy! Mar not the clatter of cutlery at the holiday +feast with the clank of a madman's chain! + +Stop and look into the window of that pawnbroker's shop. Elegant furs. +Elegant watches. Elegant scarfs. Elegant flutes. People stand with a +pleased look gazing at these things; but I look in with a shudder, as +though I had seen into a window of hell. + +Whose elegant watch was that? It was a drunkard's watch! + +Whose furs? They belonged to a drunkard's wife! + +Whose flute? Whose shoes? Whose scarf? They belonged to a drunkard's +child! + +If I could, I would take the three brazen balls hanging at the +door-way, and clang them together until they tolled the awful knell +of the drunkard's soul. The pawnbroker's shop is only one eddy of the +great stream of municipal drunkenness. + +Stand back, young man! Take not the first step in the path that leads +here. Let not the flame of strong drink ever scorch your tongue. You +may tamper with these things and escape, but your influence will be +wrong. Can you not make a sacrifice for the good of others? + +When the good ship _London_ went down, the captain was told that there +was a way of escape in one of the life-boats. He said--"No; I will go +down with the rest of the passengers!" All the world acknowledged that +heroism. + +Can you not deny yourself insignificant indulgences for the good of +others? Be not allured by the fact that you drink only the moderate +beverages. You take only ale; and a man has to drink a large amount of +it to become intoxicated. Yes; but there is not in all the city to-day +an inebriate that did not _begin_ with ale. + +"XXX:" What does that mark mean? XXX on the beer-barrel: XXX on the +brewer's dray: XXX on the door of the gin-shop: XXX on the side of +the bottle. Not being able to find any one who could tell me what this +mark means, I have had to guess that the whole thing was an allegory: +XXX--that is, thirty heartbreaks. Thirty agonies. Thirty desolated +homes. Thirty chances for a drunkard's grave. Thirty ways to +perdition. + +"XXX." If I were going to write a story, the first chapter would be +XXX.; the last--"A pawnbroker's shop." + +Be watchful! At this season all the allurements to dissipation will be +especially busy. Let not your flight to hell be in the winter. + +I also remark that the winter evenings, through their very length, +allow great swing for indulgences. Few young men would have the taste +to go to their room at seven o'clock, and sit until eleven, reading +_Motley's Dutch Republic_ or _John Foster's Essays_. The young men +who have been confined to the store all day want fresh air and +sight-seeing; and they must go somewhere. The most of them have, of +a winter's evening, three or four hours of leisure. After the evening +repast, the young man puts on his hat and coat and goes out. + +"Come in here," cries one form of allurement. + +"Come in here," cries another. + +"Go;" says Satan. "You ought to see for yourself." + +"Why don't you go?" says a comrade. "It is a shame for a young man +to be as _green_ as you are. By this time you ought to have seen +everything." + +Especially is temptation strong in such times as this, when business +is dull. I have noticed that men spend more money when they have +little to spend. + +The tremendous question to be settled by our great populace, day by +day, is how to get a livelihood. Many of our young men, just starting +for themselves, are very much discouraged. They had hoped before this +to have set up a household of their own. But their gains have been +slow, and their discouragements many. The young man can hardly take +care of himself. How can he take care of another? And, to the curse +of modern society, before a young man is able to set up a home of his +own, he is expected to have enough to support in idleness somebody +else; when God intended that they should begin together, and jointly +earn a livelihood. So, many of our young men are utterly discouraged, +and utterly unfit to resist temptation. + +The time the pirate bears down upon the ship is when its sails are +down and it is making no headway. + +People wish they had more time to think. The trouble is now, that +people have too much time to think. Give to many of our commercial men +the four hours of these winter nights, with nothing to divert them, +and before spring they will have lodgings in an insane asylum. + +I remark further, that the winter is especially trying to the moral +character of our young men, because some of their homes in winter are +especially unattractive. In summer they can sit on the steps, or have +a bouquet in the vase on the mantel; and the evenings are so short +that soon after gas-light they feel like retiring. Parents do not take +enough pains to make these long winter nights attractive. + +It is strange that old people know so little about young people. One +would think that they had never been young themselves, but had been +born with their spectacles on. It is dolorous for young people to +spend the three or four hours of a winter's evening with parents +who sit talking over their own ailments and misfortunes, and the +nothingness of this world. How dare you talk such blasphemy? God was +busy six days in making the world, and has allowed it to hang six +thousand years on his holy heart; and that world hath fed you, and +clothed you, and shone on you for fifty years: and yet you talk about +the nothingness of this world! Do you expect the young people in +your family to sit a whole evening and hear you groan about this +magnificent, star-lighted, sun-warmed, shower-baptized, flower-strewn, +angel-watched, God-inhabited planet? From such homes young men make a +wild plunge into dissipation. Many of you have the means: why do you +not buy them a violin or a picture? or have your daughter cultured in +music until she can help to make home attractive? + +There are ten thousand ways of lighting up the domestic circle. It +requires no large income, no big house, no rich wardrobe, no chased +silver, no gorgeous upholstery, but a parental heart awake to its +duty. + +Have a doleful home and your children will not stay in it, though +you block up the door with Bibles, and tie fast to them a million +Heidelberg catechisms. + +I said to a man, "This is a beautiful tree in front of your house." + +He answered, with a whine, "Yes; but it will fade." + +I said to him, "You have a beautiful garden." + +He replied, "Yes; but it will perish." + +I found out afterward that his son was a vagabond, and I was not +surprised at it. + +You cannot groan men into decency, but you can groan them out. + +Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter! Devote these December, +January and February evenings to high pursuits, innocent amusements, +intelligent socialities, and Christian attainments. Do not waste this +winter. We shall soon have seen the last snow-shower, and have passed +up into the companionship of Him whose raiment is exceeding white as +snow--as no fuller on earth can whiten it. + +To the right-hearted, the winter nights of earth will soon end in the +June morning of heaven. + +The River of God, from under the Throne, never freezes over. The +foliage of Life's fair tree is never frost-bitten. The festivals, and +hilarities, and family gatherings of Christmas times on earth, will +give way to the larger reunions, and the brighter lights, and the +gladder scenes, and the sweeter garlands, and the richer feastings of +the great holiday of Heaven. + + + + +THE POWER OF CLOTHES. + + +One cannot always tell by a man's coat what kind of a heart he has +under it; still, his dress is apt to be the out-blossoming of his +character, and is not to be disregarded. + +We make no indiscriminate onslaught upon customs of dress. Why did +God put spots on the pansy, or etch the fern leaf? And what are +china-asters good for if style and color are of no importance? + +The realm is as wide as the world, and as far-reaching as all the +generations, over which fashion hath extended her sceptre. For +thousands of years she hath sat queen over all the earth, and the +revolutions that rock down all other thrones have not in the slighest +affected her domination. Other constitutions have been torn, and other +laws trampled; but to her decrees conquerors have bowed their plumes, +and kings have uncovered. Victoria is not Queen of England; Napoleon +was not Emperor of France; Isabella was not Queen of Spain. _Fashion_ +has been regnant over all the earth; and lords and dukes, kings and +queens, have been the subjects of her realm. + +She arranged the mantle of the patriarch, and the toga of the Roman; +the small shoe of the Chinese women, and the turban of the Turk; +the furs of the Laplander, and the calumet of the Indian chieftain. +Hottentot and Siberian obey the mandate, as well as Englishman and +American. Her laws are written on parchment and palm-leaf, on broken +arch and cathedral tracery. She arranged how the Egyptian mummy should +be wound, and how Caesar should ride, and how the Athenians should +speak, and how through the Venetian canals the gondoliers should row +their pleasure-boat. Her hand hath hung the pillars with embroidery, +and strewn the floor with plush. Her loom hath woven fabrics graceful +as the snow and pure as the light. Her voice is heard in the gold +mart, in the roar of the street, in the shuffle of the crowded +bazaars, in the rattle of the steam-presses, and in the songs of the +churches. + +You have limited your observation of the sway of fashion if you have +considered it only as it decides individual and national costumes. +It makes the rules of behavior. It wields an influence in artistic +spheres--often deciding what pictures shall hang in the house, what +music shall be played, what ornaments shall stand upon the mantle. +The poor man will not have on his wall the cheap wood-cut that he can +afford, because he cannot have a great daub like that which hangs on +the rich man's wall, and costing three hundred dollars. + +Fashion helps to make up religious belief. It often decides to what +church we shall go, and what religious tenets we shall adopt. It goes +into the pulpit, and decides the gown, and the surplice, and the style +of rhetoric. + +It goes into literature and arranges the binding, the type, the +illustrations of the book, and oftentimes the sentiments expressed and +the theories evolved. + +Men the most independent in feeling are by it compelled to submit to +social customs. And before I stop I want to show you that fashion has +been one of the most potent of reformers, and one of the vilest of +usurpers. Sometimes it has been an angel from heaven, and at others it +has been the mother of harlots. + +As the world grows better there will be as much fashion as now, but +it will be a different fashion. In the future life white robes always +have been and always will be in the fashion. + +There is a great outcry against this submission to social custom, +as though any consultation of the tastes and feelings of others were +deplorable; but without it the world would have neither law, order, +civilization, nor common decency. + +There has been a canonization of bluntness. There are men and women +who boast that they can tell you all they know and hear about you, +especially if it be unpleasant. Some have mistaken rough behavior for +frankness, when the two qualities do not belong to the same family. +You have no right, with your eccentricities, to crash in upon the +sensitiveness of others. There is no virtue in walking with hoofs over +fine carpets. The most jagged rock is covered with blossoming moss. +The storm that comes jarring down in thunder strews rainbow colors +upon the sky, and silvery drops on orchard and meadow. + +There are men who pride themselves on their capacity to "stick" +others. They say "I have brought him down: Didn't I make him squirm!" + +Others pride themselves on their outlandish apparel. They boast of +being out of the fashion. They wear a queer hat. They ride in an odd +carriage. By dint of perpetual application they would persuade the +world that they are perfectly indifferent to public opinion. They are +more proud of being "out of fashion" than others are of being in. They +are utterly and universally disagreeable. Their rough corners have +never been worn off. They prefer a hedge-hog to a lamb. + +The accomplishments of life are in nowise productive of effeminacy +or enervation. Good manners and a respect for the tastes of others +is indispensable. The Good Book speaks favorably of those who are +a "_peculiar_" people; but that does not sanction the behavior of +_queer_ people. There is no excuse, under any circumstances, for not +being and acting the lady or gentleman. Rudeness is sin. We have no +words too ardent to express our admiration for the refinements of +society. There is no law, moral or divine, to forbid elegance of +demeanor, ornaments of gold or gems for the person, artistic display +in the dwelling, gracefulness of gait and bearing, polite salutation, +or honest compliments; and he who is shocked or offended by these had +better, like the old Scythians, wear tiger-skins, and take one wild +leap back into midnight barbarism. + +As Christianity advances there will be better apparel, higher styles +of architecture, more exquisite adornments, sweeter music, grander +pictures, more correct behavior, and more thorough ladies and +gentlemen. + +But there is another story to be told. Excessive fashion is to be +charged with many of the worst evils of society, and its path has +often been strewn with the bodies of the slain. + +It has often set up a false standard by which people are to be +judged. Our common sense, as well as all the divine intimations on the +subject, teach us that people ought to be esteemed according to their +individual and moral attainments. The man who has the most nobility +of soul should be first, and he who has the least of such qualities +should stand last. No crest, or shield, or escutcheon, can indicate +one's moral peerage. Titles of duke, lord, esquire, earl, viscount, +or patrician, ought not to raise one into the first rank. Some of +the meanest men I have ever known had at the end of their name D.D., +LL.D., and F.R.S. Truth, honor, charity, heroism, self-sacrifice, +should win highest favor; but inordinate fashion says--"Count not a +woman's virtues; count her rings;" "Look not at the contour of the +head, but see the way she combs her hair;" "Ask not what noble deeds +have been accomplished by that man's hand; but is it white and soft?" +Ask not what good sense was in her conversation, but "in what was she +dressed." Ask not whether there was hospitality and cheerfulness in +the house, but "in what style do they live." + +As a consequence, some of the most ignorant and vicious men are at +the top, and some of the most virtuous and intelligent at the bottom. +During the late war we suddenly saw men hurled up into the highest +social positions. Had they suddenly reformed from evil habits? or +graduated in a science? or achieved some good work for society? No! +They simply had obtained a government contract! + +This accounts for the utter chagrin which men feel at the treatment +they receive when they lose their property. Hold up your head amid +financial disaster, like a Christian! Fifty thousand subtracted from a +good man leaves how much? Honor; Truth; Faith in God; Triumphant Hope; +and a kingdom of ineffable glory, over which he is to reign forever +and ever. + +If a millionnaire should lose a penny out of his pocket, would he sit +down on a curb-stone and cry? And shall a man possessed of everlasting +fortunes wear himself out with grief because he has lost worldly +treasure? You have only lost that in which hundreds of wretched +misers surpass you; and you have saved that which the Caesars, and the +Pharaohs, and the Alexanders could never afford. + +And yet society thinks differently; and you see the most intimate +friendships broken up as the consequence of financial embarrassments. +You say to some one--"How is your friend ----?" The man looks bewildered, +and says, "I do not know." You reply, "Why; you used to be intimate." +"Well," says the man, "our friendship has been dropped: the man has +failed." + +Proclamation has gone forth: "Velvets must go up, and homespun must +come down;" and the question is "How does the coat fit?"--not, "Who +wears it?" The power that bears the tides of excited population up +and down our streets, and rocks the world of commerce, and thrills all +nations, Transatlantic and Cisatlantic, is--_clothes_. It decides +the last offices of respect; and how long the dress shall be totally +black; and when it may subside into spots of grief on silk, calico, or +gingham. Men die in good circumstances, but by reason of extravagant +funeral expenses are well nigh insolvent before they get buried. Many +men would not die at all, if they had to wait until they could afford +it. + +Excessive fashion is productive of a most ruinous strife. The +expenditure of many households is adjusted by what their neighbors +have, not by what they themselves can afford to have; and the great +anxiety is as to who shall have the finest house and the most costly +equipage. The weapons used in the warfare of social life are not +Minie rifles, and Dahlgren guns, and Hotchkiss shells, but chairs +and mirrors, and vases, and Gobelins, and Axminsters. Many household +establishments are like racing steamboats, propelled at the utmost +strain and risk, and just coming to a terrific explosion. "Who cares," +say they, "if we only come out ahead?" + +There is no one cause to-day of more financial embarrassment, and of +more dishonesties, than this determination, at all hazards, to live as +well as or better than other people. There are persons who will risk +their eternity upon one fine looking-glass, or who will dash out the +splendors of heaven to get another trinket. + +"My house is too small." "But," says some one, "you cannot pay for a +larger." "Never mind that; my friends have a better residence, and so +will I." "A dress of that pattern I must have. I cannot afford it by +a great deal; but who cares for that? My neighbor had one from that +pattern, and I must have one." There are scores of men in the dungeons +of the penitentiary, who risked honor, business,--everything, in the +effort to shine like others. Though the heavens fall, they must be "in +the fashion." + +The most famous frauds of the day have resulted from this feeling. It +keeps hundreds of men struggling for their commercial existence. The +trouble is that some are caught and incarcerated, if their larceny +be small. If it be great, they escape, and build their castle on the +Rhine. Men go into jail, not because they steal, but because they did +not steal enough. + +Again: excessive fashion makes people unnatural and untrue. It is a +factory from which has come forth more hollow pretences, and unmeaning +flatteries, and hypocrisies, than the Lowell Mills ever turned out +shawls and garments. + +Fashion is the greatest of all liars. It has made society insincere. +You know not what to believe. When people ask you to come, you do +not know whether or not they want you to come. When they send their +regards, you do not know whether it is an expression of their heart, +or an external civility. We have learned to take almost everything at +a discount. Word is sent, "Not at home," when they are only too lazy +to dress themselves. They say, "The furnace has just gone out," when +in truth they have had no fire in it all winter. They apologize +for the unusual barrenness of their table, when they never live any +better. They decry their most luxurious entertainments, to win a +shower of approval. They apologize for their appearance, as though it +were unusual, when always at home they look just so. They would make +you believe that some nice sketch on the wall was the work of a master +painter. "It was an heir-loom, and once hung on the walls of a castle; +and a duke gave it to their grandfather." People who will lie about +nothing else, will lie about a picture. On a small income we must make +the world believe that we are affluent, and our life becomes a cheat, +a counterfeit, and a sham. + +Few persons are really natural. When I say this, I do not mean to slur +cultured manners. It is right that we should have more admiration for +the sculptured marble than for the unhewn block of the quarry. From +many circles in life fashion has driven out vivacity and enthusiasm. +A frozen dignity instead floats about the room, and iceberg grinds +against iceberg. You must not laugh outright: it is vulgar. You must +_smile_. You must not dash rapidly across the room: you must _glide_. +There is a round of bows, and grins, and flatteries, and oh's! and +ah's! and simperings, and namby-pambyism--a world of which is not +worth one good, round, honest peal of laughter. From such a hollow +round the tortured guest retires at the close of the evening, and +assures his host that he has enjoyed himself. + +Thus social life has been contorted, and deformed, until, in +some mountain cabin, where rustics gather to the quilting or the +apple-paring, there is more good cheer than in all the frescoed +ice-houses of the metropolis. + +We want, in all the higher circles of society, more warmth of heart +and naturalness of behavior, and not so many refrigerators. + +Again: inordinate fashion is incompatible with happiness. Those who +depend for their comfort upon the admiration of others are subject to +frequent disappointment. Somebody will criticise their appearance, or +surpass them in brilliancy, or will receive more attention. Oh! the +jealousy, and detraction, and heart-burnings of those who move in this +bewildered maze! + +The clock strikes _one_, and the company begins to disperse. The host +has done everything to make all his guests happy; but now that they +are on the street, hear their criticisms of everybody and everything. +"Did you see her in such and such apparel?" "Wasn't she a perfect +fright!" "What a pity that such an one is so awkward and uncouth!" +"Well, really,--I would rather never be spoken to than be seen with +such a man as that!" + +Poor butterflies! Bright wings do not always bring happiness. "She +that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth." The revelations +of high life that come to the challenge and the fight are only the +occasional croppings out of disquietudes that are, underneath, like +the stars of heaven for multitude, but like the demons of the pit for +hate. The misery that to-night in the cellar cuddles up in the straw +is not so utter as the princely disquietude which stalks through +splendid drawing-rooms, brooding over the slights and offences of high +life. The bitterness of trouble seems not so unfitting, when drunk +out of a pewter mug, as when it pours from the chased lips of a golden +chalice. In the sharp crack of the voluptuary's pistol, putting an +end to his earthly misery, I hear the confirmation that in a hollow, +fastidious life there is no peace. + +Again: Excessive devotion to fashion is productive of physical +disease, mental imbecility, and spiritual withering. + +Apparel insufficient to keep out the cold and the rain, or so fitted +upon the person that the functions of life are restrained; late hours, +filled with excitement and feasting; free draughts of wine, that make +one not beastly intoxicated, but only fashionably drunk; and luxurious +indolence--are the instruments by which this unreal life pushes its +disciples into valetudinarianism and the grave. Along the walks +of high life Death goes a mowing--and such harvests as are reaped! +_Materia medica_ has been exhausted to find curatives for these +physiological devastations. Dropsies, cancers, consumptions, gout, and +almost every infirmity in all the realm of pathology, have been the +penalty paid. To counteract the damage, pharmacy has gone forth with +medicament, panacea, elixir, embrocation, salve, and cataplasm. + +To-night, with swollen feet, upon cushioned ottoman, and groaning +with aches innumerable, is the votary of luxurious living, not half so +happy as his groom or coal-heaver. + +Fashion is the world's undertaker, and drives thousands of hearses to +Laurel Hill and Greenwood. + +But, worse than that, this folly is an intellectual depletion. This +endless study of proprieties and etiquette, patterns and styles, is +bedwarfing to the intellect. I never knew a man or a woman of extreme +fashion that knew much. How belittling the study of the cut of a coat, +or the tie of a cravat, or the wrinkle in a shoe, or the color of a +ribbon! How they are worried if something gets untied, or hangs awry, +or is not nicely adjusted! With a mind capable of measuring the +height and depth of great subjects; able to unravel mysteries; to +walk through the universe; to soar up into the infinity of God's +attributes,--hovering perpetually over a new style of mantilla! I have +known men, reckless as to their character, and regardless of interests +momentous and eternal, exasperated by the shape of a vest-button! + +What is the matter with that woman--wrought up into the agony of +despair? O, her muff is out of fashion! + +Worse than all--this folly is not satisfied until it has extirpated +every moral sentiment, and blasted the soul. A wardrobe is the rock +upon which many a soul has been riven. The excitement of a luxurious +life has been the vortex that has swallowed up more souls than the +Maelstrom off Norway ever devoured ships. What room for elevating +themes in a heart filled with the trivial and unreal? Who can wonder +that in this haste for sun-gilded bawbles and winged thistle-down, +men should tumble into ruin? The travellers to destruction are not +all clothed in rags. On that road chariot jostles against chariot; and +behind steeds in harness golden-plated and glittering, they go down, +coach and four, herald and postilion, racketing on the hot pavements +of hell. Clear the track! Bazaars hang out their colors over the road; +and trees of tropical fruitfulness overbranch the way. No sound of +woe disturbs the air; but all is light and song, and wine and +gorgeousness. The world comes out to greet the dazzling procession +with Hurrah! and Hurrah! But, suddenly, there is a halt and an outcry +of dismay, and an overthrow worse than the Red Sea tumbling upon the +Egyptians. Shadow of grave-stones upon finest silk! Wormwood squeezed +into impearled goblets! Death, with one cold breath, withering the +leaves and freezing the fountains. + +In the wild tumult of the last day--the mountains falling, the heavens +flying, the thrones uprising, the universe assembling; amid the boom +of the last great thunder-peal, and under the crackling of a burning +world--what will become of the fop and the dandy? + +He who is genuinely refined will be useful and happy. There is no gate +that a gentleman's hand cannot open. During his last sickness there +will be a timid knock at the basement door by those who have come to +see how he is. + +But watch the career of one thoroughly artificial. Through +inheritance, or perhaps his own skill, having obtained enough for +purposes of display, he feels himself thoroughly established. He sits +aloof from the common herd, and looks out of his window upon the poor +man, and says--"Put that dirty wretch off my steps immediately!" On +Sabbath days he finds the church, but mourns the fact that he must +worship with so many of the inelegant, and says, "They are perfectly +awful!" "That man that you put in my pew had a coat on his back that +did not cost five dollars." He struts through life unsympathetic with +trouble, and says, "I cannot be bothered." Is delighted with some +doubtful story of Parisian life, but thinks that there are some very +indecent things in the Bible. Walks arm in arm with a millionnaire, +but does not know his own brother. Loves to be praised for his +splendid house; and when told that he looks younger than ten years +ago, says--"Well, really; do you think so!" + +But the brief strut of his life is about over. Up-stairs--he dies. +No angel wings hovering about him. No gospel promises kindling up the +darkness;--but exquisite embroidery, elegant pictures, and a bust of +Shakespeare on the mantel. The pulses stop. The minister comes in to +read of the Resurrection, that day when the dead shall come up--both +he that died on the floor, and he that expired under princely +upholstery. He is carried out to burial. Only a few mourners, but +a great array of carriages. Not one common man at the funeral. No +befriended orphan to weep a tear upon his grave. No child of want +pressing through the ranks of the weeping, saying--"He is the last +friend I have; and I must see him." + +What now? He was a great man: Shall not chariots of salvation come +down to the other side of the Jordan, and escort him up to the palace? +Shall not the angels exclaim--"Turn out! a prince is coming." Will the +bells chime? Will there be harpers with their harps, and trumpeters +with their trumpets? + +No! No! No! There will be a shudder, as though a calamity had +happened. Standing on heaven's battlement, a watchman will see +something shoot past, with fiery downfall, and shriek: "Wandering +star--for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever!" + +With the funeral pageant the brilliant career terminated. There was a +great array of carriages. + + + + +AFTER MIDNIGHT. + + +When night came down on Babylon, Nineveh, and Jerusalem, they needed +careful watching, otherwise the incendiary's torch might have been +thrust into the very heart of the metropolitan splendor; or enemies, +marching from the hills, might have forced the gates. All night long, +on top of the wall and in front of the gates, might be heard the +measured step of the watchman on his solitary beat; silence hung in +air, save as some passer-by raised the question: "Watchman, what of +the night?" + +It is to me a deeply suggestive and solemn thing to see a man standing +guard by night. It thrilled through me, as at the gate of an arsenal +in Charleston, the question once smote me, "Who comes there?" followed +by the sharp command: "Advance and give the countersign." Every moral +teacher stands on picket, or patrols the wall as watchman. His work +is to sound the alarm; and whether it be in the first watch, in +the second watch, in the third watch, or in the fourth watch, to be +vigilant until the daybreak flings its "morning glories" of blooming +cloud across the arching trellis of the sky. + +The ancients divided their night into four parts--the first watch, +from six to nine; the second, from nine to twelve; the third, from +twelve to three; and the fourth, from three to six. + +I speak now of the city in the third watch, or from twelve to three +o'clock. + +I never weary of looking upon the life and brilliancy of the city in +the _first_ watch. That is the hour when the stores are closing. The +laboring men, having quitted the scaffolding and the shop, are on +their way home. It rejoices me to give them my seat in the city car. +They have stood and hammered away all day. Their feet are weary. They +are exhausted with the tug of work. They are mostly cheerful. With +appetites sharpened on the swift turner's wheel and the carpenter's +whetstone, they seek the evening meal. The clerks, too, have broken +away from the counter, and with brain weary of the long line of +figures, and the whims of those who go a-shopping, seek the face of +mother, or wife and child. The merchants are unharnessing themselves +from their anxieties, on their way up the street. The boys that lock +up are heaving away at the shutters, shoving the heavy bolts, and +taking a last look at the fire to see that all is safe. The streets +are thronged with young men, setting out from the great centres of +bargain-making. + +Let idlers clear the street, and give right of way to the besweated +artisans and merchants! They have _earned_ their bread, and are now on +their way home to get it. + +The lights in full jet hang over ten thousand evening repasts--the +parents at either end of the table, the children between. Thank God! +"who setteth the solitary in families!" + +A few hours later, and all the places of amusement, good and bad, are +in full tide. Lovers of art, catalogue in hand, stroll through the +galleries and discuss the pictures. The ball-room is resplendent with +the rich apparel of those who, on either side of the white, glistening +boards, await the signal from the orchestra. The footlights of the +theatre flash up; the bell rings, and the curtain rises; and out from +the gorgeous scenery glide the actors, greeted with the vociferation +of the expectant multitudes. Concert-halls are lifted into enchantment +with the warble of one songstress, or swept out on a sea of tumultuous +feeling by the blast of brazen instruments. Drawing-rooms are filled +with all gracefulness of apparel, with all sweetness of sound, with +all splendor of manner; mirrors are catching up and multiplying the +scene, until it seems as if in infinite corridors there were garlanded +groups advancing and retreating. + +The out-door air rings with laughter, and with the moving to and fro +of thousands on the great promenades. The dashing span, adrip with +the foam of the long country ride, rushes past as you halt at the +curb-stone. + +Mirth, revelry, beauty, fashion, magnificence mingle in the great +metropolitan picture, until the thinking man goes home to think more +seriously, and the praying man to pray more earnestly. + +A beautiful and overwhelming thing is the city in the first and second +watches of the night. + +But the clock strikes twelve, and the third watch begins. The thunder +of the city has rolled from the air. Slight sounds now cut the night +with a distinctness that excites your attention. You hear the tinkling +of the bell of the street-car in the far distance; the baying of the +dog; the stamp of the horse in the adjoining street; the slamming of +a saloon door; the hiccoughing of the inebriate; and the shriek of +the steam-whistle five miles away. Solemn and stupendous is this third +watch. There are respectable men abroad. The city missionary is +going up that court, to take a scuttle of coal to a poor family. The +undertaker goes up the steps of that house, from which there comes a +bitter cry, as though the destroying angel had smitten the first-born. +The minister of Jesus passes along; he has been giving the sacrament +to a dying Christian. The physician hastens past, the excited +messenger a few steps ahead, impatient to reach the threshold. Men who +are forced to toil into the midnight are hastening to their pillow. +But the great multitudes are asleep. The lights are out in the +dwellings, save here and there one. That is the light of the watcher, +for the remedies must be administered, and the fever guarded, and the +restless tossing of the coverlet resisted, and