,,the ,,abominations ,,of ,,modern      
,,society4    ,,by ,,rev4 ,t4 ,,de      
,,witt ,,talmage1    ,,author ,,of      
,,crumbs ,,swept ,,up    #ahgb4         
,,preface4      ,this is a buoy swung   
over the rocks4 ,if it shall keep ship1 
bark1  fore-and-aft schooner1 or        
hermaphrodite brig from driving on a lee
  shore1 all's well4    ,the book is not
 more for young men than old4 ,the      
,calabria was wrecked  the last day out4
    ,nor is the book more for men than  
women4 ,the best being that ,god ever   
made is a good woman1 and the worst that
 the devil ever made is a bad  one4 ,if 
anything herein shall be a warning      
either to man or woman1 ,i  will be glad
 that the manuscript was caught up      
between the sharp teeth  of the type4   
,t4,d4,w4,t4    ,,brooklyn1 ,january    
#ast1 #ahgb4          ,,contents4       
,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    ,flask1 ,bottle1 and  
,demijohn    ,house of ,blackness of    
,darkness    ,the ,gun that ,kicks over 
the ,man who ,shoots it off    ,lies3   
,white and ,black    ,the ,good ,time   
,coming          ,,the ,,abominations4  
99       99       99       99       99  
,,the ,,curtain ,,lifted4      ,pride of
 city is natural to men1 in all times1  
if they live or have  lived in a        
metropolis noted for dignity or prowess4
 ,csar boasted of  his native ,rome2    
,lycurgus of ,sparta2 ,virgil of ,andes2
 ,demosthenes of  ,athens2 ,archimedes  
of ,syracuse2 and ,paul of ,tarsus4 ,i  
should suspect  a man of                
base-heartedness who carried about with 
him no feeling of  complacency in regard
 to the place of his residence2 who     
gloried not  in its arts1 or arms1 or   
behavior2 who looked with no exultation 
upon  its evidences of prosperity1 its  

artistic embellishments1 and its        
scientific attainments4    ,i have      
noticed that men never like a place     
where they have not behaved  well4      
,swarthout did not like ,new ,york2 nor 
,dr4 ,webster1 ,boston4 ,men  who have  
free rides in prison-vans never like the
 city that furnishes  the vehicle4      
,when ,i see in history ,argos1 ,rhodes1
 ,smyrna1 ,chios1 ,colophon1 and        
several other cities claiming ,homer1 ,i
 conclude that ,homer behaved  well4    
,let us not war against this pride of   
city1 nor expect to build up  ourselves 
by pulling others down4 ,let ,boston    
have its ,common1  its ,faneuil ,hall1  
its ,coliseum1 and its ,atlantic        
,monthly4 ,let  ,philadelphia talk about
 its ,mint1 and ,independence ,hall1 and
  ,girard ,college4 ,when ,i find a man 
living in either of those places1  who  
has nothing to say in favor of them1 ,i 
feel like asking him1 ,what  mean thing 
did you do1 that you do not like your   
native city8    ,new ,york is a goodly  

city4 ,it is one city on both sides of  
the river4  ,the ,east ,river is only   
the main artery of its great throbbing  
life4  ,after a while four or five      
bridges will span the water1 and we     
shall  be still more emphatically one   
than now4 ,when1 therefore1 ,i say ,new 
,york city1 ,i mean more than a million 
of people1 including everything  between
 ,spuyten ,duyvil ,creek and ,gowanus4  
,that which tends to elevate  a part1   
elevates all4 ,that which blasts part1  
blasts all4 ,sin is a  giant2 and he    
comes to the ,hudson or ,connecticut    
,river1 and passes it1  as easily as we 
step across a figure in the carpet4 ,the
 blessing of  ,god is an angel2 and when
 it stretches out its two wings1 one of 
them  hovers over that1 and the other   
over this4    ,in infancy1 the great    
metropolis was laid down by the banks of
 the  ,hudson4 ,its infancy was as      
feeble as that of ,moses1 sleeping in   
the  bulrushes by the ,nile2 and like   
,miriam1 there our fathers stood and    

watched it4 ,the royal spirit of        
,american commerce came down to the     
water to bathe2 and there she found it4 
,she took it in her arms1  and the child
 grew and waxed strong2 and the ships of
 foreign lands  brought gold and spices 
to its feet2 and1 stretching itself up  
into  the proportions of a metropolis1  
it has looked up to the mountains1  and 
off upon the sea1--one of the mightiest 
of the energies of  ,american           
civilization4    ,the character of the  
founder of a city will be seen for many 
years in  its inhabitants4 ,romulus     
impressed his life upon ,rome4 ,the     
,pilgrims  relax not their hold upon the
 cities of ,new ,england4 ,william ,penn
 has  left ,philadelphia an inheritance 
of integrity and fair dealing2 and  on  
any day in that city you may see in the 
manners1 customs1 and  principles of its
 people1 his tastes1 his coat1 his hat1 
his wife's  bonnet1 and his plain       
meeting-house4 ,the ,hollanders still   
wield an  influence over ,new ,york4    

,grand ,old ,new ,york6 ,what southern  
thoroughfare was ever smitten by        
pestilence1 when our physicians did not 
throw themselves upon the  sacrifice6   
,what distant land has cried out in the 
agony of famine1 and  our ships have not
 put out with bread-stuffs6 ,what street
 of ,damascus1  or ,beyrout1 or ,madras 
that has not heard the step of our      
missionaries6  ,what struggle for       
national life1 in which our citizens    
have not poured  their blood into the   
trenches6 ,what gallery of exquisite    
art1 in  which our painters have not    
hung their pictures6 ,what department of
  literature or science to which our    
scholars have not contributed6  ,i need 
not speak of our public schools1 where  
the children of the  cordwainer1 and    
milkman1 and glass-blower stand by the  
side of the  flattered sons of          
millionnaires and merchant princes2 or  
of the  insane asylums on all these     
islands1 where they who came out cutting
  themselves1 among the tombs1 now sit1 

clothed and in their right mind2  or of 
the ,magdalen asylums1 where the lost   
one of the street comes to  bathe the   
,saviour's feet with her tears1 and wipe
 them with the hairs  of her            
head1--confiding in the pardon of ,him  
who said--,let him who  is without sin  
cast the first stone at her4 ,i need not
 speak of the  institutions for the     
blind1 the lame1 the deaf and the dumb1 
for the  incurables1 for the widow1 the 
orphan1 and the outcast2 or of the      
thousand-armed machinery that sends     
streaming down from the reservoir  the  
clear1 bright1 sparkling1 ,god-given    
water that rushes through  our          
aqueducts1 and dashes out of the        
hydrants1 and tosses up in  our         
fountains1 and hisses in our            
steam-engines1 and showers out the      
conflagration1 and sprinkles from the   
baptismal font of our churches2  and    
with silver note1 and golden sparkle1   
and crystalline chime1 says  to hundreds
 of thousands of our population1 in the 

authentic words of  ,him who made it--,i
 ,,will3 ,,be ,,thou ,,clean6    ,they  
who live in any of the ,american cities 
have a goodly heritage2  and it is in no
 depreciation of our advantages that ,i 
speak1 but  because1 in the very        
contrast with our opportunities and     
mission1 ,,the  ,,abominations are      
tenfold more abominable4    ,the sources
 from which ,i will bring the array of  
facts will be police1  detective1 and   
alms-house reports2 city missionaries'  
explorations1  and the testimony of the 
abandoned and sin-blasted1 who1 about to
 take  the final plunge1 have staggered 
back just for a moment1 to utter the    
wild shriek of their warning1 and the   
agonizing wail of their despair4    ,i  
shall call upon you to consider the     
drunkenness1 the stock-gambling1  the   
rampant dishonesties1 the club-houses so
 far as they are  nefarious1 the excess 
of fashion1 the horrors of unchastity1  
the  bad books and unclean newspapers1  
and the whole range of sinful           

amusements2 and with the plough-share of
 truth turn up the whole  field4    ,if 
we could call up the victims themselves1
 they would give the most  impressive   
story4 ,people knew not how ,turner1 the
 painter1 got such  vivid conceptions of
 a storm at sea1 until they heard the   
story that  oftentimes he had been      
lashed to the deck in the midst of the  
tempest1  in order that he might study  
the wrath of the sea4    ,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 die4 ,with hand tremulous   
with exhausting disease1 and  hardly    
able to get the accursed bowl to his    
lips--put into such a hand  the pencil1 
and it can sketch1 as can no one else1  
the darkness1 the  fire1 the wild       
terror1 the headlong pitch1 and the hell
 of those who  have surrendered         
themselves to iniquity4 ,while we dare  
only come near  the edge1 and1 balancing
 ourselves a while1 look off1 and our   

head  swims1 and our breath             
catches1--those can tell the story best 
who have  fallen to the depths with     
wilder dash than glacier from the top of
 a  ,swiss cliff1 and stand1 in their   
agony1 looking up for a relief  that    
comes not1 and straining their eyes for 
a hope that never  dawns--crying1 ,o    
,god6 ,o ,god6    ,it is terrible to see
 a lion dashing for escape against the  
sides of  his cage2 but a more awful    
thing it is to behold a man1 caged in   
bad  habit1 trying to break out1--blood 
on the soul1 blood on the cage4         
,others may throw garlands upon ,sin1   
picturing the overhanging fruits  which 
drop in her pathway1 and make every step
 graceful as the dance2  but we cannot  
be honest without presenting it as a    
giant1 black with  the soot of the      
forges where eternal chains are made1   
and feet rotting  with disease1 and     
breath foul with plagues1 and eyes      
glaring with woe1  and locks flowing in 
serpent fangs1 and voice from which     

shall rumble  forth the blasphemies of  
the damned4    ,i open to you a door1   
through which you see--what8 ,pictures  
and  fountains1 and mirrors and flowers8
 ,no3 it is a lazar-house of  disease4  
,the walls drip1 drip1 drip with the    
damps of sepulchres4 ,the  victims1     
strewn over the floor1 writhe and twist 
among each other in  contortions        
indescribable1 holding up their ulcerous
 wounds1  tearing their matted hair1    
weeping tears of blood3 some hooting    
with  revengeful cry2 some howling with 
a maniac's fear2 some chattering  with  
idiot's stare2 some calling upon ,god2  
some calling upon fiends2  wasting away2
 thrusting each other back2 mocking each
 other's pains2  tearing open each      
other's ulcers2 dropping with the ichor 
of death6  ,the wider ,i open the door1 
the ghastlier the scene4--,worse the    
horrors4 ,more desperate recoils4       
,deeper curses4 ,more blood4 ,i can no  
longer endure the vision1 and ,i shut   
the door1 and cover my eyes1 and  turn  

my back1 and cry1 ,god pity them6       
,some one may say1 ,what is the use of  
such an exposure as you propose  to     
make8 ,our families are all respectable4
 ,i answer1 that no family1  however    
elevated and exclusive1 can be          
independent of the state of  public     
morals4    ,however pleasant the block  
of houses in which you dwell1 the       
wretchedness1 the temptation1 and the   
outrage of municipal crime will  put its
 hand on your door-knob1 and dash its   
awful surge against the  marble of your 
door-steps1 as the stormy sea drives on 
a rocky beach4    ,that condition of    
morals is now being formed1 amid which  
our children  must walk4 ,do you tell me
 it is none of my business what street  
profanity shall curse my boy's ear1 on  
his way to school8 ,think you it  is no 
concern of yours what infamous          
advertisements1 placarded on  the walls1
 or in the public newspaper1 shall smite
 the vision of your  innocent little    
ones8 ,shall ,i be nervous about a      

stagnant pool of  water1 lest it breed  
malaria1 and be careless when there are 
in the  very heart of our city thousands
 of houses1 devoted to various forms  of
 dissipation1 which day and night steam 
with miasma1 and pour out  the fiery    
lava of pollution1 and darken the air   
with their horrors1  and fill the skies 
with the smoke of their torment1 that   
ascendeth up  forever and ever8 ,if a   
slaughter-house be opened in the midst  
of the  town1 we hasten down to the     
,mayor to have the nuisance abated4 ,but
  now ,i make complaint1 not to the     
,mayor or ,common ,council1 but to the  
masses of the people1 who have the power
 to lift men up to office1 and  to cast 
them down1 against a hundred thousand   
slaughter-houses in  our ,american      
cities4 ,in the name of our happy homes1
 of our refined  circles1 of our        
schools1 of our churches1--in the name  
of all that is  dear and beautiful and  
valuable and holy1--,i enter the        
complaint4 ,if  you now sit unconcerned1

 and leave to professed philanthropists 
the work1 and care not who are in       
authority or what laws remain           
unexecuted1 you may live to see the time
 when you will curse the day  in which  
your children were born4    ,my belief  
is that such an exposition of public    
immoralities will  do good1 by exciting 
pity for the victims and wholesale      
indignation  against the abettors and   
perpetrators4    ,who is that man fallen
 against the curbstone1 covered with    
bruises and  beastliness8 ,he was as    
bright-faced a lad as ever looked up    
from your  nursery4 ,his mother rocked  
him1 prayed for him1 fondled him1 would 
not let the night air touch his cheek1  
and held him up and looked down  into   
his loving eyes1 and wondered for what  
high position he was being  fitted4 ,he 
entered life with bright hopes4 ,the    
world beckoned him1  friends cheered    
him1 but the archers shot at him2 vile  
men set traps  for him1 bad habits      
hooked fast to him with their iron      

grapples2 his  feet slipped on the way2 
and there he lies4 ,who would think that
 that  uncombed hair was once toyed with
 by a father's fingers8 ,who would      
think that those bloated cheeks were    
ever kissed by a mother's lips8  ,would 
you guess that that thick tongue once   
made a household glad with  its innocent
 prattle8 ,utter no harsh words in his  
ear4 ,help him up4  ,put the hat over   
that once manly brow4 ,brush the dust   
from that coat  that once covered a     
generous heart4 ,show him the way to the
 home that  once rejoiced at the sound  
of his footstep1 and with gentle words  
tell  his children to stand back as you 
help him through the hall4    ,that was 
a kind husband once and an indulgent    
father4 ,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 home4 ,but
 now at midnight he will drive them from
 their  pillows and curse them down the 

steps1 and howl after them as1 unclad1  
they fly down the street1 in            
night-garments1 under the calm          
starlight4    ,who slew that man8 ,who  
blasted that home8 ,who plunged those   
children  into worse than               
orphanage--until the hands are blue with
 cold1 and the  cheeks are blanched with
 fear1 and the brow is scarred with     
bruises1  and the eyes are hollow with  
grief8 ,who made that life a wreck1 and 
filled eternity with the uproar of a    
doomed spirit8    ,there are those whose
 regular business it is to work this    
death4 ,they  mix a cup that glows and  
flashes and foams with enchantment4     
,they  call it ,cognac1 or ,hock1 or    
,heidsick1 or ,schnapps1 or ,old        
,bourbon1 or  ,brandy1 or ,champagne2   
but they tell not that in the ruddy glow
 there  is the blood of sacrifice1 and  
in its flash the eye of uncoiled        
adders1 and in the foam the mouth-froth 
of eternal death4 ,not knowing  what a  
horrible mixture it is1 men take it up  

and drink it down--the  sacrificial     
blood1 the adder's venom1 the           
death-froth--and smack their  lips and  
call it a delightful beverage4    ,oh6  
if ,i had some art by which ,i could    
break the charm of the  tempter's bowl1 
and with mailed hand lift out the long  
serpent of  eternal despair1 and shake  
out its coils1 and cast it down1 and    
crush  it to death6    ,but the         
enchantment cannot thus be broken4 ,it  
hides in the bottom of  the bowl2 and   
not until a man is entirely fallen does 
the monster  lift itself up1 and strike 
with its terrific fangs1 and answer all 
his implorations for mercy with fiendish
 hiss4 ,we must arouse public  opinion1 
until city1 ,state1 and national        
officials shall no longer  dare to      
neglect the execution of the law4 ,we   
have enough enactments  now to          
revolutionize our cities and strike     
terror through the  drinking-houses and 
gambling-dens and houses of sin4 ,tracts
  distributed will not do it2 ,bibles   

printed will not accomplish it2  city   
missionaries have not power for the     
work4    ,will tracts do it8 ,as well   
try with three or four snow-flakes to   
put  out ,cotapaxi6    ,we want police  
officers1 common councilmen1 aldermen1  
sheriffs1  mayors1 who will execute the 
law4 ,give us for two weeks in our      
cities  an honest city hall1 and public 
pollution would fall like lightning     
from heaven6    ,if you republicans1 and
 you democrats1 do not do your duty in  
this  regard1 we will1 after a while1   
form a party of our own1 and put  men in
 position pledged to anti-rum1          
anti-dirt1 anti-nuisances1              
anti-monopolies1 anti-abominations1 and 
will give to those of you who  have been
 so long feeding on public spoils1      
careless of public morals1  not so much 
as the wages of a street sweeper4    ,we
 are not discouraged4 ,it may seem to   
many that all of our battling  against  
these evils will come to naught4 ,but if
 the coral insects can  lift an island1 

our feeble efforts1 under ,god1 may     
raise a break-water  that will dash back
 the surges of municipal abomination4   
,beside1 we  toil not in our own        
strength4    ,it seemed insignificant   
for ,moses to stretch his hand over the 
,red  ,sea4 ,what power could that have 
over the waters8 ,but the east wind     
blew all night2 the waters gathered into
 two glittering palisades on  either    
side4 ,the billows reared as ,god's hand
 pulled back upon their  crystal bits4  
,wheel into line1 ,o ,israel6 ,march6   
,march6 ,pearls crash  under the feet4  
,the flying spray springs a rainbow arch
 over the  victors4 ,the shout of hosts 
mounting the beach answers the shout of 
hosts mid-sea2 until1 as the last line  
of the ,israelites have gained  the     
beach1 the shields clang1 and the       
cymbals clap2 and as the waters  whelm  
the pursuing foe1 the swift-fingered    
winds on the white keys of  the foam    
play the grand march of ,israel         
delivered1 and the awful dirge  of      

,egyptian overthrow4    ,so we go forth2
 and stretch out the hand of prayer and 
,christian  effort over these dark1     
boiling waters of crime and suffering4  
,aha6  ,aha6 say the deriding world4    
,but wait4 ,the winds of divine help    
will  begin to blow2 the way will clear 
for the great army of ,christian        
philanthropists2 the glittering         
treasures of the world's beneficence    
will line the path of our feet2 and to  
the other shore we will be  greeted with
 the clash of all heaven's cymbals2     
while those who resist  and deride and  
pursue us will fall under the sea1 and  
there will be  nothing left of them but 
here and there1 cast high and dry upon  
the  beach1 the splintered wheel of a   
chariot1 and1 thrust out from the  surf1
 the breathless nostril of a riderless  
charger4          ,,winter ,,nights4    
,the inhabitants of one of the old      
cities were told that they would  have  
to fly for their lives4 ,such flight    
would be painful1 even in  the flush of 

spring-time1 but superlatively          
aggravating if in cold  weather2 and    
therefore they were told to pray that   
their flight be not  in the winter4     
,there is something in the winter season
 that not only tests our  physical      
endurance1 but1 especially in the city1 
tries our moral  character4 ,it is the  
winter months that ruin1 morally1 and   
forever1  many of our young men4 ,we sit
 in the house on a winter's night1 and  
hear the storm raging on the outside1   
and imagine the helpless crafts  driven 
on the coast2 but if our ears were only 
good enough1 we could1  on any winter   
night1 hear the crash of a hundred moral
 shipwrecks4    ,many who came last     
,september to town1 by the first of     
,march will have  been blasted4 ,it only
 takes one winter to ruin a young man4  
,when the  long winter evenings have    
come1 many of our young men will improve
  them in forming a more intimate       
acquaintance with books1 contracting    
higher social friendships1 and          

strengthening and ennobling their       
characters4 ,but not so with all4 ,i    
will show you before ,i get through     
that1 at this season of the year1       
temptations are especially rampant3  and
 my counsel is1 ,look out how you spend 
your winter nights6    ,i remark1 first1
 that there is no season of the year in 
which vicious  allurements are so       
active4    ,in warm weather1 places of  
dissipation win their tamest triumphs4  
,people do not feel like going1 in the  
hot nights of summer1 among the  blazing
 gas-lights1 or breathing the fetid air 
of assemblages4 ,the  receipts of the   
grog-shops in a ,december night are     
three times what  they are in any night 
in ,july or ,august4 ,i doubt not there 
are  larger audiences in the casinos in 
winter than in the summer weather4      
,iniquity plies a more profitable trade4
 ,december1 ,january1 and  ,february are
 harvest-months for the devil4 ,the     
play-bills of the low  entertainments   
then are more charming1 the acting is   

more exquisite1  the enthusiasm of the  
spectators more bewitching4 ,many a     
young man who  makes out to keep right  
the rest of the year1 capsizes now4     
,when he  came to town in the autumn1   
his eye was bright1 his cheek rosy1 his 
step elastic2 but1 before spring1 as you
 pass him you will say to your  friend1 
,what is the matter with that young man8
 ,the fact is that one  winter of       
dissipation has done the work of ruin4  
,this is the season for parties2 and1 if
 they are of the right kind1  our social
 nature is improved1 and our spirits    
cheered up4 ,but many  of them are not  
of the right kind2 and our young people1
 night after  night1 are kept in the    
whirl of unhealthy excitement until     
their  strength fails1 and their spirits
 are broken down1 and their taste for   
ordinary life corrupted2 and1 by the    
time the spring weather comes1  they are
 in the doctor's hands1 or sleeping in  
the cemetery4 ,the  certificate of their
 death is made out1 and the physician1  

out of  regard for the family1 calls the
 disease by some ,latin name1 when the  
truth is that they died of too many     
parties4    ,away with these            
wine-drinking convivialities6 ,how dare 
you1 the  father of a household1 trifle 
with the appetites of our young people8 
,perhaps1 out of regard for the         
minister1 or some other weak temperance 
man1 you have the decanter in a         
side-room1 where1 after refreshments1   
only a select few are invited2 and you  
come back with a glare in your  eye1 and
 a stench in your breath1 that shows    
that you have been out  serving the     
devil4    ,some one asks1 ,for what     
purpose are these people gone into that 
side-room8    ,o1 replies one who has   
just come out1 smacking his lips1 they  
have  gone in to see the white dog6     
,the excuse which ,christian men often  
give for this is1 that it is  necessary1
 after such late eating1 by some sort of
 stimulant to help  digestion4 ,my plain
 opinion is1 that if a man have no more 

control  over his appetite than to stuff
 himself until his digestive organs     
refuse to do their office1 he ought not 
to call himself a man1 but  rather to   
class himself among the beasts that     
perish4 ,i take the words  of the ,lord 
,almighty1 and cry1 ,woe to him that    
putteth the bottle to  his neighbor's   
lips6    ,young man1 take it as the     
counsel of a friend1 when ,i bid you be 
cautious where you spend your winter    
evenings4 ,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 mothers1    
brothers and  sisters1 some of whom1    
alas6 will never again wish you a happy 
,new  ,year1 or a ,merry ,christmas4    
,let no one tempt you out of your       
sobriety4 ,i have seen respectable      
young men of the best families drunk on 
,new ,year's day4 ,the excuse  they gave
 for the inebriation was that the ladies
 insisted on their  taking it4 ,there   
have been instances where the delicate  

hand of woman  hath kindled a young     
man's taste for strong drink1 who after 
many  years1 when the attractions of    
that holiday scene were all forgotten1  
crouched in her rags1 and her           
desolation1 and her woe under the       
uplifted hand of the drunken monster    
who1 on that ,christmas morning  so long
 ago1 took the glass from her hand4 ,and
 so1 the woman stands on  the abutment  
of the bridge1 on the moon-lit night1   
wondering if1 down  under the water1    
there is not some quiet place for a     
broken heart4 ,she  takes one wild      
leap1--and all is over6    ,ah6 mingle  
not with the harmless beverage of your  
festive scene this  poison of adders6   
,mix not with the white sugar of the cup
 the snow  of this awful leprosy6 ,mar  
not the clatter of cutlery at the       
holiday  feast with the clank of a      
madman's chain6    ,stop and look into  
the window of that pawnbroker's shop4   
,elegant furs4  ,elegant watches4       
,elegant scarfs4 ,elegant flutes4       

,people stand with a  pleased look      
gazing at these things2 but ,i look in  
with a shudder1 as  though ,i had seen  
into a window of hell4    ,whose elegant
 watch was that8 ,it was a drunkard's   
watch6    ,whose furs8 ,they belonged to
 a drunkard's wife6    ,whose flute8    
,whose shoes8 ,whose scarf8 ,they       
belonged to a drunkard's  child6    ,if 
,i could1 ,i would take the three brazen
 balls hanging at the  door-way1 and    
clang them together until they tolled   
the awful knell  of the drunkard's soul4
 ,the pawnbroker's shop is only one eddy
 of the  great stream of municipal      
drunkenness4    ,stand back1 young man6 
,take not the first step in the path    
that leads  here4 ,let not the flame of 
strong drink ever scorch your tongue4   
,you  may tamper with these things and  
escape1 but your influence will be      
wrong4 ,can you not make a sacrifice for
 the good of others8    ,when the good  
ship ,london went down1 the captain was 
told that there  was a way of escape in 

one of the life-boats4 ,he said--,no2 ,i
 will go  down with the rest of the     
passengers6 ,all the world acknowledged 
that  heroism4    ,can you not deny     
yourself insignificant indulgences for  
the good of  others8 ,be not allured by 
the fact that you drink only the        
moderate  beverages4 ,you take only ale2
 and a man has to drink a large amount  
of  it to become intoxicated4 ,yes2 but 
there is not in all the city to-day  an 
inebriate that did not begin with ale4  
,,xxx3 ,what does that mark mean8 ,,xxx 
on the beer-barrel3 ,,xxx on the        
brewer's dray3 ,,xxx on the door of the 
gin-shop3 ,,xxx on the side of  the     
bottle4 ,not being able to find any one 
who could tell me what this  mark means1
 ,i have had to guess that the whole    
thing was an allegory3  ,,xxx--that is1 
thirty heartbreaks4 ,thirty agonies4    
,thirty desolated  homes4 ,thirty       
chances for a drunkard's grave4 ,thirty 
ways to  perdition4    ,,xxx4 ,if ,i    
were going to write a story1 the first  

chapter would be  ,,xxx42 the last--,a  
pawnbroker's shop4    ,be watchful6 ,at 
this season all the allurements to      
dissipation will be  especially busy4   
,let not your flight to hell be in the  
winter4    ,i also remark that the      
winter evenings1 through their very     
length1  allow great swing for          
indulgences4 ,few young men would have  
the taste  to go to their room at seven 
o'clock1 and sit until eleven1 reading  
,motley's ,dutch ,republic or ,john     
,foster's ,essays4 ,the young men  who  
have been confined to the store all day 
want fresh air and  sight-seeing2 and   
they must go somewhere4 ,the most of    
them have1 of  a winter's evening1 three
 or four hours of leisure4 ,after the   
evening  repast1 the young man puts on  
his hat and coat and goes out4    ,come 
in here1 cries one form of allurement4  
,come in here1 cries another4    ,go2   
says ,satan4 ,you ought to see for      
yourself4    ,why don't you go8 says a  
comrade4 ,it is a shame for a young man 

to be as green as you are4 ,by this time
 you ought to have seen  everything4    
,especially is temptation strong in such
 times as this1 when business  is dull4 
,i have noticed that men spend more     
money when they have  little to spend4  
,the tremendous question to be settled  
by our great populace1 day by  day1 is  
how to get a livelihood4 ,many of our   
young men1 just starting  for           
themselves1 are very much discouraged4  
,they had hoped before this  to have set
 up a household of their own4 ,but their
 gains have been  slow1 and their       
discouragements many4 ,the young man can
 hardly take  care of himself4 ,how can 
he take care of another8 ,and1 to the   
curse  of modern society1 before a young
 man is able to set up a home of his    
own1 he is expected to have enough to   
support in idleness somebody  else2 when
 ,god intended that they should begin   
together1 and jointly  earn a           
livelihood4 ,so1 many of our young men  
are utterly discouraged1  and utterly   

unfit to resist temptation4    ,the time
 the pirate bears down upon the ship is 
when its sails are  down and it is      
making no headway4    ,people wish they 
had more time to think4 ,the trouble is 
now1 that  people have too much time to 
think4 ,give to many of our commercial  
men  the four hours of these winter     
nights1 with nothing to divert them1    
and before spring they will have        
lodgings in an insane asylum4    ,i     
remark further1 that the winter is      
especially trying to the moral          
character of our young men1 because some
 of their homes in winter are           
especially unattractive4 ,in summer they
 can sit on the steps1 or have  a       
bouquet in the vase on the mantel2 and  
the evenings are so short  that soon    
after gas-light they feel like retiring4
 ,parents do not take  enough pains to  
make these long winter nights           
attractive4    ,it is strange that old  
people know so little about young       
people4 ,one  would think that they had 

never been young themselves1 but had    
been  born with their spectacles on4 ,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 misfortunes1
 and the  nothingness of this world4    
,how dare you talk such blasphemy8 ,god 
was  busy six days in making the world1 
and has allowed it to hang six  thousand
 years on his holy heart2 and that world
 hath fed you1 and  clothed you1 and    
shone on you for fifty years3 and yet   
you talk about  the nothingness of this 
world6 ,do you expect the young people  
in  your family to sit a whole evening  
and hear you groan about this           
magnificent1 star-lighted1 sun-warmed1  
shower-baptized1 flower-strewn1         
angel-watched1 ,god-inhabited planet8   
,from such homes young men make a  wild 
plunge into dissipation4 ,many of you   
have the means3 why do you  not buy them
 a violin or a picture8 or have your    
daughter cultured in  music until she   

can help to make home attractive8       
,there are ten thousand ways of lighting
 up the domestic circle4 ,it  requires  
no large income1 no big house1 no rich  
wardrobe1 no chased  silver1 no gorgeous
 upholstery1 but a parental heart awake 
to its  duty4    ,have a doleful home   
and your children will not stay in it1  
though  you block up the door with      
,bibles1 and tie fast to them a million 
,heidelberg catechisms4    ,i said to a 
man1 ,this is a beautiful tree in front 
of your house4    ,he answered1 with a  
whine1 ,yes2 but it will fade4    ,i    
said to him1 ,you have a beautiful      
garden4    ,he replied1 ,yes2 but it    
will perish4    ,i found out afterward  
that his son was a vagabond1 and ,i was 
not  surprised at it4    ,you cannot    
groan men into decency1 but you can     
groan them out4    ,pray ye that your   
flight be not in the winter6 ,devote    
these ,december1  ,january and ,february
 evenings to high pursuits1 innocent    
amusements1  intelligent socialities1   

and ,christian attainments4 ,do not     
waste this  winter4 ,we shall soon have 
seen the last snow-shower1 and have     
passed  up into the companionship of    
,him whose raiment is exceeding white as
  snow--as no fuller on earth can whiten
 it4    ,to the right-hearted1 the      
winter nights of earth will soon end in 
the  ,june morning of heaven4    ,the   
,river of ,god1 from under the ,throne1 
never freezes over4 ,the  foliage of    
,life's fair tree is never frost-bitten4
 ,the festivals1 and  hilarities1 and   
family gatherings of ,christmas times on
 earth1 will  give way to the larger    
reunions1 and the brighter lights1 and  
the  gladder scenes1 and the sweeter    
garlands1 and the richer feastings of   
the great holiday of ,heaven4           
,,the ,,power ,,of ,,clothes4      ,one 
cannot always tell by a man's coat what 
kind of a heart he has  under it2 still1
 his dress is apt to be the             
out-blossoming of his  character1 and is
 not to be disregarded4    ,we make no  

indiscriminate onslaught upon customs of
 dress4 ,why did  ,god put spots on the 
pansy1 or etch the fern leaf8 ,and what 
are  china-asters good for if style and 
color are of no importance8    ,the     
realm is as wide as the world1 and as   
far-reaching as all the  generations1   
over which fashion hath extended her    
sceptre4 ,for  thousands of years she   
hath sat queen over all the earth1 and  
the  revolutions that rock down all     
other thrones have not in the slighest  
affected her domination4 ,other         
constitutions have been torn1 and other 
laws trampled2 but to her decrees       
conquerors have bowed their plumes1  and
 kings have uncovered4 ,victoria is not 
,queen of ,england2 ,napoleon  was not  
,emperor of ,france2 ,isabella was not  
,queen of ,spain4 ,fashion  has been    
regnant over all the earth2 and lords   
and dukes1 kings and  queens1 have been 
the subjects of her realm4    ,she      
arranged the mantle of the patriarch1   
and the toga of the ,roman2  the small  

shoe of the ,chinese women1 and the     
turban of the ,turk2  the furs of the   
,laplander1 and the calumet of the      
,indian chieftain4  ,hottentot and      
,siberian obey the mandate1 as well as  
,englishman and  ,american4 ,her laws   
are written on parchment and palm-leaf1 
on broken  arch and cathedral tracery4  
,she arranged how the ,egyptian mummy   
should  be wound1 and how ,csar should  
ride1 and how the ,athenians should     
speak1 and how through the ,venetian    
canals the gondoliers should row  their 
pleasure-boat4 ,her hand hath hung the  
pillars with embroidery1  and strewn the
 floor with plush4 ,her loom hath woven 
fabrics graceful  as the snow and pure  
as the light4 ,her voice is heard in the
 gold  mart1 in the roar of the street1 
in the shuffle of the crowded  bazaars1 
in the rattle of the steam-presses1 and 
in the songs of the  churches4    ,you  
have limited your observation of the    
sway of fashion if you have  considered 
it only as it decides individual and    

national costumes4  ,it makes the rules 
of behavior4 ,it wields an influence in 
artistic  spheres--often deciding what  
pictures shall hang in the house1 what  
music shall be played1 what ornaments   
shall stand upon the mantle4  ,the poor 
man will not have on his wall the cheap 
wood-cut that he can  afford1 because he
 cannot have a great daub like that     
which hangs on  the rich man's wall1 and
 costing three hundred dollars4         
,fashion helps to make up religious     
belief4 ,it often decides to what       
church we shall go1 and what religious  
tenets we shall adopt4 ,it goes  into   
the pulpit1 and decides the gown1 and   
the surplice1 and the style  of         
rhetoric4    ,it goes into literature   
and arranges the binding1 the type1 the 
illustrations of the book1 and          
oftentimes the sentiments expressed and 
the theories evolved4    ,men the most  
independent in feeling are by it        
compelled to submit to  social customs4 
,and before ,i stop ,i want to show you 

that fashion has  been one of the most  
potent of reformers1 and one of the     
vilest of  usurpers4 ,sometimes it has  
been an angel from heaven1 and at others
 it  has been the mother of harlots4    
,as the world grows better there will be
 as much fashion as now1 but  it will be
 a different fashion4 ,in the future    
life white robes always  have been and  
always will be in the fashion4    ,there
 is a great outcry against this         
submission to social custom1  as though 
any consultation of the tastes and      
feelings of others were  deplorable2 but
 without it the world would have neither
 law1 order1  civilization1 nor common  
decency4    ,there has been a           
canonization of bluntness4 ,there are   
men and women  who boast that they can  
tell you all they know and hear about   
you1  especially if it be unpleasant4   
,some have mistaken rough behavior for  
frankness1 when the two qualities do not
 belong to the same family4  ,you have  
no right1 with your eccentricities1 to  

crash in upon the  sensitiveness of     
others4 ,there is no virtue in walking  
with hoofs over  fine carpets4 ,the most
 jagged rock is covered with blossoming 
moss4  ,the storm that comes jarring    
down in thunder strews rainbow colors   
upon the sky1 and silvery drops on      
orchard and meadow4    ,there are men   
who pride themselves on their capacity  
to stick  others4 ,they say ,i have     
brought him down3 ,didn't ,i make him   
squirm6    ,others pride themselves on  
their outlandish apparel4 ,they boast of
  being out of the fashion4 ,they wear a
 queer hat4 ,they ride in an odd        
carriage4 ,by dint of perpetual         
application they would persuade the     
world that they are perfectly           
indifferent to public opinion4 ,they are
  more proud of being out of fashion    
than others are of being in4 ,they  are 
utterly and universally disagreeable4   
,their rough corners have  never been   
worn off4 ,they prefer a hedge-hog to a 
lamb4    ,the accomplishments of life   

are in nowise productive of effeminacy  
or enervation4 ,good manners and a      
respect for the tastes of others  is    
indispensable4 ,the ,good ,book speaks  
favorably of those who are  a peculiar  
people2 but that does not sanction the  
behavior of  queer people4 ,there is no 
excuse1 under any circumstances1 for not
  being and acting the lady or          
gentleman4 ,rudeness is sin4 ,we have no
  words too ardent to express our       
admiration for the refinements of       
society4 ,there is no law1 moral or     
divine1 to forbid elegance of  demeanor1
 ornaments of gold or gems for the      
person1 artistic display  in the        
dwelling1 gracefulness of gait and      
bearing1 polite salutation1  or honest  
compliments2 and he who is shocked or   
offended by these had  better1 like the 
old ,scythians1 wear tiger-skins1 and   
take one wild  leap back into midnight  
barbarism4    ,as ,christianity advances
 there will be better apparel1 higher   
styles  of architecture1 more exquisite 

adornments1 sweeter music1 grander      
pictures1 more correct behavior1 and    
more thorough ladies and  gentlemen4    
,but there is another story to be told4 
,excessive fashion is to be  charged    
with many of the worst evils of society1
 and its path has  often been strewn    
with the bodies of the slain4    ,it has
 often set up a false standard by which 
people are to be  judged4 ,our common   
sense1 as well as all the divine        
intimations on the  subject1 teach us   
that people ought to be esteemed        
according to their  individual and moral
 attainments4 ,the man who has the most 
nobility  of soul should be first1 and  
he who has the least of such qualities  
should stand last4 ,no crest1 or shield1
 or escutcheon1 can indicate  one's     
moral peerage4 ,titles of duke1 lord1   
esquire1 earl1 viscount1  or patrician1 
ought not to raise one into the first   
rank4 ,some of  the meanest men ,i have 
ever known had at the end of their name 
,d4,d41  ,,ll4,d41 and ,f4,r4,s4 ,truth1

 honor1 charity1 heroism1               
self-sacrifice1  should win highest     
favor2 but inordinate fashion           
says--,count not a  woman's virtues2    
count her rings2 ,look not at the       
contour of the  head1 but see the way   
she combs her hair2 ,ask not what noble 
deeds  have been accomplished by that   
man's hand2 but is it white and soft8   
,ask not what good sense was in her     
conversation1 but in what was she       
dressed4 ,ask not whether there was     
hospitality and cheerfulness in  the    
house1 but in what style do they live4  
,as a consequence1 some of the most     
ignorant and vicious men are at  the    
top1 and some of the most virtuous and  
intelligent at the bottom4  ,during the 
late war we suddenly saw men hurled up  
into the highest  social positions4 ,had
 they suddenly reformed from evil       
habits8 or  graduated in a science8 or  
achieved some good work for society8    
,no6  ,they simply had obtained a       
government contract6    ,this accounts  

for the utter chagrin which men feel at 
the treatment  they receive when they   
lose their property4 ,hold up your head 
amid  financial disaster1 like a        
,christian6 ,fifty thousand subtracted  
from a  good man leaves how much8       
,honor2 ,truth2 ,faith in ,god2         
,triumphant ,hope2  and a kingdom of    
ineffable glory1 over which he is to    
reign forever  and ever4    ,if a       
millionnaire should lose a penny out of 
his pocket1 would he sit  down on a     
curb-stone and cry8 ,and shall a man    
possessed of everlasting  fortunes wear 
himself out with grief because he has   
lost worldly  treasure8 ,you have only  
lost that in which hundreds of wretched 
misers surpass you2 and you have saved  
that which the ,csars1 and the          
,pharaohs1 and the ,alexanders could    
never afford4    ,and yet society thinks
 differently2 and you see the most      
intimate  friendships broken up as the  
consequence of financial embarrassments4
  ,you say to some one--,how is your    

friend ----8 ,the man looks bewildered1 
and says1 ,i do not know4 ,you reply1   
,why2 you used to be intimate4  ,well1  
says the man1 our friendship has been   
dropped3 the man has  failed4           
,proclamation has gone forth3 ,velvets  
must go up1 and homespun must  come     
down2 and the question is ,how does the 
coat fit8--not1 ,who  wears it8 ,the    
power that bears the tides of excited   
population up  and down our streets1 and
 rocks the world of commerce1 and       
thrills all  nations1 ,transatlantic and
 ,cisatlantic1 is--clothes4 ,it decides 
the last offices of respect2 and how    
long the dress shall be totally  black2 
and when it may subside into spots of   
grief on silk1 calico1 or  gingham4 ,men
 die in good circumstances1 but by      
reason of extravagant  funeral expenses 
are well nigh insolvent before they get 
buried4 ,many  men would not die at all1
 if they had to wait until they could   
afford  it4    ,excessive fashion is    
productive of a most ruinous strife4    

,the  expenditure of many households is 
adjusted by what their neighbors  have1 
not by what they themselves can afford  
to have2 and the great  anxiety is as to
 who shall have the finest house and the
 most costly  equipage4 ,the weapons    
used in the warfare of social life are  
not  ,mini rifles1 and ,dahlgren guns1  
and ,hotchkiss shells1 but chairs  and  
mirrors1 and vases1 and ,gobelins1 and  
,axminsters4 ,many household            
establishments are like racing          
steamboats1 propelled at the utmost     
strain and risk1 and just coming to a   
terrific explosion4 ,who cares1  say    
they1 if we only come out ahead8        
,there is no one cause to-day of more   
financial embarrassment1 and of  more   
dishonesties1 than this determination1  
at all hazards1 to live as  well as or  
better than other people4 ,there are    
persons who will risk  their eternity   
upon one fine looking-glass1 or who will
 dash out the  splendors of heaven to   
get another trinket4    ,my house is too

 small4 ,but1 says some one1 you cannot 
pay for a  larger4 ,never mind that2 my 
friends have a better residence1 and so 
will ,i4 ,a dress of that pattern ,i    
must have4 ,i cannot afford it by  a    
great deal2 but who cares for that8 ,my 
neighbor had one from that  pattern1 and
 ,i must have one4 ,there are scores of 
men in the dungeons  of the             
penitentiary1 who risked honor1         
business1--everything1 in the  effort to
 shine like others4 ,though the heavens 
fall1 they must be in  the fashion4     
,the most famous frauds of the day have 
resulted from this feeling4 ,it  keeps  
hundreds of men struggling for their    
commercial existence4 ,the  trouble is  
that some are caught and incarcerated1  
if their larceny  be small4 ,if it be   
great1 they escape1 and build their     
castle on the  ,rhine4 ,men go into     
jail1 not because they steal1 but       
because they did  not steal enough4     
,again3 excessive fashion makes people  
unnatural and untrue4 ,it is a  factory 

from which has come forth more hollow   
pretences1 and unmeaning  flatteries1   
and hypocrisies1 than the ,lowell ,mills
 ever turned out  shawls and garments4  
,fashion is the greatest of all liars4  
,it has made society insincere4  ,you   
know not what to believe4 ,when people  
ask you to come1 you do  not know       
whether or not they want you to come4   
,when they send their  regards1 you do  
not know whether it is an expression of 
their heart1  or an external civility4  
,we have learned to take almost         
everything at  a discount4 ,word is     
sent1 ,not at home1 when they are only  
too lazy  to dress themselves4 ,they    
say1 ,the furnace has just gone out1    
when  in truth they have had no fire in 
it all winter4 ,they apologize  for the 
unusual barrenness of their table1 when 
they never live any  better4 ,they decry
 their most luxurious entertainments1 to
 win a  shower of approval4 ,they       
apologize for their appearance1 as      
though it  were unusual1 when always at 

home they look just so4 ,they would make
  you believe that some nice sketch on  
the wall was the work of a master       
painter4 ,it was an heir-loom1 and once 
hung on the walls of a castle2  and a   
duke gave it to their grandfather4      
,people who will lie about  nothing     
else1 will lie about a picture4 ,on a   
small income we must make  the world    
believe that we are affluent1 and our   
life becomes a cheat1  a counterfeit1   
and a sham4    ,few persons are really  
natural4 ,when ,i say this1 ,i do not   
mean to slur  cultured manners4 ,it is  
right that we should have more          
admiration for  the sculptured marble   
than for the unhewn block of the quarry4
 ,from  many circles in life fashion has
 driven out vivacity and enthusiasm4  ,a
 frozen dignity instead floats about the
 room1 and iceberg grinds  against      
iceberg4 ,you must not laugh outright3  
it is vulgar4 ,you must  smile4 ,you    
must not dash rapidly across the room3  
you must glide4  ,there is a round of   

bows1 and grins1 and flatteries1 and    
oh's6 and  ah's6 and simperings1 and    
namby-pambyism--a world of which is not 
worth one good1 round1 honest peal of   
laughter4 ,from such a hollow  round the
 tortured guest retires at the close of 
the evening1 and  assures his host that 
he has enjoyed himself4    ,thus social 
life has been contorted1 and deformed1  
until1 in  some mountain cabin1 where   
rustics gather to the quilting or the   
apple-paring1 there is more good cheer  
than in all the frescoed  ice-houses of 
the metropolis4    ,we want1 in all the 
higher circles of society1 more warmth  
of heart  and naturalness of behavior1  
and not so many refrigerators4          
,again3 inordinate fashion is           
incompatible with happiness4 ,those who 
depend for their comfort upon the       
admiration of others are subject to     
frequent disappointment4 ,somebody will 
criticise their appearance1 or  surpass 
them in brilliancy1 or will receive more
 attention4 ,oh6 the  jealousy1 and     

detraction1 and heart-burnings of those 
who move in this  bewildered maze6      
,the clock strikes one1 and the company 
begins to disperse4 ,the host  has done 
everything to make all his guests happy2
 but now that they  are on the street1  
hear their criticisms of everybody and  
everything4  ,did you see her in such   
and such apparel8 ,wasn't she a perfect 
fright6 ,what a pity that such an one is
 so awkward and uncouth6  ,well1        
really1--,i would rather never be spoken
 to than be seen with  such a man as    
that6    ,poor butterflies6 ,bright     
wings do not always bring happiness4    
,she  that liveth in pleasure is dead   
while she liveth4 ,the revelations  of  
high life that come to the challenge and
 the fight are only the  occasional     
croppings out of disquietudes that are1 
underneath1 like  the stars of heaven   
for multitude1 but like the demons of   
the pit for  hate4 ,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-rooms1 brooding over   
the slights and offences of high  life4 
,the bitterness of trouble seems not so 
unfitting1 when drunk  out of a pewter  
mug1 as when it pours from the chased   
lips of a golden  chalice4 ,in the sharp
 crack of the voluptuary's pistol1      
putting an  end to his earthly misery1  
,i hear the confirmation that in a      
hollow1  fastidious life there is no    
peace4    ,again3 ,excessive devotion to
 fashion is productive of physical      
disease1 mental imbecility1 and         
spiritual withering4    ,apparel        
insufficient to keep out the cold and   
the rain1 or so fitted  upon the person 
that the functions of life are          
restrained2 late hours1  filled with    
excitement and feasting2 free draughts  
of wine1 that make  one not beastly     
intoxicated1 but only fashionably drunk2
 and luxurious  indolence--are the      
instruments by which this unreal life   
pushes its  disciples into              

valetudinarianism and the grave4 ,along 
the walks  of high life ,death goes a   
mowing--and such harvests as are reaped6
  ,materia medica has been exhausted to 
find curatives for these  physiological 
devastations4 ,dropsies1 cancers1       
consumptions1 gout1 and  almost every   
infirmity in all the realm of pathology1
 have been the  penalty paid4 ,to       
counteract the damage1 pharmacy has gone
 forth with  medicament1 panacea1       
elixir1 embrocation1 salve1 and         
cataplasm4    ,to-night1 with swollen   
feet1 upon cushioned ottoman1 and       
groaning  with aches innumerable1 is the
 votary of luxurious living1 not half so
  happy as his groom or coal-heaver4    
,fashion is the world's undertaker1 and 
drives thousands of hearses to  ,laurel 
,hill and ,greenwood4    ,but1 worse    
than that1 this folly is an intellectual
 depletion4 ,this  endless study of     
proprieties and etiquette1 patterns and 
styles1 is  bedwarfing to the intellect4
 ,i never knew a man or a woman of      

extreme  fashion that knew much4 ,how   
belittling the study of the cut of a    
coat1  or the tie of a cravat1 or the   
wrinkle in a shoe1 or the color of a    
ribbon6 ,how they are worried if        
something gets untied1 or hangs awry1   
or is not nicely adjusted6 ,with a mind 
capable of measuring the  height and    
depth of great subjects2 able to unravel
 mysteries2 to  walk through the        
universe2 to soar up into the infinity  
of ,god's  attributes1--hovering        
perpetually over a new style of         
mantilla6 ,i have  known men1 reckless  
as to their character1 and regardless of
 interests  momentous and eternal1      
exasperated by the shape of a           
vest-button6    ,what is the matter with
 that woman--wrought up into the agony  
of  despair8 ,o1 her muff is out of     
fashion6    ,worse than all--this folly 
is not satisfied until it has extirpated
  every moral sentiment1 and blasted the
 soul4 ,a wardrobe is the rock  upon    
which many a soul has been riven4 ,the  

excitement of a luxurious  life has been
 the vortex that has swallowed up more  
souls than the  ,maelstrom off ,norway  
ever devoured ships4 ,what room for     
elevating  themes in a heart filled with
 the trivial and unreal8 ,who can wonder
  that in this haste for sun-gilded     
bawbles and winged thistle-down1  men   
should tumble into ruin8 ,the travellers
 to destruction are not  all clothed in 
rags4 ,on that road chariot jostles     
against chariot2 and  behind steeds in  
harness golden-plated and glittering1   
they go down1  coach and four1 herald   
and postilion1 racketing on the hot     
pavements  of hell4 ,clear the track6   
,bazaars hang out their colors over the 
road2  and trees of tropical            
fruitfulness overbranch the way4 ,no    
sound of  woe disturbs the air2 but all 
is light and song1 and wine and         
gorgeousness4 ,the world comes out to   
greet the dazzling procession  with     
,hurrah6 and ,hurrah6 ,but1 suddenly1   
there is a halt and an outcry  of       

dismay1 and an overthrow worse than the 
,red ,sea tumbling upon the  ,egyptians4
 ,shadow of grave-stones upon finest    
silk6 ,wormwood squeezed  into impearled
 goblets6 ,death1 with one cold breath1 
withering the  leaves and freezing the  
fountains4    ,in the wild tumult of the
 last day--the mountains falling1 the   
heavens  flying1 the thrones uprising1  
the universe assembling2 amid the boom  
of the last great thunder-peal1 and     
under the crackling of a burning        
world--what will become of the fop and  
the dandy8    ,he who is genuinely      
refined will be useful and happy4 ,there
 is no gate  that a gentleman's hand    
cannot open4 ,during his last sickness  
there  will be a timid knock at the     
basement door by those who have come to 
see how he is4    ,but watch the career 
of one thoroughly artificial4 ,through  
inheritance1 or perhaps his own skill1  
having obtained enough for  purposes of 
display1 he feels himself thoroughly    
established4 ,he sits  aloof from the   

common herd1 and looks out of his window
 upon the poor  man1 and says--,put that
 dirty wretch off my steps immediately6 
,on  ,sabbath days he finds the church1 
but mourns the fact that he must        
worship with so many of the inelegant1  
and says1 ,they are perfectly  awful6   
,that man that you put in my pew had a  
coat on his back that  did not cost five
 dollars4 ,he struts through life       
unsympathetic with  trouble1 and says1  
,i cannot be bothered4 ,is delighted    
with some  doubtful story of ,parisian  
life1 but thinks that there are some    
very  indecent things in the ,bible4    
,walks arm in arm with a millionnaire1  
but does not know his own brother4      
,loves to be praised for his  splendid  
house2 and when told that he looks      
younger than ten years  ago1            
says--,well1 really2 do you think so6   
,but the brief strut of his life is     
about over4 ,up-stairs--he dies4  ,no   
angel wings hovering about him4 ,no     
gospel promises kindling up the         

darkness2--but exquisite embroidery1    
elegant pictures1 and a bust of         
,shakespeare on the mantel4 ,the pulses 
stop4 ,the minister comes in to  read of
 the ,resurrection1 that day when the   
dead shall come up--both  he that died  
on the floor1 and he that expired under 
princely  upholstery4 ,he is carried out
 to burial4 ,only a few mourners1 but  a
 great array of carriages4 ,not one     
common man at the funeral4 ,no          
befriended orphan to weep a tear upon   
his grave4 ,no child of want  pressing  
through the ranks of the weeping1       
saying--,he is the last  friend ,i have2
 and ,i must see him4    ,what now8 ,he 
was a great man3 ,shall not chariots of 
salvation come  down to the other side  
of the ,jordan1 and escort him up to the
 palace8  ,shall not the angels         
exclaim--,turn out6 a prince is coming4 
,will the  bells chime8 ,will there be  
harpers with their harps1 and trumpeters
  with their trumpets8    ,no6 ,no6 ,no6
 ,there will be a shudder1 as though a  

calamity had  happened4 ,standing on    
heaven's battlement1 a watchman will see
  something shoot past1 with fiery      
downfall1 and shriek3 ,wandering        
star--for whom is reserved the blackness
 of darkness forever6    ,with the      
funeral pageant the brilliant career    
terminated4 ,there was a  great array of
 carriages4          ,,after ,,midnight4
      ,when night came down on ,babylon1
 ,nineveh1 and ,jerusalem1 they needed  
careful watching1 otherwise the         
incendiary's torch might have been      
thrust into the very heart of the       
metropolitan splendor2 or enemies1      
marching from the hills1 might have     
forced the gates4 ,all night long1  on  
top of the wall and in front of the     
gates1 might be heard the  measured step
 of the watchman on his solitary beat2  
silence hung in  air1 save as some      
passer-by raised the question3          
,watchman1 what of  the night8    ,it is
 to me a deeply suggestive and solemn   
thing to see a man standing  guard by   

night4 ,it thrilled through me1 as at   
the gate of an arsenal  in ,charleston1 
the question once smote me1 ,who comes  
there8 followed  by the sharp command3  
,advance and give the countersign4      
,every moral  teacher stands on picket1 
or patrols the wall as watchman4 ,his   
work  is to sound the alarm2 and whether
 it be in the first watch1 in  the      
second watch1 in the third watch1 or in 
the fourth watch1 to be  vigilant until 
the daybreak flings its morning glories 
of blooming  cloud across the arching   
trellis of the sky4    ,the ancients    
divided their night into four parts--the
 first watch1  from six to nine2 the    
second1 from nine to twelve2 the third1 
from  twelve to three2 and the fourth1  
from three to six4    ,i speak now of   
the city in the third watch1 or from    
twelve to three  o'clock4    ,i never   
weary of looking upon the life and      
brilliancy of the city in  the first    
watch4 ,that is the hour when the stores
 are closing4 ,the  laboring men1 having

 quitted the scaffolding and the shop1  
are on  their way home4 ,it rejoices me 
to give them my seat in the city car4   
,they have stood and hammered away all  
day4 ,their feet are weary4 ,they  are  
exhausted with the tug of work4 ,they   
are mostly cheerful4 ,with  appetites   
sharpened on the swift turner's wheel   
and the carpenter's  whetstone1 they    
seek the evening meal4 ,the clerks1 too1
 have broken  away from the counter1 and
 with brain weary of the long line of   
figures1 and the whims of those who go  
a-shopping1 seek the face of  mother1 or
 wife and child4 ,the merchants are     
unharnessing themselves  from their     
anxieties1 on their way up the street4  
,the boys that lock  up are heaving away
 at the shutters1 shoving the heavy     
bolts1 and  taking a last look at the   
fire to see that all is safe4 ,the      
streets  are thronged with young men1   
setting out from the great centres of   
bargain-making4    ,let idlers clear the
 street1 and give right of way to the   

besweated  artisans and merchants6 ,they
 have earned their bread1 and are now on
  their way home to get it4    ,the     
lights in full jet hang over ten        
thousand evening repasts--the  parents  
at either end of the table1 the children
 between4 ,thank ,god6  who setteth the 
solitary in families6    ,a few hours   
later1 and all the places of amusement1 
good and bad1 are  in full tide4 ,lovers
 of art1 catalogue in hand1 stroll      
through the  galleries and discuss the  
pictures4 ,the ball-room is resplendent 
with  the rich apparel of those who1 on 
either side of the white1 glistening    
boards1 await the signal from the       
orchestra4 ,the footlights of the       
theatre flash up2 the bell rings1 and   
the curtain rises2 and out from  the    
gorgeous scenery glide the actors1      
greeted with the vociferation  of the   
expectant multitudes4 ,concert-halls are
 lifted into enchantment  with the      
warble of one songstress1 or swept out  
on a sea of tumultuous  feeling by the  

blast of brazen instruments4            
,drawing-rooms are filled  with all     
gracefulness of apparel1 with all       
sweetness of sound1 with  all splendor  
of manner2 mirrors are catching up and  
multiplying the  scene1 until it seems  
as if in infinite corridors there were  
garlanded  groups advancing and         
retreating4    ,the out-door air rings  
with laughter1 and with the moving to   
and fro  of thousands on the great      
promenades4 ,the dashing span1 adrip    
with  the foam of the long country ride1
 rushes past as you halt at the         
curb-stone4    ,mirth1 revelry1 beauty1 
fashion1 magnificence mingle in the     
great  metropolitan picture1 until the  
thinking man goes home to think more    
seriously1 and the praying man to pray  
more earnestly4    ,a beautiful and     
overwhelming thing is the city in the   
first and second  watches of the night4 
,but the clock strikes twelve1 and the  
third watch begins4 ,the thunder  of the
 city has rolled from the air4 ,slight  

sounds now cut the night  with a        
distinctness that excites your          
attention4 ,you hear the tinkling  of   
the bell of the street-car in the far   
distance2 the baying of the  dog2 the   
stamp of the horse in the adjoining     
street2 the slamming of  a saloon door2 
the hiccoughing of the inebriate2 and   
the shriek of  the steam-whistle five   
miles away4 ,solemn and stupendous is   
this third  watch4 ,there are           
respectable men abroad4 ,the city       
missionary is  going up that court1 to  
take a scuttle of coal to a poor family4
 ,the  undertaker goes up the steps of  
that house1 from which there comes a    
bitter cry1 as though the destroying    
angel had smitten the first-born4  ,the 
minister of ,jesus passes along2 he has 
been giving the sacrament  to a dying   
,christian4 ,the physician hastens past1
 the excited  messenger a few steps     
ahead1 impatient to reach the threshold4
 ,men who  are forced to toil into the  
midnight are hastening to their pillow4 

,but the great multitudes are asleep4   
,the lights are out in the  dwellings1  
save here and there one4 ,that is the   
light of the watcher1  for the remedies 
must be administered1 and the fever     
guarded1 and the  restless tossing of   
the coverlet resisted1 and the ice kept 
upon the  temples1 and the perpetual    
prayer offered by hearts soon to be     
broken4  ,the street-lamps1 standing in 
long line1 reveal the silence and the   
slumber of the town4    ,stupendous     
thought3 a great city asleep6 ,weary arm
 gathering strength  for to-morrow's    
toil4 ,hot brain getting cooled off4    
,rigid muscles  relaxing4 ,excited      
nerves being soothed4 ,white locks of   
the  octogenarian in thin drifts across 
the white pillow--fresh fall of  flakes 
on snow already fallen4 ,children with  
dimpled hands thrown put  over the      
pillow1 with every breath inhaling a new
 store of fun and  frolic4    ,let the  
great hosts sleep6 ,a slumberless ,eye  
will watch them4 ,silent  be the        

alarm-bells and merciful the elements6  
,let one great wave of  refreshing      
slumber roll across the heart of the    
great town1 submerging  trouble and     
weariness and pain4 ,it is the third    
watch of the night1  and time for the   
city to sleep4    ,but be not deceived4 
,there are thousands of people in the   
great  town who will not sleep a moment 
to-night4 ,go up that dark court4 ,be   
careful1 or you will fall over the      
prostrate form of a drunkard lying  on  
his own worn step4 ,look about you1 or  
you will feel the garroter's  hug4 ,try 
to look in through that broken pane6    
,what do you see8  ,nothing4 ,but       
listen4 ,what is it8 ,god help us6 ,no  
footlights1 but  tragedy--mightier1     
ghastlier than ,ristori or ,edwin ,booth
 ever acted4  ,no bread4 ,no light4 ,no 
fire4 ,no cover4 ,they lie strewn upon  
the  floor--two whole families in one   
room4 ,they shiver in the darkness4     
,they have had no food to-day4 ,you say3
 ,why don't they beg8 ,they did  beg1   

but got nothing4 ,you say3 ,hand them   
over to the almshouse4    ,ah6 they had 
rather die than go to the almshouse4    
,have you never heard  the bitter cry of
 the man or of the child when told that 
he must go to  the almshouse8    ,you   
say that these are vicious poor1 and    
have brought their own  misfortune on   
themselves4    ,so much the more to be  
pitied4 ,the ,christian poor--,god helps
 them6  ,through their night there      
twinkles the round1 merry star of hope1 
and  through the cracked window-pane of 
their hovel they see the crystals  of   
heaven4 ,but the vicious are the more to
 be pitied4 ,they have no  hope4 ,they  
are in hell now4 ,they have put out     
their last light4 ,people  excuse       
themselves from charity by saying they  
do not deserve to be  helped4 ,if ,i    
have ten prayers for the innocent1 ,i   
shall have twenty  for the guilty4 ,if a
 ship be dashed upon the rocks1 the     
fisherman1 in  his hut on the beach1    
will wrap the warmest flannels around   

those who  are the most chilled and     
battered4 ,the vicious poor have        
suffered  two awful wrecks1 the wreck of
 the body1 and the wreck of the soul2 a 
wreck for time and a wreck for eternity4
    ,go up that alley6 ,open the door4  
,it is not locked4 ,they have nothing   
to lose4 ,no burglar would want anything
 that is there4 ,there is only a  broken
 chair set against the door4 ,strike a  
match and look around you4  ,beastliness
 and rags6 ,a shock of hair hanging over
 the scarred visage4  ,eyes glaring upon
 you4 ,offer no insult4 ,be careful what
 you say4 ,your  life is not worth much 
in such a place4 ,see that red mark on  
the wall4  ,that is the mark of a       
murderer's hand4 ,from the corner a wild
 face  starts out of the straw and moves
 toward you1 just as your light goes    
out4    ,strike another match4 ,here is 
a little babe4 ,it does not laugh4 ,it  
never will laugh4 ,a sea-flower flung on
 an awfully barren beach3 ,o  that the  
,shepherd would fold that lamb6 ,wrap   

your shawl about you1  for the ,january 
wind sweeps in4 ,strike another match4  
,the face of that  young woman is       
bruised and gashed now1 but a mother    
once gazed upon it  in ecstasy of       
fondness4 ,awful stare of two eyes that 
seem looking up  from the bottom of woe4
 ,stand back4 ,no hope has dawned on    
that soul  for years4 ,hope never will  
dawn upon it4 ,utter no scorn4 ,the     
match has  gone out4 ,light it not      
again1 for it would seem to be a        
mockery4    ,pass out6 ,pass on6 ,know  
that there are thousands of such abodes 
in our  cities4 ,an awful1 gloomy1 and  
overwhelming picture is the city in the 
third watch4    ,after midnight the     
crime of the city does its chief work4  
,at eight  and a half o'clock in the    
evening the criminals of the city are at
  leisure4 ,they are mostly in the      
drinking saloons4 ,it needs courage to  
do what they propose to do4 ,rum makes  
men reckless4 ,they are getting  their  
brain and hand just right4 ,toward      

midnight they go to their  garrets4     
,they gather their tools4 ,soon after   
the third watch they  stalk forth1      
silently1 looking out for the police1   
through the alleys  to their appointed  
work4 ,this is a burglar2 and the       
door-lock will fly  open at the touch of
 the false keys4 ,that is an incendiary2
 and before  morning there will be a    
light on the sky1 and a cry of ,fire6   
,fire6  ,that is an assassin2 and a     
lifeless body will be found to-morrow in
  some of the vacant lots4    ,during   
all the day there are hundreds of       
villains to be found lounging  about1 a 
part of the time asleep1 apart of the   
time awake2 but at  twelve to-night they
 will rouse up1 and their eyes will be  
keen1 and  their minds acute1 and their 
arms strong1 and their foot fleet to fly
  or pursue4 ,many of them have been    
brought up to the work4 ,they were  born
 in a thief's garret4 ,their childish   
plaything was a burglar's  dark lantern4
 ,as long ago as they can remember1 they

 saw1 toward  morning1 the mother       
binding up the father's head1 wounded by
 a  watchman's billet4 ,they began by   
picking boys' pockets1 and now they  can
 dig an underground passage to the      
cellar of the bank1 or will  blast open 
the door of the gold vault4 ,so long as 
the children of the  street are         
neglected there will be no lack of      
desperadoes4    ,in the third watch of  
the night the gambling-houses are in    
full blast4  ,what though the hours of  
the night are slipping away1 and the    
wife  sits waiting in the cheerless     
home6 ,stir up the fires6 ,bring on the 
drinks6 ,put up the stakes6 ,a whole    
fortune may be made before morning6     
,some of the firms that two years ago   
first put out their sign of             
copartnership have already foundered on 
the gambler's table4 ,the  money-drawer 
in many a mercantile house will this    
year mysteriously  spring a leak4       
,gaming is a portentous vice1 and is    
making great efforts  to become         

respectable4 ,recently a member of      
,congress played with a  member elect1  
carrying off a trophy of one hundred and
 twenty thousand  dollars4 ,the         
old-fashioned way of getting a fortune  
is too slow6 ,let  us toss up and see   
who shall have it6    ,and so it goes1  
from the wheezing wretches who pitch    
pennies in a rum  grocery1 to the       
millionnaire gamblers in the            
gold-market4    ,after midnight the eye 
of ,god will look down and see uncounted
  gambling-saloons plying their         
destruction4 ,passing down the street   
to-night1 you may hear the wrangling of 
the gamblers mingling with  the rattle  
of the dice1 and the clear1 sharp crack 
of the balls on the  billiard-table4    
,the finest rooms in the city are       
gambling dens4 ,in gilded parlor1 amid  
costly tapestry1 you may behold these   
dens of death4 ,these houses have  walls
 attractive with elaborate fresco and   
gems of painting--no sham  artist's     
daub1 but a masterpiece4 ,mantel and    

table glitter with vases  and           
statuettes4 ,divans and lounges with    
deep cushions1 the perfection  of       
upholstery1 invite to rest and repose4  
,aquaria alive with fins and  strewn    
with tinged shells and zoophytes4 ,tufts
 of geranium1 from bead  baskets1       
suspended mid-room1 drop their witching 
perfume4 ,fountains  gushing up1        
sprinkling the air with sparkles1 or    
gushing through the  mouth of the marble
 lion4 ,long mirrors1 mounted with      
scrolls and wings  and exquisite        
carvings1 catching and reflecting back  
the magnificence4  ,at their doors      
merchant-princes dismount from their    
carriages2  official dignitaries enter2 
legislators1 tired of making laws1 here 
take a respite in breaking them4        
,from all classes this crime is         
gathering its victims3 the importer of  
foreign silks1 and the ,chatham street  
dealer in pocket-handkerchiefs2  clerks 
taking a game in the store after the    
shutters are put up2 and  officers of   

the court whiling away the time while   
the jury are out4 ,in  the woods around 
,baden ,baden1 in the morning1 it is no 
rare thing to  find the suspended bodies
 of suicides4 ,no splendor of           
surroundings can  hide the dreadful     
nature of this sin4 ,in the third watch 
of this very  night1 the tears of       
thousands of orphans and widows will    
dash up in  those fountains4 ,the       
thunders of eternal destruction roll in 
the deep  rumble of that ten-pin alley4 
,and as from respectable circles young  
men and old are falling in line of      
procession1 all the drums of woe  begin 
to beat the dead march of ten thousand  
souls4    ,seven millions of dollars are
 annually lost in ,new ,york city at the
  gaming-table4 ,some of your own       
friends may be at it4 ,the agents of    
these gaming-houses around our hotels   
are well dressed4 ,they meet a  stranger
 in the city2 they ask him if he would  
like to see the city2  he says1 ,yes2   
they ask him if he has seen that        

splendid building up  town1 and he says 
,no4 ,then1 says the villain to the     
greenhorn1 ,i  will show you the lions  
and the elephants4 ,after seeing the    
lions  and the elephants1 ,i would not  
give much for a young man's chance for  
decency or heaven4 ,he looks in1 and    
sees nothing objectionable2 but  let him
 beware1 for he is on enchanted ground4 
,look out for the men  who have such    
sleek hats--always sleek hats--and such 
a patronizing  air1 and who are so      
unaccountably interested in your welfare
 and  entertainment4 ,all that they want
 of you is your money4 ,a young man  on 
,chestnut street1 ,philadelphia1 lost in
 a night all his money at the           
gaming-table1 and1 before he left the   
table1 blew his brains out2 but  before 
the maid had cleaned up the blood the   
players were again at the  table1       
shuffling away4 ,a wolf has more        
compassion for the lamb whose  blood it 
licks up2 a highwayman more love for the
 belated traveller  upon whose carcass  