the ice kept upon the +temples, and the perpetual prayer offered by hearts soon to be broken. +The street-lamps, standing in long line, reveal the silence and the +slumber of the town. + +Stupendous thought: a great city asleep! Weary arm gathering strength +for to-morrow's toil. Hot brain getting cooled off. Rigid muscles +relaxing. Excited nerves being soothed. White locks of the +octogenarian in thin drifts across the white pillow--fresh fall of +flakes on snow already fallen. Children with dimpled hands thrown put +over the pillow, with every breath inhaling a new store of fun and +frolic. + +Let the great hosts sleep! A slumberless Eye will watch them. Silent +be the alarm-bells and merciful the elements! Let one great wave of +refreshing slumber roll across the heart of the great town, submerging +trouble and weariness and pain. It is the third watch of the night, +and time for the city to sleep. + +But be not deceived. There are thousands of people in the great +town who will not sleep a moment to-night. Go up that dark court. Be +careful, or you will fall over the prostrate form of a drunkard lying +on his own worn step. Look about you, or you will feel the garroter's +hug. Try to look in through that broken pane! What do you see? +Nothing. But listen. What is it? "God help us!" No footlights, but +tragedy--mightier, ghastlier than Ristori or Edwin Booth ever acted. +No bread. No light. No fire. No cover. They lie strewn upon the +floor--two whole families in one room. They shiver in the darkness. +They have had no food to-day. You say: "Why don't they beg?" They did +beg, but got nothing. You say: "Hand them over to the almshouse." + +Ah! they had rather die than go to the almshouse. Have you never heard +the bitter cry of the man or of the child when told that he must go to +the almshouse? + +You say that these are vicious poor, and have brought their own +misfortune on themselves. + +So much the more to be pitied. The Christian poor--God helps them! +Through their night there twinkles the round, merry star of hope, and +through the cracked window-pane of their hovel they see the crystals +of heaven. But the vicious are the more to be pitied. They have no +hope. They are in hell now. They have put out their last light. People +excuse themselves from charity by saying they do not deserve to be +helped. If I have ten prayers for the innocent, I shall have twenty +for the guilty. If a ship be dashed upon the rocks, the fisherman, in +his hut on the beach, will wrap the warmest flannels around those who +are the most chilled and battered. The vicious poor have suffered +two awful wrecks, the wreck of the body, and the wreck of the soul; a +wreck for time and a wreck for eternity. + +Go up that alley! Open the door. It is not locked. They have nothing +to lose. No burglar would want anything that is there. There is only a +broken chair set against the door. Strike a match and look around you. +Beastliness and rags! A shock of hair hanging over the scarred visage. +Eyes glaring upon you. Offer no insult. Be careful what you say. Your +life is not worth much in such a place. See that red mark on the wall. +That is the mark of a murderer's hand. From the corner a wild face +starts out of the straw and moves toward you, just as your light goes +out. + +Strike another match. Here is a little babe. It does not laugh. It +never will laugh. A sea-flower flung on an awfully barren beach: O +that the Shepherd would fold that lamb! Wrap your shawl about you, +for the January wind sweeps in. Strike another match. The face of that +young woman is bruised and gashed now, but a mother once gazed upon it +in ecstasy of fondness. Awful stare of two eyes that seem looking up +from the bottom of woe. Stand back. No hope has dawned on that soul +for years. Hope never will dawn upon it. Utter no scorn. The match has +gone out. Light it not again, for it would seem to be a mockery. + +Pass out! Pass on! Know that there are thousands of such abodes in our +cities. An awful, gloomy, and overwhelming picture is the city in the +third watch. + +After midnight the crime of the city does its chief work. At eight +and a half o'clock in the evening the criminals of the city are at +leisure. They are mostly in the drinking saloons. It needs courage to +do what they propose to do. Rum makes men reckless. They are getting +their brain and hand just right. Toward midnight they go to their +garrets. They gather their tools. Soon after the third watch they +stalk forth, silently, looking out for the police, through the alleys +to their appointed work. This is a burglar; and the door-lock will fly +open at the touch of the false keys. That is an incendiary; and before +morning there will be a light on the sky, and a cry of "Fire! Fire!" +That is an assassin; and a lifeless body will be found to-morrow in +some of the vacant lots. + +During all the day there are hundreds of villains to be found lounging +about, a part of the time asleep, apart of the time awake; but at +twelve to-night they will rouse up, and their eyes will be keen, and +their minds acute, and their arms strong, and their foot fleet to fly +or pursue. Many of them have been brought up to the work. They were +born in a thief's garret. Their childish plaything was a burglar's +dark lantern. As long ago as they can remember, they saw, toward +morning, the mother binding up the father's head, wounded by a +watchman's billet. They began by picking boys' pockets, and now they +can dig an underground passage to the cellar of the bank, or will +blast open the door of the gold vault. So long as the children of the +street are neglected there will be no lack of desperadoes. + +In the third watch of the night the gambling-houses are in full blast. +What though the hours of the night are slipping away, and the wife +sits waiting in the cheerless home! Stir up the fires! Bring on the +drinks! Put up the stakes! A whole fortune may be made before morning! +Some of the firms that two years ago first put out their sign of +copartnership have already foundered on the gambler's table. The +money-drawer in many a mercantile house will this year mysteriously +spring a leak. Gaming is a portentous vice, and is making great efforts +to become respectable. Recently a member of Congress played with a +member elect, carrying off a trophy of one hundred and twenty thousand +dollars. The old-fashioned way of getting a fortune is too slow! Let +us toss up and see who shall have it! + +And so it goes, from the wheezing wretches who pitch pennies in a rum +grocery, to the millionnaire gamblers in the gold-market. + +After midnight the eye of God will look down and see uncounted +gambling-saloons plying their destruction. Passing down the street +to-night, you may hear the wrangling of the gamblers mingling with +the rattle of the dice, and the clear, sharp crack of the balls on the +billiard-table. + +The finest rooms in the city are gambling dens. In gilded parlor, amid +costly tapestry, you may behold these dens of death. These houses have +walls attractive with elaborate fresco and gems of painting--no sham +artist's daub, but a masterpiece. Mantel and table glitter with vases +and statuettes. Divans and lounges with deep cushions, the perfection +of upholstery, invite to rest and repose. Aquaria alive with fins and +strewn with tinged shells and zoophytes. Tufts of geranium, from bead +baskets, suspended mid-room, drop their witching perfume. Fountains +gushing up, sprinkling the air with sparkles, or gushing through the +mouth of the marble lion. Long mirrors, mounted with scrolls and wings +and exquisite carvings, catching and reflecting back the magnificence. +At their doors merchant-princes dismount from their carriages; +official dignitaries enter; legislators, tired of making laws, here +take a respite in breaking them. + +From all classes this crime is gathering its victims: the importer of +foreign silks, and the Chatham street dealer in pocket-handkerchiefs; +clerks taking a game in the store after the shutters are put up; and +officers of the court whiling away the time while the jury are out. In +the woods around Baden Baden, in the morning, it is no rare thing to +find the suspended bodies of suicides. No splendor of surroundings can +hide the dreadful nature of this sin. In the third watch of this very +night, the tears of thousands of orphans and widows will dash up in +those fountains. The thunders of eternal destruction roll in the deep +rumble of that ten-pin alley. And as from respectable circles young +men and old are falling in line of procession, all the drums of woe +begin to beat the dead march of ten thousand souls. + +Seven millions of dollars are annually lost in New York city at the +gaming-table. Some of your own friends may be at it. The agents of +these gaming-houses around our hotels are well dressed. They meet a +stranger in the city; they ask him if he would like to see the city; +he says, "Yes;" they ask him if he has seen that splendid building up +town, and he says "No." "Then," says the villain to the greenhorn, "I +will show you the lions and the elephants." After seeing the lions +and the elephants, I would not give much for a young man's chance for +decency or heaven. He looks in, and sees nothing objectionable; but +let him beware, for he is on enchanted ground. Look out for the men +who have such sleek hats--always sleek hats--and such a patronizing +air, and who are so unaccountably interested in your welfare and +entertainment. All that they want of you is your money. A young man +on Chestnut street, Philadelphia, lost in a night all his money at the +gaming-table, and, before he left the table, blew his brains out; but +before the maid had cleaned up the blood the players were again at the +table, shuffling away. A wolf has more compassion for the lamb whose +blood it licks up; a highwayman more love for the belated traveller +upon whose carcass he piles the stone; the frost more feeling for +the flower it kills; the fire more tenderness for the tree-branch it +consumes; the storm more pity for the ship that it shivers on Long +Island coast, than a gambler's heart has mercy for his victim. + +Deed of darkness unfit for sunlight, or early evening hour! Let it +come forth only when most of the city lights are out, in the third +watch of the night! + +Again, it is after twelve o'clock that drunkenness shows its worst +deformity! At eight or nine o'clock the low saloons are not so +ghastly. At nine o'clock the victims are only talkative. At ten +o'clock they are much flushed. At eleven o'clock their tongue is +thick, and their hat occasionally falls from the head. At twelve they +are nauseated and blasphemous, and not able to rise. At one they fall +to the floor, asking for more drink. At two o'clock, unconscious and +breathing hard. They would not fly though the house took fire. Soaked, +imbruted, dead drunk! They are strewn all over the city, in the +drinking saloons,--fathers, brothers, and sons; men as good as you, +naturally--perhaps better. + +Not so with the higher circles of intoxication. The "gentlemen" coax +their fellow-reveller to bed, or start with him for home, one at each +arm, holding him up; the night air is filled with his hooting and +cursing. He will be helped into his own door. He will fall into the +entry. Hush it up! Let not the children of the house be awakened to +hear the shame. He is one of the merchant princes. + +But you cannot always hush it up. + +Drink makes men mad. One of its victims came home and found that his +wife had died during his absence; and he went into the room where she +had been prepared for the grave, and shook her from the shroud, and +tossed her body out of the window. Where sin is loud and loathsome and +frenzied, it is hard to keep it still. This whole land is soaked with +the abomination. It became so bad in Massachusetts, that the State +arose in indignation; and having appointed agents for the sale of +alcohol for mechanical and medicinal purposes, prohibited the +general traffic under a penalty of five hundred dollars. The popular +proprietors of the Revere, Tremont, and Parker Houses were arrested. +The grog-shops diminished in number from six thousand to six hundred. +God grant that the time may speed on when all the cities and States +shall rouse up, and put their foot upon this abomination. + +As you pass along the streets, night by night, you will see the awful +need that something radical be done. But you do not see the worst. +That will come to pass long after you are sleeping--in the third watch +of the night. + +Oh! ye who have been longing for fields of work, here they are +before you. At the London midnight meetings, thirteen thousand of the +daughters of sin were reformed; and uncounted numbers of men, who were +drunken and debauched, have been redeemed. If from our highest circles +a few score of men and women would go forth among the wandering and +the destitute, they might yet make the darkest alley of the town +kindle with the gladness of heaven. Do not go in your warm furs, and +from your well-laden tables, thinking that pious counsel will stop the +gnawing of empty stomachs or warm their stockingless feet. Take +food and medicine, and raiment, as well as a prayer. When the city +missionary told the destitute woman she ought to love God, she said: +"Ah! if you were as cold and hungry as I am, you could think of +nothing else." + +I am glad to know that not one earnest prayer, not one heartfelt +alms-giving, not one kind word, ever goes unblessed. Among the +mountains of Switzerland there is a place where, if your voice be +uttered, there will come back a score of echoes. But utter a kind, +sympathetic, and saving word in the dark places of the town, and there +will come back ten thousand echoes from all the thrones of heaven. + +There may be some one reading this who knows by experience of the +tragedies enacted in the third watch of the night. I am not the man +to thrust you back with one harsh word. Take off the bandage from your +soul, and put on it the salve of the Saviour's compassion. There +is rest in God for your tired soul. Many have come back from their +wanderings. I see them coming now. Cry up the news to heaven! Set +all the bells a-ringing! Under the high arch spread the banquet of +rejoicing. Let all the crowned heads of heaven come in and keep the +jubilee. I tell you there is more joy in heaven over one man who +reforms than over ninety-and-nine who never got off the track. + +But there is a man who will never return from his evil ways. How many +acts are there in a tragedy? Five, I believe: + +ACT I.--_Young man starting from home. Parents and sisters weeping to +have him go. Wagon passing over the hills. Farewell kiss thrown back. +Ring the bell and let the curtain drop_. + +ACT II.--_Marriage altar. Bright lights. Full organ. White +veil trailing through the aisle. Prayer and congratulation, and +exclamations of "How well she looks!" Ring the bell, and let the +curtain drop_. + +ACT III.--_Midnight. Woman waiting for staggering steps. Old garments +stuck into the broken window-pane. Many marks of hardship on the face. +Biting of the nails of bloodless fingers. Neglect, cruelty, disgrace. +Ring the bell, and let the curtain drop_. + +ACT IV.--_Three graves in a very dark place. Grave of child who died +from lack of medicine. Grave of wife who died of a broken heart. Grave +of husband and father who died of dissipation. Plenty of weeds, but no +flowers. O what a blasted heath with three graves! Ring the bell, and +let the curtain drop_. + +ACT V.--_A destroyed soul's eternity. No light; no music; no hope! +Despair coiling around the heart with unutterable anguish. Blackness +of darkness forever_. + +Woe! Woe! Woe! I cannot bear longer to look. I close my eyes at this +last act of the tragedy. Quick! Quick! Ring the bell and let the +curtain drop. + + + + +THE INDISCRIMINATE DANCE. + + +It is the anniversary of Herod's birthday. The palace is lighted. The +highways leading thereto are ablaze with the pomp of invited guests. +Lords, captains, merchant princes, and the mightiest men of the realm +are on the way to mingle in the festivities. The tables are filled +with all the luxuries that the royal purveyors can gather,--spiced +wines, and fruits, and rare meats. The guests, white-robed, anointed +and perfumed, take their places. Music! The jests evoke roars of +laughter. Riddles are propounded. Repartees indulged. Toasts drunk. +The brain befogged. Wit gives place to uproar and blasphemy. And yet +they are not satisfied. Turn on more light. Give us more music. Sound +the trumpet. Clear the floor for the dance. Bring in Salome, the +graceful and accomplished princess. + +The doors are opened and in bounds the dancer. Stand back and give +plenty of room for the gyrations. The lords are enchanted. They never +saw such poetry of motion. Their souls whirl in the reel, and bound +with the bounding feet. Herod forgets crown and throne,--everything +but the fascinations of Salome. The magnificence of his realm is as +nothing compared with that which now whirls before him on tiptoe. His +heart is in transport with Salome as her arms are now tossed in +the air, and now placed akimbo. He sways with every motion of the +enchantress. He thrills with the quick pulsations of her feet, and is +bewitched with the posturing and attitudes that he never saw before, +in a moment exchanged for others just as amazing. He sits in silence +before the whirling, bounding, leaping, flashing wonder. And when +the dance stops, and the tinkling cymbals pause, and the long, loud +plaudits that shook the palace with their thunders had abated, the +entranced monarch swears unto the princely performer: "Whatsoever thou +shalt ask of me I will give it to thee, to the half of my kingdom." + +Now there was in prison a minister by the name of John the Baptist, +who had made much trouble by his honest preaching. He had denounced +the sins of the king, and brought down upon himself the wrath of the +females in the royal family. At the instigation of her mother, Salome +takes advantage of the king's extravagant promise and demands the head +of John the Baptist on a dinner-plate. + +There is a sound of heavy feet, and the clatter of swords outside of +the palace. Swing back the door. The executioners are returning, from +their awful errand. They hand a platter to Salome. What is that on the +platter? A new tankard of wine to rekindle the mirth of the lords? No! +It is redder than wine, and costlier. It is the ghastly, bleeding head +of John the Baptist! Its locks dabbled in gore. Its eyes set in the +death-stare. The distress of the last agony in the features. That +fascinating form, that just now swayed so gracefully in the dance, +bends over the horrid burden without a shudder. She gloats over the +blood; and just as the maid of your household goes, bearing out on a +tray the empty glasses of the evening's entertainment, so she carried +out on a platter the dissevered head of that good man, while all the +banqueters shouted, and thought it a grand joke, that, in such a brief +and easy way, they had freed themselves from such a plain-spoken, +troublesome minister. + +What could be more innocent than a birthday festival? All the kings +from the time of Pharaoh had celebrated such days; and why not Herod? +It was right that the palace should be lighted, and that the cymbals +should clap, and that the royal guests should go to a banquet; but, +before the rioting and wassail that closed the scene of that day, +every pure nature revolts. + +Behold the work, the influence, and the end of an infamous dancer! + +I am, by natural temperament and religious theory, utterly opposed +to the position of those who are horrified at every demonstration +of mirth and playfulness in social life, and who seem to think that +everything, decent and immortal, depends upon the style in which +people carry their feet. On the other hand, I can see nothing but +ruin, moral and physical, in the dissipations of the ball-room, which +have despoiled thousands of young men and women of all that gives +dignity to character, or usefulness to life. + +Dancing has been styled "the graceful movement of the body adjusted +by art, to the measures or tune of instruments, or of the voice." All +nations have danced. The ancients thought that Pollux and Castor at +first taught the practice to the Lacedaemonians; but, whatever be its +origin, all climes have adopted it. + +In other days there were festal dances, and funeral dances, and +military dances, and "mediatorial" dances, and bacchanalian dances. +Queens and lords have swayed to and fro in their gardens; and the +rough men of the backwoods in this way have roused up the echo of the +forest. There seems to be something in lively and coherent sounds to +evoke the movement of hand and foot, whether cultured or uncultured. +Men passing the street unconsciously keep step to the music of the +band; and Christians in church unconsciously find themselves keeping +time with their feet, while their soul is uplifted by some great +harmony. Not only is this true in cultured life, but the red men of +Oregon have their scalp dances, and green-corn dances, and war dances. +It is, therefore, no abstract question that you ask me--Is it right to +dance? + +The ancient fathers, aroused by the indecent dances of those days, +gave emphatic evidence against any participation in the dance. St. +Chrysostom says:--"The feet were not given for dancing, but to walk +modestly; not to leap impudently like camels." + +One of the dogmas of the ancient church reads: "A dance is the devil's +possession; and he that entereth into a dance, entereth into his +possession. The devil is the gate to the middle and to the end of the +dance. As many passes as a man makes in dancing, so many passes doth +he make to hell." Elsewhere, these old dogmas declare--"The woman +that singeth in the dance is the princess of the devil; and those +that answer are his clerks; and the beholders are his friends, and +the music are his bellows, and the fiddlers are the ministers of the +devil; for, as when hogs are strayed, if the hogs'-herd call one, +all assemble together, so the devil calleth one woman to sing in the +dance, or to play on some instrument, and presently all the dancers +gather together." + +This wholesale and indiscriminate denunciation grew out of the utter +dissoluteness of those ancient plays. So great at one time was the +offence to all decency, that the Roman Senate decreed the expulsion of +all dancers and dancing-masters from Rome. + +Yet we are not to discuss the customs of that day, but the customs of +the present. We cannot let the fathers decide the question for us. +Our reason, enlightened by the Bible, shall be the standard. I am not +ready to excommunicate all those who lift their feet beyond a certain +height. I would not visit our youth with a rigor of criticism that +would put out all their ardor of soul. I do not believe that all the +inhabitants of Wales, who used to step to the sound of the rustic +pibcorn, went down to ruin. I would give to all of our youth the right +to romp and play. God meant it, or he would not have surcharged +our natures with such exuberance. If a mother join hands with her +children, and while the eldest strikes the keys, fill all the house +with the sound of agile feet, I see no harm. If a few friends, +gathered in happy circle, conclude to cross and recross the room to +the sound of the piano well played, I see no harm. I for a long while +tried to see in it a harm, but I never could, and I probably never +will. I would to God men kept young for a greater length of time. +Never since my school-boy days have I loved so well as now the +hilarities of life. What if we have felt heavy burdens, and suffered a +multitude of hard knocks, is it any reason why we should stand in the +path of those who, unstung by life's misfortunes, are exhilarated and +full of glee? + +God bless the young! They will have to live many a day if they want to +hear me say one word to dampen their ardor or clip their wings, or +to throw a cloud upon their life by telling them that it is hard, +and dark, and doleful. It is no such thing. You will meet with many a +trial; but, speaking from my own experience, let me tell you that you +will be treated a great deal better than you deserve. + +Let us not grudge to the young their joy. As we go further on in life, +let us go with the remembrance that we have had our gleeful days. When +old age frosts our locks, and stiffens our limbs, let us not block up +the way, but say, "We had our good times: now let others have theirs." +As our children come on, let us cheerfully give them our places. How +glad will I be to let them have everything,--my house, my books, my +place in society, my heritage! By the time we get old we will have had +our way long enough. Then let our children come on and we'll have it +their way. For thirty, forty, or fifty years, we have been drinking +from the cup of life; and we ought not to complain if called to pass +the cup along and let others take a drink. + +But, while we have a right to the enjoyments of life, we never will +countenance sinful indulgences. I here set forth a group of what +might be called the dissipations of the ball-room. They swing an awful +scythe of death. Are we to stand idly by, and let the work go on, lest +in the rebuke we tread upon the long trail of some popular vanity? The +whirlpool of the ball-room drags down the life, the beauty, and the +moral worth of the city. In this whirlwind of imported silks goes out +the life of many of our best families. Bodies and souls innumerable +are annually consumed in this conflagration of ribbons. + +This style of dissipation is the abettor of pride, the instigator of +jealousy, the sacrificial altar of health, the defiler of the soul, +the avenue of lust, and the curse of the town. The tread of this wild, +intoxicating, heated midnight dance jars all the moral hearthstones of +the city. The physical ruin is evident. What will become of those +who work all day and dance all night? A few years will turn them out +nervous, exhausted imbeciles. Those who have given up their midnights +to spiced wines, and hot suppers, and ride home through winter's cold, +unwrapped from the elements, will at last be recorded suicides. + +There is but a short step from the ball-room to the grave-yard. There +are consumptions and fierce neuralgias close on the track. Amid that +glittering maze of ball-room splendors, diseases stand right and left, +and balance and chain. A sepulchral breath floats up amid the perfume, +and the froth of death's lip bubbles up in the champagne. + +Many of our brightest homes are being sacrificed. There are families +that have actually quit keeping house, and gone to boarding, that +they may give themselves more exclusively to the higher duties of +the ball-room. Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, finding +their highest enjoyment in the dance, bid farewell to books, to quiet +culture, to all the amenities of home. The father will, after a while, +go down into lower dissipations. The son will be tossed about +in society, a nonentity. The daughter will elope with a French +dancing-master. The mother, still trying to stay in the glitter, +and by every art attempting to keep the color in her cheek, and the +wrinkles off her brow, attempting, without any success, all the arts +of the belle,--an old flirt, a poor, miserable butterfly without any +wings. + +If anything on the earth is beautiful to my eye, it is an aged woman; +her hair floating back over the wrinkled brow, not frosted, but white +with the blossoms of the tree of life; her voice tender with +past memories, and her face a benediction. The children pull at +grandmother's dress as she passes through the room, and almost pull +her down in her weakness; yet she has nothing but a cake, or a candy, +or a kind word for the little darlings. When she goes away from us +there is a shadow on the table, a shadow on the hearth, and a shadow +in the dwelling. + +But if anything on earth is distressful to look at, it is an old woman +ashamed of being old. What with paint and false hair, she is too much +for my gravity. I laugh, even in church, when I see her coming. One of +the worst looking birds I know of is a peacock after it has lost its +feathers. I would not give one lock of my mother's gray hair for fifty +thousand such caricatures of old age. The first time you find these +faithful disciples of the ball-room diligently engaged and happy in +the duties of the home circle, send me word, for I would go a great +way to see such a phenomenon. These creatures have no home. Their +children unwashed. Their furniture undusted. Their china closets +disordered. The house a scene of confusion, misrule, cheerlessness, +and dirt. One would think you might discover even amid the witcheries +of the ball-room the sickening odors of the unswept, unventilated, and +unclean domestic apartments. + +These dissipations extinguish all love of usefulness. How could you +expect one to be interested in the alleviations of the world's misery, +while there is a question to be decided about the size of a glove +or the shade of a pongee? How many of these men and women of the +ball-room visit the poor, or help dress the wounds of a returned +soldier in the hospital? When did the world ever see a perpetual +dancer distributing tracts? Such persons are turned in upon +themselves. And it is very poor pasture! + +This gilded sphere is utterly bedwarfing to intellect and soul. This +constant study of little things; this harassing anxiety about +dress; this talk of fashionable infinitesimals; this shoe-pinched, +hair-frizzled, fringe-spattered group--that simper and look askance +at the mirrors and wonder, with infinity of interest, "how that one +geranium leaf does look;" this shrivelling up of man's moral dignity, +until it is no more observable with the naked eye; this taking of a +woman's heart, that God meant should be filled with all amenities, +and compressing it until all the fragrance, and simplicity, and +artlessness are squeezed out of it; this inquisition of a small shoe; +this agony of tight lacing; this wrapping up of mind and heart in +a ruffle; this tumbling down of a soul that God meant for great +upliftings! + +I prophesy the spiritual ruin of all participators in this rivalry. +Have the white, polished, glistening boards ever been the road to +heaven? Who at the flash of those chandeliers hath kindled a torch +for eternity? From the table spread at the close of that excited and +besweated scene, who went home to say his prayers? + +To many, alas! this life is a masquerade ball. As, at such +entertainments, gentlemen and ladies appear in the dress of kings +or queens, mountain bandits or clowns, and at the close of the dance +throw off their disguises, so, in this dissipated life, all unclean +passions move in mask. Across the floor they trip merrily. The lights +sparkle along the wall, or drop from the ceiling--a very cohort of +fire! The music charms. The diamonds glitter. The feet bound. Gemmed +hands, stretched out, clasp gemmed hands. Dancing feet respond to +dancing feet. Gleaming brow bends low to gleaming brow. On with the +dance! Flash, and rustle, and laughter, and immeasurable merry-making! +But the languor of death comes over the limbs, and blurs the sight. +_Lights lower!_ Floor hollow with sepulchral echo. Music saddens into +a wail. _Lights lower!_ The maskers can hardly now be seen. Flowers +exchange their fragrance for a sickening odor, such as comes from +garlands that have lain in vaults of cemeteries. _Lights lower!_ Mists +fill the room. Glasses rattle as though shaken by sullen thunder. +Sighs seem caught among the curtains. Scarf falls from the shoulder of +beauty,--a shroud! _Lights lower!_ Over the slippery boards, in dance +of death, glide jealousies, disappointments, lust, despair. Torn +leaves and withered garlands only half hide the ulcered feet. +The stench of smoking lamp-wicks almost quenched. Choking damps. +Chilliness. Feet still. Hands folded. Eyes shut. Voices hushed. + +LIGHTS OUT! + + + + +THE MASSACRE BY NEEDLE AND SEWING-MACHINE. + + +Very long ago the needle was busy. It was considered honorable for +women to toil in olden time. Alexander the Great stood in his palace +showing garments made by his own mother. The finest tapestries at +Bayeux were made by the Queen of William the Conqueror. Augustus the +Emperor would not wear any garments except those that were fashioned +by some member of his royal family. So let the toiler everywhere be +respected! + +The greatest blessing that could have happened to our first parents +was being turned out of Eden after they had done wrong. Adam and Eve, +in their perfect state, might have got along without work, or only +such slight employment as a perfect garden, with no weeds in it, +demanded. But, as soon as they had sinned, the best thing for them +was to be turned out where they would have to work. We know what a +withering thing it is for a man to have nothing to do. Old Ashbel +Green, at fourscore years, when asked why he kept on working, said, +"I do so to keep out of mischief." We see that a man who has a +large amount of money to start with has no chance. Of the thousand +prosperous and honorable men that you know, nine hundred and +ninety-nine had to work vigorously at the beginning. + +But I am now to tell you that industry is just as important for +a woman's safety and happiness. The most unhappy women in our +communities to-day are those who have no engagements to call them up +in the morning; who, once having risen and breakfasted, lounge through +the dull forenoon in slippers down at the heel and with dishevelled +hair, reading George Sand's last novel; and who, having dragged +through a wretched forenoon and taken their afternoon sleep, and +having spent an hour and a half at their toilet, pick up their +card-case and go out to make calls; and who pass their evenings +waiting for somebody to come in and break up the monotony. Arabella +Stuart never was imprisoned in so dark a dungeon as that. + +There is no happiness in an idle woman. It may be with hand, it may +be with brain, it may be with foot; but work she must, or be wretched +forever. The little girls of our families must be started with that +idea. The curse of our American society is that our young women are +taught that the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, +tenth, fiftieth, thousandth thing in their life is to get somebody to +take care of them. Instead of that, the first lesson should be, how, +under God, they may take care of themselves. The simple fact is that +a majority of them do have to take care of themselves, and that, too, +after having, through the false notions of their parents, wasted the +years in which they ought to have learned how successfully to maintain +themselves. We now and here declare the inhumanity, cruelty, and +outrage of that father and mother, who pass their daughters into +womanhood, having given them no facility for earning their livelihood. +Madame de Stael said: "It is not these writings that I am proud of, +but the fact that I have facility in ten occupations, in any one of +which I could make a livelihood." + +You say you have a fortune to leave them. O man and woman! have you +not learned that, like vultures, like hawks, like eagles, riches +have wings and fly away? Though you should be successful in leaving +a competency behind you, the trickery of executors may swamp it in +a night; or some elders or deacons of our churches may get up an +oil company, or some sort of religious enterprise sanctioned by the +church, and induce your orphans to put their money into a hole in +Venango County; and if, by the most skilful derricks, the sunken money +cannot be pumped up again, prove to them that it was eternally decreed +that that was the way they were to lose it, and that it went in the +most orthodox and heavenly style. + +O the damnable schemes that professed Christians will engage in--until +God puts his fingers into the collar of the hypocrite's robe and rips +it clear down to the bottom! + +You have no right, because you are well off, to conclude that your +children are going to be as well off. A man died, leaving a large +fortune. His son, a few months ago, fell dead in a Philadelphia +grog-shop. His old comrades came in and said, as they bent over his +corpse: "What is the matter with you, Boggsey?" The surgeon standing +over him said: "Hush up! he is dead!"