he piles the stone2 the frost more      
feeling for  the flower it kills2 the   
fire more tenderness for the tree-branch
 it  consumes2 the storm more pity for  
the ship that it shivers on ,long       
,island coast1 than a gambler's heart   
has mercy for his victim4    ,deed of   
darkness unfit for sunlight1 or early   
evening hour6 ,let it  come forth only  
when most of the city lights are out1 in
 the third  watch of the night6         
,again1 it is after twelve o'clock that 
drunkenness shows its worst  deformity6 
,at eight or nine o'clock the low       
saloons are not so  ghastly4 ,at nine   
o'clock the victims are only talkative4 
,at ten  o'clock they are much flushed4 
,at eleven o'clock their tongue is      
thick1 and their hat occasionally falls 
from the head4 ,at twelve they  are     
nauseated and blasphemous1 and not able 
to rise4 ,at one they fall  to the      
floor1 asking for more drink4 ,at two   
o'clock1 unconscious and  breathing     
hard4 ,they would not fly though the    

house took fire4 ,soaked1  imbruted1    
dead drunk6 ,they are strewn all over   
the city1 in the  drinking              
saloons1--fathers1 brothers1 and sons2  
men as good as you1  naturally--perhaps 
better4    ,not so with the higher      
circles of intoxication4 ,the gentlemen 
coax  their fellow-reveller to bed1 or  
start with him for home1 one at each    
arm1 holding him up2 the night air is   
filled with his hooting and  cursing4   
,he will be helped into his own door4   
,he will fall into the  entry4 ,hush it 
up6 ,let not the children of the house  
be awakened to  hear the shame4 ,he is  
one of the merchant princes4    ,but you
 cannot always hush it up4    ,drink    
makes men mad4 ,one of its victims came 
home and found that his  wife had died  
during his absence2 and he went into the
 room where she  had been prepared for  
the grave1 and shook her from the       
shroud1 and  tossed her body out of the 
window4 ,where sin is loud and loathsome
 and  frenzied1 it is hard to keep it   

still4 ,this whole land is soaked with  
the abomination4 ,it became so bad in   
,massachusetts1 that the ,state  arose  
in indignation2 and having appointed    
agents for the sale of  alcohol for     
mechanical and medicinal purposes1      
prohibited the  general traffic under a 
penalty of five hundred dollars4 ,the   
popular  proprietors of the ,revere1    
,tremont1 and ,parker ,houses were      
arrested4  ,the grog-shops diminished in
 number from six thousand to six        
hundred4  ,god grant that the time may  
speed on when all the cities and ,states
  shall rouse up1 and put their foot    
upon this abomination4    ,as you pass  
along the streets1 night by night1 you  
will see the awful  need that something 
radical be done4 ,but you do not see the
 worst4  ,that will come to pass long   
after you are sleeping--in the third    
watch  of the night4    ,oh6 ye who have
 been longing for fields of work1 here  
they are  before you4 ,at the ,london   
midnight meetings1 thirteen thousand of 

the  daughters of sin were reformed2 and
 uncounted numbers of men1 who were     
drunken and debauched1 have been        
redeemed4 ,if from our highest circles  
a few score of men and women would go   
forth among the wandering and  the      
destitute1 they might yet make the      
darkest alley of the town  kindle with  
the gladness of heaven4 ,do not go in   
your warm furs1 and  from your          
well-laden tables1 thinking that pious  
counsel will stop the  gnawing of empty 
stomachs or warm their stockingless     
feet4 ,take  food and medicine1 and     
raiment1 as well as a prayer4 ,when the 
city  missionary told the destitute     
woman she ought to love ,god1 she said3 
,ah6 if you were as cold and hungry as  
,i am1 you could think of  nothing else4
    ,i am glad to know that not one     
earnest prayer1 not one heartfelt       
alms-giving1 not one kind word1 ever    
goes unblessed4 ,among the  mountains of
 ,switzerland there is a place where1 if
 your voice be  uttered1 there will come

 back a score of echoes4 ,but utter a   
kind1  sympathetic1 and saving word in  
the dark places of the town1 and there  
will come back ten thousand echoes from 
all the thrones of heaven4    ,there may
 be some one reading this who knows by  
experience of the  tragedies enacted in 
the third watch of the night4 ,i am not 
the man  to thrust you back with one    
harsh word4 ,take off the bandage from  
your  soul1 and put on it the salve of  
the ,saviour's compassion4 ,there  is   
rest in ,god for your tired soul4 ,many 
have come back from their  wanderings4  
,i see them coming now4 ,cry up the news
 to heaven6 ,set  all the bells         
a-ringing6 ,under the high arch spread  
the banquet of  rejoicing4 ,let all the 
crowned heads of heaven come in and keep
 the  jubilee4 ,i tell you there is more
 joy in heaven over one man who  reforms
 than over ninety-and-nine who never got
 off the track4    ,but there is a man  
who will never return from his evil     
ways4 ,how many  acts are there in a    

tragedy8 ,five1 ,i believe3    ,,act    
,i4--,young man starting from home4     
,parents and sisters weeping to  have   
him go4 ,wagon passing over the hills4  
,farewell kiss thrown back4  ,ring the  
bell and let the curtain drop4    ,,act 
,,ii4--,marriage altar4 ,bright lights4 
,full organ4 ,white  veil trailing      
through the aisle4 ,prayer and          
congratulation1 and  exclamations of    
,how well she looks6 ,ring the bell1 and
 let the  curtain drop4    ,,act        
,,iii4--,midnight4 ,woman waiting for   
staggering steps4 ,old garments  stuck  
into the broken window-pane4 ,many marks
 of hardship on the face4  ,biting of   
the nails of bloodless fingers4         
,neglect1 cruelty1 disgrace4  ,ring the 
bell1 and let the curtain drop4    ,,act
 ,,iv4--,three graves in a very dark    
place4 ,grave of child who died  from   
lack of medicine4 ,grave of wife who    
died of a broken heart4 ,grave  of      
husband and father who died of          
dissipation4 ,plenty of weeds1 but no   

flowers4 ,o what a blasted heath with   
three graves6 ,ring the bell1 and  let  
the curtain drop4    ,,act ,v4--,a      
destroyed soul's eternity4 ,no light2 no
 music2 no hope6  ,despair coiling      
around the heart with unutterable       
anguish4 ,blackness  of darkness        
forever4    ,woe6 ,woe6 ,woe6 ,i cannot 
bear longer to look4 ,i close my eyes at
 this  last act of the tragedy4 ,quick6 
,quick6 ,ring the bell and let the      
curtain drop4          ,,the            
,,indiscriminate ,,dance4      ,it is   
the anniversary of ,herod's birthday4   
,the palace is lighted4 ,the  highways  
leading thereto are ablaze with the pomp
 of invited guests4  ,lords1 captains1  
merchant princes1 and the mightiest men 
of the realm  are on the way to mingle  
in the festivities4 ,the tables are     
filled  with all the luxuries that the  
royal purveyors can gather1--spiced     
wines1 and fruits1 and rare meats4 ,the 
guests1 white-robed1 anointed  and      
perfumed1 take their places4 ,music6    

,the jests evoke roars of  laughter4    
,riddles are propounded4 ,repartees     
indulged4 ,toasts drunk4  ,the brain    
befogged4 ,wit gives place to uproar and
 blasphemy4 ,and yet  they are not      
satisfied4 ,turn on more light4 ,give us
 more music4 ,sound  the trumpet4 ,clear
 the floor for the dance4 ,bring in     
,salome1 the  graceful and accomplished 
princess4    ,the doors are opened and  
in bounds the dancer4 ,stand back and   
give  plenty of room for the gyrations4 
,the lords are enchanted4 ,they never   
saw such poetry of motion4 ,their souls 
whirl in the reel1 and bound  with the  
bounding feet4 ,herod forgets crown and 
throne1--everything  but the            
fascinations of ,salome4 ,the           
magnificence of his realm is as  nothing
 compared with that which now whirls    
before him on tiptoe4 ,his  heart is in 
transport with ,salome as her arms are  
now tossed in  the air1 and now placed  
akimbo4 ,he sways with every motion of  
the  enchantress4 ,he thrills with the  

quick pulsations of her feet1 and is    
bewitched with the posturing and        
attitudes that he never saw before1  in 
a moment exchanged for others just as   
amazing4 ,he sits in silence  before the
 whirling1 bounding1 leaping1 flashing  
wonder4 ,and when  the dance stops1 and 
the tinkling cymbals pause1 and the     
long1 loud  plaudits that shook the     
palace with their thunders had abated1  
the  entranced monarch swears unto the  
princely performer3 ,whatsoever thou    
shalt ask of me ,i will give it to thee1
 to the half of my kingdom4    ,now     
there was in prison a minister by the   
name of ,john the ,baptist1  who had    
made much trouble by his honest         
preaching4 ,he had denounced  the sins  
of the king1 and brought down upon      
himself the wrath of the  females in the
 royal family4 ,at the instigation of   
her mother1 ,salome  takes advantage of 
the king's extravagant promise and      
demands the head  of ,john the ,baptist 
on a dinner-plate4    ,there is a sound 

of heavy feet1 and the clatter of swords
 outside of  the palace4 ,swing back the
 door4 ,the executioners are returning1 
from  their awful errand4 ,they hand a  
platter to ,salome4 ,what is that on the
  platter8 ,a new tankard of wine to    
rekindle the mirth of the lords8 ,no6   
,it is redder than wine1 and costlier4  
,it is the ghastly1 bleeding head  of   
,john the ,baptist6 ,its locks dabbled  
in gore4 ,its eyes set in the           
death-stare4 ,the distress of the last  
agony in the features4 ,that            
fascinating form1 that just now swayed  
so gracefully in the dance1  bends over 
the horrid burden without a shudder4    
,she gloats over the  blood2 and just as
 the maid of your household goes1       
bearing out on a  tray the empty glasses
 of the evening's entertainment1 so she 
carried  out on a platter the dissevered
 head of that good man1 while all the   
banqueters shouted1 and thought it a    
grand joke1 that1 in such a brief  and  
easy way1 they had freed themselves from

 such a plain-spoken1  troublesome      
minister4    ,what could be more        
innocent than a birthday festival8 ,all 
the kings  from the time of ,pharaoh had
 celebrated such days2 and why not      
,herod8  ,it was right that the palace  
should be lighted1 and that the cymbals 
should clap1 and that the royal guests  
should go to a banquet2 but1  before the
 rioting and wassail that closed the    
scene of that day1  every pure nature   
revolts4    ,behold the work1 the       
influence1 and the end of an infamous   
dancer6    ,i am1 by natural temperament
 and religious theory1 utterly opposed  
to the position of those who are        
horrified at every demonstration  of    
mirth and playfulness in social life1   
and who seem to think that  everything1 
decent and immortal1 depends upon the   
style in which  people carry their feet4
 ,on the other hand1 ,i can see nothing 
but  ruin1 moral and physical1 in the   
dissipations of the ball-room1 which    
have despoiled thousands of young men   

and women of all that gives  dignity to 
character1 or usefulness to life4       
,dancing has been styled the graceful   
movement of the body adjusted  by art1  
to the measures or tune of instruments1 
or of the voice4 ,all  nations have     
danced4 ,the ancients thought that      
,pollux and ,castor at  first taught the
 practice to the ,lacedmonians2 but1    
whatever be its  origin1 all climes have
 adopted it4    ,in other days there    
were festal dances1 and funeral dances1 
and  military dances1 and mediatorial   
dances1 and bacchanalian dances4        
,queens and lords have swayed to and fro
 in their gardens2 and the  rough men of
 the backwoods in this way have roused  
up the echo of the  forest4 ,there seems
 to be something in lively and coherent 
sounds to  evoke the movement of hand   
and foot1 whether cultured or           
uncultured4  ,men passing the street    
unconsciously keep step to the music of 
the  band2 and ,christians in church    
unconsciously find themselves keeping   

time with their feet1 while their soul  
is uplifted by some great  harmony4 ,not
 only is this true in cultured life1 but
 the red men of  ,oregon have their     
scalp dances1 and green-corn dances1 and
 war dances4  ,it is1 therefore1 no     
abstract question that you ask me--,is  
it right to  dance8    ,the ancient     
fathers1 aroused by the indecent dances 
of those days1  gave emphatic evidence  
against any participation in the dance4 
,st4  ,chrysostom says3--,the feet were 
not given for dancing1 but to walk      
modestly2 not to leap impudently like   
camels4    ,one of the dogmas of the    
ancient church reads3 ,a dance is the   
devil's  possession2 and he that        
entereth into a dance1 entereth into his
  possession4 ,the devil is the gate to 
the middle and to the end of the  dance4
 ,as many passes as a man makes in      
dancing1 so many passes doth  he make to
 hell4 ,elsewhere1 these old dogmas     
declare--,the woman  that singeth in the
 dance is the princess of the devil2 and

 those  that answer are his clerks2 and 
the beholders are his friends1 and  the 
music are his bellows1 and the fiddlers 
are the ministers of the  devil2 for1 as
 when hogs are strayed1 if the          
hogs'-herd call one1  all assemble      
together1 so the devil calleth one woman
 to sing in the  dance1 or to play on   
some instrument1 and presently all the  
dancers  gather together4    ,this      
wholesale and indiscriminate            
denunciation grew out of the utter      
dissoluteness of those ancient plays4   
,so great at one time was the  offence  
to all decency1 that the ,roman ,senate 
decreed the expulsion of  all dancers   
and dancing-masters from ,rome4    ,yet 
we are not to discuss the customs of    
that day1 but the customs of  the       
present4 ,we cannot let the fathers     
decide the question for us4  ,our       
reason1 enlightened by the ,bible1 shall
 be the standard4 ,i am not  ready to   
excommunicate all those who lift their  
feet beyond a certain  height4 ,i would 

not visit our youth with a rigor of     
criticism that  would put out all their 
ardor of soul4 ,i do not believe that   
all the  inhabitants of ,wales1 who used
 to step to the sound of the rustic     
pibcorn1 went down to ruin4 ,i would    
give to all of our youth the right  to  
romp and play4 ,god meant it1 or he     
would not have surcharged  our natures  
with such exuberance4 ,if a mother join 
hands with her  children1 and while the 
eldest strikes the keys1 fill all the   
house  with the sound of agile feet1 ,i 
see no harm4 ,if a few friends1         
gathered in happy circle1 conclude to   
cross and recross the room to  the sound
 of the piano well played1 ,i see no    
harm4 ,i for a long while  tried to see 
in it a harm1 but ,i never could1 and ,i
 probably never  will4 ,i would to ,god 
men kept young for a greater length of  
time4  ,never since my school-boy days  
have ,i loved so well as now the        
hilarities of life4 ,what if we have    
felt heavy burdens1 and suffered a      

multitude of hard knocks1 is it any     
reason why we should stand in the  path 
of those who1 unstung by life's         
misfortunes1 are exhilarated and  full  
of glee8    ,god bless the young6 ,they 
will have to live many a day if they    
want to  hear me say one word to dampen 
their ardor or clip their wings1 or  to 
throw a cloud upon their life by telling
 them that it is hard1  and dark1 and   
doleful4 ,it is no such thing4 ,you will
 meet with many a  trial2 but1 speaking 
from my own experience1 let me tell you 
that you  will be treated a great deal  
better than you deserve4    ,let us not 
grudge to the young their joy4 ,as we go
 further on in life1  let us go with the
 remembrance that we have had our       
gleeful days4 ,when  old age frosts our 
locks1 and stiffens our limbs1 let us   
not block up  the way1 but say1 ,we had 
our good times3 now let others have     
theirs4  ,as our children come on1 let  
us cheerfully give them our places4 ,how
  glad will ,i be to let them have      

everything1--my house1 my books1 my     
place in society1 my heritage6 ,by the  
time we get old we will have had  our   
way long enough4 ,then let our children 
come on and we'll have it  their way4   
,for thirty1 forty1 or fifty years1 we  
have been drinking  from the cup of     
life2 and we ought not to complain if   
called to pass  the cup along and let   
others take a drink4    ,but1 while we  
have a right to the enjoyments of life1 
we never will  countenance sinful       
indulgences4 ,i here set forth a group  
of what  might be called the            
dissipations of the ball-room4 ,they    
swing an awful  scythe of death4 ,are we
 to stand idly by1 and let the work go  
on1 lest  in the rebuke we tread upon   
the long trail of some popular vanity8  
,the  whirlpool of the ball-room drags  
down the life1 the beauty1 and the      
moral worth of the city4 ,in this       
whirlwind of imported silks goes out    
the life of many of our best families4  
,bodies and souls innumerable  are      

annually consumed in this conflagration 
of ribbons4    ,this style of           
dissipation is the abettor of pride1 the
 instigator of  jealousy1 the           
sacrificial altar of health1 the defiler
 of the soul1  the avenue of lust1 and  
the curse of the town4 ,the tread of    
this wild1  intoxicating1 heated        
midnight dance jars all the moral       
hearthstones of  the city4 ,the physical
 ruin is evident4 ,what will become of  
those  who work all day and dance all   
night8 ,a few years will turn them out  
nervous1 exhausted imbeciles4 ,those who
 have given up their midnights  to      
spiced wines1 and hot suppers1 and ride 
home through winter's cold1  unwrapped  
from the elements1 will at last be      
recorded suicides4    ,there is but a   
short step from the ball-room to the    
grave-yard4 ,there  are consumptions and
 fierce neuralgias close on the track4  
,amid that  glittering maze of ball-room
 splendors1 diseases stand right and    
left1  and balance and chain4 ,a        

sepulchral breath floats up amid the    
perfume1  and the froth of death's lip  
bubbles up in the champagne4    ,many of
 our brightest homes are being          
sacrificed4 ,there are families  that   
have actually quit keeping house1 and   
gone to boarding1 that  they may give   
themselves more exclusively to the      
higher duties of  the ball-room4        
,mothers and daughters1 fathers and     
sons1 finding  their highest enjoyment  
in the dance1 bid farewell to books1 to 
quiet  culture1 to all the amenities of 
home4 ,the father will1 after a while1  
go down into lower dissipations4 ,the   
son will be tossed about  in society1 a 
nonentity4 ,the daughter will elope with
 a ,french  dancing-master4 ,the mother1
 still trying to stay in the glitter1   
and by every art attempting to keep the 
color in her cheek1 and the  wrinkles   
off her brow1 attempting1 without any   
success1 all the arts  of the belle1--an
 old flirt1 a poor1 miserable butterfly 
without any  wings4    ,if anything on  

the earth is beautiful to my eye1 it is 
an aged woman2  her hair floating back  
over the wrinkled brow1 not frosted1 but
 white  with the blossoms of the tree of
 life2 her voice tender with  past      
memories1 and her face a benediction4   
,the children pull at  grandmother's    
dress as she passes through the room1   
and almost pull  her down in her        
weakness2 yet she has nothing but a     
cake1 or a candy1  or a kind word for   
the little darlings4 ,when she goes away
 from us  there is a shadow on the      
table1 a shadow on the hearth1 and a    
shadow  in the dwelling4    ,but if     
anything on earth is distressful to look
 at1 it is an old woman  ashamed of     
being old4 ,what with paint and false   
hair1 she is too much  for my gravity4  
,i laugh1 even in church1 when ,i see   
her coming4 ,one of  the worst looking  
birds ,i know of is a peacock after it  
has lost its  feathers4 ,i would not    
give one lock of my mother's gray hair  
for fifty  thousand such caricatures of 

old age4 ,the first time you find these 
faithful disciples of the ball-room     
diligently engaged and happy in  the    
duties of the home circle1 send me word1
 for ,i would go a great  way to see    
such a phenomenon4 ,these creatures have
 no home4 ,their  children unwashed4    
,their furniture undusted4 ,their china 
closets  disordered4 ,the house a scene 
of confusion1 misrule1 cheerlessness1   
and dirt4 ,one would think you might    
discover even amid the witcheries  of   
the ball-room the sickening odors of the
 unswept1 unventilated1 and  unclean    
domestic apartments4    ,these          
dissipations extinguish all love of     
usefulness4 ,how could you  expect one  
to be interested in the alleviations of 
the world's misery1  while there is a   
question to be decided about the size of
 a glove  or the shade of a pongee8 ,how
 many of these men and women of the     
ball-room visit the poor1 or help dress 
the wounds of a returned  soldier in the
 hospital8 ,when did the world ever see 

a perpetual  dancer distributing tracts8
 ,such persons are turned in upon       
themselves4 ,and it is very poor        
pasture6    ,this gilded sphere is      
utterly bedwarfing to intellect and     
soul4 ,this  constant study of little   
things2 this harassing anxiety about    
dress2 this talk of fashionable         
infinitesimals2 this shoe-pinched1      
hair-frizzled1 fringe-spattered         
group--that simper and look askance  at 
the mirrors and wonder1 with infinity of
 interest1 how that one  geranium leaf  
does look2 this shrivelling up of man's 
moral dignity1  until it is no more     
observable with the naked eye2 this     
taking of a  woman's heart1 that ,god   
meant should be filled with all         
amenities1  and compressing it until all
 the fragrance1 and simplicity1 and     
artlessness are squeezed out of it2 this
 inquisition of a small shoe2  this     
agony of tight lacing2 this wrapping up 
of mind and heart in  a ruffle2 this    
tumbling down of a soul that ,god meant 

for great  upliftings6    ,i prophesy   
the spiritual ruin of all participators 
in this rivalry4  ,have the white1      
polished1 glistening boards ever been   
the road to  heaven8 ,who at the flash  
of those chandeliers hath kindled a     
torch  for eternity8 ,from the table    
spread at the close of that excited and 
besweated scene1 who went home to say   
his prayers8    ,to many1 alas6 this    
life is a masquerade ball4 ,as1 at such 
entertainments1 gentlemen and ladies    
appear in the dress of kings  or queens1
 mountain bandits or clowns1 and at the 
close of the dance  throw off their     
disguises1 so1 in this dissipated life1 
all unclean  passions move in mask4     
,across the floor they trip merrily4    
,the lights  sparkle along the wall1 or 
drop from the ceiling--a very cohort of 
fire6 ,the music charms4 ,the diamonds  
glitter4 ,the feet bound4 ,gemmed       
hands1 stretched out1 clasp gemmed      
hands4 ,dancing feet respond to  dancing
 feet4 ,gleaming brow bends low to      

gleaming brow4 ,on with the  dance6     
,flash1 and rustle1 and laughter1 and   
immeasurable merry-making6  ,but the    
languor of death comes over the limbs1  
and blurs the sight4  ,lights lower6    
,floor hollow with sepulchral echo4     
,music saddens into  a wail4 ,lights    
lower6 ,the maskers can hardly now be   
seen4 ,flowers  exchange their fragrance
 for a sickening odor1 such as comes    
from  garlands that have lain in vaults 
of cemeteries4 ,lights lower6 ,mists    
fill the room4 ,glasses rattle as though
 shaken by sullen thunder4  ,sighs seem 
caught among the curtains4 ,scarf falls 
from the shoulder of  beauty1--a shroud6
 ,lights lower6 ,over the slippery      
boards1 in dance  of death1 glide       
jealousies1 disappointments1 lust1      
despair4 ,torn  leaves and withered     
garlands only half hide the ulcered     
feet4  ,the stench of smoking lamp-wicks
 almost quenched4 ,choking damps4       
,chilliness4 ,feet still4 ,hands folded4
 ,eyes shut4 ,voices hushed4    ,,lights

 ,,out6          ,,the ,,massacre ,,by  
,,needle ,,and ,,sewing-,,machine4      
,very long ago the needle was busy4 ,it 
was considered honorable for  women to  
toil in olden time4 ,alexander the      
,great stood in his palace  showing     
garments made by his own mother4 ,the   
finest tapestries at  ,bayeux were made 
by the ,queen of ,william the           
,conqueror4 ,augustus the  ,emperor     
would not wear any garments except those
 that were fashioned  by some member of 
his royal family4 ,so let the toiler    
everywhere be  respected6    ,the       
greatest blessing that could have       
happened to our first parents  was being
 turned out of ,eden after they had done
 wrong4 ,adam and ,eve1  in their       
perfect state1 might have got along     
without work1 or only  such slight      
employment as a perfect garden1 with no 
weeds in it1  demanded4 ,but1 as soon as
 they had sinned1 the best thing for    
them  was to be turned out where they   
would have to work4 ,we know what a     

withering thing it is for a man to have 
nothing to do4 ,old ,ashbel  ,green1 at 
fourscore years1 when asked why he kept 
on working1 said1  ,i do so to keep out 
of mischief4 ,we see that a man who has 
a  large amount of money to start with  
has no chance4 ,of the thousand         
prosperous and honorable men that you   
know1 nine hundred and  ninety-nine had 
to work vigorously at the beginning4    
,but ,i am now to tell you that industry
 is just as important for  a woman's    
safety and happiness4 ,the most unhappy 
women in our  communities to-day are    
those who have no engagements to call   
them up  in the morning2 who1 once      
having risen and breakfasted1 lounge    
through  the dull forenoon in slippers  
down at the heel and with dishevelled   
hair1 reading ,george ,sand's last      
novel2 and who1 having dragged  through 
a wretched forenoon and taken their     
afternoon sleep1 and  having spent an   
hour and a half at their toilet1 pick up
 their  card-case and go out to make    

calls2 and who pass their evenings      
waiting for somebody to come in and     
break up the monotony4 ,arabella        
,stuart never was imprisoned in so dark 
a dungeon as that4    ,there is no      
happiness in an idle woman4 ,it may be  
with hand1 it may  be with brain1 it may
 be with foot2 but work she must1 or be 
wretched  forever4 ,the little girls of 
our families must be started with that  
idea4 ,the curse of our ,american       
society is that our young women are     
taught that the first1 second1 third1   
fourth1 fifth1 sixth1 seventh1  tenth1  
fiftieth1 thousandth thing in their life
 is to get somebody to  take care of    
them4 ,instead of that1 the first lesson
 should be1 how1  under ,god1 they may  
take care of themselves4 ,the simple    
fact is that  a majority of them do have
 to take care of themselves1 and that1  
too1  after having1 through the false   
notions of their parents1 wasted the    
years in which they ought to have       
learned how successfully to maintain    

themselves4 ,we now and here declare the
 inhumanity1 cruelty1 and  outrage of   
that father and mother1 who pass their  
daughters into  womanhood1 having given 
them no facility for earning their      
livelihood4  ,madame de ,stal said3 ,it 
is not these writings that ,i am proud  
of1  but the fact that ,i have facility 
in ten occupations1 in any one of  which
 ,i could make a livelihood4    ,you say
 you have a fortune to leave them4 ,o   
man and woman6 have you  not learned    
that1 like vultures1 like hawks1 like   
eagles1 riches  have wings and fly away8
 ,though you should be successful in    
leaving  a competency behind you1 the   
trickery of executors may swamp it in  a
 night2 or some elders or deacons of our
 churches may get up an  oil company1 or
 some sort of religious enterprise      
sanctioned by the  church1 and induce   
your orphans to put their money into a  
hole in  ,venango ,county2 and if1 by   
the most skilful derricks1 the sunken   
money  cannot be pumped up again1 prove 

to them that it was eternally decreed   
that that was the way they were to lose 
it1 and that it went in the  most       
orthodox and heavenly style4    ,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 bottom6    ,you have no right1  
because you are well off1 to conclude   
that your  children are going to be as  
well off4 ,a man died1 leaving a large  
fortune4 ,his son1 a few months ago1    
fell dead in a ,philadelphia  grog-shop4
 ,his old comrades came in and said1 as 
they bent over his  corpse3 ,what is the
 matter with you1 ,boggsey8 ,the surgeon
 standing  over him said3 ,hush up6 he  
is dead6--,ah1 he is dead6 they said4   
,come1 boys1 let us go and take a drink 
in memory of poor ,boggsey6    ,have you
 nothing better than money to leave your
 children8 ,if you  have not1 but send  
your daughters into the world with empty
 brain and  unskilled hand1 you are     

guilty of assassination1 homicide1      
regicide1  infanticide--compared with   
which that of poor ,hester ,vaughan was 
innocence4 ,there are women toiling in  
our cities for three and four  dollars  
per week1 who were the daughters of     
merchant princes4 ,these  suffering ones
 now would be glad to have the crumbs   
that once fell  from their father's     
table4 ,that worn-out1 broken shoe that 
she wears  is the lineal descendant of  
the twelve-dollar gaiters in which  her 
mother walked2 and that torn and faded  
calico had ancestry of  magnificent     
brocade1 that swept ,broadway clean     
without any expense to  the street      
commissioners4 ,though you live in an   
elegant residence1 and  fare sumptuously
 every day1 let your daughters feel it  
is a disgrace  to them not to know how  
to work4 ,i denounce the idea1 prevalent
 in  society1 that though our young     
women may embroider slippers1 and       
crochet1 and make mats for lamps to     
stand on1 without disgrace1 the  idea of

 doing anything for a livelihood is     
dishonorable4 ,it is a shame  for a     
young woman1 belonging to a large       
family1 to be inefficient when  the     
father toils his life away for her      
support4 ,it is a shame for a  daughter 
to be idle while her mother toils at the
 wash-tub4 ,it is as  honorable to sweep
 house1 make beds1 or trim hats1 as it  
is to twist a  watch-chain4    ,as far  
as ,i can understand1 the line of       
respectability lies between  that which 
is useful and that which is useless4 ,if
 women do that which  is of no value1   
their work is honorable4 ,if they do    
practical work1 it  is dishonorable4    
,that our young women may escape the    
censure of doing  dishonorable work1 ,i 
shall particularize4 ,you may knit a    
tidy for the  back of an armchair1 but  
by no means make the money wherewith to 
buy  the chair4 ,you may1 with delicate 
brush1 beautify a mantel-ornament1  but 
die rather than earn enough to buy a    
marble mantel4 ,you may  learn artistic 

music until you can squall ,italian1 but
 never sing  ,ortonville or ,old        
,hundred4 ,do nothing practical1 if you 
would1 in  the eyes of refined society1 
preserve your respectability4    ,i     
scout these finical notions4 ,i tell you
 a woman1 no more than a man1  has a    
right to occupy a place in this world   
unless she pays a rent for  it4    ,in  
the course of a lifetime you consume    
whole harvests1 and droves of  cattle1  
and every day you live breathe forty    
hogsheads of good pure  air4 ,you must1 
by some kind of usefulness1 pay for all 
this4 ,our  race was the last thing     
created1--the birds and fishes on the   
fourth  day1 the cattle and lizards on  
the fifth day1 and man on the sixth     
day4 ,if geologists are right1 the earth
 was a million of years in the          
possession of the insects1 beasts1 and  
birds1 before our race came  upon it4   
,in one sense1 we were innovators4 ,the 
cattle1 the lizards1  and the hawks had 
pre-emption right4 ,the question is not 

what we are  to do with the lizards and 
summer insects1 but what the lizards and
  summer insects are to do with us4     
,if we want a place in this world we    
must earn it4 ,the partridge  makes its 
own nest before it occupies it4 ,the    
lark1 by its morning  song1 earns its   
breakfast before it eats it2 and the    
,bible gives an  intimation that the    
first duty of an idler is to starve1    
when it  says if he will not work1      
neither shall he eat4 ,idleness ruins   
the  health2 and very soon ,nature says1
 ,this man has refused to pay his  rent2
 out with him6    ,society is to be     
reconstructed on the subject of woman's 
toil4 ,a vast  majority of those who    
would have woman industrious shut her up
 to a  few kinds of work4 ,my judgment  
in this matter is1 that a woman has a   
right to do anything she can do well4   
,there should be no department  of      
merchandise1 mechanism1 art1 or science 
barred against her4 ,if ,miss  ,hosmer  
has genius for sculpture1 give her a    

chisel4 ,if ,rosa ,bonheur  has a       
fondness for delineating animals1 let   
her make ,the ,horse  ,fair4 ,if ,miss  
,mitchell will study astronomy1 let her 
mount the starry  ladder4 ,if ,lydia    
will be a merchant1 let her sell purple4
 ,if ,lucretia  ,mott will preach the   
,gospel1 let her thrill with her womanly
 eloquence  the ,quaker meeting-house4  
,it is said1 if woman is given such     
opportunities1 she will occupy  places  
that might be taken by men4 ,i say1 if  
she have more skill and  adaptedness for
 any position than a man has1 let her   
have it6 ,she has  as much right to her 
bread1 to her apparel1 and to her home1 
as men  have4    ,but it is said that   
her nature is so delicate that she is   
unfitted for  exhausting toil4 ,i ask1  
in the name of all past history1 what   
toil on  earth is more severe1          
exhausting1 and tremendous than that    
toil of the  needle to which for ages   
she has been subjected8 ,the            
battering-ram1  the sword1 the carbine1 

the battle-axe have made no such havoc  
as the  needle4 ,i would that these     
living sepulchres in which women have   
for  ages been buried might be opened1  
and that some resurrection trumpet      
might bring up these living corpses to  
the fresh air and sunlight4    ,go with 
me1 and ,i will show you a woman who1 by
 hardest toil1 supports  her children1  
her drunken husband1 her old father and 
mother1 pays her  house-rent1 always has
 wholesome food on her table1 and1 when 
she  can get some neighbor on the       
,sabbath to come in and take care of    
her family1 appears in church1 with hat 
and cloak that are far from  indicating 
the toil to which she is subjected4     
,such a woman as that has body and soul 
enough to fit her for any  position4    
,she could stand beside the majority of 
your salesmen and  dispose of more      
goods4 ,she could go into your          
wheelwright shops and  beat one-half of 
your workmen at making carriages4 ,we   
talk about woman  as though we had      

resigned to her all the light work1 and 
ourselves had  shouldered the heavier4  
,but the day of judgment1 which will    
reveal  the sufferings of the stake and 
inquisition1 will marshal before the    
throne of ,god and the hierarchs of     
heaven the martyrs of wash-tub and      
needle4    ,now1 ,i say1 if there be any
 preference in occupation1 let woman    
have  it4 ,god knows her trials are the 
severest4 ,by her acuter sensitiveness  
to misfortune1 by her hour of anguish1  
,i demand that no one hedge up  her     
pathway to a livelihood4 ,o the         
meanness1 the despicability of  men who 
begrudge a woman the right to work      
anywhere1 in any honorable  calling6    
,i go still further1 and say that women 
should have equal compensation  with    
men4 ,by what principle of justice is it
 that women in many of our  cities get  
only two-thirds as much pay as men1 and 
in many cases only  half8 ,here is the  
gigantic injustice--that for work       
equally well1 if  not better done1 woman