--"Ah, he is dead!" they said. +"Come, boys, let us go and take a drink in memory of poor Boggsey!" + +Have you nothing better than money to leave your children? If you +have not, but send your daughters into the world with empty brain and +unskilled hand, you are guilty of assassination, homicide, regicide, +infanticide--compared with which that of poor Hester Vaughan was +innocence. There are women toiling in our cities for three and four +dollars per week, who were the daughters of merchant princes. These +suffering ones now would be glad to have the crumbs that once fell +from their father's table. That worn-out, broken shoe that she wears +is the lineal descendant of the twelve-dollar gaiters in which +her mother walked; and that torn and faded calico had ancestry of +magnificent brocade, that swept Broadway clean without any expense to +the street commissioners. Though you live in an elegant residence, and +fare sumptuously every day, let your daughters feel it is a disgrace +to them not to know how to work. I denounce the idea, prevalent in +society, that though our young women may embroider slippers, and +crochet, and make mats for lamps to stand on, without disgrace, the +idea of doing anything for a livelihood is dishonorable. It is a shame +for a young woman, belonging to a large family, to be inefficient when +the father toils his life away for her support. It is a shame for a +daughter to be idle while her mother toils at the wash-tub. It is as +honorable to sweep house, make beds, or trim hats, as it is to twist a +watch-chain. + +As far as I can understand, the line of respectability lies between +that which is useful and that which is useless. If women do that which +is of no value, their work is honorable. If they do practical work, it +is dishonorable. That our young women may escape the censure of doing +dishonorable work, I shall particularize. You may knit a tidy for the +back of an armchair, but by no means make the money wherewith to buy +the chair. You may, with delicate brush, beautify a mantel-ornament, +but die rather than earn enough to buy a marble mantel. You may +learn artistic music until you can squall Italian, but never sing +"Ortonville" or "Old Hundred." Do nothing practical, if you would, in +the eyes of refined society, preserve your respectability. + +I scout these finical notions. I tell you a woman, no more than a man, +has a right to occupy a place in this world unless she pays a rent for +it. + +In the course of a lifetime you consume whole harvests, and droves of +cattle, and every day you live breathe forty hogsheads of good pure +air. You must, by some kind of usefulness, _pay_ for all this. Our +race was the last thing created,--the birds and fishes on the fourth +day, the cattle and lizards on the fifth day, and man on the sixth +day. If geologists are right, the earth was a million of years in the +possession of the insects, beasts, and birds, before our race came +upon it. In one sense, we were innovators. The cattle, the lizards, +and the hawks had pre-emption right. The question is not what we are +to do with the lizards and summer insects, but what the lizards and +summer insects are to do with us. + +If we want a place in this world we must _earn_ it. The partridge +makes its own nest before it occupies it. The lark, by its morning +song, earns its breakfast before it eats it; and the Bible gives an +intimation that the first duty of an idler is to starve, when it +says if he "will not work, neither shall he eat." Idleness ruins the +health; and very soon Nature says, "This man has refused to pay his +rent; out with him!" + +Society is to be reconstructed on the subject of woman's toil. A vast +majority of those who would have woman industrious shut her up to a +few kinds of work. My judgment in this matter is, that a woman has a +right to do anything she can do well. There should be no department +of merchandise, mechanism, art, or science barred against her. If Miss +Hosmer has genius for sculpture, give her a chisel. If Rosa Bonheur +has a fondness for delineating animals, let her make "The Horse +Fair." If Miss Mitchell will study astronomy, let her mount the starry +ladder. If Lydia will be a merchant, let her sell purple. If Lucretia +Mott will preach the Gospel, let her thrill with her womanly eloquence +the Quaker meeting-house. + +It is said, if woman is given such opportunities, she will occupy +places that might be taken by men. I say, if she have more skill and +adaptedness for any position than a man has, let her have it! She has +as much right to her bread, to her apparel, and to her home, as men +have. + +But it is said that her nature is so delicate that she is unfitted for +exhausting toil. I ask, in the name of all past history, what toil on +earth is more severe, exhausting, and tremendous than that toil of the +needle to which for ages she has been subjected? The battering-ram, +the sword, the carbine, the battle-axe have made no such havoc as the +needle. I would that these living sepulchres in which women have for +ages been buried might be opened, and that some resurrection trumpet +might bring up these living corpses to the fresh air and sunlight. + +Go with me, and I will show you a woman who, by hardest toil, supports +her children, her drunken husband, her old father and mother, pays her +house-rent, always has wholesome food on her table, and, when she +can get some neighbor on the Sabbath to come in and take care of +her family, appears in church, with hat and cloak that are far from +indicating the toil to which she is subjected. + +Such a woman as that has body and soul enough to fit her for _any_ +position. She could stand beside the majority of your salesmen and +dispose of more goods. She could go into your wheelwright shops and +beat one-half of your workmen at making carriages. We talk about woman +as though we had resigned to her all the light work, and ourselves had +shouldered the heavier. But the day of judgment, which will reveal +the sufferings of the stake and inquisition, will marshal before the +throne of God and the hierarchs of heaven the martyrs of wash-tub and +needle. + +Now, I say, if there be any preference in occupation, let woman have +it. God knows her trials are the severest. By her acuter sensitiveness +to misfortune, by her hour of anguish, I demand that no one hedge up +her pathway to a livelihood. O the meanness, the despicability of +men who begrudge a woman the right to work anywhere, in any honorable +calling! + +I go still further, and say that women should have equal compensation +with men. By what principle of justice is it that women in many of our +cities get only two-thirds as much pay as men, and in many cases only +half? Here is the gigantic injustice--that for work equally well, if +not better done, woman receives far less compensation than man. Start +with the National Government: women clerks in Washington get nine +hundred dollars for doing that for which men receive eighteen hundred. + +To thousands of young women of New York to-day there is only this +alternative: starvation or dishonor. Many of the largest mercantile +establishments of our cities are accessory to these abominations; +and from their large establishments there are scores of souls being +pitched off into death; _and their employers know it!_ + +Is there a God? Will there be a judgment? I tell you, if God rises up +to redress woman's wrongs, many of our large establishments will be +swallowed up quicker than a South-American earthquake ever took down +a city. God will catch these oppressors between the two mill-stones of +his wrath, and grind them to powder! + +Why is it that a female principal in a school gets only eight hundred +and twenty-five dollars for doing work for which a male principal gets +sixteen hundred and fifty? + +I hear from all this land the wail of woman-hood. Man has nothing to +answer to that wail but flatteries. He says she is an angel. She is +not. She knows she is not. She is a human being, who gets hungry +when she has no food, and cold when she has no fire. Give her no more +flatteries: give her _justice!_ + +There are thirty-five thousand sewing-girls in New York and Brooklyn. +Across the darkness of this night I hear their death-groan. It is not +such a cry as comes from those who are suddenly hurled out of life, +but a slow, grinding, horrible wasting away. Gather them before you +and look into their faces, pinched, ghastly, hunger-struck! Look at +their fingers, needle-picked and blood-tipped! See that premature +stoop in the shoulders! Hear that dry, hacking, merciless cough! + +At a large meeting of these women, held in a hall in Philadelphia, +grand speeches were delivered, but a needle-woman took the stand, +threw aside her faded shawl, and, with her shrivelled arm, hurled a +very thunder-bolt of eloquence, speaking out of the horrors of her own +experience. + +Stand at the corner of a street in New York at half-past five or six +o'clock in the morning, as the women go to their work. Many of them +had no breakfast except the crumbs that were left over from the night +before, or a crust they chew on their way through the street. Here +they come! the working girls of New York and Brooklyn! These engaged +in bead-work, these in flower-making, in millinery, enamelling, cigar +making, book-binding, labelling, feather-picking, print-coloring, +paper-box making, but, most overworked of all, and least compensated, +the sewing-women. Why do they not take the city-cars on their way +up? They cannot afford the five cents! If, concluding to deny herself +something else, she get into the car, give her a seat! You want to see +how Latimer and Ridley appeared in the fire: look at that woman and +behold a more horrible martyrdom, a hotter fire, a more agonizing +death! Ask that woman how much she gets for her work, and she will +tell you six cents for making coarse shirts, and finds her own thread! + +Last Sabbath night, in the vestibule of my church, after service, a +woman fell in convulsions. The doctor said she needed medicine not so +much as something to eat. As she began to revive in her delirium, +she said, gaspingly: "Eight cents! Eight cents! Eight cents! I wish I +could get it done! I am so tired! I wish I could get some sleep, but I +must get it done! Eight cents! Eight cents!" We found afterwards that +she was making garments for eight cents apiece, and that she could +make but three of them in a day! Hear it! Three times eight are +twenty-four! Hear it, men and women who have comfortable homes! + +Some of the worst villains of the city are the employers of these +women. They beat them down to the last penny, and try to cheat them +out of that. The woman must deposit a dollar or two before she +gets the garments to work on. When the work is done it is sharply +inspected, the most insignificant flaws picked out, and the wages +refused, and sometimes the dollar deposited not given back. The +Women's Protective Union reports a case where one of these poor souls, +finding a place where she could get more wages, resolved to change +employers, and went to get her pay for work done. The employer says: +"I hear you are going to leave me?"--"Yes," she said, "and I have come +to get what you owe me." He made no answer. She said: "Are you not +going to pay me?"--"Yes," he said, "I will pay you;" and _he kicked +her down the stairs_. + +How are these evils to be eradicated? What have you to answer, you +who sell coats, and have shoes made, and contract for the Southern and +Western markets? What help is there, what panacea, what redemption? +Some say: "Give women the ballot." What effect such ballot might have +on other questions I am not here to discuss; but what would be the +effect of female suffrage upon woman's wages? I do not believe that +woman will ever get justice by woman's ballot. + +Indeed, women oppress women as much as men do. Do not women, as much +as men, beat down to the lowest figure the woman who sews for them? +Are not women as sharp as men on washerwomen, and milliners, and +mantua-makers? If a woman asks a dollar for her work, does not her +female employer ask her if she will not take ninety cents? You say +"only ten cents difference;" but that is sometimes the difference +between heaven and hell. Women often have less commiseration for women +than men. If a woman steps aside from the path of virtue, man may +forgive,--woman never! Woman will never get justice done her from +woman's ballot. + +Neither will she get it from man's ballot. How, then? God will rise +up for her. God has more resources than we know of. The flaming sword +that hung at Eden's gate when woman was driven out will cleave with +its terrible edge her oppressors. + +But there is something for our women to do. Let our young people +prepare to excel in spheres of work, and they will be able, after +a while, to get larger wages. If it be shown that a woman can, in a +store, sell more goods in a year than a man, she will soon be able +not only to ask but to _demand_ more wages, and to demand them +successfully. Unskilled and incompetent labor must take what is given; +skilled and competent labor will eventually make its own standard. +Admitting that the law of supply and demand regulates these things, +I contend that the demand for skilled labor is very great, and the +supply very small. + +Start with the idea that work is _honorable_, and that you can do some +one thing better than any one else. Resolve that, God helping, you +will take care of yourself. If you are, after a while, called into +another relation, you will all the better be qualified for it by your +spirit of self-reliance; or if you are called to stay as you are, you +can be happy and self-supporting. + +Poets are fond of talking about man as an oak, and woman the vine that +climbs it; but I have seen many a tree fall that not only went down +itself, but took all the vines with it. I can tell you of something +stronger than an oak for an ivy to climb on, and that is the throne of +the great Jehovah. Single or affianced, that woman is strong who leans +on God and does her best. The needle may break; the factory-band may +slip; the wages may fail; but, over every good woman's head there are +spread the two great, gentle, stupendous wings of the Almighty. + +Many of you will go single-handed through life, and you will have to +choose between two characters. Young woman, I am sure you will turn +your back upon the useless, giggling, painted nonentity which society +ignominiously acknowledges to be a woman, and ask God to make you an +humble, active, earnest Christian. + +What will become of this godless disciple of fashion? What an insult +to her sex! Her manners are an outrage upon decency. She is more +thoughtful of the attitude she strikes upon the carpet than how she +will look in the judgment; more worried about her freckles than her +sins; more interested in her bonnet-strings than in her redemption. +Her apparel is the poorest part of a Christian woman, however +magnificently dressed, and no one has so much right to dress well as +a Christian. Not so with the godless disciple of fashion. Take her +robes, and you take everything. Death will come down on her some day, +and rub the bistre off her eyelids, and the rouge off her cheeks, and +with two rough, bony hands, scatter spangles and glass beads and rings +and ribbons and lace and brooches and buckles and sashes and frisettes +and golden clasps. + +The dying actress whose life had been vicious said: "The scene closes. +Draw the curtain." Generally the tragedy comes first, and the farce +afterward; but in her life it was first the farce of a useless life, +and then the tragedy of a wretched eternity. + +Compare the life and death of such an one with that of some Christian +aunt that was once a blessing to your household. I do not know that +she was ever offered the hand in marriage. She lived single, that +untrammelled she might be everybody's blessing. Whenever the sick were +to be visited, or the poor to be provided with bread, she went with a +blessing. She could pray, or sing "Rock of Ages," for any sick pauper +who asked her. As she got older, there were days when she was a little +sharp, but for the most part Auntie was a sunbeam--just the one for +Christmas-eve. She knew better than any one else how to fix things. +Her every prayer, as God heard it, was full of everybody who had +trouble. The brightest things in all the house dropped from her +fingers. She had peculiar notions, but the grandest notion she ever +had was to make you happy. She dressed well--Auntie always dressed +well; but her highest adornment was that of a meek and quiet spirit, +which, in the sight of God, is of great price. When she died, you all +gathered lovingly about her; and as you carried her out to rest, the +Sunday-school class almost covered the coffin with japonicas; and the +poor people stood at the end of the alley, with their aprons to their +eyes, sobbing bitterly; and the man of the world said, with Solomon, +"Her price was above rubies;" and Jesus, as unto the maiden in Judea, +commanded: "I SAY UNTO THEE, ARISE!" + + + + +PICTURES IN THE STOCK GALLERY. + + +[NOTE.--This chapter, though largely devoted to "Oil," is to be +construed as reaching any other "Kite" that the stock gambler +flies--any other scheme which his unprincipled ideas of right and +wrong will permit him to work to his own gain and others' loss. +The oil mania was only a more popular or attractive _vice_ of the +stock-boards, which is reproduced, in spirit and motive, almost every +month of the year.] + +At my entrance upon this discussion, I must deplore the indiscriminate +terms of condemnation employed by many well-meaning persons in regard +to stock operations. The business of the stock-broker is just as +legitimate and necessary as that of a dealer in clothes, groceries, or +hardware; and a man may be as pure-minded and holy a Christian at the +Board of Brokers as in a prayer-meeting. The broker is, in the sight +of God, as much entitled to his commissions as any hard-working +mechanic is entitled to his day's wages. Any man has as much right +to make money by the going up of stocks as by the going up of sugar, +rice, or tea. The inevitable board-book that the operator carries in +his hand may be as pure as the clothing merchant's ledger. It is +the work of the brokers to facilitate business; to make transfer of +investment; to watch and report the tides of business; to assist the +merchant in lawful enterprises. + +Because there are men in this department of business, sharp, +deceitful, and totally iniquitous, you have no right to denounce the +entire class. Importers, shoe-dealers, lumbermen, do not want to be +held responsible for the moral deficits of their comrades in business. +Neither have you a right to excoriate those who are conscientiously +operating through the channels spoken of. If they take a risk, so do +all business men. The merchant who buys silk at five dollars per yard +takes his chances; he expects it to go up to six dollars; it may fall +to four dollars. If a man, by straightforward operations in stocks, +meets with disaster and fails, he deserves sympathy just as much as he +who sold spices or calicoes, and through some miscalculation is struck +down bankrupt. + +We have no right to impose restrictions upon this class of men that +we impose upon no other. What right have you to denounce the operation +"buyer--ten days" or "buyer--twenty days," when you take a house, +"buyer--three hundred and sixty-five days?" Perhaps the entire payment +is to be made at the end of a year, when you do not know but that, by +that time, you will be penniless. Give all men their due, if you would +hold beneficent influence over them. Do not be too rough in pulling +out the weeds, lest you uproot also the marigolds and verbenas. In +the Board of Brokers there are some of the most conscientious, +upright Christian men of our cities--men who would scorn a lie, or a +subterfuge. Indeed, there are men in these boards who might, in some +respects, teach a lesson of morality to other commercial circles. + +I will not deny that there are special temptations connected with this +business even when carried on legitimately. So there are dangers to +the engineer on a railroad. He does not know what night he may dash +into the coal-train. But engines must be run, and stocks must be sold. +A nervous, excitable man ought to be very slow to undertake either the +engine or the Stock Exchange. + +A clever young man, of twenty-five years of age, bought ten shares in +the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. The stock went up five dollars per +share, and he made fifty dollars by the operation. His mother, +knowing his temperament, said to him, "I wish you had lost it." But, +encouraged, he entered another operation, and took ten shares in +another railroad and made two hundred dollars. By this time he was +ready for the wildest scheme. He lost, in three years, forty thousand +dollars, ruined his health, and broke his wife's heart. Her father +supports them chiefly now. The unfortunate has a shingle up, in a +small court, among low operators. Such a man as this is unfit for this +commercial sphere. He would have been unfit for a pilot, unfit for +military command, unfit for any place that demands steady nerve, cool +brain, and well-balanced temperament. + +But, while there is a legitimate sphere for the broker and operator, +there are transactions every day undertaken in our cities that can +only be characterized as superb outrage and villany; and there are +members of Christian churches who have been guilty of speculations +that, in the last day, will blanch their cheek, and thunder them +down to everlasting companionship with the lowest gamblers that ever +pitched pennies for a drink. + +It is not necessary that I should draw the difficult line between +honorable and dishonorable speculation. God has drawn it through every +man's conscience. The broker guilty of "cornering" as well knows that +he is sinning against God and man, as though the flame of Mount Sinai +singed his eyebrows. He hears that a brother broker has sold "short," +and immediately goes about with a wise look, saying: "Erie is going +down--Erie is going down; prepare for it." Immediately the people +begin to sell; he buys up the stock; monopolizes the whole affair; +drags down the man who sold short; makes largely, pockets the gain, +and thanks the Lord for great prosperity in business. You call it +"cornering." I call it gambling, theft, highway robbery, villany +accursed. + +It is astonishing how some men, who are kind in their families, useful +in the church, charitable to the poor, are utterly transformed of the +devil as soon as they enter the Stock Exchange. A respectable member +of one of the churches of the city went into a broker's office and +said: "Get me one hundred shares of Reading, and carry it; I will +leave a margin of five hundred dollars." Instead of going up, +according to anticipation, the stock fell. Every few days the operator +called to ask the broker what success. The stock still declined. The +operator was so terribly excited that the broker asked him what was +the matter. He replied: "To tell you the truth, I borrowed that five +hundred dollars that I lost, and, in anticipation of what I was sure I +was going to get by the operation, I made a very large subscription to +the Missionary Society." + +The nation has become so accustomed to frauds that no astonishment is +excited thereby. The public conscience has for many years been utterly +debauched by what were called fancy stocks, morus multicaulis, Western +city enterprises, and New England developments. + +If a man find on his farm something as large as the head of a pin, +that, in a strong sunlight, sparkles a little, a gold company is +formed; books are opened; working capital declared; a select number +go in on the "ground floor;" and the estates of widows and orphans +are swept into the vortex. Very little discredit is connected with any +such transaction, if it is only on a large scale. We cannot bear small +and insignificant dishonesties, but take off our hats and bow almost +to the ground in the presence of the man who has made one hundred +thousand dollars by one swindle. A woman was arrested in the streets +of one of our cities for selling molasses candy on Sunday. She was +tried, condemned, and imprisoned. Coming out of prison, she went into +the same business and sold molasses candy on Sunday. Again she was +arrested, condemned, and imprisoned. On coming out--showing the total +depravity of a woman's heart--she again went into the same business, +and sold molasses candy on Sunday. Whereupon the police, the mayor and +the public sentiment of the city rose up and declared that, though +the heavens fell, no woman should be allowed to sell molasses candy on +Sunday. Yet the law puts its hands behind its back, and walks up and +down in the presence of a thousand abominations and dares not whisper. + +There are scores of men to-day on the streets, whose costly family +wardrobes, whose rosewood furniture, whose splendid turn-outs, whose +stately mansions, are made out of the distresses of sewing-women, +whose money they gathered up in a stock swindle. There is human sweat +in the golden tankards. There is human blood in the crimson plush. +There are the bones of unrequited toil in the pearly keys of the +piano. There is the curse of an incensed God hovering over all their +magnificence. Some night the man will not be able to rest. He will +rise up in bewilderment and look about him, crying: "Who is there?" +Those whom he has wronged will thrust their skinny arms under the +tapestry, and touch his brow, and feel for his heart, and blow their +sepulchral breath into his face, crying: "Come to judgment!" + +For the warning of young men, I shall specify but two of the world's +most gigantic swindles--one English, and the other American. +In England, in the early part of the last century, reports were +circulated of the fabulous wealth of South America. A company was +formed, with a stock of what would be equal to thirty millions of our +dollars. The government guaranteed to the company the control of all +the trade to the South Sea, and the company was to assume the entire +debt of England, then amounting to one hundred and forty millions of +dollars. Magnificent project! The English nation talked and dreamed +of nothing but Peruvian gold and Mexican silver, the national debt +liquidated, and Eldorados numberless and illimitable! When five +million pounds of new stock was offered at three hundred pounds per +share, it was all snatched up with avidity. Thirty million dollars +of the stock was subscribed for, when there were but five millions +offered. South Sea went up, until in the midsummer month the stock +stood at one thousand per cent. The whole nation was intoxicated. +Around about this scheme, as might have been expected, others just as +wild arose. A company was formed with ten million dollars of capital +for importing walnut trees from Virginia. A company for developing +a wheel to go by perpetual motion, with a capital of four million +dollars. A company for developing a new kind of soap. A company for +insuring against losses by servants, with fifteen million dollars +capital. One scheme was entitled: "A company for carrying on an +undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is--capital +two million five hundred thousand dollars, in shares of five hundred +each. Further information to be given in a month." + +The books were opened at nine o'clock in the morning. Before night +a thousand shares were taken, and two thousand pounds paid in. So +successful was the day's work, that that night the projector of the +enterprise went out of the business, and forever vanished from the +public. But it was not a perfect loss. The subscribers had their +ornamented certificates of stock to comfort them. Hunt's Merchant's +Magazine, speaking of those times, says "that from morning until +evening 'Change Alley was filled to overflowing with one dense mass of +living beings composed of the most incongruous materials, and, in +all things save the mad pursuit in which they were employed, the very +opposite in habits and conditions." + +What was the end of this chapter of English enterprise? Suddenly +the ruin came. Down went the whole nation--members of Parliament, +tradesmen, physicians, clergymen, lawyers, royal ladies, and poor +needle-women--in one stupendous calamity. The whole earth, and all the +ages, heard that bubble burst. + +But I am not through. Our young men shall hear more startling things. +We surpass England in having higher mountains, deeper rivers, greater +cataracts, and larger armies. Yea, we have surpassed it in magnitude +of swindles. I wish to unfold before the young men of the country, +and before those in whose hands may now be the price of blood, the +wide-spread, ghastly, and almost infinitely greater wickedness of the +gamblers in oil stock. Now, the obtaining of lands, the transporting +of machinery, and the forming of companies for the production of oil, +is just as honorable as any organization for the obtaining of coal, +iron, copper, or zinc. God poured out before this nation a river of +oil, and intended us to gather it up, transport it, and use it; +and there were companies formed that have withstood all commercial +changes, and continued, year after year, in the prosecution of an +honorable business. I have just as much respect for the man who has +made fifty thousand dollars by oil as I have for him who has made it +by spices. + +Out of twelve hundred petroleum companies, how many do you suppose +were honestly formed and rightfully conducted? Do you say six hundred? +You make large demands upon one's credulity; but let us be generous, +and suppose that six hundred companies bought land, issued honest +circulars, sent out machinery, and plunged into the earth for the +rightful development of resources. To form the other six hundred +companies, only three or four things were necessary: First, an +attractive circular, regardless of expense. It must have all the +colors and hues of earth, and sea, and heaven. Let the letters flame +with all the beauty of gold, and jasper, and amethyst. It must state +the date of incorporation, and the fact that "all subscribers shall +get the benefit of the original undertaking. While it does not make +so much pretension as some other companies, it must be distinctly +announced that this is a safe and permanent investment." The circular +must state that "there are a goodly number of flowing wells, and +others which the company are happy to say have a very good smell of +oil." "The books will be open only five days, as there are only a few +shares yet to be taken." Connected with this circular is an elaborate +map, drawn by the artist of the company. Never mind the geography of +the country. Our map must have a creek running through it, so crooked +as to traverse as much of the land as possible, and make it all +water-front. "Ah!" said one man to his artist, "you make only one +creek."--"Well," said the artist, "if you want three creeks you can +have them at very little expense. There--you have them now--three +creeks!" + +Then the circular must have good names attached to it. How to get +them? The president and directors must be prominent men. If celebrated +for piety, all the better. The estimable man approached says: "I know +nothing about this company."