 receives far less compensation than    
man4 ,start  with the ,national         
,government3 women clerks in ,washington
 get nine  hundred dollars for doing    
that for which men receive eighteen     
hundred4    ,to thousands of young women
 of ,new ,york to-day there is only this
  alternative3 starvation or dishonor4  
,many of the largest mercantile         
establishments of our cities are        
accessory to these abominations2  and   
from their large establishments there   
are scores of souls being  pitched off  
into death2 and their employers know it6
    ,is there a ,god8 ,will there be a  
judgment8 ,i tell you1 if ,god rises up 
to redress woman's wrongs1 many of our  
large establishments will be  swallowed 
up quicker than a ,south-,american      
earthquake ever took down  a city4 ,god 
will catch these oppressors between the 
two mill-stones of  his wrath1 and grind
 them to powder6    ,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     
fifty8    ,i hear from all this land the
 wail of woman-hood4 ,man has nothing to
  answer to that wail but flatteries4   
,he says she is an angel4 ,she is  not4 
,she knows she is not4 ,she is a human  
being1 who gets hungry  when she has no 
food1 and cold when she has no fire4    
,give her no more  flatteries3 give her 
justice6    ,there are thirty-five      
thousand sewing-girls in ,new ,york and 
,brooklyn4  ,across the darkness of this
 night ,i hear their death-groan4 ,it is
 not  such a cry as comes from those who
 are suddenly hurled out of life1  but a
 slow1 grinding1 horrible wasting away4 
,gather them before you  and look into  
their faces1 pinched1 ghastly1          
hunger-struck6 ,look at  their fingers1 
needle-picked and blood-tipped6 ,see    
that premature  stoop in the shoulders6 
,hear that dry1 hacking1 merciless      
cough6    ,at a large meeting of these  
women1 held in a hall in ,philadelphia1 

grand speeches were delivered1 but a    
needle-woman took the stand1  threw     
aside her faded shawl1 and1 with her    
shrivelled arm1 hurled a  very          
thunder-bolt of eloquence1 speaking out 
of the horrors of her own  experience4  
,stand at the corner of a street in ,new
 ,york at half-past five or six  o'clock
 in the morning1 as the women go to     
their work4 ,many of them  had no       
breakfast except the crumbs that were   
left over from the night  before1 or a  
crust they chew on their way through the
 street4 ,here  they come6 the working  
girls of ,new ,york and ,brooklyn6      
,these engaged  in bead-work1 these in  
flower-making1 in millinery1 enamelling1
 cigar  making1 book-binding1 labelling1
 feather-picking1 print-coloring1       
paper-box making1 but1 most overworked  
of all1 and least compensated1  the     
sewing-women4 ,why do they not take the 
city-cars on their way  up8 ,they cannot
 afford the five cents6 ,if1 concluding 
to deny herself  something else1 she get

 into the car1 give her a seat6 ,you    
want to see  how ,latimer and ,ridley   
appeared in the fire3 look at that woman
 and  behold a more horrible martyrdom1 
a hotter fire1 a more agonizing  death6 
,ask that woman how much she gets for   
her work1 and she will  tell you six    
cents for making coarse shirts1 and     
finds her own thread6    ,last ,sabbath 
night1 in the vestibule of my church1   
after service1 a  woman fell in         
convulsions4 ,the doctor said she needed
 medicine not so  much as something to  
eat4 ,as she began to revive in her     
delirium1  she said1 gaspingly3 ,eight  
cents6 ,eight cents6 ,eight cents6 ,i   
wish ,i  could get it done6 ,i am so    
tired6 ,i wish ,i could get some sleep1 
but ,i  must get it done6 ,eight cents6 
,eight cents6 ,we found afterwards that 
she was making garments for eight cents 
apiece1 and that she could  make but    
three of them in a day6 ,hear it6 ,three
 times eight are  twenty-four6 ,hear it1
 men and women who have comfortable     

homes6    ,some of the worst villains of
 the city are the employers of these    
women4 ,they beat them down to the last 
penny1 and try to cheat them  out of    
that4 ,the woman must deposit a dollar  
or two before she  gets the garments to 
work on4 ,when the work is done it is   
sharply  inspected1 the most            
insignificant flaws picked out1 and the 
wages  refused1 and sometimes the dollar
 deposited not given back4 ,the         
,women's ,protective ,union reports a   
case where one of these poor souls1     
finding a place where she could get more
 wages1 resolved to change  employers1  
and went to get her pay for work done4  
,the employer says3  ,i hear you are    
going to leave me8--,yes1 she said1 and 
,i have come  to get what you owe me4   
,he made no answer4 ,she said3 ,are you 
not  going to pay me8--,yes1 he said1 ,i
 will pay you2 and he kicked  her down  
the stairs4    ,how are these evils to  
be eradicated8 ,what have you to answer1
 you  who sell coats1 and have shoes    

made1 and contract for the ,southern and
  ,western markets8 ,what help is there1
 what panacea1 what redemption8  ,some  
say3 ,give women the ballot4 ,what      
effect such ballot might have  on other 
questions ,i am not here to discuss2 but
 what would be the  effect of female    
suffrage upon woman's wages8 ,i do not  
believe that  woman will ever get       
justice by woman's ballot4    ,indeed1  
women oppress women as much as men do4  
,do not women1 as much  as men1 beat    
down to the lowest figure the woman who 
sews for them8  ,are not women as sharp 
as men on washerwomen1 and milliners1   
and  mantua-makers8 ,if a woman asks a  
dollar for her work1 does not her       
female employer ask her if she will not 
take ninety cents8 ,you say  only ten   
cents difference2 but that is sometimes 
the difference  between heaven and hell4
 ,women often have less commiseration   
for women  than men4 ,if a woman steps  
aside from the path of virtue1 man may  
forgive1--woman never6 ,woman will never

 get justice done her from  woman's     
ballot4    ,neither will she get it from
 man's ballot4 ,how1 then8 ,god will    
rise  up for her4 ,god has more         
resources than we know of4 ,the flaming 
sword  that hung at ,eden's gate when   
woman was driven out will cleave with   
its terrible edge her oppressors4       
,but there is something for our women to
 do4 ,let our young people  prepare to  
excel in spheres of work1 and they will 
be able1 after  a while1 to get larger  
wages4 ,if it be shown that a woman can1
 in a  store1 sell more goods in a year 
than a man1 she will soon be able  not  
only to ask but to demand more wages1   
and to demand them  successfully4       
,unskilled and incompetent labor must   
take what is given2  skilled and        
competent labor will eventually make its
 own standard4  ,admitting that the law 
of supply and demand regulates these    
things1  ,i contend that the demand for 
skilled labor is very great1 and the    
supply very small4    ,start with the   

idea that work is honorable1 and that   
you can do some  one thing better than  
any one else4 ,resolve that1 ,god       
helping1 you  will take care of         
yourself4 ,if you are1 after a while1   
called into  another relation1 you will 
all the better be qualified for it by   
your  spirit of self-reliance2 or if you
 are called to stay as you are1 you  can
 be happy and self-supporting4    ,poets
 are fond of talking about man as an    
oak1 and woman the vine that  climbs it2
 but ,i have seen many a tree fall that 
not only went down  itself1 but took all
 the vines with it4 ,i can tell you of  
something  stronger than an oak for an  
ivy to climb on1 and that is the throne 
of  the great ,jehovah4 ,single or      
affianced1 that woman is strong who     
leans  on ,god and does her best4 ,the  
needle may break2 the factory-band may  
slip2 the wages may fail2 but1 over     
every good woman's head there are       
spread the two great1 gentle1 stupendous
 wings of the ,almighty4    ,many of you

 will go single-handed through life1 and
 you will have to  choose between two   
characters4 ,young woman1 ,i am sure you
 will turn  your back upon the useless1 
giggling1 painted nonentity which       
society  ignominiously acknowledges to  
be a woman1 and ask ,god to make you an 
humble1 active1 earnest ,christian4     
,what will become of this godless       
disciple of fashion8 ,what an insult  to
 her sex6 ,her manners are an outrage   
upon decency4 ,she is more  thoughtful  
of the attitude she strikes upon the    
carpet than how she  will look in the   
judgment2 more worried about her        
freckles than her  sins2 more interested
 in her bonnet-strings than in her      
redemption4  ,her apparel is the poorest
 part of a ,christian woman1 however    
magnificently dressed1 and no one has so
 much right to dress well as  a         
,christian4 ,not so with the godless    
disciple of fashion4 ,take her  robes1  
and you take everything4 ,death will    
come down on her some day1  and rub the 

bistre off her eyelids1 and the rouge   
off her cheeks1 and  with two rough1    
bony hands1 scatter spangles and glass  
beads and rings  and ribbons and lace   
and brooches and buckles and sashes and 
frisettes  and golden clasps4    ,the   
dying actress whose life had been       
vicious said3 ,the scene closes4  ,draw 
the curtain4 ,generally the tragedy     
comes first1 and the farce  afterward2  
but in her life it was first the farce  
of a useless life1  and then the tragedy
 of a wretched eternity4    ,compare the
 life and death of such an one with that
 of some ,christian  aunt that was once 
a blessing to your household4 ,i do not 
know that  she was ever offered the hand
 in marriage4 ,she lived single1 that   
untrammelled she might be everybody's   
blessing4 ,whenever the sick were  to be
 visited1 or the poor to be provided    
with bread1 she went with a  blessing4  
,she could pray1 or sing ,rock of ,ages1
 for any sick pauper  who asked her4 ,as
 she got older1 there were days when she

 was a little  sharp1 but for the most  
part ,auntie was a sunbeam--just the one
 for  ,christmas-eve4 ,she knew better  
than any one else how to fix things4    
,her every prayer1 as ,god heard it1 was
 full of everybody who had  trouble4    
,the brightest things in all the house  
dropped from her  fingers4 ,she had     
peculiar notions1 but the grandest      
notion she ever  had was to make you    
happy4 ,she dressed well--,auntie always
 dressed  well2 but her highest         
adornment was that of a meek and quiet  
spirit1  which1 in the sight of ,god1 is
 of great price4 ,when she died1 you all
  gathered lovingly about her2 and as   
you carried her out to rest1 the        
,sunday-school class almost covered the 
coffin with japonicas2 and the  poor    
people stood at the end of the alley1   
with their aprons to their  eyes1       
sobbing bitterly2 and the man of the    
world said1 with ,solomon1  ,her price  
was above rubies2 and ,jesus1 as unto   
the maiden in ,judea1  commanded3 ,i    

,,say ,,unto ,,thee1 ,,arise6           
,,pictures ,,in ,,the ,,stock ,,gallery4
      ,,note4--,this chapter1 though    
largely devoted to ,oil1 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' loss4  ,the
 oil mania was only a more popular or   
attractive vice of the  stock-boards1   
which is reproduced1 in spirit and      
motive1 almost every  month of the year4
    ,at my entrance upon this           
discussion1 ,i must deplore the         
indiscriminate  terms of condemnation   
employed by many well-meaning persons in
 regard  to stock operations4 ,the      
business of the stock-broker is just as 
legitimate and necessary as that of a   
dealer in clothes1 groceries1 or        
hardware2 and a man may be as           
pure-minded and holy a ,christian at the
  ,board of ,brokers as in a            
prayer-meeting4 ,the broker is1 in the  

sight  of ,god1 as much entitled to his 
commissions as any hard-working         
mechanic is entitled to his day's wages4
 ,any man has as much right  to make    
money by the going up of stocks as by   
the going up of sugar1  rice1 or tea4   
,the inevitable board-book that the     
operator carries in  his hand may be as 
pure as the clothing merchant's ledger4 
,it is  the work of the brokers to      
facilitate business2 to make transfer of
  investment2 to watch and report the   
tides of business2 to assist the        
merchant in lawful enterprises4         
,because there are men in this          
department of business1 sharp1          
deceitful1 and totally iniquitous1 you  
have no right to denounce the  entire   
class4 ,importers1 shoe-dealers1        
lumbermen1 do not want to be  held      
responsible for the moral deficits of   
their comrades in business4  ,neither   
have you a right to excoriate those who 
are conscientiously  operating through  
the channels spoken of4 ,if they take a 

risk1 so do  all business men4 ,the     
merchant who buys silk at five dollars  
per yard  takes his chances2 he expects 
it to go up to six dollars2 it may fall 
to four dollars4 ,if a man1 by          
straightforward operations in stocks1   
meets with disaster and fails1 he       
deserves sympathy just as much as he    
who sold spices or calicoes1 and through
 some miscalculation is struck  down    
bankrupt4    ,we have no right to impose
 restrictions upon this class of men    
that  we impose upon no other4 ,what    
right have you to denounce the operation
  buyer--ten days or buyer--twenty days1
 when you take a house1  buyer--three   
hundred and sixty-five days8 ,perhaps   
the entire payment  is to be made at the
 end of a year1 when you do not know but
 that1 by  that time1 you will be       
penniless4 ,give all men their due1 if  
you would  hold beneficent influence    
over them4 ,do not be too rough in      
pulling  out the weeds1 lest you uproot 
also the marigolds and verbenas4 ,in    

the ,board of ,brokers there are some of
 the most conscientious1  upright       
,christian men of our cities--men who   
would scorn a lie1 or a  subterfuge4    
,indeed1 there are men in these boards  
who might1 in some  respects1 teach a   
lesson of morality to other commercial  
circles4    ,i will not deny that there 
are special temptations connected with  
this  business even when carried on     
legitimately4 ,so there are dangers to  
the engineer on a railroad4 ,he does not
 know what night he may dash  into the  
coal-train4 ,but engines must be run1   
and stocks must be sold4  ,a nervous1   
excitable man ought to be very slow to  
undertake either the  engine or the     
,stock ,exchange4    ,a clever young    
man1 of twenty-five years of age1 bought
 ten shares in  the ,pennsylvania       
,central ,railroad4 ,the stock went up  
five dollars per  share1 and he made    
fifty dollars by the operation4 ,his    
mother1  knowing his temperament1 said  
to him1 ,i wish you had lost it4 ,but1  

encouraged1 he entered another          
operation1 and took ten shares in       
another railroad and made two hundred   
dollars4 ,by this time he was  ready for
 the wildest scheme4 ,he lost1 in three 
years1 forty thousand  dollars1 ruined  
his health1 and broke his wife's heart4 
,her father  supports them chiefly now4 
,the unfortunate has a shingle up1 in a 
small court1 among low operators4 ,such 
a man as this is unfit for this         
commercial sphere4 ,he would have been  
unfit for a pilot1 unfit for  military  
command1 unfit for any place that       
demands steady nerve1 cool  brain1 and  
well-balanced temperament4    ,but1     
while there is a legitimate sphere for  
the broker and operator1  there are     
transactions every day undertaken in our
 cities that can  only be characterized 
as superb outrage and villany2 and there
 are  members of ,christian churches who
 have been guilty of speculations  that1
 in the last day1 will blanch their     
cheek1 and thunder them  down to        

everlasting companionship with the      
lowest gamblers that ever  pitched      
pennies for a drink4    ,it is not      
necessary that ,i should draw the       
difficult line between  honorable and   
dishonorable speculation4 ,god has drawn
 it through every  man's conscience4    
,the broker guilty of cornering as well 
knows that  he is sinning against ,god  
and man1 as though the flame of ,mount  
,sinai  singed his eyebrows4 ,he hears  
that a brother broker has sold short1   
and immediately goes about with a wise  
look1 saying3 ,erie is going            
down--,erie is going down2 prepare for  
it4 ,immediately the people  begin to   
sell2 he buys up the stock2 monopolizes 
the whole affair2  drags down the man   
who sold short2 makes largely1 pockets  
the gain1  and thanks the ,lord for     
great prosperity in business4 ,you call 
it  cornering4 ,i call it gambling1     
theft1 highway robbery1 villany         
accursed4    ,it is astonishing how some
 men1 who are kind in their families1   

useful  in the church1 charitable to the
 poor1 are utterly transformed of the   
devil as soon as they enter the ,stock  
,exchange4 ,a respectable member  of one
 of the churches of the city went into a
 broker's office and  said3 ,get me one 
hundred shares of ,reading1 and carry   
it2 ,i will  leave a margin of five     
hundred dollars4 ,instead of going up1  
according to anticipation1 the stock    
fell4 ,every few days the operator      
called to ask the broker what success4  
,the stock still declined4 ,the         
operator was so terribly excited that   
the broker asked him what was  the      
matter4 ,he replied3 ,to tell you the   
truth1 ,i borrowed that five  hundred   
dollars that ,i lost1 and1 in           
anticipation of what ,i was sure ,i  was
 going to get by the operation1 ,i made 
a very large subscription to  the       
,missionary ,society4    ,the nation has
 become so accustomed to frauds that no 
astonishment is  excited thereby4 ,the  
public conscience has for many years    

been utterly  debauched by what were    
called fancy stocks1 morus multicaulis1 
,western  city enterprises1 and ,new    
,england developments4    ,if a man find
 on his farm something as large as the  
head of a pin1  that1 in a strong       
sunlight1 sparkles a little1 a gold     
company is  formed2 books are opened2   
working capital declared2 a select      
number  go in on the ground floor2 and  
the estates of widows and orphans  are  
swept into the vortex4 ,very little     
discredit is connected with any  such   
transaction1 if it is only on a large   
scale4 ,we cannot bear small  and       
insignificant dishonesties1 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    
swindle4 ,a woman was arrested in the   
streets  of one of our cities for       
selling molasses candy on ,sunday4 ,she 
was  tried1 condemned1 and imprisoned4  
,coming out of prison1 she went into    
the same business and sold molasses     

candy on ,sunday4 ,again she was        
arrested1 condemned1 and imprisoned4 ,on
 coming out--showing the total          
depravity of a woman's heart--she again 
went into the same business1  and sold  
molasses candy on ,sunday4 ,whereupon   
the police1 the mayor and  the public   
sentiment of the city rose up and       
declared that1 though  the heavens fell1
 no woman should be allowed to sell     
molasses candy on  ,sunday4 ,yet the law
 puts its hands behind its back1 and    
walks up and  down in the presence of a 
thousand abominations and dares not     
whisper4    ,there are scores of men    
to-day on the streets1 whose costly     
family  wardrobes1 whose rosewood       
furniture1 whose splendid turn-outs1    
whose  stately mansions1 are made out of
 the distresses of sewing-women1  whose 
money they gathered up in a stock       
swindle4 ,there is human sweat  in the  
golden tankards4 ,there is human blood  
in the crimson plush4  ,there are the   
bones of unrequited toil in the pearly  

keys of the  piano4 ,there is the curse 
of an incensed ,god hovering over all   
their  magnificence4 ,some night the man
 will not be able to rest4 ,he will     
rise up in bewilderment and look about  
him1 crying3 ,who is there8  ,those whom
 he has wronged will thrust their skinny
 arms under the  tapestry1 and touch his
 brow1 and feel for his heart1 and blow 
their  sepulchral breath into his face1 
crying3 ,come to judgment6    ,for the  
warning of young men1 ,i shall specify  
but two of the world's  most gigantic   
swindles--one ,english1 and the other   
,american4  ,in ,england1 in the early  
part of the last century1 reports were  
circulated of the fabulous wealth of    
,south ,america4 ,a company was  formed1
 with a stock of what would be equal to 
thirty millions of our  dollars4 ,the   
government guaranteed to the company the
 control of all  the trade to the ,south
 ,sea1 and the company was to assume the
 entire  debt of ,england1 then         
amounting to one hundred and forty      

millions of  dollars4 ,magnificent      
project6 ,the ,english nation talked and
 dreamed  of nothing but ,peruvian gold 
and ,mexican silver1 the national debt  
liquidated1 and ,eldorados numberless   
and illimitable6 ,when five  million    
pounds of new stock was offered at three
 hundred pounds per  share1 it was all  
snatched up with avidity4 ,thirty       
million dollars  of the stock was       
subscribed for1 when there were but five
 millions  offered4 ,south ,sea went up1
 until in the midsummer month the stock 
stood at one thousand per cent4 ,the    
whole nation was intoxicated4  ,around  
about this scheme1 as might have been   
expected1 others just as  wild arose4 ,a
 company was formed with ten million    
dollars of capital  for importing walnut
 trees from ,virginia4 ,a company for   
developing  a wheel to go by perpetual  
motion1 with a capital of four million  
dollars4 ,a company for developing a new
 kind of soap4 ,a company for  insuring 
against losses by servants1 with fifteen

 million dollars  capital4 ,one scheme  
was entitled3 ,a company for carrying on
 an  undertaking of great advantage1 but
 nobody to know what it is--capital  two
 million five hundred thousand dollars1 
in shares of five hundred  each4        
,further information to be given in a   
month4    ,the books were opened at nine
 o'clock in the morning4 ,before night  
a thousand shares were taken1 and two   
thousand pounds paid in4 ,so  successful
 was the day's work1 that that night the
 projector of the  enterprise went out  
of the business1 and forever vanished   
from the  public4 ,but it was not a     
perfect loss4 ,the subscribers had their
  ornamented certificates of stock to   
comfort them4 ,hunt's ,merchant's       
,magazine1 speaking of those times1 says
 that from morning until  evening       
',change ,alley was filled to           
overflowing with one dense mass of      
living beings composed of the most      
incongruous materials1 and1 in  all     
things save the mad pursuit in which    

they were employed1 the very  opposite  
in habits and conditions4    ,what was  
the end of this chapter of ,english     
enterprise8 ,suddenly  the ruin came4   
,down went the whole nation--members of 
,parliament1  tradesmen1 physicians1    
clergymen1 lawyers1 royal ladies1 and   
poor  needle-women--in one stupendous   
calamity4 ,the whole earth1 and all the 
ages1 heard that bubble burst4    ,but  
,i am not through4 ,our young men shall 
hear more startling things4  ,we surpass
 ,england in having higher mountains1   
deeper rivers1 greater  cataracts1 and  
larger armies4 ,yea1 we have surpassed  
it in magnitude  of swindles4 ,i wish to
 unfold before the young men of the     
country1  and before those in whose     
hands may now be the price of blood1 the
  wide-spread1 ghastly1 and almost      
infinitely greater wickedness of the    
gamblers in oil stock4 ,now1 the        
obtaining of lands1 the transporting  of
 machinery1 and the forming of companies
 for the production of oil1  is just as 

honorable as any organization for the   
obtaining of coal1  iron1 copper1 or    
zinc4 ,god poured out before this nation
 a river of  oil1 and intended us to    
gather it up1 transport it1 and use it2 
and there were companies formed that    
have withstood all commercial  changes1 
and continued1 year after year1 in the  
prosecution of an  honorable business4  
,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 spices4    ,out of twelve hundred    
petroleum companies1 how many do you    
suppose  were honestly formed and       
rightfully conducted8 ,do you say six   
hundred8  ,you make large demands upon  
one's credulity2 but let us be generous1
  and suppose that six hundred companies
 bought land1 issued honest  circulars1 
sent out machinery1 and plunged into the
 earth for the  rightful development of 
resources4 ,to form the other six       
hundred  companies1 only three or four  
things were necessary3 ,first1 an       

attractive circular1 regardless of      
expense4 ,it must have all the  colors  
and hues of earth1 and sea1 and heaven4 
,let the letters flame  with all the    
beauty of gold1 and jasper1 and         
amethyst4 ,it must state  the date of   
incorporation1 and the fact that all    
subscribers shall  get the benefit of   
the original undertaking4 ,while it does
 not make  so much pretension as some   
other companies1 it must be distinctly  
announced that this is a safe and       
permanent investment4 ,the circular     
must state that there are a goodly      
number of flowing wells1 and  others    
which the company are happy to say have 
a very good smell of  oil4 ,the books   
will be open only five days1 as there   
are only a few  shares yet to be taken4 
,connected with this circular is an     
elaborate  map1 drawn by the artist of  
the company4 ,never mind the geography  
of  the country4 ,our map must have a   
creek running through it1 so crooked  as
 to traverse as much of the land as     

possible1 and make it all  water-front4 
,ah6 said one man to his artist1 you    
make only one  creek4--,well1 said the  
artist1 if you want three creeks you can
  have them at very little expense4     
,there--you have them now--three        
creeks6    ,then the circular must have 
good names attached to it4 ,how to get  
them8 ,the president and directors must 
be prominent men4 ,if celebrated  for   
piety1 all the better4 ,the estimable   
man approached says3 ,i know  nothing   
about this company4--,well1 says the    
committee waiting  on him1 we will give 
you five hundred dollars' worth of      
shares4  ,immediately the estimable man 
begins to know about it1 and accepts    
the position of president4 ,three or    
four directors are obtained in  the same
 way4 ,now the thing is easy4 ,after    
this you can get anybody4  ,ordinary    
,christians and sinners feel it a joy to
 be in such celebrated  society4        
,another thing important is that the    
company purchase three or four  vials of

 oil to stand in the window--some in the
 crude state1 the rest  clarified4      
,genuine specimens from ,venango        
,county4    ,another important thing3   
there must be a large working capital1  
for the company do not mean to be idle4 
,they have derricks already  building2  
and there will be large monthly         
dividends4 ,let it be known  that there 
were companies in some cities who1      
claiming to have  a capital of four     
hundred thousand dollars1 yet had that  
capital  exhausted when they had sunk   
one well costing five thousand dollars4 
,but never mind4 ,the thing must be     
right1 for some of the directors  are   
eminent for respectability4 ,you say it 
is certainly important that  there be   
some land out of which the oil is to be 
obtained4 ,oh6 no4 ,why  be troubled    
with any land at all8 ,it is an expense 
for nothing4 ,you  have the circular1   
and the glowing map1 with the creeks and
 three  vials of oil in the window1 and 
a flaming advertisement in the          

newspapers4 ,now let the books be       
opened6 ,better if you can have a       
half-dozen offices in one room2 then the
 agent can accommodate you  with        
anything you desire4 ,if you want to    
take a flyer in this and a  flyer in    
that1 you shall have it4    ,coming in  
from the country are farmers1 dairymen1 
day-laborers4 ,great  chances now for   
speedy emoluments4 ,pour in the         
hard-earned treasures4  ,sure enough1 a 
dividend of one per cent4 per month6    
,forthwith1 another  multitude are      
convinced of the safety of the          
investment4 ,the second  month another  
dividend4 ,the third month another4     
,whence do these  dividends come8 ,from 
the product of the wells8 ,oh6 no4 ,it  
is your own  money they are paying you  
back4 ,how generous of this company to  
give  you five dollars back1 when you   
might have lost it all6    ,but the     
dividends stop4 ,what is the matter8    
,instead of the  advertisement which    
covered a whole column of the           

newspapers1  there comes a modest little
 notice that a special meeting of the   
stockholders will be held for the       
purpose of transacting business  of     
importance4 ,perhaps it may be to assess
 the stockholders for the  purpose of   
keeping the little land they have1 if   
they have any4 ,or it  may be for the   
election of a new group of officers1 for
 the present  incumbents do not want to 
be always before the public4 ,they are  
modest  men4 ,they believe in rotation  
of office4 ,they cannot consent any     
longer to serve4 ,where have they gone  
to8 ,they are busy putting up  a        
princely mansion at ,long ,branch1      
,germantown1 or ,chelsea4 ,they have    
served their day and generation1 and    
have gone to their flocks and  herds4   
,where is the ,church of ,god1 that she 
allows in her membership  such gigantic 
abominations8 ,were the thirty pieces of
 silver that  ,judas received denounced 
as unfit1 and shall the ,church of ,god 
have  nothing to say about this price of

 blood8 ,is sin to be excused because   
it is as high as heaven1 or deep as     
hell8 ,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 hypocrisy1 and  in the last day    
show him to all the universe--a         
brazen-faced gambler4  ,his house will  
be accursed4 ,god's anathemas will flash
 in the  chandelier1 and rattle in the  
swift hoofs of his silver-bitted grays2 
and the day of fire will see him willing
 to leap into a burning  oil-well to    
hide himself from the face of the ,lamb4
 ,the hundred  thousand dollars gotten  
in unrighteousness will not be enough to
 build  a barricade against the advance 
of the divine judgments4    ,think of   
the elder in a church who1 from the oil 
regions1 sends an  exciting telegram1 so
 that one man buys a large amount of    
stock at  twelve1 on ,wednesday4 ,the   

next day it is put on the stock-board at
  six4 ,the enterprising man1 who sold  
it at twelve1 goes out to buy  one of   
the grandest estates within ten miles of
 the city4 ,the man  who bought it goes 
into the dust2 and the secret gets out  
that the  exciting telegram sent by the 
elder arose1 not from any oil actually  
discovered1 but because in boring they  
had found a magnificent odor of  oil4   
,if he who steals a dollar from a       
money-drawer is a thief1 then he  who by
 dishonesty gets five hundred thousand  
dollars is five hundred  thousand times 
more a thief4 ,and so the last day will 
declare him4    ,did not the law right  
the injured man8 ,no6 ,the poor who were
 wronged  would not undertake a suit    
against a company that could bring fifty
  thousand dollars to the enlightenment 
of judge1 jury1 and lawyer2  while1 on  
the other hand1 the affluent who had    
been gouged would not  go to the courts 
for justice4 ,why6 how would it sound1  
if it got out1  that ,mr4 ,so and ,so1  

one of the first merchants on ,wall1 or 
,third1 or  ,state street1 had got      
swindled8 ,they will keep it still4     
,the guilty range to-day undisturbed    
through society1 and will  continue to  
do so until the ,lord ,god shall bring  
them to an unerring  settlement1 and    
proclaim to an astonished universe how  
many lies they  told about the land1    
about the derricks1 about the yield1    
about the  dividends4 ,what shall such  
an one say1 when ,god shall1 in the     
great  day of account1 hold up before   
him the circular1 and the map1 and the  
newspaper advertisement8 ,speechless6   
,before that day shall come ,i warn     
you--,disgorge6 you infamous stock      
gamblers6 ,gather together so many of   
your company as have any honesty  left1 
and join in the following circular3--,we
 the undersigned1 do  hereby repent of  
our villainies1 and beg pardon of the   
public for  all the wrongs that we have 
done them2 and hereby ask the widows and
  orphans whom we have made penniless to

 come next ,saturday1 between ten  and  
three o'clock1 and receive back what we 
stole from them4 ,we hereby  confess    
that the wells spoken of in our circular
 never yielded any  oil2 and that the   
creeks running through our ornamented   
map were an  entire fiction2 and that   
the elder who piously rolled up his eyes
 and  said it was a safe investment1 was
 not as devout as he looked to be4      
,signed by the subscribers at their     
office1 in the year of our ,lord  #ahga4
    ,then your conscience will be clear1
 and you can die in peace4 ,but ,i  have
 no faith in such a reformation4 ,when  
the devil gets such a fair  hold of a   
man he hardly ever lets go4    ,to the  
young ,i turn and utter a word of       
warning4 ,while you are  determined to  
be acute business men1 resolve at the   
very threshold  that you will have      
nothing to do with stock-gambling4 ,this
 country  can richly afford to lose the 
eight hundred millions of dollars       
swindled out of honest people1 if our   

young men1 by it1 will be warned  for   
all the future4 ,think you such         
enterprises are forever passed  away8   
,no6 they begin already to clamor for   
public attention and  patronage4 ,there 
are now hundreds of printing-presses    
busy in making  pamphlets and circulars 
for schemes as hollow and nefarious as  
those ,i  have mentioned4 ,there are    
silver-mining companies1 founded upon   
nobody  knows what--to accomplish what1 
nobody cares4 ,there will be other      
,canada gold companies2 there will be   
other copper-mining companies2  there   
will be more mutual consumers' coal     
companies1 who1 not  satisfied with the 
price of ordinary coal-dealers1 will    
resolve  themselves into consumers'     
associations1 where the thing consumed  
is not the coal1 but themselves--the    
companies that were to be  immaculate1  
setting the whole community to playing  
the game of ,who's  got the money8      
,stand off from all doubtful            
enterprises6 ,resolve that if1 in a     

lawful way1 you cannot earn a living1   
then you will die an honest man1  and be
 buried in an honest sepulchre4         
,there are two or three reasons why you 
should have nothing to do with  such    
operations4 ,mentioning the lowest      
motive first1 it will desolate  you     
financially4 ,i asked a man of large    
observation and undoubted  integrity1   
how many of the professed stock-gamblers
 made a permanent  fortune4 ,he         
answered1 ,not one6 not one of those who
 made this their  only business4 ,for a 
little while you may plunge in a round  
of  seeming prosperity2 but your money  
is put into a bag with holes4 ,you      
cannot successfully bury a dishonest    
dollar4 ,you may put it down into  the  
very heart of the earth2 you may heave  
rocks upon the top of it2  on top of the
 rocks you may put banks and all moneyed
 institutions1  but that dishonest      
dollar beneath will begin to heave and  
toss and  upturn itself1 and keep on    
until it comes to the resurrection of   

damnation4    ,then this stock-gambling 
life is wretchedly unhappy4 ,it makes   
the  nerves shake1 and the brain hot1   
and the heart sad1 and the life         
disquieted4    ,a man in ,philadelphia1 
who seems to be an exception to the     
rule--that  such men do not permanently 
prosper--who has well on towards a      
million  of dollars1 and is nearly      
seventy years of age1 may be seen1 every
  day1 going in and out1 eaten up of    
stocks1 torn in an inquisition of       
stocks1 rode by a nightmare of stocks2  
and1 with the earnestness of a  drowning
 man1 he rushes into a broker's shop1   
crying out3 ,did you get  me those      
shares8 ,in such an anxious1 exciting   
life there are griefs1  disappointments1
 anguish1 but there is no happiness4    
,worse than all1 it destroys the soul4  
,the day must come when the  worthless  
scrip will fall out of the clutches of  
the stock-gambler4  ,satan will play    
upon him the cornering game which1 down 
on ,wall  street1 he played upon a      

fellow-operator4 ,now he would be glad  
to  exchange all his interest in        
,venango ,county for one share in the   
,christian's prospect of heaven4        
,hopeless1 he falls back in his  last   
sickness4 ,his delirium is filled with  
senseless talk about  percentages and   
commissions and buyer1 sixty days1 and  
stocks  up1 and stocks down4 ,he thinks 
that the physician who feels his  pulse 
is trying to steal his board book4 ,he  
starts up at midnight1  saying3 ,one    
thousand shares of ,reading at          
#aaf-a_/b4 ,take it6 ,falls  back dead4 
,no more dividends4444 ,swindled out of 
heaven4 ,,stocks ,,down6                
,,leprous ,,newspapers4      ,the       
newspaper is the great educator of the  
nineteenth century4 ,there  is no force 
compared with it4 ,it is book1 pulpit1  
platform1 forum1 all  in one4 ,and there
 is not an interest--religious1         
literary1 commercial1  scientific1      
agricultural1 or mechanical--that is not
 within its  grasp4 ,all our churches1  

and schools1 and colleges1 and asylums1 
and  art-galleries feel the quaking of  
the printing-press4 ,i shall try to     
bring to your parlor-tables the         
periodicals that are worthy of the      
,christian fireside1 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 wife4    ,the institution of      
newspapers arose in ,italy4 ,in ,venice 
the first  newspaper was published1 and 
monthly1 during the time that ,venice   
was  warring against ,solyman the       
,second in ,dalmatia4 ,it was printed   
for  the purpose of giving military and 
commercial information to the           
,venetians4 ,the first newspaper        
published in ,england was in #aehh1  and
 called the ,english ,mercury4 ,others  
were styled the ,weekly  ,discoverer1   
the ,secret ,owl1 ,heraclitus ,ridens1  
etc4    ,who can estimate the political1
 scientific1 commercial1 and religious  
revolutions roused up in ,england for   

many years past by ,bell's ,weekly      
,dispatch1 the ,standard1 the ,morning  
,chronicle1 the ,post1 and  the ,london 
,times8    ,the first attempt at this   
institution in ,france was in #afca1 by 
a  physician1 who published the ,news1  
for the amusement and health of  his    
patients4 ,the ,french nation understood
 fully how to appreciate  this power4   
,napoleon1 with his own hand1 wrote     
articles for the press1  and so early as
 in #ahbi there were in ,paris #afi     
journals4 ,but in the  ,united ,states  
the newspaper has come to unlimited     
sway4 ,though in  #agge there were but  
thirty-seven in the whole country1 the  
number of  published journals is now    
counted by thousands2 and to-day--we may
 as  well acknowledge it as not--the    
religious and secular newspapers are    
the great educators of the country4     
,in our pulpits we preach to a few      
hundreds or thousands of people2 the    
newspaper addresses an audience of      
twenty thousand1 fifty thousand1 or  two

 hundred thousand4 ,we preach three or  
four times a week2 they every  morning  
or evening of the year4 ,if they are    
right1 they are gloriously  right2 if   
they are wrong1 they are awfully wrong4 
,i find no difficulty in accounting for 
the world's advance4 ,four  centuries   
ago1 in ,germany1 in courts of justice1 
men fought with their  fists to see who 
should have the decision of the court2  
and if the  judge's decision was        
unsatisfactory1 then the judge fought   
with the  counsel4 ,many of the lords   
could not read the deeds of their own   
estates4 ,what has made the change8     
,books1 you say4    ,no1 sir6 ,the vast 
majority of citizens do not read books4 
,take this  audience1 or any other      
promiscuous assemblage1 and how many    
histories  have they read8 ,how many    
treatises on constitutional law1 or     
political  economy1 or works of science8
 ,how many elaborate poems or books of  
travel8 ,how much of ,boyle1 or ,de     
,tocqueville1 ,xenophon1 or ,herodotus1 

or ,percival8 ,not many6    ,in the     
,united ,states1 the people would not   
average one such book a  year for each  
individual6    ,whence1 then1 this      
intelligence--this capacity to talk     
about all  themes1 secular and          
religious--this acquaintance with       
science and  art--this power to         
appreciate the beautiful and grand8     
,next to the  ,bible1 the               
newspaper1--swift-winged1 and everywhere
 present1  flying over the fences1      
shoved under the door1 tossed into the  
counting-house1 laid on the work-bench1 
hawked through the cars6 ,all  read it3 
white and black1 ,german1 ,irishman1    
,swiss1 ,spaniard1 ,american1  old and  
young1 good and bad1 sick and well1     
before breakfast and after  tea1 ,monday
 morning1 ,saturday night1 ,sunday and  
week day6    ,i now declare that ,i     
consider the newspaper to be the grand  
agency  by which the ,gospel is to be   
preached1 ignorance cast out1 oppression
  dethroned1 crime extirpated1 the world

 raised1 heaven rejoiced1 and  ,god     
glorified4    ,in the clanking of the   
printing-press1 as the sheets fly out1  
,i hear  the voice of the ,lord         
,almighty proclaiming to all the dead   
nations  of the earth1--,lazarus1 come  
forth6 ,and to the retreating surges  of
 darkness1--,let there be light6 ,in    
many of our city newspapers1  professing
 no more than secular information1 there
 have appeared  during the past ten     
years some of the grandest appeals in   
behalf of  religion1 and some of the    
most effective interpretations of ,god's
  government among the nations4    ,that
 man has a shrivelled heart who         
begrudges the five pennies he  pays to  
the newsboy who brings the world to his 
feet4 ,there are  to-day connected with 
the editorial and reportorial corps of  
newspaper  establishments men of the    
highest culture and most unimpeachable  
morality1 who are living on the most    
limited stipends1 martyrs to  the work  
to which they feel themselves called4   