--"Well," says the committee waiting +on him, "we will give you five hundred dollars' worth of shares." +Immediately the estimable man begins to "know about it," and accepts +the position of president. Three or four directors are obtained in +the same way. Now the thing is easy. After this you can get anybody. +Ordinary Christians and sinners feel it a joy to be in such celebrated +society. + +Another thing important is that the company purchase three or four +vials of oil to stand in the window--some in the crude state, the rest +clarified. Genuine specimens from Venango County. + +Another important thing: there must be a large working capital, +for the company do not mean to be idle. They have derricks already +building; and there will be large monthly dividends. Let it be known +that there were companies in some cities who, claiming to have +a capital of four hundred thousand dollars, yet had that capital +exhausted when they had sunk one well costing five thousand dollars. +But never mind. The thing must be right, for some of the directors +are eminent for respectability. You say it is certainly important that +there be some land out of which the oil is to be obtained. Oh! no. Why +be troubled with any land at all? It is an expense for nothing. You +have the circular, and the glowing map, with the creeks and three +vials of oil in the window, and a flaming advertisement in the +newspapers. Now let the books be opened! Better if you can have a +half-dozen offices in one room; then the agent can accommodate you +with anything you desire. If you want to take a "flyer" in this and a +"flyer" in that, you shall have it. + +Coming in from the country are farmers, dairymen, day-laborers. Great +chances now for speedy emoluments. Pour in the hard-earned treasures. +Sure enough, a dividend of one per cent. per month! Forthwith, another +multitude are convinced of the safety of the investment. The second +month another dividend. The third month another. Whence do these +dividends come? From the product of the wells? Oh! no. It is your own +money they are paying you back. How generous of this company to give +you five dollars back, when you might have lost it all! + +But the dividends stop. What is the matter? Instead of the +advertisement which covered a whole column of the newspapers, +there comes a modest little notice that "a special meeting of the +stockholders will be held for the purpose of transacting business +of importance." Perhaps it may be to assess the stockholders for the +purpose of keeping the little land they have, if they have any. Or it +may be for the election of a new group of officers, for the present +incumbents do not want to be always before the public. They are modest +men. They believe in rotation of office. They cannot consent any +longer to serve. Where have they gone to? They are busy putting up +a princely mansion at Long Branch, Germantown, or Chelsea. They have +served their day and generation, and have gone to their flocks and +herds. Where is the Church of God, that she allows in her membership +such gigantic abominations? Were the thirty pieces of silver that +Judas received denounced as unfit, and shall the Church of God have +nothing to say about this price of blood? Is sin to be excused because +it is as high as heaven, or deep as hell? The man who allows his name +to be used as president or director in connection with an enterprise +that he knows is to result in the sale of twenty thousand shares of an +undeveloped nothing--God will tear off the cloak of his hypocrisy, and +in the last day show him to all the universe--a brazen-faced gambler. +His house will be accursed. God's anathemas will flash in the +chandelier, and rattle in the swift hoofs of his silver-bitted grays; +and the day of fire will see him willing to leap into a burning +oil-well to hide himself from the face of the Lamb. The hundred +thousand dollars gotten in unrighteousness will not be enough to build +a barricade against the advance of the divine judgments. + +Think of the elder in a church who, from the oil regions, sends an +exciting telegram, so that one man buys a large amount of stock at +twelve, on Wednesday. The next day it is put on the stock-board at +six. The enterprising man, who sold it at twelve, goes out to buy +one of the grandest estates within ten miles of the city. The man +who bought it goes into the dust; and the secret gets out that the +exciting telegram sent by the elder arose, not from any oil actually +discovered, but because in boring they had found a magnificent odor of +oil. + +If he who steals a dollar from a money-drawer is a thief, then he +who by dishonesty gets five hundred thousand dollars is five hundred +thousand times more a thief. And so the last day will declare him. + +Did not the law right the injured man? No! The poor who were wronged +would not undertake a suit against a company that could bring fifty +thousand dollars to the enlightenment of judge, jury, and lawyer; +while, on the other hand, the affluent who had been gouged would not +go to the courts for justice. Why! how would it sound, if it got out, +that Mr. So and So, one of the first merchants on Wall, or Third, or +State street, had got swindled? They will keep it still. + +The guilty range to-day undisturbed through society, and will +continue to do so until the Lord God shall bring them to an unerring +settlement, and proclaim to an astonished universe how many lies they +told about the land, about the derricks, about the yield, about the +dividends. What shall such an one say, when God shall, in the great +day of account, hold up before him the circular, and the map, and the +newspaper advertisement? Speechless! + +Before that day shall come I warn you--Disgorge! you infamous stock +gamblers! Gather together so many of your company as have any honesty +left, and join in the following circular:--"_We the undersigned, do +hereby repent of our villainies, and beg pardon of the public for +all the wrongs that we have done them; and hereby ask the widows and +orphans whom we have made penniless to come next Saturday, between ten +and three o'clock, and receive back what we stole from them. We hereby +confess that the wells spoken of in our circular never yielded any +oil; and that the creeks running through our ornamented map were an +entire fiction; and that the elder who piously rolled up his eyes and +said it was a safe investment, was not as devout as he looked to be. +Signed by the subscribers at their office, in the year of our Lord_ +1871." + +Then your conscience will be clear, and you can die in peace. But I +have no faith in such a reformation. When the devil gets such a fair +hold of a man he hardly ever lets go. + +To the young I turn and utter a word of warning. While you are +determined to be acute business men, resolve at the very threshold +that you will have nothing to do with stock-_gambling_. This country +can richly afford to lose the eight hundred millions of dollars +swindled out of honest people, if our young men, by it, will be warned +for all the future. Think you such enterprises are forever passed +away? No! they begin already to clamor for public attention and +patronage. There are now hundreds of printing-presses busy in making +pamphlets and circulars for schemes as hollow and nefarious as those I +have mentioned. There are silver-mining companies, founded upon nobody +knows what--to accomplish what, nobody cares. There will be other +Canada gold companies; there will be other copper-mining companies; +there will be more mutual consumers' coal companies, who, not +satisfied with the price of ordinary coal-dealers, will resolve +themselves into consumers' associations, where the thing consumed +is not the coal, but themselves--the companies that were to be +immaculate, setting the whole community to playing the game of "Who's +got the money?" + +Stand off from all _doubtful_ enterprises! Resolve that if, in a +lawful way, you cannot earn a living, then you will die an honest man, +and be buried in an honest sepulchre. + +There are two or three reasons why you should have nothing to do with +such operations. Mentioning the lowest motive first, it will desolate +you financially. I asked a man of large observation and undoubted +integrity, how many of the professed stock-gamblers made a _permanent_ +fortune. He answered, "Not one! not one of those who made this their +only business." For a little while you may plunge in a round of +seeming prosperity; but your money is put into a bag with holes. You +cannot successfully bury a dishonest dollar. You may put it down into +the very heart of the earth; you may heave rocks upon the top of it; +on top of the rocks you may put banks and all moneyed institutions, +but that dishonest dollar beneath will begin to heave and toss and +upturn itself, and keep on until it comes to the resurrection of +damnation. + +Then this stock-gambling life is wretchedly unhappy. It makes the +nerves shake, and the brain hot, and the heart sad, and the life +disquieted. + +A man in Philadelphia, who seems to be an exception to the rule--that +such men do not permanently prosper--who has well on towards a million +of dollars, and is nearly seventy years of age, may be seen, every +day, going in and out, eaten up of stocks, torn in an inquisition of +stocks, rode by a nightmare of stocks; and, with the earnestness of a +drowning man, he rushes into a broker's shop, crying out: "Did you get +me those shares?" In such an anxious, exciting life there are griefs, +disappointments, anguish, but there is no happiness. + +Worse than all, it destroys the soul. The day must come when the +worthless scrip will fall out of the clutches of the stock-gambler. +Satan will play upon him the "cornering" game which, down on Wall +street, he played upon a fellow-operator. Now he would be glad to +exchange all his interest in Venango County for one share in the +Christian's prospect of heaven. Hopeless, he falls back in his +last sickness. His delirium is filled with senseless talk about +"percentages" and "commissions" and "buyer, sixty days," and "stocks +up," and "stocks down." He thinks that the physician who feels his +pulse is trying to steal his "board book." He starts up at midnight, +saying: "One thousand shares of Reading at 116-1/2. Take it!" _Falls +back dead. No more dividends.... Swindled out of heaven_. STOCKS DOWN! + + + + +LEPROUS NEWSPAPERS. + + +The newspaper is the great educator of the nineteenth century. There +is no force compared with it. It is book, pulpit, platform, forum, all +in one. And there is not an interest--religious, literary, commercial, +scientific, agricultural, or mechanical--that is not within its +grasp. All our churches, and schools, and colleges, and asylums, and +art-galleries feel the quaking of the printing-press. I shall try to +bring to your parlor-tables the periodicals that are worthy of the +Christian fireside, and try to pitch into the gutter of scorn and +contempt those newspapers that are not fit for the hand of your child +or the vision of your wife. + +The institution of newspapers arose in Italy. In Venice the first +newspaper was published, and monthly, during the time that Venice was +warring against Solyman the Second in Dalmatia. It was printed for +the purpose of giving military and commercial information to the +Venetians. The first newspaper published in England was in 1588, +and called the _English Mercury_. Others were styled the _Weekly +Discoverer_, the _Secret Owl_, _Heraclitus Ridens_, etc. + +Who can estimate the political, scientific, commercial, and religious +revolutions roused up in England for many years past by _Bell's Weekly +Dispatch_, the _Standard_, the _Morning Chronicle_, the _Post_, and +the _London Times_? + +The first attempt at this institution in France was in 1631, by a +physician, who published the _News_, for the amusement and health of +his patients. The French nation understood fully how to appreciate +this power. Napoleon, with his own hand, wrote articles for the press, +and so early as in 1829 there were in Paris 169 journals. But in the +United States the newspaper has come to unlimited sway. Though in +1775 there were but thirty-seven in the whole country, the number of +published journals is now counted by thousands; and to-day--we may as +well acknowledge it as not--the religious and secular newspapers are +the great _educators of the country_. + +In our pulpits we preach to a few hundreds or thousands of people; the +newspaper addresses an audience of twenty thousand, fifty thousand, or +two hundred thousand. We preach three or four times a week; they every +morning or evening of the year. If they are right, they are gloriously +right; if they are wrong, they are awfully wrong. + +I find no difficulty in accounting for the world's advance. Four +centuries ago, in Germany, in courts of justice, men fought with their +fists to see who should have the decision of the court; and if the +judge's decision was unsatisfactory, then the judge fought with the +counsel. Many of the lords could not read the deeds of their own +estates. What has made the change? + +"Books," you say. + +No, sir! The vast majority of citizens do not read books. Take this +audience, or any other promiscuous assemblage, and how many histories +have they read? How many treatises on constitutional law, or political +economy, or works of science? How many elaborate poems or books of +travel? How much of Boyle, or De Tocqueville, Xenophon, or Herodotus, +or Percival? Not many! + +In the United States, the people would not average one such book a +year for each individual! + +Whence, then, this intelligence--this capacity to talk about all +themes, secular and religious--this acquaintance with science and +art--this power to appreciate the beautiful and grand? Next to the +Bible, the _newspaper_,--swift-winged, and everywhere present, +flying over the fences, shoved under the door, tossed into the +counting-house, laid on the work-bench, hawked through the cars! All +read it: white and black, German, Irishman, Swiss, Spaniard, American, +old and young, good and bad, sick and well, before breakfast and after +tea, Monday morning, Saturday night, Sunday and week day! + +I now declare that I consider the newspaper to be the grand agency +by which the Gospel is to be preached, ignorance cast out, oppression +dethroned, crime extirpated, the world raised, heaven rejoiced, and +God glorified. + +In the clanking of the printing-press, as the sheets fly out, I hear +the voice of the Lord Almighty proclaiming to all the dead nations +of the earth,--"Lazarus, come forth!" And to the retreating surges +of darkness,--"Let there be light!" In many of our city newspapers, +professing no more than secular information, there have appeared +during the past ten years some of the grandest appeals in behalf of +religion, and some of the most effective interpretations of God's +government among the nations. + +That man has a shrivelled heart who begrudges the five pennies he +pays to the newsboy who brings the world to his feet. There are +to-day connected with the editorial and reportorial corps of newspaper +establishments men of the highest culture and most unimpeachable +morality, who are living on the most limited stipends, martyrs to +the work to which they feel themselves called. While you sleep in the +midnight hours, their pens fly, and their brains ache in preparing +the morning intelligence. Many of them go, unrested and unappreciated, +their cheeks blanched and their eyes half quenched with midnight +work, toward premature graves, to have the "proof-sheet" of their +life corrected by Divine mercy, glad at last to escape the perpetual +annoyances of a fault-finding public, and the restless, impatient cry +for "more copy." + +"Nations are to be born in a day." Will this great inrush come from +personal presence of missionary or philanthropist? No. When the time +comes for that grand demonstration I think the press in all the earth +will make the announcement, and give the call to the nations. As at +some telegraphic centre, an operator will send the messages, north and +south, and east and west, San Francisco and Heart's Content catching +the flash at the same instant; so, standing at some centre to which +shall reach all the electric wires that cross the continent and +undergird the sea, some one shall, with the forefinger of the right +hand, click the instrument that shall thrill through all lands, across +all islands, under all seas, through all palaces, into all dungeons, +and startle both hemispheres with the news, that in a few +moments shall rush out from the ten thousand times ten thousand +printing-presses of the earth: "Glory to God in the highest, and on +earth peace, good-will toward men!" + +You see, therefore, that, in the plain words to be written, I have no +grudges to gratify against the newspaper press. Professional men are +accustomed to complain of injustice done them, but I take the censure +I have sometimes received and place it on one side the scales, and the +excessive praise, and place it on the other side, and they balance, +and so I consider I have had simple justice. But we are all aware that +there is a class of men in towns and cities who send forth a baleful +influence from their editorial pens. There are enough bad newspapers +weekly poured out into the homes of our country to poison a vast +population. In addition to the home manufacture of iniquitous sheets, +the mail-bags of other cities come in gorged with abominations. New +York scoops up from the sewers of other cities, and adds to its own +newspaper filth. And to-night, lying on the tables of this city, or +laid away on the shelf, or in the trunk, for more private perusal, are +papers the mere mention of the names of which would send a blush to +the cheek, and make the decent and Christian world cry out: "God save +the city!" + +There is a paper published in Boston of outrageous character, and yet +there are seven thousand copies of that paper coming weekly to New +York for circulation. I will not mention the name, lest some of you +should go right away and get it. It is wonderful how quick the fingers +of the printer-boy fly, but the fingers of sin and pollution can set +up fifty thousand types in an instant. The supply of bad newspapers +in New York does not meet the insatiable appetite of our people for +refuse, and garbage, and moral swill. We must, therefore, import +corrupt weeklies published elsewhere, that make our newspaper stands +groan under the burden. + +But we need not go abroad. There are papers in New York that long ago +came to perfection of shamelessness, and there is no more power +in venom and mud and slime to pollute them. They have dashed their +iniquities into the face of everything decent and holy. And their work +will be seen in the crime and debauchery and the hell of innumerable +victims. Their columns are not long and broad enough to record the +tragedies of their horrible undoing of immortal men and women. + +God, after a while, will hold up these reeking, stenchful, accursed +sheets, upon which they spread out their guilt, and the whole universe +will cry out for their damnation. See the work of bad newspapers +in the false tidings they bring! There are hundreds of men to-day +penniless, who were, during the war, hurled from their affluent +positions by incorrect accounts of battles that shook the +money-market, and the gold gamblers, with their hoofs, trampled these +honest men into the mire. And many a window was hoisted at the hour of +midnight as the boy shouted: "Extra! Extra!" And the father and mother +who had an only son at the front, with trembling hand, and blanched +cheek, and sinking heart, read of battles that had never occurred. +God pity the father and mother who have a boy at the front when evil +tidings come! If an individual makes a false statement, one or twenty +persons may be damaged; but a newspaper of large circulation that +wilfully makes a misstatement in one day tells fifty thousand +falsehoods. + +The most stupendous of all lies is a newspaper lie. + +A bad newspaper scruples not at any slander. It may be that, to escape +the grip of the law, the paragraphs will be nicely worded, so that the +suspicion is thrown out and the damage done without any exposure to +the law. Year by year, thousands of men are crushed by the ink-roller. +An unscrupulous man in the editorial chair may smite as with the +wing of a destroying angel. What to him is commercial integrity, or +professional reputation, or woman's honor, or home's sanctity? It +seems as if he held in his hand a hose with which, while all the +harpies of sin were working at the pumps, he splashed the waters of +death upon the best interests of society. + +The express-train in England halts not to take in water, but between +the tracks there is a trough, one-fourth of a mile in length, filled +with water; and the engine drops a hose that catches up the water +while the train flies. So with bad newspapers that fly along the track +of death without pausing a moment, yet scooping up into themselves the +pollution of society, and in the awful rush making the earth tremble. + +The most abandoned man of the city may go to the bad newspaper and get +a slander inserted about the best man. If he cannot do it in any other +way, he can by means of an anonymous communication. Now, a man who, +to injure another, will write an anonymous letter, is, in the first +place, a coward, and, in the second place, a villain. Many of these +offensive anonymous letters you see in the bad newspaper have been +found to be _written in the editorial chair_. + +The bad newspaper stops not at any political outrage. It would arouse +a revolution, and empty the hearts of a million brave men in the +trenches, rather than not have its own circulation multiply. +What to it are the hard-earned laurels of the soldier or the exalted +reputation of the statesman? Its editors would, if they dared, blow +up the Capitol of the nation if they could only successfully carry off +the frieze of one of the corridors. There are enough falsehoods told +at any one of our autumnal elections to make the "Father of Lies" +disown his monstrous progeny. Now it is the Mayor, then the Governor, +now the Secretary of State, and then the President, until the air is +so full of misrepresentation that truth is hidden from the view, as +beautiful landscapes by the clouds of summer insects blown up from the +marshes. + +The immoral newspaper stops not at the unclean advertisement. It is +so much for so many words, and in such a sheet it will cost no more +to advertise the most impure book than the new edition of Pilgrim's +Progress. A book such as no decent man would touch was a few months +ago advertised in a New York paper, and the getter-up of the book, +passing down one of our streets the other day, acknowledged to one of +my friends that he had made $18,000 out of the enterprise. + +In one column of a paper we see a grand ethical discussion, and in +another the droppings of most accursed nastiness. Oh! you cannot by +all your religion, in one column, atone for one of your abominations +in another! I am rejoiced that some of our papers have addressed those +who have proposed to compensate them for bad use of their columns, in +the words of Peter to Simon Magus: "Thy money perish with thee!" But I +arraign the newspapers that give their columns to corrupt advertising +for the nefarious work they are doing. The most polluted plays that +ever oozed from the poisonous pen of leprous dramatist have won +their deathful power through the medium of newspapers; the evil is +stupendous! + +O ye reckless souls! get money--though morality dies, and society is +dishonored, and God defied, and the doom of the destroyed opens before +you--get money! Though the melted gold be poured upon your naked, +blistered, and consuming soul--get money! Get money! It will do you +good when it begins to eat like a canker! It will solace the pillow +of death, and soothe the pangs of an agonized eternity! Though in the +game thou dost stake thy soul, and lose it forever--get money! + +The bad newspaper hesitates not to assault Christianity and its +disciples. With what exhilaration it puts in capitals, that fill +one-fourth of a column, the defalcation of some agent of a benevolent +society! There is enough meat in such a carcass of reputation to gorge +all the carrion-crows of an iniquitous printing-press. They put upon +the back of the Church all the inconsistencies of hypocrites--as +though a banker were responsible for all the counterfeits upon his +institution! They jeer at religion, and lift up their voices until all +the caverns of the lost resound with the howl of their derision. They +forget that Christianity is the only hope for the world, and that, but +for its enlightenment, they would now be like the Hottentots, living +in mud hovels, or like the Chinese, eating rats. + +What would you think of a wretch who, during a great storm, while the +ship was being tossed to and fro on the angry waves, should climb up +into the light-house and blow out the light? And what do you think of +these men, who, while all the Christian and the glorious institutions +of the world are being tossed and driven hither and thither, are +trying to climb up and put out the only light of a lost world? + +The bad newspaper stops not at publishing the most damaging and +unclean story. The only question is: "Will it pay?" And there are +scores of men who, day by day, bring into the newspaper offices +manuscripts for publication which unite all that is pernicious; and, +before the ink is fairly dry, tens of thousands are devouring with +avidity the impure issue. Their sensibilities deadened, their sense +of right perverted, their purity of thought tarnished, their taste +for plain life despoiled--the printing-press, with its iron foot, hath +dashed their life out! While I speak, there are many people, with +feet on the ottoman, and the gas turned on, looking down on the +page, submerged, mind and soul, in the perusal of this God-forsaken +periodical literature; and the last Christian mother will have put +the hands of the little child under the coverlet for the night, before +they will rouse up, as the city clock strikes the hour of midnight, to +go death-struck to their prayerless pillows. + +One of the proprietors of a great paper in this country gave his +advice to a young man then about to start a paper: "If you want to +succeed," said he, "make your paper trashy, intensely trashy,--make it +all trash!" + +Brilliant advice to a young man just entering business! + +It is very often that, as a paper purifies itself, its circulation +decreases, and sometimes when a paper becomes positively religious, it +becomes bankrupt, unless some benevolent and Christian men come up +to sustain it by contributions of money and means. But few religious +newspapers in this country are self-supporting. The reason urged +is--the country cannot stand so much religion! Hear it! Christian men +and philanthropists! + +Many papers that are most rapidly increasing to-day are unscrupulous. +The facts are momentous and appalling. And I put young men and women +and Christian parents and guardians on the look-out. This stuff cannot +be handled without pollution. Away with it from parlor, and shop, +and store! There is so much newspaper literature that _is_ pure, and +cheap, and elegant; shove back this leprosy from your door. + +Mark it well: _a man is no better than the newspaper he habitually +reads_. + +You may think it a bold thing thus to arraign an unprincipled +printing-press, but I know there are those reading this who will take +my counsel; and, in the discharge of my duty to God and man, I defy +all the hostilities of earth and hell! + +Representatives of the secular and religious press! I thank you, in +the name of Christianity and civilization, for the enlightenment of +ignorance, the overthrow of iniquity, and the words you have uttered +in the cause of God and your country. But I charge you in the name +of God, before whom you must account for the tremendous influence you +hold in this country, to consecrate yourselves to higher endeavors. +You are the men to fight back this invasion of corrupt literature. +Lift up your right hand and swear new allegiance to the cause of +philanthropy and religion. And when, at last, standing on the plains +of judgment, you look out upon the unnumbered throngs over whom you +have had influence, may it be found that you were among the mightiest +energies that lifted men upon the exalted pathway that leads to the +renown of heaven. Better than to have sat in editorial chair, from +which, with the finger of type, you decided the destinies of empires, +but decided them wrong, that you had been some dungeoned exile, who, +by the light of window iron-grated, on scraps of a New Testament leaf, +picked up from the hearth, spelled out the story of Him who taketh +away the sins of the world. + +IN ETERNITY, DIVES IS THE BEGGAR! + + + + +THE FATAL TEN-STRIKE. + + +While among my readers are those who have passed on into the afternoon +of life, and the shadows are lengthening, and the sky crimsons with +the glow of the setting sun, a large number of them are in early life, +and the morning is coming down out of the clear sky upon them, and the +bright air is redolent with spring blossoms, and the stream of life, +gleaming and glancing, rushes on between flowery banks, making music +as it goes. Some of you are engaged in mercantile establishments, as +clerks and book-keepers; and your whole life is to be passed in the +exciting world of traffic. The sound of busy life stirs you as the +drum stirs the fiery war-horse. Others are in the mechanical arts, to +hammer and chisel your way through life; and success awaits you. +Some are preparing for professional life, and grand opportunities are +before you; nay, some of you already have buckled on the armor. + +But, whatever your age or calling, the subject of gambling, about +which I speak in this chapter, is pertinent. + +Some years ago, when an association for the suppression of gambling +was organized, an agent of the association came to a prominent citizen +and asked him to patronize the society. He said, "No, I can have no +interest in such an organization. I am in no wise affected by that +evil." + +At that very time his son, who was his partner in business, was one of +the heaviest players in "Herne's" famous gaming establishment. Another +refused his patronage on the same ground, not knowing that his first +book-keeper, though receiving a salary of only a thousand dollars, was +losing from fifty to one hundred dollars per night. The president of +a railroad company refused to patronize the institution, saying--"That +society is good for the defence of merchants, but we railroad people +are not injured by this evil;" not knowing that, at that very time, +two of his conductors were spending three nights of each week at faro +tables in New York. Directly or indirectly, this evil strikes at the +whole world. + +Gambling is the risking of something more or less valuable in the hope +of winning more than you hazard. The instruments of gaming may differ, +but the principle is the same. The shuffling and dealing of cards, +however full of temptation, is not gambling, unless stakes are put up; +while, on the other hand, gambling may be carried on without cards, or +dice, or billiards, or a ten-pin alley. The man who bets on horses, +on elections, on battles--the man who deals in "fancy" stocks, +or conducts a business which extra hazards capital, or goes into +transactions without foundation, but dependent upon what men call +"luck," is a gambler. + +It is estimated that one-fourth of the business in London is done +dishonestly. Whatever you expect to get from your neighbor without +offering an equivalent in money or time or skill, is either the +product of theft or gaming. Lottery tickets and lottery policies come +into the same category. Fairs for the founding of hospitals, schools +and churches, conducted on the raffling system, come under the same +denomination. Do not, therefore, associate gambling necessarily with +any instrument, or game, or time, or place, or think the principle +depends upon whether you play for a glass of wine, or one hundred +shares in _Camden and Amboy_. Whether you employ faro or billiards, +rondo and keno, cards, or bagatelle, the very _idea_ of the thing is +dishonest; for it professes to bestow upon you a good for which you +_give no equivalent_. + +This crime is no newborn sprite, but a haggard transgression that +comes staggering down under a mantle of curses through many centuries. +All nations, barbarous and civilized, have been addicted to it. Before +1838, the French government received revenue from gaming houses. +In 1567, England, for the improvement of her harbors, instituted a +lottery, to be held at the front door of St. Paul's Cathedral. Four +hundred thousand tickets were sold, at ten shillings each. The +British Museum and Westminster Bridge were partially built by similar +procedures. The ancient Germans would sometimes put up themselves and +families as prizes, and suffer themselves to be bound, though stronger +than the persons who won them. + +But now the laws of the whole civilized world denounce the system. +Enactments have been passed, but only partially enforced. The men +interested in gaming houses wield such influence, by their numbers and +affluence, that the judge, the jury, and the police officer must +be bold indeed who would array themselves against these infamous +establishments. Within ten years the House of Commons of England has +adjourned on "Derby Day" to go out to bet on the races; and in the +best circles of society in this country to-day are many hundreds of +professedly respectable men who are acknowledged gamblers. + +Hundreds of thousands of dollars in this land are every day being won +and lost through sheer gambling. Says a traveller through the West--"I +have travelled a thousand miles at a time upon the Western waters +and seen gambling at every waking moment from the commencement to the +termination of the journey." The South-west of this country reeks with +this abomination. In New Orleans every third or fourth house in many +of the streets is a gaming place, and it may be truthfully averred +that each and all of our cities are cursed with this evil. + +In themselves most of the games employed in gambling are without harm. +Billiard-tables are as harmless as tea-tables, and a pack of cards as +a pack of letter envelopes, unless stakes be put up. But by their use +for gambling purposes they have become significant of an infinity +of wretchedness. In New York city there are said to be six thousand +houses devoted to this sin; in Philadelphia about four thousand; in +Cincinnati about one thousand; at Washington the amount of gaming is +beyond calculation. There have been seasons when, by night, Senators, +Representatives, and Ministers of Foreign Governments were found +engaged in this practice. + +Men wishing to gamble will find places just suited to their capacity, +not only in the underground oyster-cellar, or at the table back of the +curtain, covered with greasy cards, or in the steamboat smoking cabin, +where the bloated wretch with rings in his ears deals out his pack, +and winks in the unsuspecting traveller,--providing free drinks all +around,--but in gilded parlors and amid gorgeous surroundings. + +This sin works ruin, first, by unhealthful stimulants. Excitement is +pleasurable. Under every sky, and in every age, men have sought it. +The Chinaman gets it by smoking his opium; the Persian by chewing +hashish; the trapper in a buffalo hunt; the sailor in a squall; the +inebriate in the bottle, and the avaricious at the gaming-table. + +We must at times have excitement. A thousand voices in our nature +demand it. It is right. It is healthful. It is inspiriting. It is a +desire God-given. But anything that first gratifies this appetite and +hurls it back in a terrific reaction is deplorable and wicked. Look +out for the agitation that, like a rough musician, in bringing out the +tune, plays so hard he breaks down the instrument! + +God never made man strong enough to endure the wear and tear of +gambling excitement. No wonder if, after having failed in the game, +men have begun to sweep off imaginary gold from the side of the table. +The man was sharp enough when he started at the game, but a maniac at +the close. At every gaming-table sit on one side Ecstasy, Enthusiasm, +Romance--the frenzy of joy; on the other side, Fierceness, Rage, +and Tumult. The professional gamester schools himself into apparent +quietness. The keepers of gambling rooms are generally fat, +rollicking, and obese; but thorough and professional gamblers, in nine +cases out of ten, are pale, thin, wheezing, tremulous, and exhausted. + +A young man, having suddenly heired a large property, sits at the +hazard-table, and takes up in a dice-box the estate won by a father's +lifetime sweat, and shakes it, and tosses it away. + +Intemperance soon stigmatizes its victim--kicking him out, a slavering +fool, into the ditch, or sending him, with the drunkard's hiccough, +staggering up the street where his family lives. But gambling does +not, in that way, expose its victims. The gambler may be eaten up by +the gambler's passion, yet only discover it by the greed in his eyes, +the hardness of his features, the nervous restlessness, the threadbare +coat, and his embarrassed business. Yet he is on the road to hell, +and no preacher's voice, or startling warning, or wife's entreaty, can +make him stay for a moment his headlong career. The infernal spell +is on him; a giant is aroused within; and though you bind him with +cables, they would part like thread; and though you fasten him seven +times round with chains, they would snap like rusted wire; and though +you piled up in his path, heaven-high, Bibles, tracts and sermons, and +on the top should set the cross of the Son of God, over them all the +gambler would leap like a roe over the rocks, on his way to perdition. + +Again, this sin works ruin by killing industry. + +A man used to reaping scores or hundreds of dollars from the +gaming-table will not be content with slow work. He will say, "What is +the use of trying to make these fifty dollars in my store when I can +get five times that in half an hour down at 'Billy's'?" You never knew +a confirmed gambler who was industrious. The men given to this vice +spend their time not actively employed in the game in idleness, or +intoxication, or sleep, or in corrupting new victims. This sin has +dulled the carpenter's saw, and cut the band of the factory wheel, +sunk the cargo, broken the teeth of the farmer's harrow, and sent a +strange lightning to shatter the battery of the philosopher. + +The very first idea in gaming is at war with all the industries of +society. Any trade or occupation that is of use is ennobling. The +street sweeper advances the interests of society by the cleanliness +effected. The cat pays for the fragments it eats by clearing the house +of vermin. The fly that takes the sweetness from the dregs of the cup +compensates by purifying the air and keeping back the pestilence. But +the gambler gives not anything for that which he takes. + +I recall that sentence. He _does_ make a return; but it is disgrace to +the man that he fleeces, despair to his heart, ruin to his business, +anguish to his wife, shame to his children, and eternal wasting away +to his soul. He pays in tears and blood, and agony, and darkness, and +woe. + +What dull work is ploughing to the farmer, when in the village saloon, +in one night, he makes and loses the value of a summer harvest? Who +will want to sell tape, and measure nankeen, and cut garments, and +weigh sugars, when in a night's game he makes and loses, and makes +again, and loses again, the profits of a season? + +John Borack was sent as mercantile agent from Bremen to England and +this country. After two years his employers mistrusted that all was +not right. He was a defaulter for eighty-seven thousand dollars. It +was found that he had lost in Lombard street, London, twenty-nine +thousand dollars; in Fulton street, New York, ten thousand dollars; +and in New Orleans, three thousand dollars. He was imprisoned, but +afterwards escaped and went into the gambling profession. He died in a +lunatic asylum. + +This crime is getting its pry under many a mercantile house in our +cities, and before long down will come the great establishment, +crushing reputation, home, comfort, and immortal souls. How it diverts +and sinks capital may be inferred from some authentic statements +before us. The ten gaming-houses that once were authorized in Paris +passed through the banks, yearly, three hundred and twenty-five +millions of francs! The houses of this kind in Germany yield vast sums +to the government. The Hamburg establishment pays to the government +treasury forty thousand florins; and Baden Baden one hundred +and twenty thousand florins. Each one of the banks in the large +gaming-houses of Germany has forty or fifty croupiers standing in its +service. + +Where does all the money come from? _The whole world is robbed!_ What +is most sad, there are no consolations for the loss and suffering +entailed by gaming. If men fail in lawful business, God pities, and +society commiserates; but where in the Bible, or in society, is there +any consolation for the gambler? From what tree of the forest oozes +there a balm that can soothe the gamester's heart? In that bottle +where God keeps the tears of his children, are there any tears of the +gambler? Do the winds that come to kiss the faded cheek of sickness, +and to cool the heated brow of the laborer, whisper hope and cheer to +the emaciated victim of the game of hazard? When an honest man is in +trouble, he has sympathy. "Poor fellow!" they say. But do gamblers +come to weep at the agonies of the gambler? In Northumberland was one +of the finest estates in England. Mr. Porter owned it, and in a year +gambled it all away. Having lost the last acre of the estate, he came +down from the saloon and got into his carriage; went back; put up his +horses, and carriage, and town house, and played. He threw and +lost. He started home, and on a side alley met a friend from whom +he borrowed ten guineas; went back to the saloon, and before a great +while had won twenty thousand pounds. He died at last a beggar in St. +Giles. How many gamblers felt sorry for Mr. Porter? Who consoled him +on the loss of his estate? What gambler subscribed to put a stone over +the poor man's grave? Not one! + +Furthermore, this sin is the source of uncounted dishonesties. The +game of hazard itself is often a cheat. How many tricks and deceptions +in the dealing of the cards! The opponent's hand is ofttimes found +out by fraud. Cards are marked so that they may be designated from the +back. Expert gamesters have their accomplices, and one wink may +decide the game. The dice have been found loaded with platina, so +that "doublets" come up every time. These dice are introduced by the +gamblers unobserved by the honest men who have come into the play; +and this accounts for the fact that ninety-nine out of a hundred who +gamble, however wealthy they began, at the end are found to be poor, +miserable, ragged wretches, that would not now be allowed to sit on +the door-step of the house that they once owned. + +In a gaming-house in San Francisco, a young man having just come +from the mines deposited a large sum upon the ace, and won twenty-two +thousand dollars. But the tide turns. Intense anxiety comes upon the +countenances of all. Slowly the cards went forth. Every eye is fixed. +Not a sound is heard, until the ace is revealed favorable to the bank. +There are shouts of "Foul! Foul!" but the keepers of the table +produce their pistols and the uproar is silenced, and the bank has won +ninety-five thousand dollars. Do you call this a game of chance? There +is no chance about it. + +But these dishonesties in the carrying on of the game are nothing when +compared with the frauds which are committed in order to get money +to go on with the nefarious work. Gambling, with its greedy hand, has +snatched away the widow's mite and the portion of the orphans; has +sold the daughter's virtue to get means to continue the game; has +written the counterfeit signature, emptied the banker's money vault, +and wielded the assassin's dagger. There is no depth of meanness to +which it will not stoop. There is no cruelty at which it is appalled. +There is no warning of God that it will not dare. Merciless, +unappeasable, fiercer and wilder it blinds, it hardens, it rends, it +blasts, it crushes, it damns. It has peopled Moyamensing, and Auburn, +and Sing Sing. + +How many railroad agents, and cashiers, and trustees of funds, it has +driven to disgrace, incarceration, and suicide! Witness a cashier of +the Central Railroad and Banking Company of Georgia, who stole one +hundred and three thousand dollars to carry on his gaming practices. +Witness the forty thousand dollars stolen from a Brooklyn bank; and +the one hundred and eighty thousand dollars taken from a Wall Street +Insurance Company for the same purpose! These are only illustrations +on a large scale of the robberies _every day_ committed for the +purpose of carrying out the designs of gamblers. Hundreds of thousands +of dollars every year leak out without observation from the merchant's +till into the gambling hell. + +A man in London keeping one of these gambling houses boasted that he +had ruined a nobleman a day; but if all the saloons of this land were +to speak out, they might utter a more infamous boast, for they have +destroyed a thousand noblemen a year. + +Notice also the effect of this crime upon domestic happiness. It hath +sent its ruthless ploughshare through hundreds of families, until the +wife sat in rags, and the daughters were disgraced, and the sons grew +up to the same infamous practices, or took a short cut to destruction +across the murderer's scaffold. Home has lost all charms for the +gambler. How tame are the children's caresses and a wife's devotion to +the gambler! How drearily the fire burns on the domestic hearth! There +must be louder laughter, and something to win and something to lose; +an excitement to drive the heart faster and fillip the blood and fire +the imagination. No home, however bright, can keep back the gamester. +The sweet call of love bounds back from his iron soul, and all +endearments are consumed in the flame of his passion. The family Bible +will go after all other treasures are lost, and if his everlasting +crown in heaven were put into his hand he would cry: "Here goes, one +more game, my boys! On this one throw I stake my crown of heaven." + +A young man in London, on coming of age, received a fortune of one +hundred and twenty thousand dollars, and through gambling in three +years was thrown on his mother for support. + +An only son went to New Orleans. He was rich, intellectual, and +elegant in manners. His parents gave him, on his departure from home, +their last blessing. The sharpers got hold of him. They flattered him. +They lured him to the gaming-table and let him win almost every time +for a good while, and patted him on the back and said, "First-rate +player." But, fully in their grasp, they fleeced him; and his thirty +thousand dollars were lost. Last of all he put up his watch and lost +that. Then he began to think of home and of his old father and mother, +and wrote thus:-- + + "MY BELOVED PARENTS:--You will doubtless feel a momentary joy + at the reception of this letter from the child of your bosom, + on whom you have lavished all the favors of your declining + years. But should a feeling of joy for a moment spring up + in your hearts when you shall have received this from, me, + cherish it not. I have fallen deep--never to rise. Those gray + hairs that I should have honored and protected I shall bring + down with sorrow to the grave. I will not curse my destroyer, + but oh! may God avenge the wrongs and impositions practised + upon the unwary in a way that shall best please Him. This, my + dear parents, is the last letter you will ever receive from + me. I humbly pray your forgiveness. It is my dying prayer. + Long before you shall have received this letter from me the + cold grave will have closed upon me forever. Life is to me + insupportable. I cannot, nay, I will not suffer the shame of + having ruined you. Forget and forgive is the dying prayer of + your unfortunate son." + +The old father came to the post-office, got the letter, and fell to +the floor. They thought he was dead at first; but they brushed back +the white hair from his brow and fanned him. He had only fainted. I +wish he had been dead; for what is life worth to a father after his +son is destroyed? + +When things go wrong at a gaming-table, they shout "Foul! foul!" Over +all the gaming-tables of the world I cry out "Foul! foul! Infinitely +foul!" + +In modern days, in addition to the other forms of gambling, have +come up the thoroughly organized and, in some States, _legalized_ +institution of lotteries. There are hundreds of citizens on the way to +ruin through the lottery system. Some of the finest establishments in +town are by this process being demolished, and the whole land feels +the exhaustion of this accumulating evil. The wheel of Fortune is the +Juggernaut that is crushing out the life of this nation. The records +of the Insolvent Court of one city show that, in five years, two +hundred thousand dollars were lost by dealing in lottery tickets. All +the officers of the celebrated Bank of the United States who failed +were found to have expended the money embezzled for lottery tickets. + +A man drew in a lottery fifty thousand dollars, sold his ticket for +forty-two thousand five hundred dollars, and yet did not have enough +to pay the charges against him for lottery tickets. He owed the +brokers forty-five thousand dollars. + +An editor writes--"A man who, a few years ago, was blest with about +twenty thousand dollars (lottery money), yesterday applied to us for +ninepence to pay for a night's lodging." + +A highly respectable gentleman drew twenty thousand dollars in a +lottery; bought more tickets, and drew again; bought more--drew more +largely; then rushed down headlong until he was pronounced by the +select men of the village a vagabond, and his children were picked up +from the street half starved and almost naked. + +A hard-working machinist draws a thousand dollars; thenceforth he is +disgusted with work, opens a rum grocery, is utterly debauched, and +people go in his store to find him dead, close beside his rum-cask. + +It would take a pen plucked from the wing of the destroying angel and +dipped in blood to describe this lottery business. + +A man committed suicide in New York, and upon his person was found a +card of address giving a grog-shop as his boarding house, three blank +lottery tickets, and a leaf from _Seneca's Morals_, containing an +apology for self-murder. + +One lottery in London was followed by the suicide of fifty persons who +held unlucky numbers. + +There are men now, with lottery tickets in their pocket, which, if +they have not sense enough to tear up or throw into the fire, will be +their admission ticket at the door of the damned. As the brazen gates +swing open they will show their tickets, and pass in and pass down. As +the wheel of eternal Fortune turns slowly round, they will find that +the doom of those who have despised God and imperilled their souls +will be their awful prize. + +God forbid that you, my reader, should ever take to yourself the +lamentation of the Boston clerk, who, in eight months, had embezzled +eighteen thousand dollars from his employer and expended it all in +lottery tickets. "I have for the last seven months gone fast down the +broad road. There was a time, and that but a few months since, when +I was happy, because I was free from debt and care. The moment of the +first steps in my downfall was about the middle of last June, when +I took a share in a company, bought lottery tickets whereby I was +successful in obtaining a share of one-half of the capital prize, +since which I have gone for myself. I have lived and dragged out a +miserable existence for two or three months past. Oh, that the seven +or eight months past of my existence could be blotted out; but I must +go, and, ere this paper is read, my spirit has gone to my Maker, +to give an account of my misdeeds here, and to receive the eternal +sentence for self-destruction and abused confidence. Relatives +and friends I have, from whom I do not wish to part under such +circumstances, but necessity compels. Oh, wretch! lottery tickets have +been thy ruin. But I cannot add more." + +There are multitudes of people who disapprove of ordinary lotteries, +yet have been thoroughly deceived by iniquity under a more attractive +nomenclature. The lottery in which our most highly respectable and +Christian people invest is some "Art Association," or some benevolent +"Gift Enterprise," in which they fondly believe there can be no harm +in drawing Bierstadt's _Yosemite Valley_, or Cropsey's _American +Autumn_! + +At no time have lottery tickets been sown so broadcast as to-day, +notwithstanding the law forbids the old-style lottery. + +A few years ago our newspapers flamed with the advertisements of the +Crosby Opera House scheme. A citizen of Chicago, finding on his hands +an unprofitable building, calls upon the whole country to help him +out. Rooms are opened in all the great cities. In rush, not the +abandoned and the reprobate (for _they_ like the old styles of +swindling better), but the educated and refined and polished, until a +host of people are in imminent peril of having thrown upon their hands +a splendid Opera House. Philadelphia buys thirty thousand dollars +worth of tickets. The portentous day approaches. The rail trains from +many of the prominent cities bring in dignified "Committees" who +come to see that the great abomination is conducted in a decent and +Christian manner. The throng presses in. Hold fast your tickets, all +you respectable New Yorkers, Philadelphians, and Bostonians, for the +wheel begins to move. The long agony is over. Hundreds of thousands +of people have made a narrow escape from being ruined by sudden +affluence. Swift horses are despatched, that, foam-lathered, dash up +to the house of him who owns the successful ticket. The lightnings +tell it to the four winds of heaven, and our weekly pictorials hasten +forward the photographers to take the picture of the famous man who +owned the ticket numbered 58,600. Multitudes think that there has been +foul play, and that, after all, they themselves, if the truth were +known, did draw the Opera House. Ten years from now there will stand +on the scaffold, or behind the prison door, or in the lonely room in +which the suicide writes his farewell to wife or parents, men who will +say that the first misstep of their life that put them on the wrong +road was the ticket they bought in the Crosby Opera House. + +The man who won that prize is already dead of his dissipations, and, +strange to say, the beautiful building thus raffled away was found to +be owned by its original possessor when all the excitement in regard +to the matter had died away. + +I care not on what street the office was, nor who were the abettors +of the undertaking, nor who bought the tickets. I pronounce the whole +scheme to have been a swindle, a crime, and an insult to God and the +nation. + +In this class of gambler-makers I also put the "gift stores," which +are becoming abundant throughout the country. With a book, or knife, +or sewing machine, or coat, or carriage there goes a _prize_. At those +stores people get something thrown in with their purchase. It may be a +gold watch or a set of silver, a ring or a farm. Sharp way to get off +unsalable goods. It has filled the land with fictitious articles and +covered up our population with brass finger-rings, and despoiled +the moral sense of the community, and is fast making us a nation of +gamblers. + +The Church of God has not seemed willing to allow the world to have +all the advantage of these games of chance. A church fair opens, and +towards the close it is found that some of the more valuable articles +are unsalable. Forthwith the conductors of the enterprise conclude +that they will _raffle_ for some of the valuable articles, and, under +pretence of anxiety to make their minister a present, or please some +popular member of the church, fascinating persons are despatched +through the room, pencil in hand, to "solicit" shares; or perhaps each +draws for his own advantage, and scores of people go home with their +trophies, thinking that all is right, for Christian ladies did the +embroidery, and Christian men did the raffling, and the proceeds went +towards a new communion set. But you may depend on it that, as far as +morality is concerned, you might as well have won by the crack of the +billiard-ball or the turn of the dice-box. + +Some good people cannot stand this raffling, and so, at fairs, they go +to "voting," sometimes for editors, and sometimes for ministers, at +a dollar a vote. Now the Methodist minister is ahead; now the +Presbyterian leads, and now the Baptist. But, just at the last moment, +when one of the ministers of the more popular sect seems sure to get +the prize, the members from some obscure denomination, that do not +deserve the prize, come in, and by a large contribution carry off for +_their_ minister the silver tea-set. + +Do you wonder that churches built, lighted, or upholstered by such +processes as that come to great financial and spiritual decrepitude? +The devil says: "_I_ helped build that house of worship, and I have as +much right there as you have;" and for once the devil is right. + +We do not read that they had a lottery for building the church at +Corinth or Antioch, or for getting up a gold-headed cane or for an +embroidered surplice for Saint Paul. All this I style ecclesiastical +gambling. More than one man who is destroyed can say that his first +step on the wrong road was when he won something at a church fair. + +The gambling spirit has not stopped for any indecency. There lately +transpired, in Maryland, a lottery in which people drew for lots in +a burying-ground! The modern habit of betting about everything is +productive of immense mischief. The most healthful and innocent +amusements of yachting and base-ball playing have been the occasion of +putting up excited and extravagant wagers. That which to many has +been advantageous to body and mind has been to others the means of +financial and moral loss. The custom is pernicious in the extreme +where scores of men in respectable life give themselves up to betting, +now on this boat now on that--now on the Atlantics and now on the +Athletics. + +Betting, that once was chiefly the accompaniment of the race-course, +is fast becoming a national habit, and in some circles any +opinion advanced on finance or politics is accosted with the +interrogatory--"How much will you bet on _that_, sir?" + +This custom may make no appeal to slow, lethargic temperaments, +but there are in the country tens of thousands of quick, nervous, +sanguine, excitable temperaments ready to be acted upon, and their +feet will soon take hold on death. For some months and perhaps for +years they will linger in the more polite and elegant circle of +gamesters, but, after a while, their pathway will come to the fatal +plunge. Finding themselves in the rapids, they will try to back out, +and, hurled over the brink, they will clutch the side of the boat +until their finger-nails, blood-tipped, will pierce the wood, and +then, with white cheek and agonized stare, and the horrors of the lost +soul lifting the very hair from the scalp, they will plunge down where +no grappling hooks can drag them out. + +Young man! stand back from all styles of gambling! The end thereof +is death. The gamblers enter the ten-pin alley where are husbands, +brothers, and fathers. "Put down your thousand dollars all in gold +eagles! Let the boy set up the pins at the other end of the alley! Now +stand back, and give the gamester full sweep! Roll the first--there! +it strikes! and down goes his respectability. Try it again. Roll the +second--there! it strikes! and down goes the last feeling of humanity. +Try it again. Roll the third--there! it strikes! and down goes his +soul forever. It was not so much the pins that fell as the soul! the +soul! FATAL TEN-STRIKE FOR ETERNITY!" + +Shall I sketch the history of the gambler? Lured by bad company, he +finds his way into a place where honest men ought never to go. He +sits down to his first game only for pastime and the desire of being +thought sociable. The players deal out the cards. They unconsciously +play into Satan's hands, who takes all the tricks, and both the +players' souls for trumps--he being a sharper at any game. A slight +stake is put up just to add interest to the play. Game after game is +played. Larger stakes and still larger. They begin to move nervously +on their chairs. Their brows lower and eyes flash, until now they who +win and they who lose, fired alike with passion, sit with set jaws, +and compressed lips, and clenched fists, and eyes like fire-balls +that seem starting from their sockets, to see the final turn before +it comes; if losing, pale with envy and tremulous with unuttered +oaths cast back red-hot upon the heart--or, winning, with hysteric +laugh--"Ha! Ha! I have it! I have it!" + +A few years have passed, and he is only the wreck of a man. Seating +himself at the game ere he throws the first card, he stakes the last +relic of his wife, and the marriage-ring which sealed the solemn vows +between them. The game is lost, and, staggering back in exhaustion, +he dreams. The bright hours of the past mock his agony, and in his +dreams, fiends, with eyes of fire and tongues of flame, circle about +him with joined hands, to dance and sing their orgies with hellish +chorus, chanting--"Hail! brother!" kissing his clammy forehead until +their loathsome locks, flowing with serpents, crawl into his bosom +and sink their sharp fangs and suck up his life's blood, and coiling +around his heart pinch it with chills and shudders unutterable. + +Take warning! You are no stronger than tens of thousands who have, by +this practice, been overthrown. No young man in our cities can escape +being tempted. _Beware of the first beginnings!_ This road is a +down-grade, and every instant increases the momentum. Launch not upon +this treacherous sea. Split hulks strew the beach. Everlasting storms +howl up and down, tossing the unwary crafts into the Hell-gate. I +speak of what I have seen with my own eyes. I have looked off into the +abyss and have seen the foaming, and the hissing, and the whirling +of the horrid deep in which the mangled victims writhed, one +upon another, and struggled, strangled, blasphemed, and died--the +death-stare of eternal despair upon their countenances as the waters +gurgled over them. + +To a gambler's death-bed there comes no hope. He will probably die +alone. His former associates come not nigh his dwelling. When the +hour comes, his miserable soul will go out of a miserable life into +a miserable eternity. As his poor remains pass the house where he was +ruined, old companions may look out a moment and say--"There goes the +old carcass--dead at last," but they will not get up from the table. +Let him down now into his grave. Plant no tree to cast its shade +there, for the long, deep, eternal gloom that settles there is shadow +enough. Plant no "forget-me-nots" or eglantines around the spot, for +flowers were not made to grow on such a blasted heath. Visit it not in +the sunshine, for that would be mockery, but in the dismal night, when +no stars are out, and the spirits of darkness come down horsed on the +wind, _then_ visit the grave of the gambler! + + + + +SOME OF THE CLUB-HOUSES. + + +Iniquity never gives a fair fight. It springs out from ambush upon +the unsuspecting. Of the tens of thousands who have fallen into bad +habits, not one deliberately leaped off, but all were caught in some +sly trap. You may have watched a panther or a cat about to take its +prey. It crouches down, puts its mouth between its paws, and is hardly +to be seen in the long grass. So iniquity always crouches down in +unexpected shapes, takes aim with unerring eye, and then springs +upon you with sudden and terrific leap. In secret places and in +unlooked-for shapes it murders the innocent. + +Men are gregarious. Cattle in herds. Fish in schools. Birds in flocks. +Men in social circles. You may, by the discharge of a gun, scatter +a flock of quails, or by the plunge of the anchor send apart the +denizens of the sea; but they will gather themselves together again. +If you, by some new power, could break the associations in which men +now stand, they would again adhere. God meant it so. He has gathered +all the flowers and shrubs into associations. You may plant one +"forget-me-not" or "hearts-ease" alone, away off upon the hillside, +but it will soon hunt up some other "forget-me-not" or "hearts-ease." +Plants love company; you will find them talking to each other in the +dew. A galaxy of stars is only a mutual life-insurance company. You +sometimes see a man with no out-branchings of sympathy. His nature is +cold and hard, like a ship's mast, ice-glazed, which the most agile +sailor could never climb. Others have a thousand roots and a thousand +branches. Innumerable tendrils climb their hearts, and blossom all the +way up; and the fowls of heaven sing in the branches. + +In consequence of this tendency, we find men coming together in +tribes, in communities, in churches, in societies. Some gather +together to cultivate the arts; some to plan for the welfare of the +State; some to discuss religious themes; some to kindle their mirth; +some to advance their craft. So every active community is divided into +associations of artists, of merchants, of bookbinders, of carpenters, +of masons, of plasterers, of shipwrights, of plumbers. Do you cry out +against it? Then you cry out against a tendency divinely implanted. +Your tirades will accomplish no more than if you should preach to a +busy ant-hill or bee-hive a long sermon against secret societies. + +Here we find in our path the oft-discussed question, whether +associations that do their work with closed doors, and admit their +members by pass-words, and greet each other with a secret grip, are +right or wrong. I answer that it depends entirely upon the nature of +the object for which they meet. Is it to pass the hours in revelry, +wassail, blasphemy, and obscene talk, or to plot trouble to the State, +or to debauch the innocent? Then I say, with an emphasis that no man +can mistake, "NO." But is the object the improvement of the mind, +or the enlargement of the heart, or the advancement of art, or +the defence of the government, or the extirpation of crime, or the +kindling of a pure-hearted sociality? Then I say, with just as much +emphasis, "YES." + +There is no need that we who plan for the conquest of right over wrong +should publish to all the world our intentions. The general of an +army never sends to the opposing troops information as to the coming +attack. Shall we who have enlisted in the cause of God and humanity +expose our plans to the enemy? No! We will in secret plot the ruin of +all the enterprises of Satan and his cohorts. When they expect us by +day, we will fall upon them by night. While they are strengthening +their left wing, we will double up their right. By a plan of battle +formed in secret conclave, we will come suddenly upon them, crying: +"The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" + +Secrecy of plot and execution are wrong only when the object and +influence are nefarious. Every family is a secret society; every +business firm, and every banking and insurance institution. Those men +who have no capacity to keep a secret are unfit for positions of trust +anywhere. There are thousands of men whose vital need is culturing in +capacity to keep a secret. Men talk too much--and women too. There +is a time to keep silence, as well as a time to speak. Although not +belonging to any of the great secret societies about which there has +been so much violent discussion, I have only words of praise for +those associations which have for their object the reclamation of +inebriates, or like the score of mutual benefit societies, called by +different names, that provide temporary relief for widows and orphans, +and for men incapacitated by sickness or accident for earning a +livelihood. + +I suppose there are club-houses in our cities to which men go with +clear consciences, and from which they come after an hour or two +of intellectual talk, and cheerful interview, to enjoy the domestic +circle. But that this is not the character of scores and hundreds of +club-houses we all know. Can I, then, pass this subject by without +exposition of the monstrous evil? There are multitudes who are +unconsciously having their physical, moral, and eternal well-being +endangered by club-room dissipation. Was it right to expose the plot +of Guy Fawkes, by which he would have destroyed the Parliament of +England? And am I wrong in disclosing a peril which threatens not only +your well-being here, but your throne in heaven? + +I deplore this ruin the more because this style of dissipation is +taking down our finest men. The admission-fee sifts out the penurious +and takes only those who are called the best fellows. Oh! how changed +you are! Not so kind to your wife as you used to be; not so patient +with your children. Your conscience is not so much at rest. You laugh +more now, and sing louder than once, but are not half so happy. It is +not the public drinking-saloon that is taking you down, nor theatrical +amusements, nor the houses of sin that have cost thousands of other +men their eternity: but it is simply and undeniably your club-room. +You do not make yourself as agreeable in your family as once. You go +home at twelve o'clock with an unnatural flush upon your cheek and +a strange color in your eye that you got at the club. You merely +acknowledge that you feel queer. You say that champagne never +intoxicates; that it only exhilarates, makes the conversation fluent, +shakes up the humor, and has no bad effect except a headache next day. +Be not deceived. Champagne may not, like whiskey, throw a man under +the table; but if, through anything you drink, you gain an unnatural +fluency of speech and glow of feeling, you are simply drunk. + +If those imperilled were heartless young men, stingy young men, I +would not be so sorry as I am; but there are many of them generous to +a fault, frank, honest, cheerful, talented. I begrudge the devil such +a prize. After a while these persons will lose all the frankness and +honor for which they are now distinguished. Their countenances will +get haggard, and instead of looking one in the eye when they talk, +they will look down. After a while, when the mother kindly asks, "What +kept you out so late?" they will make no answer, or will say "That is +my business!" They will come cross and befogged to the store and +bank, and ever and anon neglect some duty, and after a while will be +dismissed: and then, with