,while you sleep in the  midnight hours1
 their pens fly1 and their brains ache  
in preparing  the morning intelligence4 
,many of them go1 unrested and          
unappreciated1  their cheeks blanched   
and their eyes half quenched with       
midnight  work1 toward premature graves1
 to have the proof-sheet of their  life 
corrected by ,divine mercy1 glad at last
 to escape the perpetual  annoyances of 
a fault-finding public1 and the         
restless1 impatient cry  for more copy4 
,nations are to be born in a day4 ,will 
this great inrush come from  personal   
presence of missionary or               
philanthropist8 ,no4 ,when the time     
comes for that grand demonstration ,i   
think the press in all the earth  will  
make the announcement1 and give the call
 to the nations4 ,as at  some           
telegraphic centre1 an operator will    
send the messages1 north and  south1 and
 east and west1 ,san ,francisco and     
,heart's ,content catching  the flash at
 the same instant2 so1 standing at some 

centre to which  shall reach all the    
electric wires that cross the continent 
and  undergird the sea1 some one shall1 
with the forefinger of the right  hand1 
click the instrument that shall thrill  
through all lands1 across  all islands1 
under all seas1 through all palaces1    
into all dungeons1  and startle both    
hemispheres with the news1 that in a few
  moments shall rush out from the ten   
thousand times ten thousand             
printing-presses of the earth3 ,glory to
 ,god in the highest1 and on  earth     
peace1 good-will toward men6    ,you    
see1 therefore1 that1 in the plain words
 to be written1 ,i have no  grudges to  
gratify against the newspaper press4    
,professional men are  accustomed to    
complain of injustice done them1 but ,i 
take the censure  ,i have sometimes     
received and place it on one side the   
scales1 and the  excessive praise1 and  
place it on the other side1 and they    
balance1  and so ,i consider ,i have had
 simple justice4 ,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 pens4    
,there are enough bad newspapers  weekly
 poured out into the homes of our       
country to poison a vast  population4   
,in addition to the home manufacture of 
iniquitous sheets1  the mail-bags of    
other cities come in gorged with        
abominations4 ,new  ,york scoops up from
 the sewers of other cities1 and adds to
 its own  newspaper filth4 ,and         
to-night1 lying on the tables of this   
city1 or  laid away on the shelf1 or in 
the trunk1 for more private perusal1 are
  papers the mere mention of the names  
of which would send a blush to  the     
cheek1 and make the decent and          
,christian world cry out3 ,god save  the
 city6    ,there is a paper published in
 ,boston of outrageous character1 and   
yet  there are seven thousand copies of 
that paper coming weekly to ,new  ,york 
for circulation4 ,i will not mention the
 name1 lest some of you  should go right

 away and get it4 ,it is wonderful how  
quick the fingers  of the printer-boy   
fly1 but the fingers of sin and         
pollution can set  up fifty thousand    
types in an instant4 ,the supply of bad 
newspapers  in ,new ,york does not meet 
the insatiable appetite of our people   
for  refuse1 and garbage1 and moral     
swill4 ,we must1 therefore1 import      
corrupt weeklies published elsewhere1   
that make our newspaper stands  groan   
under the burden4    ,but we need not go
 abroad4 ,there are papers in ,new ,york
 that long ago  came to perfection of   
shamelessness1 and there is no more     
power  in venom and mud and slime to    
pollute them4 ,they have dashed their   
iniquities into the face of everything  
decent and holy4 ,and their work  will  
be seen in the crime and debauchery and 
the hell of innumerable  victims4 ,their
 columns are not long and broad enough  
to record the  tragedies of their       
horrible undoing of immortal men and    
women4    ,god1 after a while1 will hold

 up these reeking1 stenchful1 accursed  
sheets1 upon which they spread out their
 guilt1 and the whole universe  will cry
 out for their damnation4 ,see the work 
of bad newspapers  in the false tidings 
they bring6 ,there are hundreds of men  
to-day  penniless1 who were1 during the 
war1 hurled from their affluent         
positions by incorrect accounts of      
battles that shook the  money-market1   
and the gold gamblers1 with their hoofs1
 trampled these  honest men into the    
mire4 ,and many a window was hoisted at 
the hour of  midnight as the boy        
shouted3 ,extra6 ,extra6 ,and the father
 and mother  who had an only son at the 
front1 with trembling hand1 and blanched
  cheek1 and sinking heart1 read of     
battles that had never occurred4  ,god  
pity the father and mother who have a   
boy at the front when evil  tidings     
come6 ,if an individual makes a false   
statement1 one or twenty  persons may be
 damaged2 but a newspaper of large      
circulation that  wilfully makes a      

misstatement in one day tells fifty     
thousand  falsehoods4    ,the most      
stupendous of all lies is a newspaper   
lie4    ,a bad newspaper scruples not at
 any slander4 ,it may be that1 to escape
  the grip of the law1 the paragraphs   
will be nicely worded1 so that the      
suspicion is thrown out and the damage  
done without any exposure to  the law4  
,year by year1 thousands of men are     
crushed by the ink-roller4  ,an         
unscrupulous man in the editorial chair 
may smite as with the  wing of a        
destroying angel4 ,what to him is       
commercial integrity1 or  professional  
reputation1 or woman's honor1 or home's 
sanctity8 ,it  seems as if he held in   
his hand a hose with which1 while all   
the  harpies of sin were working at the 
pumps1 he splashed the waters of  death 
upon the best interests of society4     
,the express-train in ,england halts not
 to take in water1 but between  the     
tracks there is a trough1 one-fourth of 
a mile in length1 filled  with water2   

and the engine drops a hose that catches
 up the water  while the train flies4   
,so with bad newspapers that fly along  
the track  of death without pausing a   
moment1 yet scooping up into themselves 
the  pollution of society1 and in the   
awful rush making the earth tremble4    
,the most abandoned man of the city may 
go to the bad newspaper and get  a      
slander inserted about the best man4 ,if
 he cannot do it in any other  way1 he  
can by means of an anonymous            
communication4 ,now1 a man who1  to     
injure another1 will write an anonymous 
letter1 is1 in the first  place1 a      
coward1 and1 in the second place1 a     
villain4 ,many of these  offensive      
anonymous letters you see in the bad    
newspaper have been  found to be written
 in the editorial chair4    ,the bad    
newspaper stops not at any political    
outrage4 ,it would arouse  a revolution1
 and empty the hearts of a million brave
 men in the  trenches1 rather than not  
have its own circulation multiply4      

,what to it are the hard-earned laurels 
of the soldier or the exalted           
reputation of the statesman8 ,its       
editors would1 if they dared1 blow  up  
the ,capitol of the nation if they could
 only successfully carry off  the frieze
 of one of the corridors4 ,there are    
enough falsehoods told  at any one of   
our autumnal elections to make the      
,father of ,lies  disown his monstrous  
progeny4 ,now it is the ,mayor1 then the
 ,governor1  now the ,secretary of      
,state1 and then the ,president1 until  
the air is  so full of misrepresentation
 that truth is hidden from the view1 as 
beautiful landscapes by the clouds of   
summer insects blown up from the        
marshes4    ,the immoral newspaper stops
 not at the unclean advertisement4 ,it  
is  so much for so many words1 and in   
such a sheet it will cost no more  to   
advertise the most impure book than the 
new edition of ,pilgrim's  ,progress4 ,a
 book such as no decent man would touch 
was a few months  ago advertised in a   

,new ,york paper1 and the getter-up of  
the book1  passing down one of our      
streets the other day1 acknowledged to  
one of  my friends that he had made     
#ah1jjj out of the enterprise4    ,in   
one column of a paper we see a grand    
ethical discussion1 and in  another the 
droppings of most accursed nastiness4   
,oh6 you cannot by  all your religion1  
in one column1 atone for one of your    
abominations  in another6 ,i am rejoiced
 that some of our papers have addressed 
those  who have proposed to compensate  
them for bad use of their columns1 in   
the words of ,peter to ,simon ,magus3   
,thy money perish with thee6 ,but ,i    
arraign the newspapers that give their  
columns to corrupt advertising  for the 
nefarious work they are doing4 ,the most
 polluted plays that  ever oozed from   
the poisonous pen of leprous dramatist  
have won  their deathful power through  
the medium of newspapers2 the evil is   
stupendous6    ,o ye reckless souls6 get
 money--though morality dies1 and       

society is  dishonored1 and ,god defied1
 and the doom of the destroyed opens    
before  you--get money6 ,though the     
melted gold be poured upon your naked1  
blistered1 and consuming soul--get      
money6 ,get money6 ,it will do you  good
 when it begins to eat like a canker6   
,it will solace the pillow  of death1   
and soothe the pangs of an agonized     
eternity6 ,though in the  game thou dost
 stake thy soul1 and lose it            
forever--get money6    ,the bad         
newspaper hesitates not to assault      
,christianity and its  disciples4 ,with 
what exhilaration it puts in capitals1  
that fill  one-fourth of a column1 the  
defalcation of some agent of a          
benevolent  society6 ,there is enough   
meat in such a carcass of reputation to 
gorge  all the carrion-crows of an      
iniquitous printing-press4 ,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  institution6

 ,they jeer at religion1 and lift up    
their voices until all  the caverns of  
the lost resound with the howl of their 
derision4 ,they  forget that            
,christianity is the only hope for the  
world1 and that1 but  for its           
enlightenment1 they would now be like   
the ,hottentots1 living  in mud hovels1 
or like the ,chinese1 eating rats4      
,what would you think of a wretch who1  
during a great storm1 while the  ship   
was being tossed to and fro on the angry
 waves1 should climb up  into the       
light-house and blow out the light8 ,and
 what do you think of  these men1 who1  
while all the ,christian and the        
glorious institutions  of the world are 
being tossed and driven hither and      
thither1 are  trying to climb up and put
 out the only light of a lost world8    
,the bad newspaper stops not at         
publishing the most damaging and        
unclean story4 ,the only question is3   
,will it pay8 ,and there are  scores of 
men who1 day by day1 bring into the     

newspaper offices  manuscripts for      
publication which unite all that is     
pernicious2 and1  before the ink is     
fairly dry1 tens of thousands are       
devouring with  avidity the impure      
issue4 ,their sensibilities deadened1   
their sense  of right perverted1 their  
purity of thought tarnished1 their taste
  for plain life despoiled--the         
printing-press1 with its iron foot1 hath
  dashed their life out6 ,while ,i      
speak1 there are many people1 with  feet
 on the ottoman1 and the gas turned on1 
looking down on the  page1 submerged1   
mind and soul1 in the perusal of this   
,god-forsaken  periodical literature2   
and the last ,christian mother will have
 put  the hands of the little child     
under the coverlet for the night1 before
  they will rouse up1 as the city clock 
strikes the hour of midnight1 to  go    
death-struck to their prayerless        
pillows4    ,one of the proprietors of a
 great paper in this country gave his   
advice to a young man then about to     

start a paper3 ,if you want to  succeed1
 said he1 make your paper trashy1       
intensely trashy1--make it  all trash6  
,brilliant advice to a young man just   
entering business6    ,it is very often 
that1 as a paper purifies itself1 its   
circulation  decreases1 and sometimes   
when a paper becomes positively         
religious1 it  becomes bankrupt1 unless 
some benevolent and ,christian men come 
up  to sustain it by contributions of   
money and means4 ,but few religious     
newspapers in this country are          
self-supporting4 ,the reason urged      
is--the country cannot stand so much    
religion6 ,hear it6 ,christian men  and 
philanthropists6    ,many papers that   
are most rapidly increasing to-day are  
unscrupulous4  ,the facts are momentous 
and appalling4 ,and ,i put young men and
 women  and ,christian parents and      
guardians on the look-out4 ,this stuff  
cannot  be handled without pollution4   
,away with it from parlor1 and shop1    
and store6 ,there is so much newspaper  

literature that is pure1 and  cheap1 and
 elegant2 shove back this leprosy from  
your door4    ,mark it well3 a man is no
 better than the newspaper he habitually
  reads4    ,you may think it a bold    
thing thus to arraign an unprincipled   
printing-press1 but ,i know there are   
those reading this who will take  my    
counsel2 and1 in the discharge of my    
duty to ,god and man1 ,i defy  all the  
hostilities of earth and hell6          
,representatives of the secular and     
religious press6 ,i thank you1 in  the  
name of ,christianity and civilization1 
for the enlightenment of  ignorance1 the
 overthrow of iniquity1 and the words   
you have uttered  in the cause of ,god  
and your country4 ,but ,i charge you in 
the name  of ,god1 before whom you must 
account for the tremendous influence you
  hold in this country1 to consecrate   
yourselves to higher endeavors4  ,you   
are the men to fight back this invasion 
of corrupt literature4  ,lift up your   
right hand and swear new allegiance to  

the cause of  philanthropy and religion4
 ,and when1 at last1 standing on the    
plains  of judgment1 you look out upon  
the unnumbered throngs over whom you    
have had influence1 may it be found that
 you were among the mightiest  energies 
that lifted men upon the exalted pathway
 that leads to the  renown of heaven4   
,better than to have sat in editorial   
chair1 from  which1 with the finger of  
type1 you decided the destinies of      
empires1  but decided them wrong1 that  
you had been some dungeoned exile1 who1 
by the light of window iron-grated1 on  
scraps of a ,new ,testament leaf1       
picked up from the hearth1 spelled out  
the story of ,him who taketh  away the  
sins of the world4    ,,in ,,eternity1  
,,dives ,,is ,,the ,,beggar6            
,,the ,,fatal ,,ten-,,strike4           
,while among my readers are those who   
have passed on into the afternoon  of   
life1 and the shadows are lengthening1  
and the sky crimsons with  the glow of  
the setting sun1 a large number of them 

are in early life1  and the morning is  
coming down out of the clear sky upon   
them1 and the  bright air is redolent   
with spring blossoms1 and the stream of 
life1  gleaming and glancing1 rushes on 
between flowery banks1 making music  as 
it goes4 ,some of you are engaged in    
mercantile establishments1 as  clerks   
and book-keepers2 and your whole life is
 to be passed in the  exciting world of 
traffic4 ,the sound of busy life stirs  
you as the  drum stirs the fiery        
war-horse4 ,others are in the mechanical
 arts1 to  hammer and chisel your way   
through life2 and success awaits you4   
,some are preparing for professional    
life1 and grand opportunities are       
before you2 nay1 some of you already    
have buckled on the armor4    ,but1     
whatever your age or calling1 the       
subject of gambling1 about  which ,i    
speak in this chapter1 is pertinent4    
,some years ago1 when an association for
 the suppression of gambling  was       
organized1 an agent of the association  

came to a prominent citizen  and asked  
him to patronize the society4 ,he said1 
,no1 ,i can have no  interest in such an
 organization4 ,i am in no wise affected
 by that  evil4    ,at that very time   
his son1 who was his partner in         
business1 was one of  the heaviest      
players in ,herne's famous gaming       
establishment4 ,another  refused his    
patronage on the same ground1 not       
knowing that his first  book-keeper1    
though receiving a salary of only a     
thousand dollars1 was  losing from fifty
 to one hundred dollars per night4 ,the 
president of  a railroad company refused
 to patronize the institution1          
saying--,that  society is good for the  
defence of merchants1 but we railroad   
people  are not injured by this evil2   
not knowing that1 at that very time1    
two of his conductors were spending     
three nights of each week at faro       
tables in ,new ,york4 ,directly or      
indirectly1 this evil strikes at the    
whole world4    ,gambling is the risking

 of something more or less valuable in  
the hope  of winning more than you      
hazard4 ,the instruments of gaming may  
differ1  but the principle is the same4 
,the shuffling and dealing of cards1    
however full of temptation1 is not      
gambling1 unless stakes are put up2     
while1 on the other hand1 gambling may  
be carried on without cards1 or  dice1  
or billiards1 or a ten-pin alley4 ,the  
man who bets on horses1  on elections1  
on battles--the man who deals in fancy  
stocks1  or conducts a business which   
extra hazards capital1 or goes into     
transactions without foundation1 but    
dependent upon what men call  luck1 is a
 gambler4    ,it is estimated that      
one-fourth of the business in ,london is
 done  dishonestly4 ,whatever you expect
 to get from your neighbor without      
offering an equivalent in money or time 
or skill1 is either the  product of     
theft or gaming4 ,lottery tickets and   
lottery policies come  into the same    
category4 ,fairs for the founding of    

hospitals1 schools  and churches1       
conducted on the raffling system1 come  
under the same  denomination4 ,do not1  
therefore1 associate gambling           
necessarily with  any instrument1 or    
game1 or time1 or place1 or think the   
principle  depends upon whether you play
 for a glass of wine1 or one hundred    
shares in ,camden and ,amboy4 ,whether  
you employ faro or billiards1  rondo and
 keno1 cards1 or bagatelle1 the very    
idea of the thing is  dishonest2 for it 
professes to bestow upon you a good for 
which you  give no equivalent4    ,this 
crime is no newborn sprite1 but a       
haggard transgression that  comes       
staggering down under a mantle of curses
 through many centuries4  ,all nations1 
barbarous and civilized1 have been      
addicted to it4 ,before  #ahch1 the     
,french government received revenue from
 gaming houses4  ,in #aefg1 ,england1   
for the improvement of her harbors1     
instituted a  lottery1 to be held at the
 front door of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral4 

,four  hundred thousand tickets were    
sold1 at ten shillings each4 ,the       
,british ,museum and ,westminster       
,bridge were partially built by similar 
procedures4 ,the ancient ,germans would 
sometimes put up themselves and         
families as prizes1 and suffer          
themselves to be bound1 though stronger 
than the persons who won them4    ,but  
now the laws of the whole civilized     
world denounce the system4  ,enactments 
have been passed1 but only partially    
enforced4 ,the men  interested in gaming
 houses wield such influence1 by their  
numbers and  affluence1 that the judge1 
the jury1 and the police officer must   
be bold indeed who would array          
themselves against these infamous       
establishments4 ,within ten years the   
,house of ,commons of ,england has      
adjourned on ,derby ,day to go out to   
bet on the races2 and in the  best      
circles of society in this country      
to-day are many hundreds of  professedly
 respectable men who are acknowledged   

gamblers4    ,hundreds of thousands of  
dollars in this land are every day being
 won  and lost through sheer gambling4  
,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
 journey4 ,the ,south-west of this      
country reeks with  this abomination4   
,in ,new ,orleans every third or fourth 
house in many  of the streets is a      
gaming place1 and it may be truthfully  
averred  that each and all of our cities
 are cursed with this evil4    ,in      
themselves most of the games employed in
 gambling are without harm4             
,billiard-tables are as harmless as     
tea-tables1 and a pack of cards as  a   
pack of letter envelopes1 unless stakes 
be put up4 ,but by their use  for       
gambling purposes they have become      
significant of an infinity  of          
wretchedness4 ,in ,new ,york city there 
are said to be six thousand  houses     

devoted to this sin2 in ,philadelphia   
about four thousand2 in  ,cincinnati    
about one thousand2 at ,washington the  
amount of gaming is  beyond calculation4
 ,there have been seasons when1 by      
night1 ,senators1  ,representatives1 and
 ,ministers of ,foreign ,governments    
were found  engaged in this practice4   
,men wishing to gamble will find places 
just suited to their capacity1  not only
 in the underground oyster-cellar1 or at
 the table back of the  curtain1 covered
 with greasy cards1 or in the steamboat 
smoking cabin1  where the bloated wretch
 with rings in his ears deals out his   
pack1  and winks in the unsuspecting    
traveller1--providing free drinks all   
around1--but in gilded parlors and amid 
gorgeous surroundings4    ,this sin     
works ruin1 first1 by unhealthful       
stimulants4 ,excitement is  pleasurable4
 ,under every sky1 and in every age1 men
 have sought it4  ,the ,chinaman gets it
 by smoking his opium2 the ,persian by  
chewing  hashish2 the trapper in a      

buffalo hunt2 the sailor in a squall2   
the  inebriate in the bottle1 and the   
avaricious at the gaming-table4    ,we  
must at times have excitement4 ,a       
thousand voices in our nature  demand   
it4 ,it is right4 ,it is healthful4 ,it 
is inspiriting4 ,it is a  desire        
,god-given4 ,but anything that first    
gratifies this appetite and  hurls it   
back in a terrific reaction is          
deplorable and wicked4 ,look  out for   
the agitation that1 like a rough        
musician1 in bringing out the  tune1    
plays so hard he breaks down the        
instrument6    ,god never made man      
strong enough to endure the wear and    
tear of  gambling excitement4 ,no wonder
 if1 after having failed in the game1   
men have begun to sweep off imaginary   
gold from the side of the table4  ,the  
man was sharp enough when he started at 
the game1 but a maniac at  the close4   
,at every gaming-table sit on one side  
,ecstasy1 ,enthusiasm1  ,romance--the   
frenzy of joy2 on the other side1       

,fierceness1 ,rage1  and ,tumult4 ,the  
professional gamester schools himself   
into apparent  quietness4 ,the keepers  
of gambling rooms are generally fat1    
rollicking1 and obese2 but thorough and 
professional gamblers1 in nine  cases   
out of ten1 are pale1 thin1 wheezing1   
tremulous1 and exhausted4    ,a young   
man1 having suddenly heired a large     
property1 sits at the  hazard-table1 and
 takes up in a dice-box the estate won  
by a father's  lifetime sweat1 and      
shakes it1 and tosses it away4          
,intemperance soon stigmatizes its      
victim--kicking him out1 a slavering    
fool1 into the ditch1 or sending him1   
with the drunkard's hiccough1           
staggering up the street where his      
family lives4 ,but gambling does  not1  
in that way1 expose its victims4 ,the   
gambler may be eaten up by  the         
gambler's passion1 yet only discover it 
by the greed in his eyes1  the hardness 
of his features1 the nervous            
restlessness1 the threadbare  coat1 and 

his embarrassed business4 ,yet he is on 
the road to hell1  and no preacher's    
voice1 or startling warning1 or wife's  
entreaty1 can  make him stay for a      
moment his headlong career4 ,the        
infernal spell  is on him2 a giant is   
aroused within2 and though you bind him 
with  cables1 they would part like      
thread2 and though you fasten him seven 
times round with chains1 they would snap
 like rusted wire2 and though  you piled
 up in his path1 heaven-high1 ,bibles1  
tracts and sermons1 and  on the top     
should set the cross of the ,son of     
,god1 over them all the  gambler would  
leap like a roe over the rocks1 on his  
way to perdition4    ,again1 this sin   
works ruin by killing industry4    ,a   
man used to reaping scores or hundreds  
of dollars from the  gaming-table will  
not be content with slow work4 ,he will 
say1 ,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'8 ,you never knew

  a confirmed gambler who was           
industrious4 ,the men given to this vice
  spend their time not actively employed
 in the game in idleness1 or            
intoxication1 or sleep1 or in corrupting
 new victims4 ,this sin has  dulled the 
carpenter's saw1 and cut the band of the
 factory wheel1  sunk the cargo1 broken 
the teeth of the farmer's harrow1 and   
sent a  strange lightning to shatter the
 battery of the philosopher4    ,the    
very first idea in gaming is at war with
 all the industries of  society4 ,any   
trade or occupation that is of use is   
ennobling4 ,the  street sweeper advances
 the interests of society by the        
cleanliness  effected4 ,the cat pays for
 the fragments it eats by clearing the  
house  of vermin4 ,the fly that takes   
the sweetness from the dregs of the cup 
compensates by purifying the air and    
keeping back the pestilence4 ,but  the  
gambler gives not anything for that     
which he takes4    ,i recall that       
sentence4 ,he does make a return2 but it

 is disgrace to  the man that he        
fleeces1 despair to his heart1 ruin to  
his business1  anguish to his wife1     
shame to his children1 and eternal      
wasting away  to his soul4 ,he pays in  
tears and blood1 and agony1 and         
darkness1 and  woe4    ,what dull work  
is ploughing to the farmer1 when in the 
village saloon1  in one night1 he makes 
and loses the value of a summer harvest8
 ,who  will want to sell tape1 and      
measure nankeen1 and cut garments1 and  
weigh sugars1 when in a night's game he 
makes and loses1 and makes  again1 and  
loses again1 the profits of a season8   
,john ,borack was sent as mercantile    
agent from ,bremen to ,england and  this
 country4 ,after two years his employers
 mistrusted that all was  not right4 ,he
 was a defaulter for eighty-seven       
thousand dollars4 ,it  was found that he
 had lost in ,lombard street1 ,london1  
twenty-nine  thousand dollars2 in       
,fulton street1 ,new ,york1 ten thousand
 dollars2  and in ,new ,orleans1 three  

thousand dollars4 ,he was imprisoned1   
but  afterwards escaped and went into   
the gambling profession4 ,he died in a  
lunatic asylum4    ,this crime is       
getting its pry under many a mercantile 
house in our  cities1 and before long   
down will come the great establishment1 
crushing reputation1 home1 comfort1 and 
immortal souls4 ,how it diverts  and    
sinks capital may be inferred from some 
authentic statements  before us4 ,the   
ten gaming-houses that once were        
authorized in ,paris  passed through the
 banks1 yearly1 three hundred and       
twenty-five  millions of francs6 ,the   
houses of this kind in ,germany yield   
vast sums  to the government4 ,the      
,hamburg establishment pays to the      
government  treasury forty thousand     
florins2 and ,baden ,baden one hundred  
and twenty thousand florins4 ,each one  
of the banks in the large  gaming-houses
 of ,germany has forty or fifty         
croupiers standing in its  service4     
,where does all the money come from8    

,the whole world is robbed6 ,what  is   
most sad1 there are no consolations for 
the loss and suffering  entailed by     
gaming4 ,if men fail in lawful business1
 ,god pities1 and  society commiserates2
 but where in the ,bible1 or in society1
 is there  any consolation for the      
gambler8 ,from what tree of the forest  
oozes  there a balm that can soothe the 
gamester's heart8 ,in that bottle  where
 ,god keeps the tears of his children1  
are there any tears of the  gambler8 ,do
 the winds that come to kiss the faded  
cheek of sickness1  and to cool the     
heated brow of the laborer1 whisper hope
 and cheer to  the emaciated victim of  
the game of hazard8 ,when an honest man 
is in  trouble1 he has sympathy4 ,poor  
fellow6 they say4 ,but do gamblers  come
 to weep at the agonies of the gambler8 
,in ,northumberland was one  of the     
finest estates in ,england4 ,mr4 ,porter
 owned it1 and in a year  gambled it all
 away4 ,having lost the last acre of the
 estate1 he came  down from the saloon  

and got into his carriage2 went back2   
put up his  horses1 and carriage1 and   
town house1 and played4 ,he threw and   
lost4 ,he started home1 and on a side   
alley met a friend from whom  he        
borrowed ten guineas2 went back to the  
saloon1 and before a great  while had   
won twenty thousand pounds4 ,he died at 
last a beggar in ,st4  ,giles4 ,how many
 gamblers felt sorry for ,mr4 ,porter8  
,who consoled him  on the loss of his   
estate8 ,what gambler subscribed to put 
a stone over  the poor man's grave8 ,not
 one6    ,furthermore1 this sin is the  
source of uncounted dishonesties4 ,the  
game of hazard itself is often a cheat4 
,how many tricks and deceptions  in the 
dealing of the cards6 ,the opponent's   
hand is ofttimes found  out by fraud4   
,cards are marked so that they may be   
designated from the  back4 ,expert      
gamesters have their accomplices1 and   
one wink may  decide the game4 ,the dice
 have been found loaded with platina1 so
  that doublets come up every time4     

,these dice are introduced by the       
gamblers unobserved by the honest men   
who have come into the play2  and this  
accounts for the fact that ninety-nine  
out of a hundred who  gamble1 however   
wealthy they began1 at the end are found
 to be poor1  miserable1 ragged         
wretches1 that would not now be allowed 
to sit on  the door-step of the house   
that they once owned4    ,in a          
gaming-house in ,san ,francisco1 a young
 man having just come  from the mines   
deposited a large sum upon the ace1 and 
won twenty-two  thousand dollars4 ,but  
the tide turns4 ,intense anxiety comes  
upon the  countenances of all4 ,slowly  
the cards went forth4 ,every eye is     
fixed4  ,not a sound is heard1 until the
 ace is revealed favorable to the bank4 
,there are shouts of ,foul6 ,foul6 but  
the keepers of the table  produce their 
pistols and the uproar is silenced1 and 
the bank has won  ninety-five thousand  
dollars4 ,do you call this a game of    
chance8 ,there  is no chance about it4  

,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 work4 ,gambling1  
with its greedy hand1 has  snatched away
 the widow's mite and the portion of the
 orphans2 has  sold the daughter's      
virtue to get means to continue the     
game2 has  written the counterfeit      
signature1 emptied the banker's money   
vault1  and wielded the assassin's      
dagger4 ,there is no depth of meanness  
to  which it will not stoop4 ,there is  
no cruelty at which it is appalled4     
,there is no warning of ,god that it    
will not dare4 ,merciless1              
unappeasable1 fiercer and wilder it     
blinds1 it hardens1 it rends1 it        
blasts1 it crushes1 it damns4 ,it has   
peopled ,moyamensing1 and ,auburn1  and 
,sing ,sing4    ,how many railroad      
agents1 and cashiers1 and trustees of   
funds1 it has  driven to disgrace1      
incarceration1 and suicide6 ,witness a  

cashier of  the ,central ,railroad and  
,banking ,company of ,georgia1 who stole
 one  hundred and three thousand dollars
 to carry on his gaming practices4      
,witness the forty thousand dollars     
stolen from a ,brooklyn bank2 and  the  
one hundred and eighty thousand dollars 
taken from a ,wall ,street  ,insurance  
,company for the same purpose6 ,these   
are only illustrations  on a large scale
 of the robberies every day committed   
for the  purpose of carrying out the    
designs of gamblers4 ,hundreds of       
thousands  of dollars every year leak   
out without observation from the        
merchant's  till into the gambling hell4
    ,a man in ,london keeping one of    
these gambling houses boasted that he   
had ruined a nobleman a day2 but if all 
the saloons of this land were  to speak 
out1 they might utter a more infamous   
boast1 for they have  destroyed a       
thousand noblemen a year4    ,notice    
also the effect of this crime upon      
domestic happiness4 ,it hath  sent its  

ruthless ploughshare through hundreds of
 families1 until the  wife sat in rags1 
and the daughters were disgraced1 and   
the sons grew  up to the same infamous  
practices1 or took a short cut to       
destruction  across the murderer's      
scaffold4 ,home has lost all charms for 
the  gambler4 ,how tame are the         
children's caresses and a wife's        
devotion to  the gambler6 ,how drearily 
the fire burns on the domestic hearth6  
,there  must be louder laughter1 and    
something to win and something to lose2 
an excitement to drive the heart faster 
and fillip the blood and fire  the      
imagination4 ,no home1 however bright1  
can keep back the gamester4  ,the sweet 
call of love bounds back from his iron  
soul1 and all  endearments are consumed 
in the flame of his passion4 ,the family
 ,bible  will go after all other        
treasures are lost1 and if his          
everlasting  crown in heaven were put   
into his hand he would cry3 ,here goes1 
one  more game1 my boys6 ,on this one   

throw ,i stake my crown of heaven4    ,a
 young man in ,london1 on coming of age1
 received a fortune of one  hundred and 
twenty thousand dollars1 and through    
gambling in three  years was thrown on  
his mother for support4    ,an only son 
went to ,new ,orleans4 ,he was rich1    
intellectual1 and  elegant in manners4  
,his parents gave him1 on his departure 
from home1  their last blessing4 ,the   
sharpers got hold of him4 ,they         
flattered him4  ,they lured him to the  
gaming-table and let him win almost     
every time  for a good while1 and patted
 him on the back and said1 ,first-rate  
player4 ,but1 fully in their grasp1 they
 fleeced him2 and his thirty  thousand  
dollars were lost4 ,last of all he put  
up his watch and lost  that4 ,then he   
began to think of home and of his old   
father and mother1  and wrote thus3--   
,,my ,,beloved ,,parents3--,you will    
doubtless feel a momentary joy      at  
the reception of this letter from the   
child of your bosom1      on whom you   

have lavished all the favors of your    
declining      years4 ,but should a     
feeling of joy for a moment spring up   
in your hearts when you shall have      
received this from1 me1      cherish it 
not4 ,i have fallen deep--never to rise4
 ,those gray      hairs that ,i should  
have honored and protected ,i shall     
bring      down with sorrow to the      
grave4 ,i will not curse my destroyer1  
but oh6 may ,god avenge the wrongs and  
impositions practised      upon the     
unwary in a way that shall best please  
,him4 ,this1 my      dear parents1 is   
the last letter you will ever receive   
from      me4 ,i humbly pray your       
forgiveness4 ,it is my dying prayer4    
,long before you shall have received    
this letter from me the      cold grave 
will have closed upon me forever4 ,life 
is to me      insupportable4 ,i cannot1 
nay1 ,i will not suffer the shame of    
having ruined you4 ,forget and forgive  
is the dying prayer of      your        
unfortunate son4    ,the old father came

 to the post-office1 got the letter1 and
 fell to  the floor4 ,they thought he   
was dead at first2 but they brushed back
  the white hair from his brow and      
fanned him4 ,he had only fainted4 ,i    
wish he had been dead2 for what is life 
worth to a father after his  son is     
destroyed8    ,when things go wrong at a
 gaming-table1 they shout ,foul6 foul6  
,over  all the gaming-tables of the     
world ,i cry out ,foul6 foul6           
,infinitely  foul6    ,in modern days1  
in addition to the other forms of       
gambling1 have  come up the thoroughly  
organized and1 in some ,states1         
legalized  institution of lotteries4    
,there are hundreds of citizens on the  
way to  ruin through the lottery system4
 ,some of the finest establishments in  
town are by this process being          
demolished1 and the whole land feels    
the exhaustion of this accumulating     
evil4 ,the wheel of ,fortune is the     
,juggernaut that is crushing out the    
life of this nation4 ,the records  of   

the ,insolvent ,court of one city show  
that1 in five years1 two  hundred       
thousand dollars were lost by dealing in
 lottery tickets4 ,all  the officers of 
the celebrated ,bank of the ,united     
,states who failed  were found to have  
expended the money embezzled for lottery
 tickets4    ,a man drew in a lottery   
fifty thousand dollars1 sold his ticket 
for  forty-two thousand five hundred    
dollars1 and yet did not have enough  to
 pay the charges against him for lottery
 tickets4 ,he owed the  brokers         
forty-five thousand dollars4    ,an     
editor writes--,a man who1 a few years  
ago1 was blest with about  twenty       
thousand dollars 7lottery money71       
yesterday applied to us for  ninepence  
to pay for a night's lodging4    ,a     
highly respectable gentleman drew twenty
 thousand dollars in a  lottery2 bought 
more tickets1 and drew again2 bought    
more--drew more  largely2 then rushed   
down headlong until he was pronounced by
 the  select men of the village a       

vagabond1 and his children were picked  
up  from the street half starved and    
almost naked4    ,a hard-working        
machinist draws a thousand dollars2     
thenceforth he is  disgusted with work1 
opens a rum grocery1 is utterly         
debauched1 and  people go in his store  
to find him dead1 close beside his      
rum-cask4    ,it would take a pen       
plucked from the wing of the destroying 
angel and  dipped in blood to describe  
this lottery business4    ,a man        
committed suicide in ,new ,york1 and    
upon his person was found a  card of    
address giving a grog-shop as his       
boarding house1 three blank  lottery    
tickets1 and a leaf from ,seneca's      
,morals1 containing an  apology for     
self-murder4    ,one lottery in ,london 
was followed by the suicide of fifty    
persons who  held unlucky numbers4      
,there are men now1 with lottery tickets
 in their pocket1 which1 if  they have  
not sense enough to tear up or throw    
into the fire1 will be  their admission 

ticket at the door of the damned4 ,as   
the brazen gates  swing open they will  
show their tickets1 and pass in and pass
 down4 ,as  the wheel of eternal        
,fortune turns slowly round1 they will  
find that  the doom of those who have   
despised ,god and imperilled their souls
  will be their awful prize4    ,god    
forbid that you1 my reader1 should ever 
take to yourself the  lamentation of the
 ,boston clerk1 who1 in eight months1   
had embezzled  eighteen thousand dollars
 from his employer and expended it all  
in  lottery tickets4 ,i have for the    
last seven months gone fast down the    
broad road4 ,there was a time1 and that 
but a few months since1 when  ,i was    
happy1 because ,i was free from debt and
 care4 ,the moment of the  first steps  
in my downfall was about the middle of  
last ,june1 when  ,i took a share in a  
company1 bought lottery tickets whereby 
,i was  successful in obtaining a share 
of one-half of the capital prize1  since
 which ,i have gone for myself4 ,i have 

lived and dragged out a  miserable      
existence for two or three months past4 
,oh1 that the seven  or eight months    
past of my existence could be blotted   
out2 but ,i must  go1 and1 ere this     
paper is read1 my spirit has gone to my 
,maker1  to give an account of my       
misdeeds here1 and to receive the       
eternal  sentence for self-destruction  
and abused confidence4 ,relatives  and  
friends ,i have1 from whom ,i do not    
wish to part under such  circumstances1 
but necessity compels4 ,oh1 wretch6     
lottery tickets have  been thy ruin4    
,but ,i cannot add more4    ,there are  
multitudes of people who disapprove of  
ordinary lotteries1  yet have been      
thoroughly deceived by iniquity under a 
more attractive  nomenclature4 ,the     
lottery in which our most highly        
respectable and  ,christian people      
invest is some ,art ,association1 or    
some benevolent  ,gift ,enterprise1 in  
which they fondly believe there can be  
no harm  in drawing ,bierstadt's        

,yosemite ,valley1 or ,cropsey's        
,american  ,autumn6    ,at no time have 
lottery tickets been sown so broadcast  
as to-day1  notwithstanding the law     
forbids the old-style lottery4    ,a few
 years ago our newspapers flamed with   
the advertisements of the  ,crosby      
,opera ,house scheme4 ,a citizen of     
,chicago1 finding on his hands  an      
unprofitable building1 calls upon the   
whole country to help him  out4 ,rooms  
are opened in all the great cities4 ,in 
rush1 not the  abandoned and the        
reprobate 7for they like the old styles 
of  swindling better71 but the educated 
and refined and polished1 until a  host 
of people are in imminent peril of      
having thrown upon their hands  a       
splendid ,opera ,house4 ,philadelphia   
buys thirty thousand dollars  worth of  
tickets4 ,the portentous day approaches4
 ,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 manner4 ,the     
throng presses in4 ,hold fast your      
tickets1 all  you respectable ,new      
,yorkers1 ,philadelphians1 and          
,bostonians1 for the  wheel begins to   
move4 ,the long agony is over4 ,hundreds
 of thousands  of people have made a    
narrow escape from being ruined by      
sudden  affluence4 ,swift horses are    
despatched1 that1 foam-lathered1 dash up
  to the house of him who owns the      
successful ticket4 ,the lightnings  tell
 it to the four winds of heaven1 and our
 weekly pictorials hasten  forward the  
photographers to take the picture of the
 famous man who  owned the ticket       
numbered #eh1fjj4 ,multitudes think that
 there has been  foul play1 and that1   
after all1 they themselves1 if the truth
 were  known1 did draw the ,opera       
,house4 ,ten years from now there will  
stand  on the scaffold1 or behind the   
prison door1 or in the lonely room in   
which the suicide writes his farewell to
 wife or parents1 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
 ,house4    ,the man who won that prize 
is already dead of his dissipations1    
and1  strange to say1 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 away4    ,i care not on 
what street the office was1 nor who were
 the abettors  of the undertaking1 nor  
who bought the tickets4 ,i pronounce the
 whole  scheme to have been a swindle1 a
 crime1 and an insult to ,god and the   
nation4    ,in this class of            
gambler-makers ,i also put the gift     
stores1 which  are becoming abundant    
throughout the country4 ,with a book1 or
 knife1  or sewing machine1 or coat1 or 
carriage there goes a prize4 ,at those  
stores people get something thrown in   
with their purchase4 ,it may be a  gold 
watch or a set of silver1 a ring or a   
farm4 ,sharp way to get off  unsalable  

goods4 ,it has filled the land with     
fictitious articles and  covered up our 
population with brass finger-rings1 and 
despoiled  the moral sense of the       
community1 and is fast making us a      
nation of  gamblers4    ,the ,church of 
,god has not seemed willing to allow the
 world to have  all the advantage of    
these games of chance4 ,a church fair   
opens1 and  towards the close it is     
found that some of the more valuable    
articles  are unsalable4 ,forthwith the 
conductors of the enterprise conclude   
that they will raffle for some of the   
valuable articles1 and1 under  pretence 
of anxiety to make their minister a     
present1 or please some  popular member 
of the church1 fascinating persons are  
despatched  through the room1 pencil in 
hand1 to solicit shares2 or perhaps each
  draws for his own advantage1 and      
scores of people go home with their     
trophies1 thinking that all is right1   
for ,christian ladies did the           
embroidery1 and ,christian men did the  

raffling1 and the proceeds went  towards
 a new communion set4 ,but you may      
depend on it that1 as far as  morality  
is concerned1 you might as well have won
 by the crack of the  billiard-ball or  
the turn of the dice-box4    ,some good 
people cannot stand this raffling1 and  
so1 at fairs1 they go  to voting1       
sometimes for editors1 and sometimes for
 ministers1 at  a dollar a vote4 ,now   
the ,methodist minister is ahead2 now   
the  ,presbyterian leads1 and now the   
,baptist4 ,but1 just at the last moment1
  when one of the ministers of the more 
popular sect seems sure to get  the     
prize1 the members from some obscure    
denomination1 that do not  deserve the  
prize1 come in1 and by a large          
contribution carry off for  their       
minister the silver tea-set4    ,do you 
wonder that churches built1 lighted1 or 
upholstered by such  processes as that  
come to great financial and spiritual   
decrepitude8  ,the devil says3 ,i helped
 build that house of worship1 and ,i    

have as  much right there as you have2  
and for once the devil is right4    ,we 
do not read that they had a lottery for 
building the church at  ,corinth or     
,antioch1 or for getting up a           
gold-headed cane or for an  embroidered 
surplice for ,saint ,paul4 ,all this ,i 
style ecclesiastical  gambling4 ,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   
fair4    ,the gambling spirit has not   
stopped for any indecency4 ,there lately
  transpired1 in ,maryland1 a lottery in
 which people drew for lots in  a       
burying-ground6 ,the modern habit of    
betting about everything is  productive 
of immense mischief4 ,the most healthful
 and innocent  amusements of yachting   
and base-ball playing have been the     
occasion of  putting up excited and     
extravagant wagers4 ,that which to many 
has  been advantageous to body and mind 
has been to others the means of         
financial and moral loss4 ,the custom is

 pernicious in the extreme  where scores
 of men in respectable life give        
themselves up to betting1  now on this  
boat now on that--now on the ,atlantics 
and now on the  ,athletics4    ,betting1
 that once was chiefly the accompaniment
 of the race-course1  is fast becoming a
 national habit1 and in some circles any
  opinion advanced on finance or        
politics is accosted with the           
interrogatory--,how much will you bet on
 that1 sir8    ,this custom may make no 
appeal to slow1 lethargic temperaments1 
but there are in the country tens of    
thousands of quick1 nervous1  sanguine1 
excitable temperaments ready to be acted
 upon1 and their  feet will soon take   
hold on death4 ,for some months and     
perhaps for  years they will linger in  
the more polite and elegant circle of   
gamesters1 but1 after a while1 their    
pathway will come to the fatal  plunge4 
,finding themselves in the rapids1 they 
will try to back out1  and1 hurled over 
the brink1 they will clutch the side of 

the boat  until their finger-nails1     
blood-tipped1 will pierce the wood1 and 
then1 with white cheek and agonized     
stare1 and the horrors of the lost  soul
 lifting the very hair from the scalp1  
they will plunge down where  no         
grappling hooks can drag them out4      
,young man6 stand back from all styles  
of gambling6 ,the end thereof  is death4
 ,the gamblers enter the ten-pin alley  
where are husbands1  brothers1 and      
fathers4 ,put down your thousand dollars
 all in gold  eagles6 ,let the boy set  
up the pins at the other end of the     
alley6 ,now  stand back1 and give the   
gamester full sweep6 ,roll the          
first--there6  it strikes6 and down goes
 his respectability4 ,try it again4     
,roll the  second--there6 it strikes6   
and down goes the last feeling of       
humanity4  ,try it again4 ,roll the     
third--there6 it strikes6 and down goes 
his  soul forever4 ,it was not so much  
the pins that fell as the soul6 the     
soul6 ,,fatal ,,ten-,,strike ,,for      

,,eternity6    ,shall ,i sketch the     
history of the gambler8 ,lured by bad   
company1 he  finds his way into a place 
where honest men ought never to go4 ,he 
sits down to his first game only for    
pastime and the desire of being  thought
 sociable4 ,the players deal out the    
cards4 ,they unconsciously  play into   
,satan's hands1 who takes all the       
tricks1 and both the  players' souls for
 trumps--he being a sharper at any game4
 ,a slight  stake is put up just to add 
interest to the play4 ,game after game  
is  played4 ,larger stakes and still    
larger4 ,they begin to move nervously   
on their chairs4 ,their brows lower and 
eyes flash1 until now they who  win and 
they who lose1 fired alike with passion1
 sit with set jaws1  and compressed     
lips1 and clenched fists1 and eyes like 
fire-balls  that seem starting from     
their sockets1 to see the final turn    
before  it comes2 if losing1 pale with  
envy and tremulous with unuttered  oaths
 cast back red-hot upon the heart--or1  

winning1 with hysteric  laugh--,ha6 ,ha6
 ,i have it6 ,i have it6    ,a few years
 have passed1 and he is only the wreck  
of a man4 ,seating  himself at the game 
ere he throws the first card1 he stakes 
the last  relic of his wife1 and the    
marriage-ring which sealed the solemn   
vows  between them4 ,the game is lost1  
and1 staggering back in exhaustion1  he 
dreams4 ,the bright hours of the past   
mock his agony1 and in his  dreams1     
fiends1 with eyes of fire and tongues of
 flame1 circle about  him with joined   
hands1 to dance and sing their orgies   
with hellish  chorus1 chanting--,hail6  
brother6 kissing his clammy forehead    
until  their loathsome locks1 flowing   
with serpents1 crawl into his bosom  and
 sink their sharp fangs and suck up his 
life's blood1 and coiling  around his   
heart pinch it with chills and shudders 
unutterable4    ,take warning6 ,you are 
no stronger than tens of thousands who  
have1 by  this practice1 been           
overthrown4 ,no young man in our cities 

can escape  being tempted4 ,beware of   
the first beginnings6 ,this road is a   
down-grade1 and every instant increases 
the momentum4 ,launch not upon  this    
treacherous sea4 ,split hulks strew the 
beach4 ,everlasting storms  howl up and 
down1 tossing the unwary crafts into the
 ,hell-gate4 ,i  speak of what ,i have  
seen with my own eyes4 ,i have looked   
off into the  abyss and have seen the   
foaming1 and the hissing1 and the       
whirling  of the horrid deep in which   
the mangled victims writhed1 one  upon  
another1 and struggled1 strangled1      
blasphemed1 and died--the  death-stare  
of eternal despair upon their           
countenances as the waters  gurgled over
 them4    ,to a gambler's death-bed     
there comes no hope4 ,he will probably  
die  alone4 ,his former associates come 
not nigh his dwelling4 ,when the  hour  
comes1 his miserable soul will go out of
 a miserable life into  a miserable     
eternity4 ,as his poor remains pass the 
house where he was  ruined1 old         

companions may look out a moment and    
say--,there goes the  old carcass--dead 
at last1 but they will not get up from  
the table4  ,let him down now into his  
grave4 ,plant no tree to cast its shade 
there1 for the long1 deep1 eternal gloom
 that settles there is shadow  enough4  
,plant no forget-me-nots or eglantines  
around the spot1 for  flowers were not  
made to grow on such a blasted heath4   
,visit it not in  the sunshine1 for that
 would be mockery1 but in the dismal    
night1 when  no stars are out1 and the  
spirits of darkness come down horsed on 
the  wind1 then visit the grave of the  
gambler6          ,,some ,,of ,,the     
,,club-,,houses4      ,iniquity never   
gives a fair fight4 ,it springs out from
 ambush upon  the unsuspecting4 ,of the 
tens of thousands who have fallen into  
bad  habits1 not one deliberately leaped
 off1 but all were caught in some  sly  
trap4 ,you may have watched a panther or
 a cat about to take its  prey4 ,it     
crouches down1 puts its mouth between   

its paws1 and is hardly  to be seen in  
the long grass4 ,so iniquity always     
crouches down in  unexpected shapes1    
takes aim with unerring eye1 and then   
springs  upon you with sudden and       
terrific leap4 ,in secret places and in 
unlooked-for shapes it murders the      
innocent4    ,men are gregarious4       
,cattle in herds4 ,fish in schools4     
,birds in flocks4  ,men in social       
circles4 ,you may1 by the discharge of a
 gun1 scatter  a flock of quails1 or by 
the plunge of the anchor send apart the 
denizens of the sea2 but they will      
gather themselves together again4  ,if  
you1 by some new power1 could break the 
associations in which men  now stand1   
they would again adhere4 ,god meant it  
so4 ,he has gathered  all the flowers   
and shrubs into associations4 ,you may  
plant one  forget-me-not or hearts-ease 
alone1 away off upon the hillside1  but 
it will soon hunt up some other         
forget-me-not or hearts-ease4  ,plants  
love company2 you will find them talking

 to each other in the  dew4 ,a galaxy of
 stars is only a mutual life-insurance  
company4 ,you  sometimes see a man with 
no out-branchings of sympathy4 ,his     
nature is  cold and hard1 like a ship's 
mast1 ice-glazed1 which the most agile  
sailor could never climb4 ,others have a
 thousand roots and a thousand          
branches4 ,innumerable tendrils climb   
their hearts1 and blossom all the  way  
up2 and the fowls of heaven sing in the 
branches4    ,in consequence of this    
tendency1 we find men coming together in
  tribes1 in communities1 in churches1  
in societies4 ,some gather  together to 
cultivate the arts2 some to plan for the
 welfare of the  ,state2 some to discuss
 religious themes2 some to kindle their 
mirth2  some to advance their craft4 ,so
 every active community is divided into 
associations of artists1 of merchants1  
of bookbinders1 of carpenters1  of      
masons1 of plasterers1 of shipwrights1  
of plumbers4 ,do you cry out  against   
it8 ,then you cry out against a tendency

 divinely implanted4  ,your tirades will
 accomplish no more than if you should  
preach to a  busy ant-hill or bee-hive a
 long sermon against secret societies4  
,here we find in our path the           
oft-discussed question1 whether         
associations that do their work with    
closed doors1 and admit their  members  
by pass-words1 and greet each other with
 a secret grip1 are  right or wrong4 ,i 
answer that it depends entirely upon the
 nature of  the object for which they   
meet4 ,is it to pass the hours in       
revelry1  wassail1 blasphemy1 and       
obscene talk1 or to plot trouble to the 
,state1  or to debauch the innocent8    
,then ,i say1 with an emphasis that no  
man  can mistake1 ,,no4 ,but is the     
object the improvement of the mind1  or 
the enlargement of the heart1 or the    
advancement of art1 or  the defence of  
the government1 or the extirpation of   
crime1 or the  kindling of a            
pure-hearted sociality8 ,then ,i say1   
with just as much  emphasis1 ,,yes4     

,there is no need that we who plan for  
the conquest of right over wrong  should
 publish to all the world our           
intentions4 ,the general of an  army    
never sends to the opposing troops      
information as to the coming  attack4   
,shall we who have enlisted in the cause
 of ,god and humanity  expose our plans 
to the enemy8 ,no6 ,we will in secret   
plot the ruin of  all the enterprises of
 ,satan and his cohorts4 ,when they     
expect us by  day1 we will fall upon    
them by night4 ,while they are          
strengthening  their left wing1 we will 
double up their right4 ,by a plan of    
battle  formed in secret conclave1 we   
will come suddenly upon them1 crying3   
,the sword of the ,lord and of ,gideon6 
,secrecy of plot and execution are wrong
 only when the object and  influence are
 nefarious4 ,every family is a secret   
society2 every  business firm1 and every
 banking and insurance institution4     
,those men  who have no capacity to keep
 a secret are unfit for positions of    

trust  anywhere4 ,there are thousands of
 men whose vital need is culturing in   
capacity to keep a secret4 ,men talk too
 much--and women too4 ,there  is a time 
to keep silence1 as well as a time to   
speak4 ,although not  belonging to any  
of the great secret societies about     
which there has  been so much violent   
discussion1 ,i have only words of praise
 for  those associations which have for 
their object the reclamation of         
inebriates1 or like the score of mutual 
benefit societies1 called by  different 
names1 that provide temporary relief for
 widows and orphans1  and for men       
incapacitated by sickness or accident   
for earning a  livelihood4    ,i suppose
 there are club-houses in our cities to 
which men go with  clear consciences1   
and from which they come after an hour  
or two  of intellectual talk1 and       
cheerful interview1 to enjoy the        
domestic  circle4 ,but that this is not 
the character of scores and hundreds of 
club-houses we all know4 ,can ,i1 then1 

pass this subject by without  exposition
 of the monstrous evil8 ,there are      
multitudes who are  unconsciously having
 their physical1 moral1 and eternal     
well-being  endangered by club-room     
dissipation4 ,was it right to expose the
 plot  of ,guy ,fawkes1 by which he     
would have destroyed the ,parliament of 
,england8 ,and am ,i wrong in disclosing
 a peril which threatens not only  your 
well-being here1 but your throne in     
heaven8    ,i deplore this ruin the more
 because this style of dissipation is   
taking down our finest men4 ,the        
admission-fee sifts out the penurious   
and takes only those who are called the 
best fellows4 ,oh6 how changed  you are6
 ,not so kind to your wife as you used  
to be2 not so patient  with your        
children4 ,your conscience is not so    
much at rest4 ,you laugh  more now1 and 
sing louder than once1 but are not half 
so happy4 ,it is  not the public        
drinking-saloon that is taking you down1
 nor theatrical  amusements1 nor the    

houses of sin that have cost thousands  
of other  men their eternity3 but it is 
simply and undeniably your club-room4   
,you do not make yourself as agreeable  
in your family as once4 ,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 club4 ,you 
merely  acknowledge that you feel queer4
 ,you say that champagne never          
intoxicates2 that it only exhilarates1  
makes the conversation fluent1  shakes  
up the humor1 and has no bad effect     
except a headache next day4  ,be not    
deceived4 ,champagne may not1 like      
whiskey1 throw a man under  the table2  
but if1 through anything you drink1 you 
gain an unnatural  fluency of speech and
 glow of feeling1 you are simply drunk4 
,if those imperilled were heartless     
young men1 stingy young men1 ,i  would  
not be so sorry as ,i am2 but there are 
many of them generous to  a fault1      
frank1 honest1 cheerful1 talented4 ,i   
begrudge the devil such  a prize4 ,after

 a while these persons will lose all the
 frankness and  honor for which they are
 now distinguished4 ,their countenances 
will  get haggard1 and instead of       
looking one in the eye when they talk1  
they will look down4 ,after a while1    
when the mother kindly asks1 ,what  kept
 you out so late8 they will make no     
answer1 or will say ,that is  my        
business6 ,they will come cross and     
befogged to the store and  bank1 and    
ever and anon neglect some duty1 and    
after a while will be  dismissed3 and   
then1 with nothing to do1 will rise in  
the morning at  ten o'clock1 cursing the
 servant because the breakfast is cold1 
and  then go down town and stand on the 
steps of a fashionable hotel1 and       
criticise the passers-by4 ,while the    
young man who was a clerk in a  cellar  
has come up to be the first clerk1 and  
he who a few years ago  ran errands for 
the bank has got to be cashier1 and     
thousands of other  young men of the    
city have gone up to higher and more    

responsible  positions1 he has been     
going down1 until there he passes       
through the  street with bloated lip1   
and bloodshot eye1 and staggering step1 
and  hat mud-spattered and set sidewise 
on a shock of greasy hair1 the  ashes of
 his cigar dashed upon his cravat4 ,here
 he goes6 ,look at him1  all ye         
pure-hearted young men1 and see the work
 of the fashionable  club-room4 ,i knew 
one such who1 after the contaminations  
of his  club-house1 leaped out of the   
third-story window to put an end to his 
wretchedness4    ,many who would not be 
seen drinking at the bar of a           
restaurant1 think  there is no dishonor 
and no peril connected with sitting down
 at a  marble stand in an elegantly     
furnished parlor1 to which they go with 
a  private key1 and where none are      
present except gentlemen as elegant  as 
themselves4 ,everything so chaste in the
 surroundings6 ,soft carpets1  beautiful
 pictures1 cut glass1 ,italian top      
tables1 frescoed walls4 ,in  just such  

places there are thousands of young men1
 middle-aged men1  and old men1         
preparing themselves for overthrow4     
,in many of these club-rooms the talk is
 not as pure and elevated as  it might  
be4 ,how is it1 men and brothers1 at    
half-past eleven o'clock1  when the     
tankards are well emptied1 and the smoke
 curls up from every  lip8 ,do they ever
 swear8 ,are there stories told unworthy
 a man who  venerates the name of his   
mother8 ,does ,god1 whose presence      
cannot be  hindered by bolt1 and who    
comes in without a pass-word1 and is    
making  up ,his record for the          
judgment-day1 approve of the blasphemies
 you  utter8    ,you think that there is
 no special danger1 yet acknowledge that
 you  have felt queer sometimes4 ,your  
head was not right1 and your stomach    
was disturbed4 ,i will tell you what was
 the matter4 ,you were drunk4  ,you     
understood not that protracted hiccough2
 it was the drunkard's  hiccough4 ,you  
could not explain that nausea2 it was   

the drunkard's  vomit4 ,the fact is that
 some of you1 who have never in your own
 eyes  or in the eyes of others fully   
sacrificed your respectability1 have    
for six months been written down in     
,god's book as drunkards4    ,how far   
down need a man go before he becomes an 
inebriate8 ,must he  fall into the      
ditch8 ,no6 ,must he get into a         
porter-house fight8 ,no6  ,must he be   
senseless in the street8 ,must he have  
the delirium  tremens8 ,no6 ,he may wear
 satin and fine linen2 he may walk with 
hat  scrupulously brushed2 may swing a  
gold-headed cane1 and step in boots  of 
,french leather1 dismount from a        
carriage1 or draw tight rein over  a    
swift1 sleek1 high-mettled1 full-blooded
 ,arabian span1 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      
compost4    ,the fact that this whole   
land to-day swelters with drunkenness ,i
  charge upon the drinking club houses4 

,they wield an influence that  makes it 
respectable1 and ,i will not put my head
 to the pillow  to-night until ,i have  
written against them one burning        
anathema  maranatha6 ,when ,i see them  
dragging down scores of our young men1  
and  slaying professed ,christians at   
the very altar1 and snatching off  the  
garlands of life from those who would   
otherwise reign forever and  forever1 ,i
 tell you ,i hate them with a perfect   
hatred1 and pray for  more height1 and  
depth1 and length1 and breadth of       
capacity with which  to hate them4      
,along this blossoming and over-arched  
pathway1 and through this long  line of 
temptations that throw their garlands   
upon the brow1 and ring  their music    
into the ear1 go a great host4    ,no   
one can estimate the homes that have    
been shattered by the  dissipations of  
the club-house4 ,there are weak women   
who would never  consent to a husband's 
absence in the evening1 however         
important the  duty that takes him away4

 ,any man who wishes to take his share  
of the  public burdens and is willing to
 work for the political1 educational1   
and social advancement of the community 
must of necessity spend some  of his    
evenings away from home4 ,there are     
associations and churches  that have a  
right to demand a share of a man's      
presence and means1 and  that is a weak 
woman who always looks offended when her
 husband goes  out in the evening4      
,but club-houses become a pest when they
 demand all a man's evenings2  and that 
is a result we are called to deplore4   
,every head of a  household is called to
 be its educator1 its companion1 its    
religious  instructor and exemplar2 not 
only to furnish the wardrobe and to make
  the money to pay the bills when they  
come in1 but to give his  highest       
intellectual energies and social        
faculties to the amusement1             
instruction1 and improvement of the     
household4    ,but ,i describe the      
history of thousands of households when 

,i say that  the tea is rapidly taken1  
and while yet the family linger the     
father  shoves back his chair1 has an   
engagement1 lights his cigar and  starts
 out1 not returning until after         
midnight4 ,that is the history of  three
 hundred and sixty-five days in the     
year1 except when he is sick  and cannot
 get out4    ,how about home duties8    
,have you fulfilled all your vows8      
,would your  wife ever have married you 
with such a prospect8 ,wait until your  
sons  get to be sixteen or seventeen    
years of age1 and they too will shove   
back from the tea-table1 have an        
engagement1 light their cigars1 go  over
 to their club-houses1 their night-key  
rattling in your door after             
midnight--the effect of your example4   
,and as your son's constitution  may not
 be as strong as yours1 and the liquor  
he drinks more terribly  drugged1 he    
will catch up with you on the road to   
death although you  got the start of    
him4 ,and so you will both go to hell   

together6 ,a  revolving ,drummond-light 
on the front of a locomotive casts its  
gleam  through the darkness as it is    
turned around2 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 cities4    ,flee 
the presence of the dissipating         
club-houses4 ,paid your money8          
,sacrifice that rather than your soul4  
,good fellows1 are they8 ,they  cannot  
stay what they are under such           
influences4 ,mollusca live two  hundred 
fathoms down in the ,norwegian seas4    
,the ,siberian stag grows  fat on the   
stunted growth of ,altaian peaks4 ,the  
,hedysarium thrives  amid the desolation
 of ,sahara4 ,tufts of osier and birch  
grow on the  hot lips of volcanic       
,schneehalten4 ,but good character and a
 useful  life thrive amid club-room     
dissipations--,never6    ,the best way  
to make a wild beast cower is to look   
him in the eye1 but  the best way to    
treat the temptations ,i have described 

is to turn your  back and fly6 ,o6 my   
heart aches6 ,i see men struggling to   
get out of  the serfdom of bad habits1  
and ,i want to help them4 ,i have knelt 
with  them and heard their cry for help4
 ,i have had them put one hand  on each 
of my shoulders1 and look me in the eye1
 with an agony of  earnestness that the 
judgment shall have no power to make me 
forget1  and from their lips1 scorched  
with the fires of ruin1 have heard  them
 cry ,god help me6 ,there is no rescue  
for such1 save in the ,lord  ,almighty4 
,well1 what we do1 we had better do     
right away4 ,the clock ticks now and  we
 hear it4 ,after a while the clock will 
tick and we shall not hear  it4 ,seated 
by a country fireside1 ,i saw the fire  
kindle1 blaze1 and go  out4 ,i gathered 
up from the hearth enough for profitable
 reflections4  ,our life is just like   
the fire on that hearth4 ,we put on     
fresh fagots1  and the fire bursts      
through and up1 and out1 gay of flash1  
gay of  crackle--emblem of boyhood4     

,then the fire reddens into coals4 ,the 
heat is fiercer2 and the more it is     
stirred1 the more it reddens4 ,with     
sweep of flame it cleaves its way1 until
 all the hearth glows with  the         
intensity--emblem of full manhood4 ,then
 comes a whiteness to the  coals4 ,the  
heat lessens4 ,the flickering shadows   
have died along the  wall4 ,the fagots  
drop apart4 ,the household hover over   
the expiring  embers4 ,the last breath  
of smoke has been lost in the chimney4  
,fire is  out4 ,shovel up the white     
remains4 ,,ashes6          ,,flask1     
,,bottle1 ,,and ,,demijohn4             
,,note4--,this chapter1 in its first    
shape1 was given some currency  under   
the title of ,the ,evil ,beast4 ,i have1
 however1 so revised and  added to that 
,lecture1 that1 as here given1 it is    
essentially a new  presentation of the  
dreadful ,abomination of ,rum1 and it is
 in  this present shape that ,i wish the
 public to receive it as a full         
expression of my views thereon4         

,t4,d4,w4,t4    ,there has in all ages  
and climes been a tendency to the       
improper use  of stimulants4 ,noah1 as  
if disgusted with the prevalence of     
water in  his time1 took to strong      
drink4 ,by this vice ,alexander the     
,conqueror  was conquered4 ,the ,romans1
 at their feasts1 fell off their seats  
with  intoxication4 ,four hundred       
millions of our race are opium-eaters4  
,india1 ,turkey1 and ,china have groaned
 with the desolation2 and by it  have   
been quenched such lights as ,haller and
 ,de ,quincey4 ,one hundred  millions   
are the victims of the betel-nut1 which 
has specially  accursed the ,east       
,indies4 ,three hundred millions chew   
hashish1 and  ,persia1 ,brazil1 and     
,africa suffer the delirium4 ,the       
,tartars employ  murowa2 the ,mexicans  
the agave2 the people of ,guarapo an    
intoxicating  quality taken from        
sugar-cane2 while a great multitude1    
that no man  can number1 are the        
disciples of alcohol4 ,to it they bow4  

,in its  trenches they fall4 ,in its    
awful prison they are incarcerated4 ,on 
its  ghastly holocaust they burn4       
,could the muster-roll of this great    
army be called1 and they could  come up 
from the dead1 what eye could endure the
 reeking1 festering  putrefaction and   
beastliness6 ,what heart could endure   
the groans of  agony6    ,drunkenness3  
,does it not jingle the burglar's key8  
,does it not whet  the assassin's knife8
 ,does it not cock the highwayman's     
pistol8 ,does  it not wave the          
incendiary's torch8 ,has it not sent the
 physician  reeling into the sick-room2 
and the minister1 with his tongue thick1
  into the pulpit8 ,did not an exquisite
 poet1 from the very height of          
reputation1 fall1 a gibbering sot1 into 
the gutter1 on his way to be  married to
 one of the fairest daughters of ,new   
,england1 and at the  very hour when the
 bride was decking herself for the      
altar2 and did he  not die of delirium  
tremens1 almost unattended1 in a ,new   