nothing to do, will rise in the morning at +ten o'clock, cursing the servant because the breakfast is cold, and +then go down town and stand on the steps of a fashionable hotel, and +criticise the passers-by. While the young man who was a clerk in a +cellar has come up to be the first clerk, and he who a few years ago +ran errands for the bank has got to be cashier, and thousands of other +young men of the city have gone up to higher and more responsible +positions, he has been going down, until there he passes through the +street with bloated lip, and bloodshot eye, and staggering step, and +hat mud-spattered and set sidewise on a shock of greasy hair, the +ashes of his cigar dashed upon his cravat. Here he goes! Look at him, +all ye pure-hearted young men, and see the work of the fashionable +club-room. I knew one such who, after the contaminations of his +club-house, leaped out of the third-story window to put an end to his +wretchedness. + +Many who would not be seen drinking at the bar of a restaurant, think +there is no dishonor and no peril connected with sitting down at a +marble stand in an elegantly furnished parlor, to which they go with a +private key, and where none are present except gentlemen as elegant +as themselves. Everything so chaste in the surroundings! Soft carpets, +beautiful pictures, cut glass, Italian top tables, frescoed walls. In +just such places there are thousands of young men, middle-aged men, +and old men, preparing themselves for overthrow. + +In many of these club-rooms the talk is not as pure and elevated as +it might be. How is it, men and brothers, at half-past eleven o'clock, +when the tankards are well emptied, and the smoke curls up from every +lip? Do they ever swear? Are there stories told unworthy a man who +venerates the name of his mother? Does God, whose presence cannot be +hindered by bolt, and who comes in without a pass-word, and is making +up His record for the judgment-day, approve of the blasphemies you +utter? + +You think that there is no special danger, yet acknowledge that you +have felt _queer_ sometimes. Your head was not right, and your stomach +was disturbed. I will tell you what was the matter. _You were drunk_. +You understood not that protracted hiccough; it was the drunkard's +hiccough. You could not explain that nausea; it was the drunkard's +vomit. The fact is that some of you, who have never in your own eyes +or in the eyes of others fully sacrificed your respectability, have +for six months been written down in God's book as drunkards. + +How far down need a man go before he becomes an inebriate? Must he +fall into the ditch? No! Must he get into a porter-house fight? No! +Must he be senseless in the street? Must he have the delirium +tremens? No! He may wear satin and fine linen; he may walk with hat +scrupulously brushed; may swing a gold-headed cane, and step in boots +of French leather, dismount from a carriage, or draw tight rein over +a swift, sleek, high-mettled, full-blooded Arabian span, but yet be +so thoroughly under the power of strong drink that he is utterly +offensive to his Maker and rotten as a heap of compost. + +The fact that this whole land to-day swelters with drunkenness I +charge upon the drinking club houses. They wield an influence that +makes it respectable, and I will not put my head to the pillow +to-night until I have written against them one burning anathema +maranatha! When I see them dragging down scores of our young men, and +slaying professed Christians at the very altar, and snatching off +the garlands of life from those who would otherwise reign forever and +forever, I tell you I hate them with a perfect hatred, and pray for +more height, and depth, and length, and breadth of capacity with which +to hate them. + +Along this blossoming and over-arched pathway, and through this long +line of temptations that throw their garlands upon the brow, and ring +their music into the ear, go a great host. + +No one can estimate the homes that have been shattered by the +dissipations of the club-house. There are weak women who would never +consent to a husband's absence in the evening, however important the +duty that takes him away. Any man who wishes to take his share of the +public burdens and is willing to work for the political, educational, +and social advancement of the community must of necessity spend some +of his evenings away from home. There are associations and churches +that have a right to demand a share of a man's presence and means, and +that is a weak woman who always looks offended when her husband goes +out in the evening. + +But club-houses become a pest when they demand all a man's evenings; +and that is a result we are called to deplore. Every head of a +household is called to be its educator, its companion, its religious +instructor and exemplar; not only to furnish the wardrobe and to make +the money to pay the bills when they come in, but to give his +highest intellectual energies and social faculties to the amusement, +instruction, and improvement of the household. + +But I describe the history of thousands of households when I say that +the tea is rapidly taken, and while yet the family linger the father +shoves back his chair, has "an engagement," lights his cigar and +starts out, not returning until after midnight. That is the history of +three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, except when he is sick +and cannot get out. + +How about home duties? Have you fulfilled all your vows? Would your +wife ever have married you with such a prospect? Wait until your sons +get to be sixteen or seventeen years of age, and they too will shove +back from the tea-table, have an "engagement," light their cigars, go +over to their club-houses, their night-key rattling in your door after +midnight--the effect of your example. And as your son's constitution +may not be as strong as yours, and the liquor he drinks more terribly +drugged, he will catch up with you on the road to death although you +got the start of him. And so you will both go to hell together! A +revolving Drummond-light on the front of a locomotive casts its gleam +through the darkness as it is turned around; so I catch up the lamp of +God's truth and turn it round until its tremendous glare flashes into +all the club-houses of our cities. + +Flee the presence of the dissipating club-houses. "Paid your money?" +Sacrifice that rather than your soul. "Good fellows," are they? They +cannot stay what they are under such influences. Mollusca live two +hundred fathoms down in the Norwegian seas. The Siberian stag grows +fat on the stunted growth of Altaian peaks. The Hedysarium thrives +amid the desolation of Sahara. Tufts of osier and birch grow on the +hot lips of volcanic Schneehalten. But good character and a useful +life thrive amid club-room dissipations--_Never!_ + +The best way to make a wild beast cower is to look him in the eye, but +the best way to treat the temptations I have described is to turn your +back and fly! O! my heart aches! I see men struggling to get out of +the serfdom of bad habits, and I want to help them. I have knelt with +them and heard their cry for help. I have had them put one hand +on each of my shoulders, and look me in the eye, with an agony of +earnestness that the judgment shall have no power to make me forget, +and from their lips, scorched with the fires of ruin, have heard +them cry "God help me!" There is no rescue for such, save in the Lord +Almighty. + +Well, what we do, we had better do right away. The clock ticks now and +we hear it. After a while the clock will tick and we shall not hear +it. Seated by a country fireside, I saw the fire kindle, blaze, and go +out. I gathered up from the hearth enough for profitable reflections. +Our life is just like the fire on that hearth. We put on fresh fagots, +and the fire bursts through and up, and out, gay of flash, gay of +crackle--emblem of boyhood. Then the fire reddens into coals. The +heat is fiercer; and the more it is stirred, the more it reddens. With +sweep of flame it cleaves its way, until all the hearth glows with +the intensity--emblem of full manhood. Then comes a whiteness to the +coals. The heat lessens. The flickering shadows have died along the +wall. The fagots drop apart. The household hover over the expiring +embers. The last breath of smoke has been lost in the chimney. Fire is +out. Shovel up the white remains. ASHES! + + + + +FLASK, BOTTLE, AND DEMIJOHN. + + +[NOTE.--This chapter, in its first shape, was given some currency +under the title of "The Evil Beast." I have, however, so revised and +added to that Lecture, that, as here given, it is essentially a new +presentation of the dreadful Abomination of Rum, and it is in +this present shape that I wish the public to receive it as a full +expression of my views thereon. T.D.W.T.] + +There has in all ages and climes been a tendency to the improper use +of stimulants. Noah, as if disgusted with the prevalence of water in +his time, took to strong drink. By this vice Alexander the Conqueror +was conquered. The Romans, at their feasts, fell off their seats with +intoxication. Four hundred millions of our race are opium-eaters. +India, Turkey, and China have groaned with the desolation; and by it +have been quenched such lights as Haller and De Quincey. One hundred +millions are the victims of the betel-nut, which has specially +accursed the East Indies. Three hundred millions chew hashish, and +Persia, Brazil, and Africa suffer the delirium. The Tartars employ +murowa; the Mexicans the agave; the people of Guarapo an intoxicating +quality taken from sugar-cane; while a great multitude, that no man +can number, are the disciples of alcohol. To it they bow. In its +trenches they fall. In its awful prison they are incarcerated. On its +ghastly holocaust they burn. + +Could the muster-roll of this great army be called, and they could +come up from the dead, what eye could endure the reeking, festering +putrefaction and beastliness! What heart could endure the groans of +agony! + +Drunkenness: Does it not jingle the burglar's key? Does it not whet +the assassin's knife? Does it not cock the highwayman's pistol? Does +it not wave the incendiary's torch? Has it not sent the physician +reeling into the sick-room; and the minister, with his tongue thick, +into the pulpit? Did not an exquisite poet, from the very height of +reputation, fall, a gibbering sot, into the gutter, on his way to be +married to one of the fairest daughters of New England, and at the +very hour when the bride was decking herself for the altar; and did he +not die of delirium tremens, almost unattended, in a New York hotel? +Tamerlane asked for one hundred and sixty thousand skulls, with which +to build a pyramid to his own honor. He got the skulls, and built the +pyramid. But if the bones of all those who have fallen as a prey to +dissipation could be piled up, it would make a monster pyramid. Talk +not of Waterloo and Austerlitz, for they were not fields of blood +compared with this great Golgotha. + +Who will gird himself for the journey, and try with me to scale this +mountain of the dead--going up miles high on human carcasses, to find +still other peaks far above, mountain above mountain, white with the +bleached bones of drunkards! + +Hang not your head or shut your eyes until we have seen it. We must +get a sight at the monster before we can shoot him. + +I will begin at our national and State capitals. Like government, +like people. Henry VIII. blasts all England with his example of +uncleanness. Catharine of Russia drags down a whole empire with her +nefarious behavior. No Christian man can be indifferent to what +every hour of every day goes on at Washington. While the Presidential +Impeachment trial advanced, some of the men who were to render their +solemn verdict on the subject were reeling in and out of the Senate +chamber,--the intoxicated representatives of a free Christian people. +It was a great question whether several members of that high court +could be got sober in time to vote. + +Only recently a Senator from New England rises up with tongue so +thick, and with utterance so nonsensical, that he is led into the +anteroom. He was a good "Republican." + +One of the Middle States has a representative who very rarely appears +in his seat, for the reason that he is so great an inebriate that he +can neither walk nor ride. He is a good Democrat. + +As God looks down on our State and national legislatures, he holds us +responsible. We cast the votes. We lift up the legislators. + +Will the time never come when this nation shall rise up higher than +partisanship, and cast its suffrage for sober men? + +The fact is that the two millions of dollars which the liquor dealers +raised for the purpose of swaying State and national legislation has +done its work, and the nation is debauched. Higher than legislatures +or the Congress of the United States is the Whiskey Ring! + +The Sabbath has been sacrificed to the rum traffic. To many of our +people the best day of the week is the worst. Bakers must keep their +shops closed on the Sabbath. It is dangerous to have loaves of bread +going out on Sunday. The shoe-store is closed; severe penalty will +attack the man who sells boots on the Sabbath. But down with the +window-shutters of the grog shops. Our laws shall confer particular +honors upon the rum traffickers. All other traders must stand aside +for these. Let our citizens who have disgraced themselves by trading +in clothing, and hosiery, and hardware, and lumber, and coal, take +off their hats to the rum-seller, elected to particular honor. It is +unsafe for any other class of men to be allowed license for Sunday +work. But swing out your signs, oh ye traffickers in the peace of +families, and in the souls of immortal men! Let the corks fly, and the +beer foam, and the rum go tearing down the half-consumed throat of the +inebriate. God does not see, does he? Judgment will never come, will +it? + +People say--"Let us have some law to correct this evil." We have more +law now than we execute. In what city is there a mayoralty that dare +do it? There is no advantage in having the law higher than public +opinion. What would be the use of the Maine Law in New York? Neal Dow, +the Mayor of Portland, came out with a _posse_ and threw the rum of +the city into the street. From the alms-house a woman came out and +said, "Oh! if this had only been done ten years ago, my husband would +not have died a drunkard, and I would not have been a widow in the +almshouse." + +But there are not enough police in the city of New York to stand by +its Mayor in such an undertaking; public opinion is not educated. + +I do not know but that God is determined to let drunkards triumph; and +the husbands and sons of thousands of our best families be destroyed +by this vice, in order that our people, amazed and indignant, may rise +up and demand the extermination of this municipal crime. + +There is a way of driving down the hoops of a barrel until the hoops +break. + +We are in this country, at this time, trying to regulate this evil +by a tax on whiskey. You might as well try to regulate the Asiatic +cholera, or the small-pox, by taxation. The men who distil liquors +are, for the most part, unscrupulous; and the higher the tax, the more +inducement to illicit distillation. New York produces forty thousand +gallons of whiskey every twenty-four hours; and the most of it escapes +the tax. The most vigilant officials fail to discover the cellars, and +vaults, and sheds where this work is done. + +Oh, the folly of trying to restrain an evil by government tariffs! If +every gallon of whiskey made, if every flask of wine produced, should +be taxed a thousand dollars, it would not be enough to pay for the +tears it has wrung out of the eyes of widows and orphans, nor for the +blood it has dashed on the altars of the Christian Church, nor for the +catastrophe of the millions it has destroyed forever. + +Oh! we are a Christian people! From Boston a ship sailed for +Africa, with three missionaries, and twenty-two thousand gallons +of New-England rum on board. Which will have the most effect: the +missionaries, or the rum? + +Rum is victor. Some time when you have leisure, just go down any +of our streets, and count the number of drinking places. Here they +are--first-class hotels. Marble floors. Counter polished. Fine picture +hanging over the decanters. Cut glass. Silver water-coolers. Pictured +punch-bowls. High-priced liquors. Customers pull off their gloves, +and take up the glasses, and click them, and with immaculate +pocket handkerchief wipe their mouth, and go up-stairs, or into the +reading-room, and complete extensive bargains. + +Here it is--the restaurant. All sorts of viands, but chiefly all +styles of beverage. They who frequent this place have fairly started +on the down grade. Having drunk once, they lounge at the corner of the +bar until a friend comes up, and then the beverage is repeated. After +a while they sit at the little table by the wall and order a rarer +wine; for they feel richer now, and able to get almost anything. +Towards bed-time they take out their watch and say they must go home. +They start, but cannot stand straight. With a gentleman at each arm, +they start up the street. More and more overcome, the man begins to +whoop, and shout, and swear, and refuse to go any farther. Hat falls +off. Hair gets over his eyes. Door-bell of fine house rings. Wife +comes down the stairs. Daughters look over the banisters. Sobbing in +the dark hall. Quick--shut the front door, for I do not want to look +in. God help them! + +Here it is--a wine-cellar. Going into the door are depraved men and +lost women. Some stagger. All blaspheme. Men with rings in their ears +instead of their nose; and blotches of breast-pin. Pictures on the +wall cut out of the _Police Gazette_. A slush of beer on floor and +counter. A pistol falls out of a ruffian's pocket. By the gas-light a +knife flashes. Low songs. They banter, and jeer, and howl, and vomit. +An awful goal, to which hundreds of people better than you have come. + +All these different styles of drinking-places are multiplying. They +smite a young man's vision at every turn. They pour the stench of +their abomination on every wave of air. + +I sketch two houses in this street. The first is bright as home can +be. The father comes at nightfall, and the children run out to meet +him. Luxuriant evening meal, gratulation, and sympathy, and laughter. +Music in the parlor. Fine pictures on the wall. Costly books on the +stand. Well-clad household. Plenty of everything to make home happy. + +House the second. Piano sold yesterday by the sheriff. Wife's furs at +pawnbroker's shop. Clock gone. Daughter's jewelry sold to get flour. +Carpets gone off the floor. Daughters in faded and patched dresses. +Wife sewing for the stores. Little child with an ugly wound on her +face, struck in an angry blow. Deep shadow of wretchedness falling in +every room. Doorbell rings. Little children hide. Daughters turn +pale. Wife holds her breath. Blundering steps in the hall. Door opens. +Fiend, brandishing his fist, cries--"Out! Out! What are you doing +here!" + +Did I call this house the second? No; it is the same house. Rum +transformed it. Rum imbruted the man. Rum sold the shawl. Rum tore +up the carpets. Rum shook its fist. Rum desolated the hearth. _Rum_ +changed that paradise into a hell! + +I sketch two men that you know very well. The first graduated from one +of our literary institutions. His father, mother, brothers and sisters +were present to see him graduate. They heard the applauding thunders +that greeted his speech. They saw the bouquets tossed to his feet. +They saw the degree conferred and the diploma given. He never looked +so well. Everybody said, "What a noble brow! What a fine eye! What +graceful manners! What brilliant prospects!" All the world opens +before him and cries, "Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +Man the second. Lies in the station-house to-night. The doctor has +just been sent for to bind up the gashes received in a fight. His hair +is matted, and makes him look like a wild beast. His lip is bloody and +cut. + +Who is the battered and bruised wretch that was picked up by the +police and carried in drunk, and foul, and bleeding? Did I call +him man the second? He is man the _first_! Rum transformed him. Rum +destroyed his prospects. Rum disappointed parental expectation. Rum +withered those garlands of commencement-day. Rum cut his lip. Rum +dashed out his manhood. RUM, accursed RUM! + +This foul thing gives one swing to its scythe, and our best merchants +fall; their stores are sold, and they slink into dishonored graves. + +Again it swings its scythe, and some of our best physicians fall into +sufferings that their wisest prescriptions cannot cure. + +Again it swings its scythe, and ministers of the gospel fall from the +heights of Zion with long-resounding crash of ruin and shame. + +Some of your own household have already been shaken. Perhaps you +can hardly admit it; but where was your son last night? Where was he +Friday night? Where was he Thursday night? Wednesday night? Tuesday +night? Monday night? + +Nay, have not some of you, in your own bodies, felt the power of this +habit? You think that you could stop? Are you sure you could? Go on +a little further, and I am sure you cannot. I think, if some of you +should try to break away, you would find a chain on the right wrist, +and one on the left; one on the right foot, and another on the left. +This serpent does not begin to hurt until it has wound around and +round. Then it begins to tighten, and strangle, and crush until the +bones crack, and the blood trickles, and the eyes start from their +sockets, and the mangled wretch cries "O God! O God! Help! Help!" But +it is too late; and nothing but the fires of woe can melt the chain +when once it is fully fastened. + +The child of a drunkard died. My friend, a minister of the Gospel, sat +in a carriage with the drunkard, and the coffin of the little child. +On the way to the grave, the drunkard put his hand on the lid of his +child's coffin and swore that he never would drink again. Before the +next morning had come he was dead drunk! + +I spread out before you the starvation, the cruelty, the ghastliness, +the woes, the terror, the anguish, the perdition of this evil, and +then ask, Are you ready, fully and forever, to surrender our churches, +our homes, our civilization, our glorious Christianity? One or the +other must surrender. It can be no "drawn battle." + +But how are we to contend? + +First, by getting our children right on this subject. Let them grow up +with an utter aversion to strong drink. Take care how you administer +it even as medicine. If you find that they have a natural love for +it, as some have, put in a glass of it some horrid stuff and make it +utterly nauseous. Teach them as faithfully as you do the catechism, +that rum is a fiend. Take them to the alms-house and show them the +wreck and ruin it works. Walk with them into the homes that have been +scourged by it. If a drunkard hath fallen into a ditch, take them +right up where they can see his face, bruised, savage and swollen, and +say, "Look, my son: Rum did that!" + +Looking out of your window at some one who, intoxicated to madness, +goes through the street, brandishing his fist, blaspheming God,--a +howling, defying, shouting, reeling, raving and foaming maniac,--say +to your son, "Look; that man was once a child like you." As you go by +the grog-shop, let your boy know that that is the place where men are +slain, and their wives made paupers, and their children slaves. Hold +out to your children all warnings, all rewards, all counsels, lest in +after days they break your heart, and curse your gray hairs. + +A man laughed at my father for his scrupulous temperance principles, +and said--"I am more liberal than you. I always give my children the +sugar in the glass after we have been taking a drink." + +Three of his sons have died drunkards; and the fourth is imbecile +through intemperate habits. + +Again, we will battle this evil at the ballot-box. How many men are +there who can rise above the feelings of partisanship, and demand that +our officials shall be sober men? + +I maintain that the question of sobriety is higher than the question +of availability; and that however eminent a man's services may be, if +he have habits of intoxication, he is unfit for any office in the gift +of a Christian people. Our laws will be no better than the men who +make them. + +Spend a few days at Harrisburg, or Albany, or Washington, and you will +find out why, upon these subjects, it is impossible to get righteous +enactments. + +Again, we will war upon this evil by organized societies. The +friends of the rum traffic have banded together; annually issue their +circulars; raise fabulous sums of money to advance their interests; +and by grips, pass-words, signs, and stratagems set at defiance public +morals. Let us confront them with organizations just as secret, +and, if need be, with grips, and pass-words, and signs maintain our +position. There is no need that our philanthropic societies tell all +their plans. + +I am in favor of all lawful strategy in the carrying on of this +conflict. I wish to God we could lay under the wine-casks a train, +which, once ignited, would shake the earth with the explosion of this +monstrous iniquity. + +Again: we will try the power of the pledge. There are thousands of men +who have been saved by putting their names to such a document. I know +it is laughed at; but there are men who, having once promised a thing, +do it. "Some have broken the pledge." Yes; they were liars. But all +men are not liars. I do not say that it is the duty of all persons +to make such signature; but I do say that it will be the salvation of +many of you. + +The glorious work of Theobald Mathew can never be estimated. At +his hand four millions of people took the pledge, including eight +prelates, and seven hundred of the Roman Catholic clergy. A multitude +of them were faithful. + +Dr. Justin Edwards said that ten thousand drunkards had been +permanently reformed in five years. + +Through the great Washingtonian movement in Ohio, sixty thousand took +the pledge. In Pennsylvania, twenty-nine thousand. In Kentucky, thirty +thousand, and multitudes in all parts of the land. Many of these had +been habitual drunkards. One hundred and fifty thousand of them, it is +estimated, were permanently reclaimed. Two of these men became foreign +ministers; one a governor of a State; several were sent to +Congress. Hartford reported six hundred reformed drunkards; Norwich, +seventy-two; Fairfield, fifty; Sheffield, seventy-five. All over the +land reformed men were received back into the churches that they had +before disgraced; and households were re-established. All up and +down the land there were gratulations, and praise to God. The pledge +signed, to thousands has been the proclamation of emancipation. + +I think that we are coming at last to treat inebriation as it ought to +be treated, namely, as an awful disease, self-inflicted, to be sure, +but nevertheless a disease. Once fastened upon a man, sermons will not +cure him; temperance lectures will not eradicate the taste; religious +tracts will not remove it; the Gospel of Christ will not arrest it. +Once under the power of this awful thirst, the man is bound to go on; +and if the foaming glass were on the other side of perdition, he would +wade through the fires of hell to get it. A young man in prison had +such a strong thirst for intoxicating liquors, that he cut off his +hand at the wrist, called for a bowl of brandy in order to stop the +bleeding, thrust his wrist into the bowl, and then drank the contents. + +Stand not, when the thirst is on him, between a man and his cups! +Clear the track for him! Away with the children: he would tread their +life out! Away with the wife: he would dash her to death! Away with +the Cross: he would run it down! Away with the Bible: he would tear +it up for the winds! Away with heaven: he considers it worthless as a +straw! "Give me the drink! Give it to me! Though hands of blood pass +up the bowl, and the soul trembles over the pit,--the drink! give it +to me! Though it be pale with tears; though the froth of everlasting +anguish float in the foam--give it to me! I drink to my wife's woe; to +my children's rags; to my eternal banishment from God, and hope, and +heaven! Give it to me! the drink!" + +Again: we will contend against these evils by trying to persuade +the respectable classes of society to the banishment of alcoholic +beverages. You who move in elegant and refined associations; you +who drink the best liquors; you who never drink until you lose +your balance: consider that you have, under God, in your power the +redemption of this land from drunkenness. Empty your cellars and +wine-closets of the beverage, and then come out and give us your hand, +your vote, your prayers, your sympathies. Do that, and I will promise +three things: First, That you will find unspeakable happiness in +having done your duty; secondly, you will probably save somebody, +perhaps your own child; thirdly, you will not, in your last hour, have +a regret that you made the sacrifice, if sacrifice it be. + +As long as you make drinking respectable, drinking customs will +prevail; and the ploughshare of death, drawn by terrible disasters, +will go on turning up this whole continent, from end to end, with the +long, deep, awful furrow of drunkards' graves. + +Oh, how this Rum Fiend would like to go and hang up a skeleton in your +beautiful house, so that when you opened the front door to go in you +would see it in the hall; and when you sit at your table you would see +it hanging from the wall; and when you open your bed-room you would +find it stretched upon your pillow; and waking at night you would feel +its cold hand passing over your face and pinching at your heart! + +There is no home so beautiful but it may be devastated by the awful +curse. It throws its jargon into the sweetest harmony. What was it +that silenced Sheridan's voice and shattered the golden sceptre with +which he swayed parliaments and courts? What foul sprite turned the +sweet rhythm of Robert Burns into a tuneless ballad? What brought +down the majestic form of one who awed the American Senate with his +eloquence, and after a while carried him home dead drunk from the +office of Secretary of State? What was it that crippled the noble +spirit of one of the heroes of the last war, until the other night, +in a drunken fit, he reeled from the deck of a Western steamer and was +drowned! There was one whose voice we all loved to hear. He was one of +the most classic orators of the century. People wondered why a man +of so pure a heart and so excellent a life should have such a sad +countenance always. They knew not that his wife was a sot. + +"Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink!" If this curse was +proclaimed about the comparatively harmless drinks of olden times, +what condemnation must rest upon those who tempt their neighbors +when intoxicating liquor means copperas, nux vomica, logwood, opium, +sulphuric acid, vitriol, turpentine, and strychnine! "Pure liquors:" +pure destruction! Nearly all the genuine champagne made is taken by +the courts of Europe. What we get is horrible swill! + +I call upon woman for her influence in the matter. Many a man who had +reformed and resolved on a life of sobriety has been pitched off into +old habits by the delicate hand of her whom he was anxious to please. + +Bishop Potter says that a young man who had been reformed sat at a +table, and when the wine was passed to him refused to take it. A lady +sitting at his side said, "Certainly you will not refuse to take a +glass with me?" Again he refused. But when she had derided him for +lack of manliness he took the glass and drank it. He took another and +another; and putting his fist hard down on the table, said, "Now I +drink until I die." In a few months his ruin was consummated. + +I call upon those who are guilty of these indulgences to quit the path +of death. O what a change it would make in your home! Do you see how +everything there is being desolated! Would you not like to bring back +joy to your wife's heart, and have your children come out to meet you +with as much confidence as once they showed? Would you not like to +rekindle the home lights that long ago were extinguished? It is not +too late to change. It may not entirely obliterate from your soul the +memory of wasted years and a ruined reputation, nor smooth out from +anxious brows the wrinkles which trouble has ploughed. It may not call +back unkind words uttered or rough deeds done--for perhaps in those +awful moments you struck her! It may not take from your memory the +bitter thoughts connected with some little grave: but it is not too +late to save yourself and secure for God and your family the remainder +of your fast-going life. + +But perhaps you have not utterly gone astray. I may address one who +may not have quite made up his mind. Let your better nature speak out. +You take one side or the other in the war against drunkenness. +Have you the courage to put your foot down right, and say to your +companions and friends: "I will never drink intoxicating liquor in all +my life, nor will I countenance the habit in others." Have nothing to +do with strong drink. It has turned the earth into a place of skulls, +and has stood opening the gate to a lost world to let in its victims, +until now the door swings no more upon its hinges, but day and night +stands wide open to let in the agonized procession of doomed men. + +Do I address one whose regular work in life is to administer to this +appetite? I beg you--get out of the business. If a woe be pronounced +upon the man who gives his neighbor drink, how many woes must be +hanging over the man who does this every day, and every hour of the +day! + +A philanthropist, going up to the counter of a grog-shop, as the +proprietor was mixing a drink for a toper standing at the counter, +said to the proprietor, "Can you tell me what your business is good +for?" The proprietor, with an infernal laugh, said, "_It fattens +graveyards!_" + +God knows better than you do yourself the number of drinks you have +poured out. You keep a list; but a more accurate list has been kept +than yours. You may call it Burgundy, Bourbon, Cognac, Heidsick, Hock; +God calls it strong drink. Whether you sell it in low oyster cellar or +behind the polished counter of first-class hotel, the divine curse is +upon you. I tell you plainly that you will meet your customers one day +when there will be no counter between you. When your work is done on +earth, and you enter the reward of your business, all the souls of +the men whom you have destroyed will crowd around you and pour their +bitterness into your cup. They will show you their wounds and say, +"You made them;" and point to their unquenchable thirst, and say, "You +kindled it;" and rattle their chain and say, "You forged it." Then +their united groans will smite your ears; and with the hands out of +which you once picked the sixpences and the dimes, they will push you +off the verge of great precipices; while, rolling up from beneath, and +breaking among the crags of death, will thunder: + +"_Woe to him that giveth his neighbor drink!_" + + + + +THE HOUSE OF BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS. + + +Men like to hear the frailties and faults of others chastised. With +what blandness and placidity they sit and hear the religious teacher +excoriate the ambition of Ahab, the treachery of Judas, the treason +of Athaliah, and the wickedness of the Amalekites. Indeed, I have +sometimes felt sorry for the Amalekites, for in all ages, and on all +occasions, they are smitten, denounced, and pursued. They have had +their full share of censure and excoriation. It is high time that +in our addresses in pulpits, and in domestic circles, we turn our +attention to the driving out of these worse Amalekites which are +swarming in society to-day, thicker than in the olden time. The +ancient Amalekites lived for one or two hundred years; but these +are not weakened after a thousand years. Those traversed only a few +leagues of land; these stalk the earth and ford the sea. Those had +each a sword or spear; these fight with a million swords, and strike +with a million stings, and smite with a million catastrophes. Those +were conquered with human weapons; but to overcome these we must bring +out God's great fieldpieces, and employ an enginery that can sweep +from eternity to eternity. + +There is one subject which we are expected, in all our teachings, to +shun, or only to hint at: I mean the wickedness of an impure life. +Though God thunders against this appalling iniquity from the heavens +curse after curse, anathema after anathema, by our unwillingness to +repeat the divine utterance we seem to say, "Lord, not so loud! Speak +about everything else; but if this keeps on there will be trouble!" +Meanwhile the foundations of social life are being slowly undermined; +and many of the upper circles of life have putrefied until they have +no more power to rot. + +If a fox or a mink come down to the farmyard and carry off a chicken, +the whole family join in the search. + +If a panther come down into the village and carry off a child, the +whole neighborhood go out with clubs and guns to bring it down. + +But this monster-crime goes forth, carrying off body and soul; and +yet, if we speak, a thousand voices bid us be silent. + +I shall try to cut to the vitals of the subject, and proceed with the +_post-mortem_ of this carcass of death. It is time to speak on this +subject. All the indignation of the community upon this subject is +hurled upon woman's head. If, in an evil hour, she sacrifice her +honor, the whole city goes howling after her. She shall take the whole +blame. Out with her from all decent circles! Whip her. Flay her. +Bar all the doors of society against her return. Set on her all the +blood-hounds. Shove her off precipice after precipice. Push her down. +Kick her out! If you see her struggling on the waves, and with her +blood-tipped fingers clinging to the verge of respectability, drop a +mill-stone on her head. + +For a woman's sin, men have no mercy; and the heart of other women is +more cruel than death. + +For her, in the dark hour of her calamity, the women who, with the +same temptation, might have fallen into deeper damnation, have no +commiseration and no prayer. + +The heaviest stroke that comes down upon a fallen woman's soul is the +merciless indignation of her sisters. + +If the multitudes of the fallen could be placed in a straight line, it +would reach from here to the gates of the lost, and back again. + +But what of the destroyer? + +We take his arm. We flatter his appearance. We take off our hats. +He is admitted to our parlors. For him we cast our votes. For him +we speak our eulogies. And when he has gone we read over the heap of +compost: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They rest from +their labors and their works do follow them." + +In the fashionable city to-day there walk a thousand libertines. They +are a moving pest. Their breath is the sirocco of the desert. Their +bones have in them the decay of the pit. They have the eye of +a basilisk. They have been soaked in filth, and steeped in +uncleanliness, and consumed in sin, and they are all adrip with the +loathsomeness of eternal death. I take hold of the robe of one of +these elegant gentlemen, and pull it aside, and say, "Behold a Leper!" + +First, if you desire to shun this evil, you will have nothing to do +with bad books and impure newspapers. With such an affluent literature +as is coming forth from our swift-revolving printing-presses, there +is no excuse for dragging one's self through sewers of unchastity. Why +walk in the ditch, when right beside the ditch is the solid flagging? +It seems that in the literature of the day the ten plagues of Egypt +have returned, and the frogs and lice have hopped and skipped over our +parlor tables. + +Waiting impatiently in the house of some parishioner, for the +completion of a very protracted toilet, I have picked up a book from +the parlor table, and found that every leaf was a scale of leprosy. + +Parents are delighted to have their children read, but they should be +sure as to what they read. You do not have to walk a day or two in an +infected district to get the cholera or typhoid fever; and one wave +of moral unhealth will fever and blast an immortal nature. Perhaps, +knowing not what you did, you read a bad book. Do you not remember it +altogether? Yes; and perhaps you will never get over it. + +However strong and exalted your character, _never read a bad book_. By +the time you get through the first chapter you will see the drift; If +you find the marks of the hoofs of the devil in the pictures, or in +the style, or in the plot, away with it. You may tear your coat, or +break a vase, and repair them again, but the point where the rip or +fracture took place will always be evident. It takes less than an +hour to do your heart a damage which no time can entirely repair. Look +carefully over your child's library; see what book it is that he reads +after he has gone to bed, with the gas turned upon the pillow. Do +not always take it for granted that a book is good because it is +a Sunday-school book. As far as possible know _who_ wrote it, who +illustrated it, who published it, who sold it. + +Young man, as you value Heaven, never buy a book from one of those men +who meet you in the square, and, after looking both ways, to see +if the police are watching, shows you a book--very cheap. Have +him arrested as you would kill a rattle-snake. Grab him, and shout +"Police! police!" + +But there is more danger, I think, from many of the family papers, +published once a week; in those stories of vice and shame, full +of infamous suggestions, going as far as they can without exposing +themselves to the clutch of the law. I name none of them; but say that +on some fashionable tables there lie "family newspapers" that are the +very vomit of the pit. + +The way to ruin is cheap. It costs three dollars to go to +Philadelphia; six dollars to Boston; thirty-three dollars to Savannah; +but, by the purchase of a bad paper for ten cents, you may get a +through ticket to hell, by express, with few stopping-places, and +the final halting like the tumbling of the lightning train down the +draw-bridge at Norwalk--sudden, terrific, deathful, never to rise. + +O, the power of an iniquitous pen! If a needle puncture the body at a +certain point, life is destroyed; but the pen is a sharper instrument, +for with its puncture you may kill the soul. And that very thing many +of our acutest minds are to-day doing. Do not think that this which +you drain from the glass, because it is sweet, is therefore healthful: +some of the worst poisons are pleasant to the taste. The pen which +for the time fascinates you may be dipped in the slime of unclean +literature. + +Look out for the books that come from France. It has sent us some +grand histories, poems, and pure novels, but they are few in number +compared with the nastiness that it has spewed out upon our shore. + +Do we not read in our Bibles that the ancient flood covered all the +earth? I would have thought that France had escaped, for it does not +seem as if it had ever had a thorough washing. + +In the next place, if you would shun an impure life, avoid those who +indulge in impure conversation. There are many people whose chief +mirthfulness is in that line. They are full of innuendo, and phrases +of double meaning, and are always picking out of the conversation of +decent men something vilely significant. It is astonishing in company, +how many, professing to be _Christians_, will tell vile stories; and +that some Christian women, in their own circles, have no hesitation at +the same style of talking. + +You take a step down hill, when, without resistance, you allow any one +to put into your ear a vile innuendo. If, forgetting who you are, +any man attempts to say such things in your presence, let your +better nature assert itself, look the offender full in the face, and +ask--"What do you mean by saying such a thing in my presence!" Better +allow a man to smite you in the face than to utter such conversation +before you. I do not care who the men or women are that utter impure +thoughts; they are guilty of a mighty wrong; and their influence upon +our young people is baleful. + +If in the club where you associate; if in the social circle where you +move, you hear depraved conversation, fly for your life! A man is +no better than his talk; and no man can have such interviews without +being scarred. + +I charge our young men against considering uncleanness more tolerable, +because it is sanctioned by the customs, habits, and practices of +what is called high life. If this sin wears kid gloves, and patent +leathers, and coat of exquisite fit, and carries an opera-glass of +costliest material, and lives in a big house, and rides in a splendid +turn-out, is it to be any the less reprehended? No! No! + +I warn you not so much against the abomination that hides in the lower +courts and alleys of the town, as against the more damnable vice that +hides behind the white shutters and brownstone fronts of the upper +classes. + +God, once in a while, hitches up the fiery team of vengeance, and +ploughs up the splendid libertinism, and we stand aghast. + +Sin, crawling out of the ditch of poverty and shame, has but few +temptations; but, gliding through the glittering drawing-room with +magnificent robe, it draws the stars of heaven after it. + +Poets and painters have represented Satan as horned and hoofed. If I +were a poet I should describe him with manners polished to the +last perfection, hair flowing in graceful ringlets, eye a little +blood-shot, but floating in bewitching languor; hands soft and +diamonded; step light and artistic; voice mellow as a flute; boot +elegantly shaped; conversation facile, carefully toned, and Frenchy; +breath perfumed until it would seem that nothing had ever touched his +lips save balm and myrrh. But his heart I would encase with the scales +of a monster, then fill with pride, with beastliness of desire, +with recklessness, with hypocrisy, with death. Then I would have +him touched with some rod of disenchantment until his two eyes would +become the cold orbs of the adder; and on his lip would come the foam +of raging intoxication; and to his feet the spring of the panther; +and his soft hand should become the clammy hand of a wasted +skeleton; while suddenly from his heart would burst in crackling and +all-devouring fury the unquenchable flames; and in the affected lisp +of his tongue would come the hiss of the worm that never dies. + +But, until disenchanted, nothing but myrrh, and balm, and ringlet, and +diamond, and flute-like voice, and conversation aromatic, facile, and +Frenchy. + +There are practices in respectable circles, I am told by physicians, +which need public reprehension. Herod's massacre of the innocents was +as nothing compared with that of millions and millions by what I shall +call _ante-natal_ murders. You may escape the grip of the law, because +the existence of such life was not known by society; but I tell +you that at last God will shove down on you the avalanche of his +indignation; and though you may not have wielded knife or pistol in +your deeds of darkness, yet, in the day when John Wilkes Booth and +Antony Probst come to judgment, you will have on _your_ brow the brand +of _murderer_. + +Hear me when I repeat, that the practices of high life ought not to +make sin in your eyes seem tolerable. God is no respecter of persons; +and robes and rags will stand on the same platform in the day when the +archangel, with one foot on the sea and the other on the land, swears, +by Him that liveth forever and ever, that Time shall be no more. + +O, it is beautiful to see a young man living a life of purity, +standing upright where thousands of other young men fall. You will +move in honorable circles all your days; and some old friend of your +father will meet you and say: "My son, how glad I am to see you look +so well. Just like your father, for all the world. I thought you would +turn out well when I used to hold you on my knee. Do you ever hear +from the old folks?" + +After a while you yourself will be old, and lean quite heavily on your +cane, and take short steps, and hold the book off to the other side +of the light. And men will take off their hats in your presence. Your +body, unharmed by early indulgences, will get weaker, only as the +sleepy child gets more and more unable to hold up its head, and falls +back into its mother's lap: so you shall lay yourself down into the +arms of the Christian's tomb, and on the slab that marks the place +will be chiselled: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see +God." + +But here is a young man who takes the other route. The voices of +uncleanness charm him away. He reads bad books. Lives in vicious +circles. Loses the glow from his cheek, the sparkle from his eye, and +the purity from his soul. The good shun him. Down he goes, little by +little. They who knew him when he came to town, while yet lingering +on his head was a pure mother's blessing, and on his lip the dew of a +pure sister's kiss, now pass him, and nay, "What an awful wreck!" +His eye bleared with frequent carousals. His cheek bruised in the +grog-shop fight. His lip swollen with evil indulgences. Look out what +you say to him. For a trifle he will take your life. Lower down and +lower down, until, outcast of God and man, he lies in the alms-house, +a blotch of loathsomeness and pain. Sometimes he calls out for God; +and then for more drink. Now he prays; now curses. Now laughs as +fiends laugh. Then bites his nails to the quick. Then runs both hands +through the shock of hair that hangs about his head--like the mane +of a wild beast. Then shivers--until the cot shakes--with unutterable +terror. Then, with uplifted fist, fights back the devils, or clutches +the serpents that seem winding him in their coil. Then asks for water, +which is instantly consumed by his cracked lips. Going his round some +morning, the surgeon finds him dead. + +Straighten the limbs. You need not try to comb out or shove back the +matted locks. Wrap him in a sheet. Put him in a box. Two men will +carry it down to the wagon at the door. With chalk, write on the top +of the box the name of the exhausted libertine. + +Do you know who it is? + +That is _you_, O man, if, yielding to the temptations to an impure +life, you go out, and perish. + +There is a way that seemeth bright, and fair, and beautiful; but the +end thereof is BLACKNESS OF DARKNESS FOREVER. + + + + +THE GUN THAT KICKS OVER THE MAN WHO SHOOTS IT OFF. + + +Blasphemy is a crime that aims at God, but does its chief harm to the +one that fires it off. + +So I compare it to a piece of imperfect firearms to which the marksman +puts his eye, and, pulling the trigger, by the rebound finds himself +in the dust. + +I tell you a story, Oriental and marvellous. History speaks of the +richest man in all the East. He had camels, oxen, asses, sheep, and +what would make any man rich even if he had nothing else--seven sons +and three daughters. It was the custom of this man's children to +have family reunions. One day he is at home, thinking of his darling +children, who are keeping banquet at their elder brother's house. +Yonder comes a messenger in hot haste, evidently, from his looks, +bearing evil tidings. Recovering himself sufficiently to speak, he +says: "The oxen and the asses have been captured by a foraging party +of Sabeans, and all the servants are butchered except myself." Another +messenger is coming. He says that the sheep and the shepherds have +been struck by lightning. Another messenger is coming. He says that +the Chaldeans have come and captured the camels, and killed all but +himself. Another messenger, who says: "While thy sons and daughters +were at the feast, a hurricane struck the corner of the tent, and they +are all dead!" But his misfortunes are not yet completed. The old man +is smitten with the elephantiasis, or black leprosy. Tumors from head +to foot; face distorted; forehead ridged with offensive tubercles; +eyelashes fall out; nostrils excoriated; voice destroyed; intolerable +exhalation from the whole body; until, with none to dress his sores, +he sits down in the ashes, with nothing but broken pieces of pottery +to use in the surgery of his wounds. At this point, when he needed +all consolation and encouragement, his wife comes to him, and says, +virtually: "This is intolerable! Our property gone, our children +slain, and now this loathsome, disgusting disease is upon you. Why +don't you swear? Curse God and die!" + +But profanity would not have removed one tumor from his agonized body; +would not have brought to his door one of the captured camels; would +not have restored any one of the dead children. Swearing would have +made the pain more unbearable, the pauperism into which he had plunged +more distressing, the bereavement more excruciating. + +And yet, from the swearing and blasphemy with which our land is +cursed, one would think there were some great advantage to be reaped +from the practice. There is to-day in all our land no more prevalent +custom, and no more God-defying abomination, than profane swearing. +You can hardly walk our streets five minutes without having your ears +stung and your sensibilities shocked. The drayman swearing at his +horse; the tinman at his solder; the sewing-girl imprecating her +tangled thread; the bricklayer cursing at his trowel; the carpenter at +his plane; the sailor at the tackling; the merchant at the customer; +the customer at the merchant; the printer at the miserable proofsheet; +the accountant at the troublesome line of figures;--swearing in the +cellar and in the loft, before the counter and behind the counter, in +the shop and on the street, in low saloon and fashionable bar-room. +Children swear, men swear, ladies (!) swear. Profanity from the lowest +haunt calling upon the Almighty, to the fashionable "O Lord!" of the +glittering drawing-room. + +This whole country is blasted with the evil. Coming from the West, +a gentleman sat behind two persons conversing. Profanities were so +frequent in the conversation of the two persons in front, that the +gentleman behind took out his pencil and paper and made a record. The +profanities filled several sheets in the course of two days, at the +close of which time the gentleman handed the manuscript to the persons +conversing. The men said: "Is it possible that we have uttered so +many profanities in the course of two days?" The gentleman said: +"Yes."--"Then," said one of the men, "I shall never swear again." + +I make no abstract discussion. I hate abstractions. I had rather come +right out and have a talk with you about a habit that you admit to be +wrong. This habit has grown from the fact that the young often think +it an evidence of manliness. There are thousands of boys and youth +who indulge in it. I hear children along the street, but just able to +walk, practising this iniquity. They cannot talk straight, but they +get enough distinctness to let you know that they are damning their +own souls and the souls of others. Oh! it is horrible to see a little +child, the first time it lifts its feet to walk, set them down on +the burning pavement of hell! Between sixteen and twenty years of age +there is apt to come a time when a young man is as much ashamed of +not being able to deliver an oath as he is of the dizziness that comes +from his first cigar. He has his hat and coat and boots of the +right pattern, and there is but one thing more now to bring him into +_fashion_, and that is a capacity to swear. + +So there are some of our young men surrounded by an atmosphere of +profanities. Oaths sit on their lips, they roll under their tongues, +and nest in the shock of hair. In elegant drawing-rooms they abstain +from such utterances, but fill club-room and street with their +immoralities of speech. You suggest the wrongfulness of the habit, and +they thrust their finger in the sleeve of their vest, and swagger, and +say: "Who cares!" They have no regard for God, but great respect for +the ladies. Ah! there is no manliness in that. + +The most ungentlemanly thing a man can do is to swear. This habit is +becoming more and more prevalent because of the immorality of parents +and employers. There are very many fathers who indulge in this habit. +They feel moved to utter themselves in this way, but first look around +to see if their children are present. They have no idea that their +children know anything about it. The probability is that if you swear, +your children swear. They were in the next room and heard you, or +somebody told them about your habit. Your child is practising to do +just as you do. He is laughed at, at first, for his awkwardness, but +after a while he will swear as well as you. + +Then look at the example of master carpenters, masons, roofers, and +hatters. You know how some of you go around the building, and, when +the work of your journeyman and subordinates does not please you, what +do you say? It is not praying, is it? Forthwith, your journeymen +and subordinates learn the habit. Hence our hat-shops, and +house-scaffoldings, and side-walks, and wharves, and dockyards, and +cellars, and lofts ring with blasphemies. + +Men argue that, if it is right for a man worth fifty or a hundred +thousand dollars to swear, it can be overlooked in men who have merely +their day's wages. Because they are poor must they be denied this one +luxury? + +This habit becomes more prevalent because of the infirmities of +temper. There are many men who, when at peace, are most fastidious +of speech, but when aroused into the violence of passion, blaze with +imprecation. The Oriental's wife spoken of would not have liked her +husband to be profane under ordinary circumstances, but now that the +camels are gone, and the sheep are gone, and the property is gone, +and the boils have come, she says: "Why don't you swear? Curse God +and die!" Others, all the year round, have not the froth of profanity +wiped from their lips, but try to expend all the fury of a twelvemonth +in one red-hot paragraph of five minutes. A man apologized for his +occasional swearing by saying that, once in a year, in this way +he cleared himself out. There are men who have no control of their +blasphemous utterances, who want us to send them to Congress. Others +have blasphemed in senatorial places, pretending afterwards that it +was a mere rhetorical flourish. + +Many fall into this habit through the frequent use of what are called +by-words. I suppose that all have favorite phrases of this kind in +which there is no harm; but a profusion of this style of speech often +ends in bald profanity. It is, "I declare!" "My stars!" "Mercy on me!" +"Good gracious!" "By George!" "By Jove!" and "By heavens!" and no harm +is intended; but it is a very easy transition from this kind of +talk to that which is positively obnoxious. The English language is +magnificent, and capable of expressing every shade of feeling and +every degree of energy and zeal; and there is no need that we take +to ourselves unlawful words. If you are happy, Noah Webster offers +to your tongue ten thousand epithets in which you may express your +exhilaration; and if you are righteously indignant, there are in +his dictionary whole armories of denunciation and scorn, sarcasm and +irony, caricature and wrath. Utter yourself against some meanness or +hypocrisy in all the blasphemies that ever smoked up from perdition, +and I will go on to denounce the same meanness and hypocrisy with a +hundred-fold more stress and vehemency in words across which no slime +has ever trailed, and through which no infernal fires have shot their +forked tongues,--words pure, innocent, all-impressive, God-honored, +Anglo-Saxon,--in which Milton sang, and Bunyan dreamed, and +Shakespeare wrote. + +But whatever be the source of this habit, it is on the increase. At +sixteen, boys swear with as much facility as the grandfather did at +sixty. Our streets are cursed by it from end to end. Our hotels, from +morning until midnight, resound with it. Men curse on the way to the +bar to get their morning dram; curse the news-boy who cries the paper; +curse the breakfast for being cold; curse at the bank, and curse at +the store; curse on the way to bed; curse at the stone against which +they strike their foot; and curse at the splinter that gets under the +nail. If you do not know that this is so, it is because your ear has +been hardened by the perpetual din of profanities that are enough to +bring down upon any city the hurricane of fire that consumed Sodom. + +The habit is creeping up into the higher circles. Every woman despises +flat and unvarnished imprecations; but in the most elevated circles +there are women who swear without knowing it. They have read Bulwer, +and George Sand, and the exaggerated style of some of our imported as +well as home-made periodical literature, until they do not actually +know what is decency of speech. With fairy fan to their lips they +utter their oaths, and, under chandeliers which discover not the +faintest blush, recklessly speak the holiest of names. This is helped +on by the second glass of wine, that is _perfectly harmless_; and +though no one dare charge her, being so finely dressed, with anything +like intoxication, yet there comes a glassiness to the eye, and a glow +to the cheek, and a style of speech to the tongue that were not known +before she took the second glass that was _perfectly harmless_. + +One wild, terrific wave of blasphemy is sweeping over the land. See +the effects of this widespread profanity in the increasing perjury. +If men in ordinary conversation so commonly use the name of God, is it +wonderful that in the jury-box, and in the alderman's office, and +in the custom-house so many swear falsely? Notice the way an oath is +administered. They toss the Bible at a man, and in the most trivial +way say: "So help you God--kiss the book." I suppose enough lies are +every day told in the custom-house to sink it. Smuggling, although it +be done against positive oath, is in some circles considered a grand +joke; and you say some day to your friend, "How can you sell those +goods so cheaply?" and your friend says with an eye-twinkle, "The +Custom-House tariff was not as high on those things as it might have +been." Men more easily break their solemn oaths than formerly. What +strange verdicts juries do sometimes render! What peculiar charges +judges do sometimes make! What unaccountable slowness sheriffs and +their deputies sometimes exhibit in the execution of their writs! What +erratic railroad enterprises suddenly pass at our State capitals! What +wonderful changes Congress makes in the tariff on liquors! + +What is an oath? Anything solemn? Anything appealing to the Almighty? +Anything stupendous in man's history? No! It is "kissing the book!" +In a land where the name of God so often becomes the foot-ball of what +are called respectable circles, how can we expect that it can excite +any veneration when, in the presence of county clerk, or alderman, or +judge, or legislative assembly, it is used in solemn adjuration? This +habit lowers, bedwarfs, and destroys the entire moral nature. You +might as well expect to raise harvests and vineyards on the side of +belching Stromboli as to have any great excellency grow upon your soul +when it so often overflows with the scoriae of this awful propensity. +You will never swear yourself up. You will swear yourself down. The +Mohammedans, when they find a slip of paper they cannot read, put +it aside, for fear the name of God is on it. That, you say, is one +extreme. We go to the other. + +You are willing to acknowledge this a miserable habit, and would like +to have some recipe for its cure. + +Reflect much upon the uselessness of the habit. Did a volley of oaths +ever start a heavy load? Did curses ever unravel a tangled skein? Did +they ever extirpate the meanness of a customer? Did they ever collect +a bad debt? Did they ever cure a toothache? Did they ever stop a +twinge of the gout? Did they ever save you a dollar, or put you a step +forward in any great enterprise? or enable you to gain a position, or +to accomplish anything that you ever wanted to do? How much did +you ever make by swearing? What, in all the round of a lifetime of +profanity, did you ever _gain_ by the habit? + +Reflect, also, upon the fact that it arouses God's indignation. The +Bible reiterates, in paragraph after paragraph, and chapter after +chapter, the fact that all swearers and blasphemers are accursed now, +and are to be forever miserable. There is no iniquity that has been so +often visited with the immediate curse of God. + +At New Brunswick, a young man was standing on the railroad track +blaspheming. The cars passed, and he was found on the track with his +tongue cut out. People could not understand how, with comparatively +little bruising of the rest of his body, his tongue could have been +cut out. Not long ago, in Chicago, a man told a falsehood, and said +that he hoped, if what he said was not true, God would strike him +dead. He instantly fell. There was no longer any pulse. There was no +reason for his death, except that he asked God to strike him dead, +and God did it. In Scotland a club was formed, in which the members +competed as to which could use the most horrid oaths. The man who +succeeded best in the infamy was made president of the club. His +tongue began to swell. It protruded from his mouth. He could not draw +it in. He died within three days. Physicians were astounded. There was +nothing like it in all the books. What was the matter with him? _He +cursed God, and died!