,york hotel8  ,tamerlane asked for one  
hundred and sixty thousand skulls1 with 
which  to build a pyramid to his own    
honor4 ,he got the skulls1 and built the
  pyramid4 ,but if the bones of all     
those who have fallen as a prey to      
dissipation could be piled up1 it would 
make a monster pyramid4 ,talk  not of   
,waterloo and ,austerlitz1 for they were
 not fields of blood  compared with this
 great ,golgotha4    ,who will gird     
himself for the journey1 and try with me
 to scale this  mountain of the         
dead--going up miles high on human      
carcasses1 to find  still other peaks   
far above1 mountain above mountain1     
white with the  bleached bones of       
drunkards6    ,hang not your head or    
shut your eyes until we have seen it4   
,we must  get a sight at the monster    
before we can shoot him4    ,i will     
begin at our national and ,state        
capitals4 ,like government1  like       
people4 ,henry ,,viii4 blasts all       
,england with his example of            

uncleanness4 ,catharine of ,russia drags
 down a whole empire with her  nefarious
 behavior4 ,no ,christian man can be    
indifferent to what  every hour of every
 day goes on at ,washington4 ,while the 
,presidential  ,impeachment trial       
advanced1 some of the men who were to   
render their  solemn verdict on the     
subject were reeling in and out of the  
,senate  chamber1--the intoxicated      
representatives of a free ,christian    
people4  ,it was a great question       
whether several members of that high    
court  could be got sober in time to    
vote4    ,only recently a ,senator from 
,new ,england rises up with tongue so   
thick1 and with utterance so            
nonsensical1 that he is led into the    
anteroom4 ,he was a good ,republican4   
,one of the ,middle ,states has a       
representative who very rarely appears  
in his seat1 for the reason that he is  
so great an inebriate that he  can      
neither walk nor ride4 ,he is a good    
,democrat4    ,as ,god looks down on our

 ,state and national legislatures1 he   
holds us  responsible4 ,we cast the     
votes4 ,we lift up the legislators4     
,will the time never come when this     
nation shall rise up higher than        
partisanship1 and cast its suffrage for 
sober men8    ,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 work1 and the nation is   
debauched4 ,higher than legislatures  or
 the ,congress of the ,united ,states is
 the ,whiskey ,ring6    ,the ,sabbath   
has been sacrificed to the rum traffic4 
,to many of our  people the best day of 
the week is the worst4 ,bakers must keep
 their  shops closed on the ,sabbath4   
,it is dangerous to have loaves of bread
  going out on ,sunday4 ,the shoe-store 
is closed2 severe penalty will  attack  
the man who sells boots on the ,sabbath4
 ,but down with the  window-shutters of 
the grog shops4 ,our laws shall confer  
particular  honors upon the rum         

traffickers4 ,all other traders must    
stand aside  for these4 ,let our        
citizens who have disgraced themselves  
by trading  in clothing1 and hosiery1   
and hardware1 and lumber1 and coal1 take
  off their hats to the rum-seller1     
elected to particular honor4 ,it is     
unsafe for any other class of men to be 
allowed license for ,sunday  work4 ,but 
swing out your signs1 oh ye traffickers 
in the peace of  families1 and in the   
souls of immortal men6 ,let the corks   
fly1 and the  beer foam1 and the rum go 
tearing down the half-consumed throat of
 the  inebriate4 ,god does not see1 does
 he8 ,judgment will never come1 will    
it8    ,people say--,let us have some   
law to correct this evil4 ,we have more 
law now than we execute4 ,in what city  
is there a mayoralty that dare  do it8  
,there is no advantage in having the law
 higher than public  opinion4 ,what     
would be the use of the ,maine ,law in  
,new ,york8 ,neal ,dow1  the ,mayor of  
,portland1 came out with a posse and    

threw the rum of  the city into the     
street4 ,from the alms-house a woman    
came out and  said1 ,oh6 if this had    
only been done ten years ago1 my husband
 would  not have died a drunkard1 and ,i
 would not have been a widow in the     
almshouse4    ,but there are not enough 
police in the city of ,new ,york to     
stand by  its ,mayor in such an         
undertaking2 public opinion is not      
educated4    ,i do not know but that    
,god is determined to let drunkards     
triumph2 and  the husbands and sons of  
thousands of our best families be       
destroyed  by this vice1 in order that  
our people1 amazed and indignant1 may   
rise  up and demand the extermination of
 this municipal crime4    ,there is a   
way of driving down the hoops of a      
barrel until the hoops  break4    ,we   
are in this country1 at this time1      
trying to regulate this evil  by a tax  
on whiskey4 ,you might as well try to   
regulate the ,asiatic  cholera1 or the  
small-pox1 by taxation4 ,the men who    

distil liquors  are1 for the most part1 
unscrupulous2 and the higher the tax1   
the more  inducement to illicit         
distillation4 ,new ,york produces forty 
thousand  gallons of whiskey every      
twenty-four hours2 and the most of it   
escapes  the tax4 ,the most vigilant    
officials fail to discover the cellars1 
and  vaults1 and sheds where this work  
is done4    ,oh1 the folly of trying to 
restrain an evil by government tariffs6 
,if  every gallon of whiskey made1 if   
every flask of wine produced1 should  be
 taxed a thousand dollars1 it would not 
be enough to pay for the  tears it has  
wrung out of the eyes of widows and     
orphans1 nor for the  blood it has      
dashed on the altars of the ,christian  
,church1 nor for the  catastrophe of the
 millions it has destroyed forever4     
,oh6 we are a ,christian people6 ,from  
,boston a ship sailed for  ,africa1 with
 three missionaries1 and twenty-two     
thousand gallons  of ,new-,england rum  
on board4 ,which will have the most     

effect3 the  missionaries1 or the rum8  
,rum is victor4 ,some time when you have
 leisure1 just go down any  of our      
streets1 and count the number of        
drinking places4 ,here they             
are--first-class hotels4 ,marble floors4
 ,counter polished4 ,fine picture       
hanging over the decanters4 ,cut glass4 
,silver water-coolers4 ,pictured        
punch-bowls4 ,high-priced liquors4      
,customers pull off their gloves1  and  
take up the glasses1 and click them1 and
 with immaculate  pocket handkerchief   
wipe their mouth1 and go up-stairs1 or  
into the  reading-room1 and complete    
extensive bargains4    ,here it is--the 
restaurant4 ,all sorts of viands1 but   
chiefly all  styles of beverage4 ,they  
who frequent this place have fairly     
started  on the down grade4 ,having     
drunk once1 they lounge at the corner of
 the  bar until a friend comes up1 and  
then the beverage is repeated4 ,after  a
 while they sit at the little table by  
the wall and order a rarer  wine2 for   

they feel richer now1 and able to get   
almost anything4  ,towards bed-time they
 take out their watch and say they must 
go home4  ,they start1 but cannot stand 
straight4 ,with a gentleman at each arm1
  they start up the street4 ,more and   
more overcome1 the man begins to  whoop1
 and shout1 and swear1 and refuse to go 
any farther4 ,hat falls  off4 ,hair gets
 over his eyes4 ,door-bell of fine house
 rings4 ,wife  comes down the stairs4   
,daughters look over the banisters4     
,sobbing in  the dark hall4 ,quick--shut
 the front door1 for ,i do not want to  
look  in4 ,god help them6    ,here it   
is--a wine-cellar4 ,going into the door 
are depraved men and  lost women4 ,some 
stagger4 ,all blaspheme4 ,men with rings
 in their ears  instead of their nose2  
and blotches of breast-pin4 ,pictures on
 the  wall cut out of the ,police       
,gazette4 ,a slush of beer on floor and 
counter4 ,a pistol falls out of a       
ruffian's pocket4 ,by the gas-light a   
knife flashes4 ,low songs4 ,they banter1

 and jeer1 and howl1 and vomit4  ,an    
awful goal1 to which hundreds of people 
better than you have come4    ,all these
 different styles of drinking-places are
 multiplying4 ,they  smite a young man's
 vision at every turn4 ,they pour the   
stench of  their abomination on every   
wave of air4    ,i sketch two houses in 
this street4 ,the first is bright as    
home can  be4 ,the father comes at      
nightfall1 and the children run out to  
meet  him4 ,luxuriant evening meal1     
gratulation1 and sympathy1 and laughter4
  ,music in the parlor4 ,fine pictures  
on the wall4 ,costly books on the       
stand4 ,well-clad household4 ,plenty of 
everything to make home happy4    ,house
 the second4 ,piano sold yesterday by   
the sheriff4 ,wife's furs at            
pawnbroker's shop4 ,clock gone4         
,daughter's jewelry sold to get flour4  
,carpets gone off the floor4 ,daughters 
in faded and patched dresses4  ,wife    
sewing for the stores4 ,little child    
with an ugly wound on her  face1 struck 

in an angry blow4 ,deep shadow of       
wretchedness falling in  every room4    
,doorbell rings4 ,little children hide4 
,daughters turn  pale4 ,wife holds her  
breath4 ,blundering steps in the hall4  
,door opens4  ,fiend1 brandishing his   
fist1 cries--,out6 ,out6 ,what are you  
doing  here6    ,did ,i call this house 
the second8 ,no2 it is the same house4  
,rum  transformed it4 ,rum imbruted the 
man4 ,rum sold the shawl4 ,rum tore  up 
the carpets4 ,rum shook its fist4 ,rum  
desolated the hearth4 ,rum  changed that
 paradise into a hell6    ,i sketch two 
men that you know very well4 ,the first 
graduated from one  of our literary     
institutions4 ,his father1 mother1      
brothers and sisters  were present to   
see him graduate4 ,they heard the       
applauding thunders  that greeted his   
speech4 ,they saw the bouquets tossed to
 his feet4  ,they saw the degree        
conferred and the diploma given4 ,he    
never looked  so well4 ,everybody said1 
,what a noble brow6 ,what a fine eye6   

,what  graceful manners6 ,what brilliant
 prospects6 ,all the world opens  before
 him and cries1 ,hurrah6 ,hurrah6       
,man the second4 ,lies in the           
station-house to-night4 ,the doctor has 
just been sent for to bind up the gashes
 received in a fight4 ,his hair  is     
matted1 and makes him look like a wild  
beast4 ,his lip is bloody and  cut4     
,who is the battered and bruised wretch 
that was picked up by the  police and   
carried in drunk1 and foul1 and         
bleeding8 ,did ,i call  him man the     
second8 ,he is man the first6 ,rum      
transformed him4 ,rum  destroyed his    
prospects4 ,rum disappointed parental   
expectation4 ,rum  withered those       
garlands of commencement-day4 ,rum cut  
his lip4 ,rum  dashed out his manhood4  
,,rum1 accursed ,,rum6    ,this foul    
thing gives one swing to its scythe1 and
 our best merchants  fall2 their stores 
are sold1 and they slink into dishonored
 graves4    ,again it swings its scythe1
 and some of our best physicians fall   

into  sufferings that their wisest      
prescriptions cannot cure4    ,again it 
swings its scythe1 and ministers of the 
gospel fall from the  heights of ,zion  
with long-resounding crash of ruin and  
shame4    ,some of your own household   
have already been shaken4 ,perhaps you  
can hardly admit it2 but where was your 
son last night8 ,where was he  ,friday  
night8 ,where was he ,thursday night8   
,wednesday night8 ,tuesday  night8      
,monday night8    ,nay1 have not some of
 you1 in your own bodies1 felt the power
 of this  habit8 ,you think that you    
could stop8 ,are you sure you could8 ,go
 on  a little further1 and ,i am sure   
you cannot4 ,i think1 if some of you    
should try to break away1 you would find
 a chain on the right wrist1  and one on
 the left2 one on the right foot1 and   
another on the left4  ,this serpent does
 not begin to hurt until it has wound   
around and  round4 ,then it begins to   
tighten1 and strangle1 and crush until  
the  bones crack1 and the blood         

trickles1 and the eyes start from their 
sockets1 and the mangled wretch cries ,o
 ,god6 ,o ,god6 ,help6 ,help6 ,but  it  
is too late2 and nothing but the fires  
of woe can melt the chain  when once it 
is fully fastened4    ,the child of a   
drunkard died4 ,my friend1 a minister of
 the ,gospel1 sat  in a carriage with   
the drunkard1 and the coffin of the     
little child4  ,on the way to the grave1
 the drunkard put his hand on the lid of
 his  child's coffin and swore that he  
never would drink again4 ,before the    
next morning had come he was dead drunk6
    ,i spread out before you the        
starvation1 the cruelty1 the            
ghastliness1  the woes1 the terror1 the 
anguish1 the perdition of this evil1 and
  then ask1 ,are you ready1 fully and   
forever1 to surrender our churches1  our
 homes1 our civilization1 our glorious  
,christianity8 ,one or the  other must  
surrender4 ,it can be no drawn battle4  
,but how are we to contend8    ,first1  
by getting our children right on this   

subject4 ,let them grow up  with an     
utter aversion to strong drink4 ,take   
care how you administer  it even as     
medicine4 ,if you find that they have a 
natural love for  it1 as some have1 put 
in a glass of it some horrid stuff and  
make it  utterly nauseous4 ,teach them  
as faithfully as you do the catechism1  
that rum is a fiend4 ,take them to the  
alms-house and show them the  wreck and 
ruin it works4 ,walk with them into the 
homes that have been  scourged by it4   
,if a drunkard hath fallen into a ditch1
 take them  right up where they can see 
his face1 bruised1 savage and swollen1  
and  say1 ,look1 my son3 ,rum did that6 
,looking out of your window at some one 
who1 intoxicated to madness1  goes      
through the street1 brandishing his     
fist1 blaspheming ,god1--a  howling1    
defying1 shouting1 reeling1 raving and  
foaming maniac1--say  to your son1      
,look2 that man was once a child like   
you4 ,as you go by  the grog-shop1 let  
your boy know that that is the place    

where men are  slain1 and their wives   
made paupers1 and their children slaves4
 ,hold  out to your children all        
warnings1 all rewards1 all counsels1    
lest in  after days they break your     
heart1 and curse your gray hairs4    ,a 
man laughed at my father for his        
scrupulous temperance principles1  and  
said--,i am more liberal than you4 ,i   
always give my children the  sugar in   
the glass after we have been taking a   
drink4    ,three of his sons have died  
drunkards2 and the fourth is imbecile   
through intemperate habits4    ,again1  
we will battle this evil at the         
ballot-box4 ,how many men are  there who
 can rise above the feelings of         
partisanship1 and demand that  our      
officials shall be sober men8    ,i     
maintain that the question of sobriety  
is higher than the question  of         
availability2 and that however eminent a
 man's services may be1 if  he have     
habits of intoxication1 he is unfit for 
any office in the gift  of a ,christian 

people4 ,our laws will be no better than
 the men who  make them4    ,spend a few
 days at ,harrisburg1 or ,albany1 or    
,washington1 and you will  find out why1
 upon these subjects1 it is impossible  
to get righteous  enactments4    ,again1
 we will war upon this evil by organized
 societies4 ,the  friends of the rum    
traffic have banded together2 annually  
issue their  circulars2 raise fabulous  
sums of money to advance their          
interests2  and by grips1 pass-words1   
signs1 and stratagems set at defiance   
public  morals4 ,let us confront them   
with organizations just as secret1  and1
 if need be1 with grips1 and pass-words1
 and signs maintain our  position4      
,there is no need that our philanthropic
 societies tell all  their plans4    ,i 
am in favor of all lawful strategy in   
the carrying on of this  conflict4 ,i   
wish to ,god we could lay under the     
wine-casks a train1  which1 once        
ignited1 would shake the earth with the 
explosion of this  monstrous iniquity4  

,again3 we will try the power of the    
pledge4 ,there are thousands of men  who
 have been saved by putting their names 
to such a document4 ,i know  it is      
laughed at2 but there are men who1      
having once promised a thing1  do it4   
,some have broken the pledge4 ,yes2 they
 were liars4 ,but all  men are not      
liars4 ,i do not say that it is the duty
 of all persons  to make such signature2
 but ,i do say that it will be the      
salvation of  many of you4    ,the      
glorious work of ,theobald ,mathew can  
never be estimated4 ,at  his hand four  
millions of people took the pledge1     
including eight  prelates1 and seven    
hundred of the ,roman ,catholic clergy4 
,a multitude  of them were faithful4    
,dr4 ,justin ,edwards said that ten     
thousand drunkards had been  permanently
 reformed in five years4    ,through the
 great ,washingtonian movement in ,ohio1
 sixty thousand took  the pledge4 ,in   
,pennsylvania1 twenty-nine thousand4 ,in
 ,kentucky1 thirty  thousand1 and       

multitudes in all parts of the land4    
,many of these had  been habitual       
drunkards4 ,one hundred and fifty       
thousand of them1 it is  estimated1 were
 permanently reclaimed4 ,two of these   
men became foreign  ministers2 one a    
governor of a ,state2 several were sent 
to  ,congress4 ,hartford reported six   
hundred reformed drunkards2 ,norwich1   
seventy-two2 ,fairfield1 fifty2         
,sheffield1 seventy-five4 ,all over the 
land reformed men were received back    
into the churches that they had  before 
disgraced2 and households were          
re-established4 ,all up and  down the   
land there were gratulations1 and praise
 to ,god4 ,the pledge  signed1 to       
thousands has been the proclamation of  
emancipation4    ,i think that we are   
coming at last to treat inebriation as  
it ought to  be treated1 namely1 as an  
awful disease1 self-inflicted1 to be    
sure1  but nevertheless a disease4 ,once
 fastened upon a man1 sermons will not  
cure him2 temperance lectures will not  

eradicate the taste2 religious  tracts  
will not remove it2 the ,gospel of      
,christ will not arrest it4  ,once under
 the power of this awful thirst1 the man
 is bound to go on2  and if the foaming 
glass were on the other side of         
perdition1 he would  wade through the   
fires of hell to get it4 ,a young man in
 prison had  such a strong thirst for   
intoxicating liquors1 that he cut off   
his  hand at the wrist1 called for a    
bowl of brandy in order to stop the     
bleeding1 thrust his wrist into the     
bowl1 and then drank the contents4      
,stand not1 when the thirst is on him1  
between a man and his cups6  ,clear the 
track for him6 ,away with the children3 
he would tread their  life out6 ,away   
with the wife3 he would dash her to     
death6 ,away with  the ,cross3 he would 
run it down6 ,away with the ,bible3 he  
would tear  it up for the winds6 ,away  
with heaven3 he considers it worthless  
as a  straw6 ,give me the drink6 ,give  
it to me6 ,though hands of blood pass   

up the bowl1 and the soul trembles over 
the pit1--the drink6 give it  to me6    
,though it be pale with tears2 though   
the froth of everlasting  anguish float 
in the foam--give it to me6 ,i drink to 
my wife's woe2 to  my children's rags2  
to my eternal banishment from ,god1 and 
hope1 and  heaven6 ,give it to me6 the  
drink6    ,again3 we will contend       
against these evils by trying to        
persuade  the respectable classes of    
society to the banishment of alcoholic  
beverages4 ,you who move in elegant and 
refined associations2 you  who drink the
 best liquors2 you who never drink until
 you lose  your balance3 consider that  
you have1 under ,god1 in your power the 
redemption of this land from            
drunkenness4 ,empty your cellars and    
wine-closets of the beverage1 and then  
come out and give us your hand1  your   
vote1 your prayers1 your sympathies4 ,do
 that1 and ,i will promise  three       
things3 ,first1 ,that you will find     
unspeakable happiness in  having done   

your duty2 secondly1 you will probably  
save somebody1  perhaps your own child2 
thirdly1 you will not1 in your last     
hour1 have  a regret that you made the  
sacrifice1 if sacrifice it be4    ,as   
long as you make drinking respectable1  
drinking customs will  prevail2 and the 
ploughshare of death1 drawn by terrible 
disasters1  will go on turning up this  
whole continent1 from end to end1 with  
the  long1 deep1 awful furrow of        
drunkards' graves4    ,oh1 how this ,rum
 ,fiend would like to go and hang up a  
skeleton in your  beautiful house1 so   
that when you opened the front door to  
go in you  would see it in the hall2 and
 when you sit at your table you would   
see  it hanging from the wall2 and when 
you open your bed-room you would  find  
it stretched upon your pillow2 and      
waking at night you would feel  its cold
 hand passing over your face and        
pinching at your heart6    ,there is no 
home so beautiful but it may be         
devastated by the awful  curse4 ,it     

throws its jargon into the sweetest     
harmony4 ,what was it  that silenced    
,sheridan's voice and shattered the     
golden sceptre with  which he swayed    
parliaments and courts8 ,what foul      
sprite turned the  sweet rhythm of      
,robert ,burns into a tuneless ballad8  
,what brought  down the majestic form of
 one who awed the ,american ,senate with
 his  eloquence1 and after a while      
carried him home dead drunk from the    
office of ,secretary of ,state8 ,what   
was it that crippled the noble  spirit  
of one of the heroes of the last war1   
until the other night1  in a drunken    
fit1 he reeled from the deck of a       
,western steamer and was  drowned6      
,there was one whose voice we all loved 
to hear4 ,he was one of  the most       
classic orators of the century4 ,people 
wondered why a man  of so pure a heart  
and so excellent a life should have such
 a sad  countenance always4 ,they knew  
not that his wife was a sot4    ,woe to 
him that giveth his neighbor drink6 ,if 

this curse was  proclaimed about the    
comparatively harmless drinks of olden  
times1  what condemnation must rest upon
 those who tempt their neighbors  when  
intoxicating liquor means copperas1 nux 
vomica1 logwood1 opium1  sulphuric acid1
 vitriol1 turpentine1 and strychnine6   
,pure liquors3  pure destruction6       
,nearly all the genuine champagne made  
is taken by  the courts of ,europe4     
,what we get is horrible swill6    ,i   
call upon woman for her influence in the
 matter4 ,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 please4    ,bishop ,potter   
says that a young man who had been      
reformed sat at a  table1 and when the  
wine was passed to him refused to take  
it4 ,a lady  sitting at his side said1  
,certainly you will not refuse to take a
  glass with me8 ,again he refused4 ,but
 when she had derided him for  lack of  
manliness he took the glass and drank   

it4 ,he took another and  another2 and  
putting his fist hard down on the table1
 said1 ,now ,i  drink until ,i die4 ,in 
a few months his ruin was consummated4  
,i call upon those who are guilty of    
these indulgences to quit the path  of  
death4 ,o what a change it would make in
 your home6 ,do you see how  everything 
there is being desolated6 ,would you not
 like to bring back  joy to your wife's 
heart1 and have your children come out  
to meet you  with as much confidence as 
once they showed8 ,would you not like to
  rekindle the home lights that long ago
 were extinguished8 ,it is not  too late
 to change4 ,it may not entirely        
obliterate from your soul the  memory of
 wasted years and a ruined reputation1  
nor smooth out from  anxious brows the  
wrinkles which trouble has ploughed4 ,it
 may not call  back unkind words uttered
 or rough deeds done--for perhaps in    
those  awful moments you struck her6 ,it
 may not take from your memory the      
bitter thoughts connected with some     

little grave3 but it is not too  late to
 save yourself and secure for ,god and  
your family the remainder  of your      
fast-going life4    ,but perhaps you    
have not utterly gone astray4 ,i may    
address one who  may not have quite made
 up his mind4 ,let your better nature   
speak out4  ,you take one side or the   
other in the war against drunkenness4   
,have you the courage to put your foot  
down right1 and say to your  companions 
and friends3 ,i will never drink        
intoxicating liquor in all  my life1 nor
 will ,i countenance the habit in       
others4 ,have nothing to  do with strong
 drink4 ,it has turned the earth into a 
place of skulls1  and has stood opening 
the gate to a lost world to let in its  
victims1  until now the door swings no  
more upon its hinges1 but day and night 
stands wide open to let in the agonized 
procession of doomed men4    ,do ,i     
address one whose regular work in life  
is to administer to this  appetite8 ,i  
beg you--get out of the business4 ,if a 

woe be pronounced  upon the man who     
gives his neighbor drink1 how many woes 
must be  hanging over the man who does  
this every day1 and every hour of the   
day6    ,a philanthropist1 going up to  
the counter of a grog-shop1 as the      
proprietor was mixing a drink for a     
toper standing at the counter1  said to 
the proprietor1 ,can you tell me what   
your business is good  for8 ,the        
proprietor1 with an infernal laugh1     
said1 ,it fattens  graveyards6    ,god  
knows better than you do yourself the   
number of drinks you have  poured out4  
,you keep a list2 but a more accurate   
list has been kept  than yours4 ,you may
 call it ,burgundy1 ,bourbon1 ,cognac1  
,heidsick1 ,hock2  ,god calls it strong 
drink4 ,whether you sell it in low      
oyster cellar or  behind the polished   
counter of first-class hotel1 the divine
 curse is  upon you4 ,i tell you plainly
 that you will meet your customers one  
day  when there will be no counter      
between you4 ,when your work is done on 

earth1 and you enter the reward of your 
business1 all the souls of  the men whom
 you have destroyed will crowd around   
you and pour their  bitterness into your
 cup4 ,they will show you their wounds  
and say1  ,you made them2 and point to  
their unquenchable thirst1 and say1 ,you
  kindled it2 and rattle their chain and
 say1 ,you forged it4 ,then  their      
united groans will smite your ears2 and 
with the hands out of  which you once   
picked the sixpences and the dimes1 they
 will push you  off the verge of great  
precipices2 while1 rolling up from      
beneath1 and  breaking among the crags  
of death1 will thunder3    ,woe to him  
that giveth his neighbor drink6         
,,the ,,house ,,of ,,blackness ,,of     
,,darkness4      ,men like to hear the  
frailties and faults of others          
chastised4 ,with  what blandness and    
placidity they sit and hear the         
religious teacher  excoriate the        
ambition of ,ahab1 the treachery of     
,judas1 the treason  of ,athaliah1 and  

the wickedness of the ,amalekites4      
,indeed1 ,i have  sometimes felt sorry  
for the ,amalekites1 for in all ages1   
and on all  occasions1 they are smitten1
 denounced1 and pursued4 ,they have had 
their full share of censure and         
excoriation4 ,it is high time that  in  
our addresses in pulpits1 and in        
domestic circles1 we turn our  attention
 to the driving out of these worse      
,amalekites which are  swarming in      
society to-day1 thicker than in the     
olden time4 ,the  ancient ,amalekites   
lived for one or two hundred years2 but 
these  are not weakened after a thousand
 years4 ,those traversed only a few     
leagues of land2 these stalk the earth  
and ford the sea4 ,those had  each a    
sword or spear2 these fight with a      
million swords1 and strike  with a      
million stings1 and smite with a million
 catastrophes4 ,those  were conquered   
with human weapons2 but to overcome     
these we must bring  out ,god's great   
fieldpieces1 and employ an enginery that

 can sweep  from eternity to eternity4  
,there is one subject which we are      
expected1 in all our teachings1 to      
shun1 or only to hint at3 ,i mean the   
wickedness of an impure life4  ,though  
,god thunders against this appalling    
iniquity from the heavens  curse after  
curse1 anathema after anathema1 by our  
unwillingness to  repeat the divine     
utterance we seem to say1 ,lord1 not so 
loud6 ,speak  about everything else2 but
 if this keeps on there will be trouble6
  ,meanwhile the foundations of social  
life are being slowly undermined2  and  
many of the upper circles of life have  
putrefied until they have  no more power
 to rot4    ,if a fox or a mink come    
down to the farmyard and carry off a    
chicken1  the whole family join in the  
search4    ,if a panther come down into 
the village and carry off a child1 the  
whole neighborhood go out with clubs and
 guns to bring it down4    ,but this    
monster-crime goes forth1 carrying off  
body and soul2 and  yet1 if we speak1 a 

thousand voices bid us be silent4    ,i 
shall try to cut to the vitals of the   
subject1 and proceed with the           
post-mortem of this carcass of death4   
,it is time to speak on this  subject4  
,all the indignation of the community   
upon this subject is  hurled upon       
woman's head4 ,if1 in an evil hour1 she 
sacrifice her  honor1 the whole city    
goes howling after her4 ,she shall take 
the whole  blame4 ,out with her from all
 decent circles6 ,whip her4 ,flay her4  
,bar all the doors of society against   
her return4 ,set on her all the         
blood-hounds4 ,shove her off precipice  
after precipice4 ,push her down4  ,kick 
her out6 ,if you see her struggling on  
the waves1 and with her  blood-tipped   
fingers clinging to the verge of        
respectability1 drop a  mill-stone on   
her head4    ,for a woman's sin1 men    
have no mercy2 and the heart of other   
women is  more cruel than death4    ,for
 her1 in the dark hour of her calamity1 
the women who1 with the  same           

temptation1 might have fallen into      
deeper damnation1 have no  commiseration
 and no prayer4    ,the heaviest stroke 
that comes down upon a fallen woman's   
soul is the  merciless indignation of   
her sisters4    ,if the multitudes of   
the fallen could be placed in a straight
 line1 it  would reach from here to the 
gates of the lost1 and back again4      
,but what of the destroyer8    ,we take 
his arm4 ,we flatter his appearance4 ,we
 take off our hats4  ,he is admitted to 
our parlors4 ,for him we cast our votes4
 ,for him  we speak our eulogies4 ,and  
when he has gone we read over the heap  
of  compost3 ,blessed are the dead who  
die in the ,lord4 ,they rest from  their
 labors and their works do follow them4 
,in the fashionable city to-day there   
walk a thousand libertines4 ,they  are a
 moving pest4 ,their breath is the      
sirocco of the desert4 ,their  bones    
have in them the decay of the pit4 ,they
 have the eye of  a basilisk4 ,they have
 been soaked in filth1 and steeped in   

uncleanliness1 and consumed in sin1 and 
they are all adrip with the             
loathsomeness of eternal death4 ,i take 
hold of the robe of one of  these       
elegant gentlemen1 and pull it aside1   
and say1 ,behold a ,leper6    ,first1 if
 you desire to shun this evil1 you will 
have nothing to do  with bad books and  
impure newspapers4 ,with such an        
affluent literature  as is coming forth 
from our swift-revolving                
printing-presses1 there  is no excuse   
for dragging one's self through sewers  
of unchastity4 ,why  walk in the ditch1 
when right beside the ditch is the solid
 flagging8  ,it seems that in the       
literature of the day the ten plagues of
 ,egypt  have returned1 and the frogs   
and lice have hopped and skipped over   
our  parlor tables4    ,waiting         
impatiently in the house of some        
parishioner1 for the  completion of a   
very protracted toilet1 ,i have picked  
up a book from  the parlor table1 and   
found that every leaf was a scale of    

leprosy4    ,parents are delighted to   
have their children read1 but they      
should be  sure as to what they read4   
,you do not have to walk a day or two in
 an  infected district to get the       
cholera or typhoid fever2 and one wave  
of moral unhealth will fever and blast  
an immortal nature4 ,perhaps1  knowing  
not what you did1 you read a bad book4  
,do you not remember it  altogether8    
,yes2 and perhaps you will never get    
over it4    ,however strong and exalted 
your character1 never read a bad book4  
,by  the time you get through the first 
chapter you will see the drift2 ,if  you
 find the marks of the hoofs of the     
devil in the pictures1 or in  the style1
 or in the plot1 away with it4 ,you may 
tear your coat1 or  break a vase1 and   
repair them again1 but the point where  
the rip or  fracture took place will    
always be evident4 ,it takes less than  
an  hour to do your heart a damage which
 no time can entirely repair4 ,look     
carefully over your child's library2 see

 what book it is that he reads  after he
 has gone to bed1 with the gas turned   
upon the pillow4 ,do  not always take it
 for granted that a book is good because
 it is  a ,sunday-school book4 ,as far  
as possible know who wrote it1 who      
illustrated it1 who published it1 who   
sold it4    ,young man1 as you value    
,heaven1 never buy a book from one of   
those men  who meet you in the square1  
and1 after looking both ways1 to see  if
 the police are watching1 shows you a   
book--very cheap4 ,have  him arrested as
 you would kill a rattle-snake4 ,grab   
him1 and shout  ,police6 police6    ,but
 there is more danger1 ,i think1 from   
many of the family papers1  published   
once a week2 in those stories of vice   
and shame1 full  of infamous            
suggestions1 going as far as they can   
without exposing  themselves to the     
clutch of the law4 ,i name none of them2
 but say that  on some fashionable      
tables there lie family newspapers that 
are the  very vomit of the pit4    ,the 

way to ruin is cheap4 ,it costs three   
dollars to go to  ,philadelphia2 six    
dollars to ,boston2 thirty-three dollars
 to ,savannah2  but1 by the purchase of 
a bad paper for ten cents1 you may get a
  through ticket to hell1 by express1   
with few stopping-places1 and  the final
 halting like the tumbling of the       
lightning train down the  draw-bridge at
 ,norwalk--sudden1 terrific1 deathful1  
never to rise4    ,o1 the power of an   
iniquitous pen6 ,if a needle puncture   
the body at a  certain point1 life is   
destroyed2 but the pen is a sharper     
instrument1  for with its puncture you  
may kill the soul4 ,and that very thing 
many  of our acutest minds are to-day   
doing4 ,do not think that this which    
you drain from the glass1 because it is 
sweet1 is therefore healthful3  some of 
the worst poisons are pleasant to the   
taste4 ,the pen which  for the time     
fascinates you may be dipped in the     
slime of unclean  literature4    ,look  
out for the books that come from        