_ Near Catskill, N.Y., during a thunder-storm, a +group of men were standing in a blacksmith-shop. There came a crash +of thunder, and the men were startled. One man said that he was not +afraid; and he made a wager that he dared go out in front of the shop, +while the lightnings were flying, and dare the Almighty. He went +out; shook his fist at the heavens, crying, "Strike, if you dare!" +Instantly a thunder-bolt struck him. He was dead. He cursed God, and +died! + +God will not abide this sin. He will not let it escape. There is a +kind of manifold paper by which a man may, with a heavy pencil, write +upon a dozen sheets at once--the writing going down through all the +sheets. So every oath and blasphemy goes through, and is written +indelibly on every leaf of God's remembrance. Ah! how much our Father +bears! Can you make an estimate of how many blasphemies will roll up +from the streets and saloons of our cities to-night? If you go out +and look up you cannot see them. There will be no trail of fire on the +sky. But the air is full of them. The name of Christ is not so often +spoken in worship as in derision. God will be cursed to-night by +hundreds of lips. The grog-shops will curse him. The houses of shame +will curse him. Five Points will curse him. Bedford street will curse +him. Chestnut street will curse him. Madison square will curse him. +Beacon street will curse him. Every street in all our cities will +curse him. + +This blasphemy is an abomination that no words of mine can describe. +And God hears it. They curse His name. They curse his Sabbath. They +curse his Bible. They curse his people. They curse his Only Begotten +Son. Yes; they swear by the name of Jesus! It makes my hair rise, and +my flesh creep, and my blood chill, and my breath catch, and my foot +halt. + +Dionysius had a cave where men were incarcerated. At the top of the +cave was an aperture to which he could put his ear, and could hear +every sigh, every groan, every word of the inmates. This world is so +arranged that all its voices go up to heaven. God puts down his ear +and hears every word of praise offered, and every word of blasphemy +spoken. + +Our cities must come to judgment. All these oaths must be answered +for. They die on the air, but they have an eternal echo. Listen +for the echo. It rolls back from the ages to come. Listen:--"_All +blasphemers shall have their place in the lake that burneth with fire +and brimstone_." Some have thought that a lost soul in the future +world will do that which it was most prone to do in this world. If so, +then think of a man blaspheming God through all eternity! + +This habit grows upon a man, until at last it pushes him off forever. +I saw a man die with an oath between his teeth. Voltaire rose from +his dying pillow, and, supposing that he saw Christ in the room, cried +out, "Crush the wretch!" A celebrated officer during the last war fell +mortally wounded, and the only word he sent to his wife was: "Tell her +I fought like hell!" + +There are thousands of men who are having all their moral nature +pulled down by the fiery fingers of this habit. At last, pinched, +shrivelled, and consumed, they will get down on their beds to die, and +at the step of the doctor in the hall, or the shutting of the front +door, they will start up, thinking they hear the sepulchral gates +creak open. + +Who is this God that you should maltreat his name? Has he been +haunting you, starving you, or freezing you all your life? No! He is +your Father, patient and loving. He rocked your cradle with blessings, +from the time you were born. He clothes you now, and always has +clothed you. You never had a sickness but he was sorry for you. He has +brooded over you with wings of love. He has tried to press you to his +heart of kindness and compassion. He wants to forgive you. He wants to +help you. He wants to make you happy. He watched last night over your +pillow while you slept. He will watch to-night. He was your father's +God, and your mother's. He has housed them safe from the blast, and he +wants to shelter you. Do you trifle with his name? Do you smite him in +the face? Do you thrust him back by your imprecations? + +Who is this Jesus Christ that I hear men swearing by? Who is he? Some +destroyer, that they so treat his name? What foul thing hath he done, +that our great cities speak his name in thousand-voiced jeer and +contempt? Who is he? A Lamb, whose blood simmered in the fires of +sacrifice, to save you. A Brother, who put down his crown of glory +that you might take it up. For many years he has been striving, night +and day, to win your affections. There is nothing in heaven that he +is not willing to give you. He came with blistered feet and streaming +eyes, with aching head and broken heart to relieve you. On the craft +of a doomed humanity he pushed out into the sea, to pick you off the +rock. Who will ever again malign his name? Is there a hand that will +ever again be lifted to wound him? If so, let that hand, blood-dipped, +be lifted now. Which one of my readers will ever again utter his +sacred name in imprecation? If any, now let them speak. Not one! Not +one! + +One summer among the New England hills there was an evening memorable +for storm and darkness. The clouds, which had been all day gathering, +at last unlimbered their batteries. The Housatonic, that flows +in silence save as the paddles of pleasure-parties rattle in the +row-lock, was lashed into foam and its waves staggered, not knowing +where to lay themselves. The hills jarred at the rumbling of God's +chariots. Blinding sheets of rain drove the cattle to the bars, and +beat against the window-pane as if to dash it in. The corn-fields +crouched in the fury, and the ripened grain-fields threw their crowns +of gold at the feet of the storm-king. After the night shut in, it +was a double night. Its black mantle was rent with the lightnings, and +into its locks were twisted the leaves of uprooted oaks, and shreds +of canvas torn from the masts of the beached shipping. It was such a +night as makes you thank God for shelter, and bids you open the door +to let in even the spaniel howling outside with the terror. We went +to sleep under the full blast of heaven's great orchestra, and the +forests with uplifted voice, in choiring hosts that filled all the +side of the mountains, praising the Lord. + +We waked not until the fingers of the sunny morn touched our eyelids. +We looked out and. Housatonic slept as quiet as a baby's dream. +Pillars of white cloud set up along the heavens looked like the +castles of the blest, built for hierarchs of heaven on the beach of +the azure sea. The trees sparkled as though there had been some great +grief in heaven, and each leaf had been God-appointed to catch an angel's +tear. It seemed as if God our Father had looked down upon earth, his +wayward child, and stooped to her tear-wet cheek, and kissed it. + +Even so will the darkness of our country's crime and suffering be +lifted. God will roll back the night of storm, and bring in the +morning of joy. Its golden light will gild the city spire, and strike +the forests of Maine, and tinge the masts of Mobile; and with one end +resting upon the Atlantic beach and the other on the Pacific coast, +God will spring a great rainbow arch of peace, in token of everlasting +covenant that the land shall never again be deluged with crime. + + + + +LIES: WHITE AND BLACK. + + +There are ten thousand ways of telling a lie. A man's entire life may +be a falsehood, while with his lips he may not once directly falsify. +There are those who state what is positively untrue, but afterwards +say, "may be," softly. These departures from the truth are called +"white lies;" but there is really no such thing as a white lie. The +whitest lie that was ever told was as black as perdition. No +inventory of public crimes will be sufficient that omits this gigantic +abomination. There are men, high in Church and State, actually useful, +self-denying, and honest in many things, who, upon certain subjects, +and in certain spheres, are not at all to be depended upon for +veracity. Indeed, there are multitudes of men who have their notions +of truthfulness so thoroughly perverted, that they do not know when +they _are_ lying. With many it is a cultivated sin; with some it seems +a natural infirmity. I have known people who seemed to have been born +liars. The falsehoods of their lives extended from cradle to grave. +Prevarication, misrepresentation, and dishonesty of speech appeared +in their first utterances and was as natural to them as any of +their infantile diseases, and was a sort of moral croup or spiritual +scarlatina. But many have been placed in circumstances where this +tendency has day by day, and hour by hour, been called to larger +development. They have gone from attainment to attainment, and from +class to class, until they have become regularly graduated liars. + +The air of the city is filled with falsehoods. They hang pendent from +the chandeliers of our finest residences; they crowd the shelves of +some of our merchant princes; they fill the side-walk from curb-stone +to brown-stone facing. They cluster around the mechanic's hammer, +and blossom from the end of the merchant's yard-stick, and sit in +the doors of churches. Some call them "fiction." Some style them +"fabrication." You might say that they were subterfuge, +disguise, delusion, romance, evasion, pretence, fable, deception, +misrepresentation; but, as I am ignorant of anything to be gained by +the hiding of a God-defying outrage under a lexicographer's blanket, I +shall chiefly call them what my father taught me to call them--_lies_. + +I shall divide them into agricultural, mercantile, mechanical, and +ecclesiastical lies; leaving those that are professional, social, and +political for some other chapter. + +First, then, I will speak of those that are more particularly +_agricultural_. There is something in the perpetual presence of +natural objects to make a man pure. The trees never issue "false +stock." Wheat-fields are always honest. Rye and oats never move out +in the night, not paying for the place they have occupied. Corn shocks +never make false assignments. Mountain brooks are always "current." +The gold on the grain is never counterfeit. The sunrise never flaunts +in false colors. The dew sports only genuine diamonds. + +Taking farmers as a class, I believe they are truthful, and fair in +dealing, and kind-hearted. But the regions surrounding our cities +do not always send this sort of men to our markets. Day by day there +creak through our streets, and about the market-houses, farm wagons +that have not an honest spoke in their wheels, or a truthful rivet +from tongue to tail-board. During the last few years there have been +times when domestic economy has foundered on the farmer's firkin. +Neither high taxes, nor the high price of dry-goods, nor the +exorbitancy of labor, could excuse much that the city has witnessed +in the behavior of the yeomanry. By the quiet firesides of Westchester +and Bucks counties I hope there may be seasons of deep reflection and +hearty repentance. + +Rural districts are accustomed to rail at great cities as given up to +fraud and every form of unrighteousness; but our cities do not absorb +all the abominations. Our citizens have learned the importance of +not always trusting to the size and style of apples in the top of a +farmer's barrel, as an indication of what may be found farther down. +Many of our people are accustomed to watch to see how correctly a +bushel of beets is measured; and there are not many honest milk-cans. +Deceptions do not all cluster around city halls. When our cities sit +down and weep over their sins, all the surrounding counties ought to +come in and weep with them. + +There is often hostility on the part of producers against traders, +as though the man who raises the corn were necessarily more honorable +than the grain dealer, who pours it into his mammoth bin. There ought +to be no such hostility. The occupation of one is as necessary as that +of the other. Yet producers often think it no wrong to snatch away +from the trader; and they say to the bargain-maker, "You get your +money easy." Do they get it easy? Let those who in the quiet field and +barn get their living exchange places with those who stand to-day amid +the excitements of commercial life, and see if they find it so very +easy. While the farmer goes to sleep with the assurance that his corn +and barley will be growing all the night, moment by moment adding to +his revenue, the merchant tries to go to sleep, conscious that that +moment his cargo may be broken on the rocks, or damaged by the wave +that sweeps clear across the hurricane deck; or that the gold gamblers +may, that very hour, be plotting some monetary revolution, or the +burglars be prying open his safe, or his debtors fleeing the town, or +his landlord raising the rent, or the fires kindling on the block that +contains all his estate. _Easy!_ is it? God help the merchants! It is +hard to have the palms of the hand blistered with out-door work; but a +more dreadful process when, through mercantile anxieties, the brain is +consumed! + +In the next place we notice _mercantile_ lies, those before the +counter and behind the counter. I will not attempt to specify the +different forms of commercial falsehood. There are merchants who +excuse themselves for deviation from truthfulness because of what +they call commercial custom. In other words, the multiplication and +universality of a sin turns it into a virtue. There have been large +fortunes gathered where there was not one drop of unrequited toil +in the wine; not one spark of bad temper flashing from the bronze +bracket; not one drop of needle-woman's heart-blood in the crimson +plush; while there are other great establishments in which there is +not one door-knob, not one brick, not one trinket, not one thread of +lace, but has upon it the mark of dishonor. What wonder if, some day, +a hand of toil that had been wrung, and worn out, and blistered until +the skin came off, should be placed against the elegant wall-paper, +leaving its mark of blood,--four fingers and a thumb; or that, +some day, walking the halls, there should be a voice accosting the +occupant, saying, _Six cents for making a shirt_; and, flying the +room, another voice should say, _Twelve cents for an army blanket_; +and the man should try to sleep at night, but ever and anon be +aroused, until, getting up on one elbow, he should shriek out, _Who's +there?_ + +There are thousands of fortunes made in commercial spheres that are +throughout righteous. God will let his favor rest upon every scroll, +every pictured wall, every traceried window; and the joy that flashes +from the lights, and showers from the music, and dances in the +children's quick feet, pattering through the hall, will utter the +congratulation of men and the approval of God. + +A merchant can, to the last item, be thoroughly honest. There is never +any need of falsehood. Yet how many will, day by day, hour by hour, +utter what they _know_ to be wrong. You say that you are selling at +less than cost. If so, then it is right to say it. But did that thing +cost you less than what you ask for it? If not, then you have lied. +You say that article cost you twenty-five dollars. Did it? If so, +then all right. If it did not, then you have lied. Suppose you are +a purchaser. You are "beating down" the goods. You say that that +article, for which five dollars is charged, is not worth more than +four. Is it worth no more than four dollars? Then all right. If it be +worth more, and, for the sake of getting it for less than its value, +you wilfully depreciate it, you have lied. _You_ may call it a sharp +trade. The recording angel writes it down on the ponderous tomes +of eternity--"Mr. So and So, merchant on Water street, or in Eighth +street, or in State street; or Mrs. So and So, keeping house on Beacon +street, or on Madison avenue, or Rittenhouse square, told one +lie." You may consider it insignificant, because relating to an +insignificant purchase. You would despise the man who would falsify +in regard to some great matter, in which the city or the whole country +was concerned; but this is only a box of buttons, or a row of pins, +or a case of needles. Be not deceived. The article purchased may be so +small you can put it in your vest pocket, but the sin was bigger than +the Pyramids, and the echo of the dishonor will reverberate through +all the mountains of eternity. + +You throw out on your counter some specimens of handkerchiefs. Your +customer asks, "Is that all silk? no cotton in it?" You answer, "It +is all silk." Was it all silk? If so, all right. But was it partly +cotton? Then you have lied. Moreover, you lost by the falsehood. The +customer, though he may live at Lynn, or Doylestown, or Poughkeepsie, +will find out that you defrauded him, and next spring, when he again +comes shopping, he will look at your sign and say: "I will not try +there. That is the place where I got that handkerchief." So that, by +that one dishonest bargain, you picked your own pocket and insulted +the Almighty. + +Would you dare to make an estimate of how many falsehoods in trade +were yesterday told by hardware men, and clothiers, and fruit-dealers, +and dry-goods establishments, and importers, and jewellers, and +lumbermen, and coal-merchants, and stationers, and tobacconists? Lies +about saddles, about buckles, about ribbons, about carpets, about +gloves, about coats, about shoes, about hats, about watches, about +carriages, about books,--about everything. In the name of the Lord +Almighty, I arraign commercial falsehoods as one of the greatest of +abominations in city and town. + +In the next place, I notice _mechanical_ lies. There is no class of +men who administer more to the welfare of the city than artisans. To +their hand we must look for the building that shelters us, for the +garments that clothe us, for the car that carries us. They wield +a widespread influence. There is much derision of what is called +"_muscular Christianity_;" but in the latter day of the world's +prosperity, I think that the Christian will be muscular. We have the +right to expect of those stalwart men of toil the highest possible +integrity. Many of them answer all our expectations, and stand at the +front of religious and philanthropic enterprises. But this class, like +the others that I have named, has in it those who lack in the element +of veracity. They cannot all be trusted. In times when the demand for +labor is great, it is impossible to meet the demands of the public, or +do work with that promptness and perfection that would at other times +be possible. But there are mechanics whose word cannot be trusted +at any time. No man has a right to promise more work than he can do. +There are mechanics who say that they will come Monday, but they do +not come until Wednesday. You put work in their hands that they tell +you shall be completed in ten days, but it is thirty. There have been +houses built of which it might be said that every nail driven, every +foot of plastering put on, every yard of pipe laid, every shingle +hammered, every brick mortared, could tell of falsehood connected +therewith. There are men attempting to do ten or fifteen pieces of +work who have not the time or strength to do more than five or six +pieces; but by promises never fulfilled keep all the undertakings +within their own grasp. This is what they call _"nursing" the job_. + +How much wrong to his soul and insult to God a mechanic would save, if +he promised only so much as he expected to be able to do. Society has +no right to ask of you impossibilities. + +You cannot always calculate correctly, and you may fail because you +cannot get the help that you anticipate. But now I am speaking of the +wilful making of promises that you know you cannot keep. Did you say +that that shoe should be mended, that coat repaired, those brick +laid, that harness sewed, that door grained, that spout fixed, or that +window glazed, by Saturday, knowing that you would neither be able +to do it yourself nor get any one else to do it? Then, before God +and man, you are a liar. You may say that it makes no particular +difference, and that if you had told the truth you would have lost the +job, and that people expect to be disappointed. But that excuse will +not answer. There is a voice of thunder rolling among the drills, and +planes, and shoe-lasts, and shears, which says: "All liars shall have +their place in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." + +I next notice _ecclesiastical_ lies; that is, falsehoods told for +the purpose of advancing churches and sects, or for the purpose of +depleting them. There is no use in asking many a Calvinist what an +Arminian believes, for he will be apt to tell you that the Arminian +believes that a man can convert himself; or to ask the Arminian +what the Calvinist believes, for he will tell you that the Calvinist +believes that God made some men just to damn them. There is no need of +asking a pedo-Baptist what a Baptist believes, for he will be apt to +say that the Baptist believes immersion to be positively necessary to +salvation. It is almost impossible for one denomination of Christians, +without prejudice or misrepresentation, to state the sentiment of +an opposing sect. If a man hates Presbyterians, and you ask him what +Presbyterians believe, he will tell you that they believe that there +are infants in hell a span long. + +It is strange also how individual churches will sometimes make +misstatements about other individual churches. It is especially so in +regard to falsehoods told with reference to prosperous enterprises. +As long as a church is feeble, and the singing is discordant, and the +minister, through the poverty of the church, must go with threadbare +coat, and here and there a worshipper sits in the end of a pew having +all the seat to himself, religious sympathizers of other churches will +say, "What a pity!" But, let a great day of prosperity come, and even +ministers of the gospel, who ought to be rejoiced at the largeness and +extent of the work, denounce, and misrepresent, and falsify,--starting +the suspicion, in regard to themselves, that the reason they do not +like the corn is because it is not ground in their own mill. + +How long before we shall learn to be fair in our religious criticisms! +The keenest jealousies on earth are church jealousies. The field of +Christian work is so large that there is no need that our hoe-handles +hit. + +May God extirpate from the world ecclesiastical lies, commercial lies, +mechanical lies, and agricultural lies, and make every man, the world +over, to speak truth with his neighbor! + + + + +A GOOD TIME COMING. + + +As on some bitter cold night, while threshing our hands about to keep +our thumbs from freezing, we have looked up and seen the northern +lights blazing along the sky, the windows of heaven illumined at +the news of some great victory, so from beyond this bitter night of +abomination a brightness strikes through from the other side. + +I have thought that it would be well, in these chapters on the sins of +the times, to lift before you a vision of what our cities will be +when the work of good men shall have been concluded and our population +redeemed. I doubt not that sometimes men have shut this book, thinking +that the gigantic wrongs we depict may never be discomfited. Lest you +be utterly disheartened, I will show you that we fight in a war in +which we will be completely victorious. This is to be no drawn battle; +for, when it is done, the result will not be disputed by a man on +earth, or an angel in heaven, or a devil in hell. We shall have +captured every one of the strongholds of darkness. You and I will +live to see the day when gambling-hells will be changed into places of +Christian merchandise, and houses of sin swept and garnished for the +residence of the purest home circles. + +Beethoven was deaf, and could not hear the airs he composed; but when +the song of universal disenthralment arises, and white Circassian +stands up by the side of black Ethiopian, and tropical groves wave to +the Lebanon cedars, we shall, standing somewhere, know it and see it, +and hear it. If gone from earth, we will be allowed to come out on the +hills and look. + +We do not talk about impossibilities. We do not propose a medicine +about which we have to say that it will "kill or cure." For this balm +that oozes from the tree of heaven will inevitably cure. + +I remark that this coming time of municipal elevation will be a time +of financial prosperity. Many seem to suppose that when the world's +better days come, the people will forsake their industries, and give +themselves to perpetual psalm-singing, and, being all absorbed in +spiritual things, will become reckless as to dress and dwelling; and +very rigid laws then governing the commercial world, all enterprise +and speculation will cease, and all hilarity be stricken out of the +social circle. There is no warrant for such an absurd anticipation. I +suppose that when society is reconstructed, where there is now, in the +course of a year, one fortune made, there will be a hundred fortunes +made. Every one knows that the commercial world thrives in proportion +as there is confidence between man and man; and the extirpation of all +double-dealing and fraud from society will increase this confidence, +and hence greater prosperity. The heavy commercial disasters that have +smitten this land were the work of godless speculators and infamous +stock-gamblers. It is crime that is the mightiest foe to business; +but when the right shall hurl back into ruin the plots of bad men, +and purify the commercial code, and thunder down fraudulent +establishments, and put into the hands of honest men the keys of +commercial prosperity, blessed will be the bargain-makers of the city. + +That will be a prosperous time, for taxes will be a mere nothing. +Every style of business is taxed now to the utmost. City taxes, county +taxes, State taxes, United States taxes, license taxes, manufacturing +taxes, stamp taxes,--taxes! taxes! taxes! Our citizens must make a +small fortune every year to meet these exactions. What hand fastens +to all of our great industries this tremendous load? Crime! We have +to pay the board of every man and woman who, by intemperance, is +cast into the alms-house. We have to support the orphans of those who +plunge themselves into their graves by beastly indulgences. We support +from our pockets the large machinery of municipal government, which is +vast just in proportion as the criminal proclivities of the city +are great. What makes necessary hospitals, houses of refuge, +police-stations, and alms-houses, the Tombs, Sing Sing, and +Moyamensing? + +In that good time coming there shall be no exhaustive taxation; no +orphans homeless, for parents will be able to leave their children +a competency; no prisons, for crime will have given place to virtue. +Then the vast swindles which now, from time to time, disgrace our +cities, will be unheard of. No voting of public money that, on its way +to some city improvement, falls into the pockets of those who voted +it. No courts of Oyer and Terminer, at vast expense to the people. No +empanelling of juries to inquire into theft, arson, murder, slander, +and black-mail. In that day of redemption there will be better +factories, grander architecture, finer equipages, larger estates, +richer opulence. + +Again: when our cities are purified the churches will be multiplied, +purified, and strengthened. Now, denominations, and the individuals of +the different sects, are often jealous of each other. Christians are +not always kindly disposed toward each other; and ministers of the +gospel sometimes forget the bond of brotherhood. In that day they will +be sympathetic and helpful. There may be differences of opinion and +sentiment, but no acerbity, no hypercriticism, and no exclusiveness. +In that day all the churches will be filled with worshippers. We +have not to-day, in the cities, church-room for one-fourth of our +population; and yet there is a great deal more room than the people +occupy. The churches do not average an attendance of five hundred +people. The vast majority do not attend public worship. But in the +day of which I speak there will be enough church-room to hold all the +people, and the room will be occupied. In that time what rousing songs +will be sung! What earnest sermons will be preached! What fervent +prayers will be offered! In these days a _fashionable_ church is a +place where, after a careful toilet, a few people come in, sit down, +and what time they can get their minds off their stores, or away from +the new style of hat in the seat before them, listen in silence to the +minister--warranted to hit no man's sins--and to the choir, who are +agreed to sing tunes that nobody knows; and, having passed away an +hour in dreamy lounging, go home refreshed. + +I pronounce much of what is called "church music," in our day, a +mockery and a farce. Though I have neither a cultured voice nor a +cultured ear, no man shall do my singing. When the storms, and the +trees, and the dragons are called on to praise the Lord, I feel that +I must sing, for I know more about music than do the dragons. Nothing +can take the place of artistic music. The dollar that I pay to hear +Parepa or Nilsson sing is far from being wasted. But, when the hymn +is read, and the angels of God stoop from their thrones to bear up +on their wings the praise of the great congregation, let us not drive +them away with our indifference. I have preached in churches where +fabulous sums of money were paid to performers, and the harmony was +exquisite as any harmony that ever went up from an Academy of Music; +and yet, for all the purposes of devotion, I would prefer the hearty, +out-breaking song of a backwoods Methodist camp-meeting. When these +fancy starveling songs get up to the gate of heaven, how do you +suppose they look, standing beside the great doxologies of the +glorified? Let an operatic performance, floating upward, get many +hours the start, and it shall be caught and passed by the shout of the +Sailors' Bethel, or the hosanna of the Sabbath-school children. + +I know a church where there was no singing except that done by the +choir, save one old Christian man; and they waited upon him by +a committee, and asked him if he would not stop singing, for he +disturbed the choir! + +The day cometh when all the churches will rejoice in this department +of service, rightly conducted, and when from all the great audiences +of attentive worshippers will rise a multitudinous anthem. + +"O God! let all the people praise thee!" Again: when the city is +redeemed, the low haunts of vice and pollution will be extinguished. +Mr. Etzler, of England, proposes, by the forces of tide, and wind, +and wave, and sunshine, to reconstruct the world. In a book of +much genius, which rushed rapidly from edition to edition, he +says:--"Fellow-men: I promised to show the means of creating a +paradise within ten years, where everything desirable for human life +may be had by every man in superabundance, without labor and without +pay; where the whole face of nature shall be changed into the most +beautiful forms, and man may live in the most magnificent palaces, +in all imaginable refinements of luxury, and in the most delightful +gardens; where he may accomplish without labor, in one year, more than +hitherto could be done in thousands of years; may level continents; +sink valleys; create lakes; drain lakes and swamps, and intersect the +land everywhere with beautiful canals and roads for transporting heavy +loads of many thousand tons, and for travelling a thousand miles in +twenty-four hours; may cover the ocean with floating islands, movable +in any desired direction, with an immense power and celerity, in +perfect security, and with all the comforts and luxuries; bearing +gardens and palaces, with thousands of families, and provided with +rivulets of sweet water; may explore the interior of the globe, and +travel from pole to pole in a fortnight; provide himself with means +yet unheard of for increasing his knowledge of the world, and so his +intelligence; leading a life of continual happiness, of enjoyment yet +unknown; free himself from almost all the evils that afflict mankind +except death, and even put death far beyond the common period of human +life, and, finally, render it less afflicting. From the houses to be +built will be afforded the most enrapturing views to be fancied; +from the galleries, from the roof, and from its turrets may be seen +gardens, as far as the eye can see, full of fruits and flowers, +arranged in the most beautiful order, with walks, colonnades, +aqueducts, canals, ponds, plains, amphitheatres, terraces, fountains, +sculptured works, pavilions, gondolas, places for public amusement, +to delight the eye and fancy. All this to be done by urging the water, +the wind, and the sunshine to their full development." Mr. Etzler +gives plates of the machinery by which all this is to be done. He +proposes the organization of a company; and says small shares of +twenty dollars will be sufficient--in all from two hundred thousand to +three hundred thousand dollars--to create the first establishment for +a whole community, of from three to four thousand individuals. "At the +end of five years we shall have a principal of two hundred millions +of dollars; and so paradise will be wholly regained at the end of the +tenth year." + +There is more reason in this than in many of the plans proposed; but +mechanical forces can never recreate the world. I shall take no shares +in the large company that is proposed; my faith is that Christianity +will yet make the worst street of our cities better than the best +street now is. + +Archimedes consumed the enemies of Syracuse by a great sun-glass. As +the ships came up the harbor, the sun's rays were concentrated upon +them: now the sails are wings of fire; the masts fall, and the vessels +sink. So, by the great sun-glass of the Gospel, the rays of heaven +will be concentred upon all the filth and unchastity and crime of our +great towns, and under the heat they will blaze and expire. When the +day comes that I have shown will come, suppose you that there will +be any midnight brawls? any shivering mendicants, kicked off from the +marble steps? any droves of unwashed, uncombed, unfed children? any +blasphemers in the street? any staggering past of inebriates? No! No +wine-cellars. No lager-beer saloons. No distilleries where they make +the XXX. No bloated cheeks. No blood-shot eyes. No fist-battered +foreheads. The grandchildren of that woman who now walks up the street +with a curse, as the boys stone her, will be philanthropists, and heal +the sick, and manage great commercial enterprises. + +When our cities are so raised, we shall have a different style of +municipal government. The great question, in regard to the execution +of the law, now is: "What is popular?" Our city governments +slumber--great carcasses of insufficiency, sending up their stench +into the nostrils of high heaven, while there are thousands of +gambling-houses, and drinking-saloons, and more places of damnable +lust than the decency of the country has time to count. Do you tell me +that the authorities do not know it? They do know it. All the police +know it. The sheriff and his deputies know it. The aldermen know it. +The mayors know it. Everybody who keeps his eyes and ears open knows +it. In the name of God I impeach the municipal authorities of many of +our cities, that they neglect to execute the law. You cannot charge +it upon any one party. Within the past few years both parties, and +all kinds of parties, have been in power; but the work has never been +done. You have but to pass the City Hall, or look in upon the rooms of +some of our city officials, to see to what sort of men our cities have +been abandoned. Look at the swearing, bloated, sensual wretches who +stand on the outside of the New York City Hall, picking their teeth, +waiting for some crumbs of emolument to fall at their feet; and then +tell me how far it is from New York to Sodom. Who are those wretched +women sent up in the city van to the police-court, apprehended for +drunkenness? They will be locked up in jail; but what will be done +with the groggeries that made them drunk? Who are these men in the +city-prison? That man stole a pair of shoes; that boy, one dollar from +the counter; that girl snatched a purse--all villanies of less than +twenty or thirty dollars' damage to the community; but for +that gambler, who last night took that young man's thousand +dollars--nothing! For that man who broke in upon the purity of a +Christian household, and by a perfidy and adroitness that beat the +strategy of hell, flung that girl into the chasm of earthly +despair, from which her lost soul goes shrieking to the bottomless +pit--nothing! For those who "fleeced" a young man, and induced him to +filch from his employers vast sums of money, until, in his agony, he +came to an officer of the church, and frantically asked what he should +do--nothing! + +Verily, small crimes ought to be punished; but it were more just if +our authorities would turn out from our jails and penitentiaries the +small villains, the petty criminals, the infantile offenders, the +ten-dollar desperadoes, and fill their places with some of these +monsters of abomination, who drive their roan span through our fine +streets until honest men have to fly to escape being run over; and +if they would turn out from their incarceration the poor girls of +the town, and put in some of the magnificent ladies who cover up the +sidewalk with their unpaid-for fineries, and with scornful look, in +the church-aisle, pass the daughters of poverty, who with their +faded dress and plain hat _dare_ to come to worship God in the same +sanctuary. + +But all these wrongs shall be righted. Our streets shall hear the +tramp of a regenerated multitude. Three hundred and sixty bells were +rung in Moscow when the prince was married; but when righteousness +and peace shall "kiss each other" in all the earth, ten thousand bells +will strike the jubilee. Poverty enriched. Hunger fed. Disease cured. +Crime purified. The cities saved. + + +THE END. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Abominations of Modern Society +by Rev. T. 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