,france4 ,it has sent us some  grand    
histories1 poems1 and pure novels1 but  
they are few in number  compared with   
the nastiness that it has spewed out    
upon our shore4    ,do we not read in   
our ,bibles that the ancient flood      
covered all the  earth8 ,i would have   
thought that ,france had escaped1 for it
 does not  seem as if it had ever had a 
thorough washing4    ,in the next place1
 if you would shun an impure life1 avoid
 those who  indulge in impure           
conversation4 ,there are many people    
whose chief  mirthfulness is in that    
line4 ,they are full of innuendo1 and   
phrases  of double meaning1 and are     
always picking out of the conversation  
of  decent men something vilely         
significant4 ,it is astonishing in      
company1  how many1 professing to be    
,christians1 will tell vile stories2 and
  that some ,christian women1 in their  
own circles1 have no hesitation at  the 
same style of talking4    ,you take a   
step down hill1 when1 without           

resistance1 you allow any one  to put   
into your ear a vile innuendo4 ,if1     
forgetting who you are1  any man        
attempts to say such things in your     
presence1 let your  better nature assert
 itself1 look the offender full in the  
face1 and  ask--,what do you mean by    
saying such a thing in my presence6     
,better  allow a man to smite you in the
 face than to utter such conversation   
before you4 ,i do not care who the men  
or women are that utter impure          
thoughts2 they are guilty of a mighty   
wrong2 and their influence upon  our    
young people is baleful4    ,if in the  
club where you associate2 if in the     
social circle where you  move1 you hear 
depraved conversation1 fly for your     
life6 ,a man is  no better than his     
talk2 and no man can have such          
interviews without  being scarred4    ,i
 charge our young men against           
considering uncleanness more tolerable1 
because it is sanctioned by the customs1
 habits1 and practices of  what is      

called high life4 ,if this sin wears kid
 gloves1 and patent  leathers1 and coat 
of exquisite fit1 and carries an        
opera-glass of  costliest material1 and 
lives in a big house1 and rides in a    
splendid  turn-out1 is it to be any the 
less reprehended8 ,no6 ,no6    ,i warn  
you not so much against the abomination 
that hides in the lower  courts and     
alleys of the town1 as against the more 
damnable vice that  hides behind the    
white shutters and brownstone fronts of 
the upper  classes4    ,god1 once in a  
while1 hitches up the fiery team of     
vengeance1 and  ploughs up the splendid 
libertinism1 and we stand aghast4       
,sin1 crawling out of the ditch of      
poverty and shame1 has but few          
temptations2 but1 gliding through the   
glittering drawing-room with            
magnificent robe1 it draws the stars of 
heaven after it4    ,poets and painters 
have represented ,satan as horned and   
hoofed4 ,if ,i  were a poet ,i should   
describe him with manners polished to   

the  last perfection1 hair flowing in   
graceful ringlets1 eye a little         
blood-shot1 but floating in bewitching  
languor2 hands soft and  diamonded2 step
 light and artistic2 voice mellow as a  
flute2 boot  elegantly shaped2          
conversation facile1 carefully toned1   
and ,frenchy2  breath perfumed until it 
would seem that nothing had ever touched
 his  lips save balm and myrrh4 ,but his
 heart ,i would encase with the scales  
of a monster1 then fill with pride1 with
 beastliness of desire1  with           
recklessness1 with hypocrisy1 with      
death4 ,then ,i would have  him touched 
with some rod of disenchantment until   
his two eyes would  become the cold orbs
 of the adder2 and on his lip would come
 the foam  of raging intoxication2 and  
to his feet the spring of the panther2  
and his soft hand should become the     
clammy hand of a wasted  skeleton2 while
 suddenly from his heart would burst in 
crackling and  all-devouring fury the   
unquenchable flames2 and in the affected

 lisp  of his tongue would come the hiss
 of the worm that never dies4    ,but1  
until disenchanted1 nothing but myrrh1  
and balm1 and ringlet1 and  diamond1 and
 flute-like voice1 and conversation     
aromatic1 facile1 and  ,frenchy4        
,there are practices in respectable     
circles1 ,i am told by physicians1      
which need public reprehension4 ,herod's
 massacre of the innocents was  as      
nothing compared with that of millions  
and millions by what ,i shall  call     
ante-natal murders4 ,you may escape the 
grip of the law1 because  the existence 
of such life was not known by society2  
but ,i tell  you that at last ,god will 
shove down on you the avalanche of his  
indignation2 and though you may not have
 wielded knife or pistol in  your deeds 
of darkness1 yet1 in the day when ,john 
,wilkes ,booth and  ,antony ,probst come
 to judgment1 you will have on your brow
 the brand  of murderer4    ,hear me    
when ,i repeat1 that the practices of   
high life ought not to  make sin in your

 eyes seem tolerable4 ,god is no        
respecter of persons2  and robes and    
rags will stand on the same platform in 
the day when the  archangel1 with one   
foot on the sea and the other on the    
land1 swears1  by ,him that liveth      
forever and ever1 that ,time shall be no
 more4    ,o1 it is beautiful to see a  
young man living a life of purity1      
standing upright where thousands of     
other young men fall4 ,you will  move in
 honorable circles all your days2 and   
some old friend of your  father will    
meet you and say3 ,my son1 how glad ,i  
am to see you look  so well4 ,just like 
your father1 for all the world4 ,i      
thought you would  turn out well when ,i
 used to hold you on my knee4 ,do you   
ever hear  from the old folks8    ,after
 a while you yourself will be old1 and  
lean quite heavily on your  cane1 and   
take short steps1 and hold the book off 
to the other side  of the light4 ,and   
men will take off their hats in your    
presence4 ,your  body1 unharmed by early

 indulgences1 will get weaker1 only as  
the  sleepy child gets more and more    
unable to hold up its head1 and falls   
back into its mother's lap3 so you shall
 lay yourself down into the  arms of the
 ,christian's tomb1 and on the slab that
 marks the place  will be chiselled3    
,blessed are the pure in heart1 for they
 shall see  ,god4    ,but here is a     
young man who takes the other route4    
,the voices of  uncleanness charm him   
away4 ,he reads bad books4 ,lives in    
vicious  circles4 ,loses the glow from  
his cheek1 the sparkle from his eye1 and
  the purity from his soul4 ,the good   
shun him4 ,down he goes1 little by      
little4 ,they who knew him when he came 
to town1 while yet lingering  on his    
head was a pure mother's blessing1 and  
on his lip the dew of a  pure sister's  
kiss1 now pass him1 and nay1 ,what an   
awful wreck6  ,his eye bleared with     
frequent carousals4 ,his cheek bruised  
in the  grog-shop fight4 ,his lip       
swollen with evil indulgences4 ,look out

 what  you say to him4 ,for a trifle he 
will take your life4 ,lower down and    
lower down1 until1 outcast of ,god and  
man1 he lies in the alms-house1  a      
blotch of loathsomeness and pain4       
,sometimes he calls out for ,god2  and  
then for more drink4 ,now he prays2 now 
curses4 ,now laughs as  fiends laugh4   
,then bites his nails to the quick4     
,then runs both hands  through the shock
 of hair that hangs about his head--like
 the mane  of a wild beast4 ,then       
shivers--until the cot shakes--with     
unutterable  terror4 ,then1 with        
uplifted fist1 fights back the devils1  
or clutches  the serpents that seem     
winding him in their coil4 ,then asks   
for water1  which is instantly consumed 
by his cracked lips4 ,going his round   
some  morning1 the surgeon finds him    
dead4    ,straighten the limbs4 ,you    
need not try to comb out or shove back  
the  matted locks4 ,wrap him in a sheet4
 ,put him in a box4 ,two men will  carry
 it down to the wagon at the door4 ,with

 chalk1 write on the top  of the box the
 name of the exhausted libertine4    ,do
 you know who it is8    ,that is you1 ,o
 man1 if1 yielding to the temptations to
 an impure  life1 you go out1 and       
perish4    ,there is a way that seemeth 
bright1 and fair1 and beautiful2 but the
  end thereof is ,,blackness ,,of       
,,darkness ,,forever4          ,,the    
,,gun ,,that ,,kicks ,,over ,,the ,,man 
,,who ,,shoots ,,it ,,off4              
,blasphemy is a crime that aims at ,god1
 but does its chief harm to the  one    
that fires it off4    ,so ,i compare it 
to a piece of imperfect firearms to     
which the marksman  puts his eye1 and1  
pulling the trigger1 by the rebound     
finds himself  in the dust4    ,i tell  
you a story1 ,oriental and marvellous4  
,history speaks of the  richest man in  
all the ,east4 ,he had camels1 oxen1    
asses1 sheep1 and  what would make any  
man rich even if he had nothing         
else--seven sons  and three daughters4  
,it was the custom of this man's        

children to  have family reunions4 ,one 
day he is at home1 thinking of his      
darling  children1 who are keeping      
banquet at their elder brother's house4 
,yonder comes a messenger in hot haste1 
evidently1 from his looks1  bearing evil
 tidings4 ,recovering himself           
sufficiently to speak1 he  says3 ,the   
oxen and the asses have been captured by
 a foraging party  of ,sabeans1 and all 
the servants are butchered except       
myself4 ,another  messenger is coming4  
,he says that the sheep and the         
shepherds have  been struck by          
lightning4 ,another messenger is coming4
 ,he says that  the ,chaldeans have come
 and captured the camels1 and killed all
 but  himself4 ,another messenger1 who  
says3 ,while thy sons and daughters     
were at the feast1 a hurricane struck   
the corner of the tent1 and they  are   
all dead6 ,but his misfortunes are not  
yet completed4 ,the old man  is smitten 
with the elephantiasis1 or black        
leprosy4 ,tumors from head  to foot2    

face distorted2 forehead ridged with    
offensive tubercles2  eyelashes fall    
out2 nostrils excoriated2 voice         
destroyed2 intolerable  exhalation from 
the whole body2 until1 with none to     
dress his sores1  he sits down in the   
ashes1 with nothing but broken pieces of
 pottery  to use in the surgery of his  
wounds4 ,at this point1 when he needed  
all consolation and encouragement1 his  
wife comes to him1 and says1  virtually3
 ,this is intolerable6 ,our property    
gone1 our children  slain1 and now this 
loathsome1 disgusting disease is upon   
you4 ,why  don't you swear8 ,curse ,god 
and die6    ,but profanity would not    
have removed one tumor from his agonized
 body2  would not have brought to his   
door one of the captured camels2 would  
not have restored any one of the dead   
children4 ,swearing would have  made the
 pain more unbearable1 the pauperism    
into which he had plunged  more         
distressing1 the bereavement more       
excruciating4    ,and yet1 from the     

swearing and blasphemy with which our   
land is  cursed1 one would think there  
were some great advantage to be reaped  
from the practice4 ,there is to-day in  
all our land no more prevalent  custom1 
and no more ,god-defying abomination1   
than profane swearing4  ,you can hardly 
walk our streets five minutes without   
having your ears  stung and your        
sensibilities shocked4 ,the drayman     
swearing at his  horse2 the tinman at   
his solder2 the sewing-girl imprecating 
her  tangled thread2 the bricklayer     
cursing at his trowel2 the carpenter at 
his plane2 the sailor at the tackling2  
the merchant at the customer2  the      
customer at the merchant2 the printer at
 the miserable proofsheet2  the         
accountant at the troublesome line of   
figures2--swearing in the  cellar and in
 the loft1 before the counter and behind
 the counter1 in  the shop and on the   
street1 in low saloon and fashionable   
bar-room4  ,children swear1 men swear1  
ladies 767 swear4 ,profanity from the   

lowest  haunt calling upon the          
,almighty1 to the fashionable ,o ,lord6 
of the  glittering drawing-room4        
,this whole country is blasted with the 
evil4 ,coming from the ,west1  a        
gentleman sat behind two persons        
conversing4 ,profanities were so        
frequent in the conversation of the two 
persons in front1 that the  gentleman   
behind took out his pencil and paper and
 made a record4 ,the  profanities filled
 several sheets in the course of two    
days1 at the  close of which time the   
gentleman handed the manuscript to the  
persons  conversing4 ,the men said3 ,is 
it possible that we have uttered so     
many profanities in the course of two   
days8 ,the gentleman said3              
,yes4--,then1 said one of the men1 ,i   
shall never swear again4    ,i make no  
abstract discussion4 ,i hate            
abstractions4 ,i had rather come  right 
out and have a talk with you about a    
habit that you admit to be  wrong4 ,this
 habit has grown from the fact that the 

young often think  it an evidence of    
manliness4 ,there are thousands of boys 
and youth  who indulge in it4 ,i hear   
children along the street1 but just able
 to  walk1 practising this iniquity4    
,they cannot talk straight1 but they    
get enough distinctness to let you know 
that they are damning their  own souls  
and the souls of others4 ,oh6 it is     
horrible to see a little  child1 the    
first time it lifts its feet to walk1   
set them down on  the burning pavement  
of hell6 ,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 cigar4 ,he has his hat   
and coat and boots of the  right        
pattern1 and there is but one thing more
 now to bring him into  fashion1 and    
that is a capacity to swear4    ,so     
there are some of our young men         
surrounded by an atmosphere of          
profanities4 ,oaths sit on their lips1  

they roll under their tongues1  and nest
 in the shock of hair4 ,in elegant      
drawing-rooms they abstain  from such   
utterances1 but fill club-room and      
street with their  immoralities of      
speech4 ,you suggest the wrongfulness of
 the habit1 and  they thrust their      
finger in the sleeve of their vest1 and 
swagger1 and  say3 ,who cares6 ,they    
have no regard for ,god1 but great      
respect for  the ladies4 ,ah6 there is  
no manliness in that4    ,the most      
ungentlemanly thing a man can do is to  
swear4 ,this habit is  becoming more and
 more prevalent because of the          
immorality of parents  and employers4   
,there are very many fathers who indulge
 in this habit4  ,they feel moved to    
utter themselves in this way1 but first 
look around  to see if their children   
are present4 ,they have no idea that    
their  children know anything about it4 
,the probability is that if you swear1  
your children swear4 ,they were in the  
next room and heard you1 or  somebody   

told them about your habit4 ,your child 
is practising to do  just as you do4 ,he
 is laughed at1 at first1 for his       
awkwardness1 but  after a while he will 
swear as well as you4    ,then look at  
the example of master carpenters1       
masons1 roofers1 and  hatters4 ,you know
 how some of you go around the building1
 and1 when  the work of your journeyman 
and subordinates does not please you1   
what  do you say8 ,it is not praying1 is
 it8 ,forthwith1 your journeymen  and   
subordinates learn the habit4 ,hence our
 hat-shops1 and  house-scaffoldings1 and
 side-walks1 and wharves1 and dockyards1
 and  cellars1 and lofts ring with      
blasphemies4    ,men argue that1 if it  
is right for a man worth fifty or a     
hundred  thousand dollars to swear1 it  
can be overlooked in men who have merely
  their day's wages4 ,because they are  
poor must they be denied this one       
luxury8    ,this habit becomes more     
prevalent because of the infirmities of 
temper4 ,there are many men who1 when at

 peace1 are most fastidious  of speech1 
but when aroused into the violence of   
passion1 blaze with  imprecation4 ,the  
,oriental's wife spoken of would not    
have liked her  husband to be profane   
under ordinary circumstances1 but now   
that the  camels are gone1 and the sheep
 are gone1 and the property is gone1    
and the boils have come1 she says3 ,why 
don't you swear8 ,curse ,god  and die6  
,others1 all the year round1 have not   
the froth of profanity  wiped from their
 lips1 but try to expend all the fury of
 a twelvemonth  in one red-hot paragraph
 of five minutes4 ,a man apologized for 
his  occasional swearing by saying that1
 once in a year1 in this way  he cleared
 himself out4 ,there are men who have no
 control of their  blasphemous          
utterances1 who want us to send them to 
,congress4 ,others  have blasphemed in  
senatorial places1 pretending afterwards
 that it  was a mere rhetorical         
flourish4    ,many fall into this habit 
through the frequent use of what are    

called  by-words4 ,i suppose that all   
have favorite phrases of this kind in   
which there is no harm2 but a profusion 
of this style of speech often  ends in  
bald profanity4 ,it is1 ,i declare6 ,my 
stars6 ,mercy on me6  ,good gracious6   
,by ,george6 ,by ,jove6 and ,by heavens6
 and no harm  is intended2 but it is a  
very easy transition from this kind of  
talk to that which is positively        
obnoxious4 ,the ,english language is    
magnificent1 and capable of expressing  
every shade of feeling and  every degree
 of energy and zeal2 and there is no    
need that we take  to ourselves unlawful
 words4 ,if you are happy1 ,noah        
,webster offers  to your tongue ten     
thousand epithets in which you may      
express your  exhilaration2 and if you  
are righteously indignant1 there are in 
his dictionary whole armories of        
denunciation and scorn1 sarcasm and     
irony1 caricature and wrath4 ,utter     
yourself against some meanness or       
hypocrisy in all the blasphemies that   

ever smoked up from perdition1  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 trailed1 and   
through which no infernal fires have    
shot their  forked tongues1--words pure1
 innocent1 all-impressive1 ,god-honored1
  ,anglo-,saxon1--in which ,milton sang1
 and ,bunyan dreamed1 and  ,shakespeare 
wrote4    ,but whatever be the source of
 this habit1 it is on the increase4 ,at 
sixteen1 boys swear with as much        
facility as the grandfather did at      
sixty4 ,our streets are cursed by it    
from end to end4 ,our hotels1 from      
morning until midnight1 resound with it4
 ,men curse on the way to the  bar to   
get their morning dram2 curse the       
news-boy who cries the paper2  curse the
 breakfast for being cold2 curse at the 
bank1 and curse at  the store2 curse on 
the way to bed2 curse at the stone      
against which  they strike their foot2  
and curse at the splinter that gets     

under the  nail4 ,if you do not know    
that this is so1 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 ,sodom4    ,the habit
 is creeping up into the higher circles4
 ,every woman despises  flat and        
unvarnished imprecations2 but in the    
most elevated circles  there are women  
who swear without knowing it4 ,they have
 read ,bulwer1  and ,george ,sand1 and  
the exaggerated style of some of our    
imported as  well as home-made          
periodical literature1 until they do not
 actually  know what is decency of      
speech4 ,with fairy fan to their lips   
they  utter their oaths1 and1 under     
chandeliers which discover not the      
faintest blush1 recklessly speak the    
holiest of names4 ,this is helped  on by
 the second glass of wine1 that is      
perfectly harmless2 and  though no one  
dare charge her1 being so finely        
dressed1 with anything  like            

intoxication1 yet there comes a         
glassiness to the eye1 and a glow  to   
the cheek1 and a style of speech to the 
tongue that were not known  before she  
took the second glass that was perfectly
 harmless4    ,one wild1 terrific wave  
of blasphemy is sweeping over the land4 
,see  the effects of this widespread    
profanity in the increasing perjury4    
,if men in ordinary conversation so     
commonly use the name of ,god1 is it    
wonderful that in the jury-box1 and in  
the alderman's office1 and  in the      
custom-house so many swear falsely8     
,notice the way an oath is              
administered4 ,they toss the ,bible at a
 man1 and in the most trivial  way say3 
,so help you ,god--kiss the book4 ,i    
suppose enough lies are  every day told 
in the custom-house to sink it4         
,smuggling1 although it  be done against
 positive oath1 is in some circles      
considered a grand  joke2 and you say   
some day to your friend1 ,how can you   
sell those  goods so cheaply8 and your  

friend says with an eye-twinkle1 ,the   
,custom-,house tariff was not as high on
 those things as it might have  been4   
,men more easily break their solemn     
oaths than formerly4 ,what  strange     
verdicts juries do sometimes render6    
,what peculiar charges  judges do       
sometimes make6 ,what unaccountable     
slowness sheriffs and  their deputies   
sometimes exhibit in the execution of   
their writs6 ,what  erratic railroad    
enterprises suddenly pass at our ,state 
capitals6 ,what  wonderful changes      
,congress makes in the tariff on        
liquors6    ,what is an oath8 ,anything 
solemn8 ,anything appealing to the      
,almighty8  ,anything stupendous in     
man's history8 ,no6 ,it is kissing the  
book6  ,in a land where the name of ,god
 so often becomes the foot-ball of what 
are called respectable circles1 how can 
we expect that it can excite  any       
veneration when1 in the presence of     
county clerk1 or alderman1 or  judge1 or
 legislative assembly1 it is used in    

solemn adjuration8 ,this  habit lowers1 
bedwarfs1 and destroys the entire moral 
nature4 ,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     
scori of this awful propensity4  ,you   
will never swear yourself up4 ,you will 
swear yourself down4 ,the  ,mohammedans1
 when they find a slip of paper they    
cannot read1 put  it aside1 for fear the
 name of ,god is on it4 ,that1 you say1 
is one  extreme4 ,we go to the other4   
,you are willing to acknowledge this a  
miserable habit1 and would like  to have
 some recipe for its cure4    ,reflect  
much upon the uselessness of the habit4 
,did a volley of oaths  ever start a    
heavy load8 ,did curses ever unravel a  
tangled skein8 ,did  they ever extirpate
 the meanness of a customer8 ,did they  
ever collect  a bad debt8 ,did they ever
 cure a toothache8 ,did they ever stop a
  twinge of the gout8 ,did they ever    

save you a dollar1 or put you a step    
forward in any great enterprise8 or     
enable you to gain a position1 or  to   
accomplish anything that you ever wanted
 to do8 ,how much did  you ever make by 
swearing8 ,what1 in all the round of a  
lifetime of  profanity1 did you ever    
gain by the habit8    ,reflect1 also1   
upon the fact that it arouses ,god's    
indignation4 ,the  ,bible reiterates1 in
 paragraph after paragraph1 and chapter 
after  chapter1 the fact that all       
swearers and blasphemers are accursed   
now1  and are to be forever miserable4  
,there is no iniquity that has been so  
often visited with the immediate curse  
of ,god4    ,at ,new ,brunswick1 a young
 man was standing on the railroad track 
blaspheming4 ,the cars passed1 and he   
was found on the track with his  tongue 
cut out4 ,people could not understand   
how1 with comparatively  little bruising
 of the rest of his body1 his tongue    
could have been  cut out4 ,not long ago1
 in ,chicago1 a man told a falsehood1   

and said  that he hoped1 if what he said
 was not true1 ,god would strike him    
dead4 ,he instantly fell4 ,there was no 
longer any pulse4 ,there was no  reason 
for his death1 except that he asked ,god
 to strike him dead1  and ,god did it4  
,in ,scotland a club was formed1 in     
which the members  competed as to which 
could use the most horrid oaths4 ,the   
man who  succeeded best in the infamy   
was made president of the club4 ,his    
tongue began to swell4 ,it protruded    
from his mouth4 ,he could not draw  it  
in4 ,he died within three days4         
,physicians were astounded4 ,there was  
nothing like it in all the books4 ,what 
was the matter with him8 ,he  cursed    
,god1 and died6 ,near ,catskill1 ,n4,y41
 during a thunder-storm1 a  group of men
 were standing in a blacksmith-shop4    
,there came a crash  of thunder1 and the
 men were startled4 ,one man said that  
he was not  afraid2 and he made a wager 
that he dared go out in front of the    
shop1  while the lightnings were flying1

 and dare the ,almighty4 ,he went  out2 
shook his fist at the heavens1 crying1  
,strike1 if you dare6  ,instantly a     
thunder-bolt struck him4 ,he was dead4  
,he cursed ,god1 and  died6    ,god will
 not abide this sin4 ,he will not let it
 escape4 ,there is a  kind of manifold  
paper by which a man may1 with a heavy  
pencil1 write  upon a dozen sheets at   
once--the writing going down through all
 the  sheets4 ,so every oath and        
blasphemy goes through1 and is written  
indelibly on every leaf of ,god's       
remembrance4 ,ah6 how much our ,father  
bears6 ,can you make an estimate of how 
many blasphemies will roll up  from the 
streets and saloons of our cities       
to-night8 ,if you go out  and look up   
you cannot see them4 ,there will be no  
trail of fire on the  sky4 ,but the air 
is full of them4 ,the name of ,christ is
 not so often  spoken in worship as in  
derision4 ,god will be cursed to-night  
by  hundreds of lips4 ,the grog-shops   
will curse him4 ,the houses of shame    

will curse him4 ,five ,points will curse
 him4 ,bedford street will curse  him4  
,chestnut street will curse him4        
,madison square will curse him4  ,beacon
 street will curse him4 ,every street in
 all our cities will  curse him4        
,this blasphemy is an abomination that  
no words of mine can describe4  ,and    
,god hears it4 ,they curse ,his name4   
,they curse his ,sabbath4 ,they  curse  
his ,bible4 ,they curse his people4     
,they curse his ,only ,begotten  ,son4  
,yes2 they swear by the name of ,jesus6 
,it makes my hair rise1 and  my flesh   
creep1 and my blood chill1 and my breath
 catch1 and my foot  halt4    ,dionysius
 had a cave where men were incarcerated4
 ,at the top of the  cave was an        
aperture to which he could put his ear1 
and could hear  every sigh1 every groan1
 every word of the inmates4 ,this world 
is so  arranged that all its voices go  
up to heaven4 ,god puts down his ear    
and hears every word of praise offered1 
and every word of blasphemy  spoken4    

,our cities must come to judgment4 ,all 
these oaths must be answered  for4 ,they
 die on the air1 but they have an       
eternal echo4 ,listen  for the echo4 ,it
 rolls back from the ages to come4      
,listen3--,all  blasphemers shall have  
their place in the lake that burneth    
with fire  and brimstone4 ,some have    
thought that a lost soul in the future  
world will do that which it was most    
prone to do in this world4 ,if so1  then
 think of a man blaspheming ,god through
 all eternity6    ,this habit grows upon
 a man1 until at last it pushes him off 
forever4  ,i saw a man die with an oath 
between his teeth4 ,voltaire rose from  
his dying pillow1 and1 supposing that he
 saw ,christ in the room1 cried  out1   
,crush the wretch6 ,a celebrated officer
 during the last war fell  mortally     
wounded1 and the only word he sent to   
his wife was3 ,tell her  ,i fought like 
hell6    ,there are thousands of men who
 are having all their moral nature      
pulled down by the fiery fingers of this

 habit4 ,at last1 pinched1  shrivelled1 
and consumed1 they will get down on     
their beds to die1 and  at the step of  
the doctor in the hall1 or the shutting 
of the front  door1 they will start up1 
thinking they hear the sepulchral gates 
creak open4    ,who is this ,god that   
you should maltreat his name8 ,has he   
been  haunting you1 starving you1 or    
freezing you all your life8 ,no6 ,he is 
your ,father1 patient and loving4 ,he   
rocked your cradle with blessings1  from
 the time you were born4 ,he clothes you
 now1 and always has  clothed you4 ,you 
never had a sickness but he was sorry   
for you4 ,he has  brooded over you with 
wings of love4 ,he has tried to press   
you to his  heart of kindness and       
compassion4 ,he wants to forgive you4   
,he wants to  help you4 ,he wants to    
make you happy4 ,he watched last night  
over your  pillow while you slept4 ,he  
will watch to-night4 ,he was your       
father's  ,god1 and your mother's4 ,he  
has housed them safe from the blast1 and

 he  wants to shelter you4 ,do you      
trifle with his name8 ,do you smite him 
in  the face8 ,do you thrust him back by
 your imprecations8    ,who is this     
,jesus ,christ that ,i hear men swearing
 by8 ,who is he8 ,some  destroyer1 that 
they so treat his name8 ,what foul thing
 hath he done1  that our great cities   
speak his name in thousand-voiced jeer  
and  contempt8 ,who is he8 ,a ,lamb1    
whose blood simmered in the fires of    
sacrifice1 to save you4 ,a ,brother1 who
 put down his crown of glory  that you  
might take it up4 ,for many years he has
 been striving1 night  and day1 to win  
your affections4 ,there is nothing in   
heaven that he  is not willing to give  
you4 ,he came with blistered feet and   
streaming  eyes1 with aching head and   
broken heart to relieve you4 ,on the    
craft  of a doomed humanity he pushed   
out into the sea1 to pick you off the   
rock4 ,who will ever again malign his   
name8 ,is there a hand that will  ever  
again be lifted to wound him8 ,if so1   

let that hand1 blood-dipped1  be lifted 
now4 ,which one of my readers will ever 
again utter his  sacred name in         
imprecation8 ,if any1 now let them      
speak4 ,not one6 ,not  one6    ,one     
summer among the ,new ,england hills    
there was an evening memorable  for     
storm and darkness4 ,the clouds1 which  
had been all day gathering1  at last    
unlimbered their batteries4 ,the        
,housatonic1 that flows  in silence save
 as the paddles of pleasure-parties     
rattle in the  row-lock1 was lashed into
 foam and its waves staggered1 not      
knowing  where to lay themselves4 ,the  
hills jarred at the rumbling of ,god's  
chariots4 ,blinding sheets of rain drove
 the cattle to the bars1 and  beat      
against the window-pane as if to dash it
 in4 ,the corn-fields  crouched in the  
fury1 and the ripened grain-fields threw
 their crowns  of gold at the feet of   
the storm-king4 ,after the night shut   
in1 it  was a double night4 ,its black  
mantle was rent with the lightnings1 and

  into its locks were twisted the leaves
 of uprooted oaks1 and shreds  of canvas
 torn from the masts of the beached     
shipping4 ,it was such a  night as makes
 you thank ,god for shelter1 and bids   
you open the door  to let in even the   
spaniel howling outside with the terror4
 ,we went  to sleep under the full blast
 of heaven's great orchestra1 and the   
forests with uplifted voice1 in choiring
 hosts that filled all the  side of the 
mountains1 praising the ,lord4    ,we   
waked not until the fingers of the sunny
 morn touched our eyelids4  ,we looked  
out and4 ,housatonic slept as quiet as a
 baby's dream4  ,pillars of white cloud 
set up along the heavens looked like the
  castles of the blest1 built for       
hierarchs of heaven on the beach of  the
 azure sea4 ,the trees sparkled as      
though there had been some great  grief 
in heaven1 and each leaf had been       
,god-appointed to catch an angel's      
tear4 ,it seemed as if ,god our ,father 
had looked down upon earth1 his  wayward

 child1 and stooped to her tear-wet     
cheek1 and kissed it4    ,even so will  
the darkness of our country's crime and 
suffering be  lifted4 ,god will roll    
back the night of storm1 and bring in   
the  morning of joy4 ,its golden light  
will gild the city spire1 and strike    
the forests of ,maine1 and tinge the    
masts of ,mobile2 and with one end      
resting upon the ,atlantic beach and the
 other on the ,pacific coast1  ,god will
 spring a great rainbow arch of peace1  
in token of everlasting  covenant that  
the land shall never again be deluged   
with crime4          ,,lies3 ,,white    
,,and ,,black4      ,there are ten      
thousand ways of telling a lie4 ,a man's
 entire life may  be a falsehood1 while 
with his lips he may not once directly  
falsify4  ,there are those who state    
what is positively untrue1 but          
afterwards  say1 may be1 softly4 ,these 
departures from the truth are called    
white lies2 but there is really no such 
thing as a white lie4 ,the  whitest lie 

that was ever told was as black as      
perdition4 ,no  inventory of public     
crimes will be sufficient that omits    
this gigantic  abomination4 ,there are  
men1 high in ,church and ,state1        
actually useful1  self-denying1 and     
honest in many things1 who1 upon certain
 subjects1  and in certain spheres1 are 
not at all to be depended upon for      
veracity4 ,indeed1 there are multitudes 
of men who have their notions  of       
truthfulness so thoroughly perverted1   
that they do not know when  they are    
lying4 ,with many it is a cultivated    
sin2 with some it seems  a natural      
infirmity4 ,i have known people who     
seemed to have been born  liars4 ,the   
falsehoods of their lives extended from 
cradle to grave4  ,prevarication1       
misrepresentation1 and dishonesty of    
speech appeared  in their first         
utterances and was as natural to them as
 any of  their infantile diseases1 and  
was a sort of moral croup or spiritual  
scarlatina4 ,but many have been placed  

in circumstances where this  tendency   
has day by day1 and hour by hour1 been  
called to larger  development4 ,they    
have gone from attainment to attainment1
 and from  class to class1 until they   
have become regularly graduated liars4  
,the air of the city is filled with     
falsehoods4 ,they hang pendent from  the
 chandeliers of our finest residences2  
they crowd the shelves of  some of our  
merchant princes2 they fill the         
side-walk from curb-stone  to           
brown-stone facing4 ,they cluster around
 the mechanic's hammer1  and blossom    
from the end of the merchant's          
yard-stick1 and sit in  the doors of    
churches4 ,some call them fiction4 ,some
 style them  fabrication4 ,you might say
 that they were subterfuge1  disguise1  
delusion1 romance1 evasion1 pretence1   
fable1 deception1  misrepresentation2   
but1 as ,i am ignorant of anything to be
 gained by  the hiding of a ,god-defying
 outrage under a lexicographer's        
blanket1 ,i  shall chiefly call them    

what my father taught me to call        
them--lies4    ,i shall divide them into
 agricultural1 mercantile1 mechanical1  
and  ecclesiastical lies2 leaving those 
that are professional1 social1 and      
political for some other chapter4       
,first1 then1 ,i will speak of those    
that are more particularly              
agricultural4 ,there is something in the
 perpetual presence of  natural objects 
to make a man pure4 ,the trees never    
issue false  stock4 ,wheat-fields are   
always honest4 ,rye and oats never move 
out  in the night1 not paying for the   
place they have occupied4 ,corn shocks  
never make false assignments4 ,mountain 
brooks are always current4  ,the gold on
 the grain is never counterfeit4 ,the   
sunrise never flaunts  in false colors4 
,the dew sports only genuine diamonds4  
,taking farmers as a class1 ,i believe  
they are truthful1 and fair in  dealing1
 and kind-hearted4 ,but the regions     
surrounding our cities  do not always   
send this sort of men to our markets4   

,day by day there  creak through our    
streets1 and about the market-houses1   
farm wagons  that have not an honest    
spoke in their wheels1 or a truthful    
rivet  from tongue to tail-board4       
,during the last few years there have   
been  times when domestic economy has   
foundered on the farmer's firkin4       
,neither high taxes1 nor the high price 
of dry-goods1 nor the  exorbitancy of   
labor1 could excuse much that the city  
has witnessed  in the behavior of the   
yeomanry4 ,by the quiet firesides of    
,westchester  and ,bucks counties ,i    
hope there may be seasons of deep       
reflection and  hearty repentance4      
,rural districts are accustomed to rail 
at great cities as given up to  fraud   
and every form of unrighteousness2 but  
our cities do not absorb  all the       
abominations4 ,our citizens have learned
 the importance of  not always trusting 
to the size and style of apples in the  
top of a  farmer's barrel1 as an        
indication of what may be found farther 

down4  ,many of our people are          
accustomed to watch to see how correctly
 a  bushel of beets is measured2 and    
there are not many honest milk-cans4    
,deceptions do not all cluster around   
city halls4 ,when our cities sit  down  
and weep over their sins1 all the       
surrounding counties ought to  come in  
and weep with them4    ,there is often  
hostility on the part of producers      
against traders1  as though the man who 
raises the corn were necessarily more   
honorable  than the grain dealer1 who   
pours it into his mammoth bin4 ,there   
ought  to be no such hostility4 ,the    
occupation of one is as necessary as    
that  of the other4 ,yet producers often
 think it no wrong to snatch away  from 
the trader2 and they say to the         
bargain-maker1 ,you get your  money     
easy4 ,do they get it easy8 ,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 life1 and see if they find

 it so very  easy4 ,while the farmer    
goes to sleep with the assurance that   
his corn  and barley will be growing all
 the night1 moment by moment adding to  
his revenue1 the merchant tries to go to
 sleep1 conscious that that  moment his 
cargo may be broken on the rocks1 or    
damaged by the wave  that sweeps clear  
across the hurricane deck2 or that the  
gold gamblers  may1 that very hour1 be  
plotting some monetary revolution1 or   
the  burglars be prying open his safe1  
or his debtors fleeing the town1 or  his
 landlord raising the rent1 or the fires
 kindling on the block that  contains   
all his estate4 ,easy6 is it8 ,god help 
the merchants6 ,it is  hard to have the 
palms of the hand blistered with        
out-door work2 but a  more dreadful     
process when1 through mercantile        
anxieties1 the brain is  consumed6      
,in the next place we notice mercantile 
lies1 those before the  counter and     
behind the counter4 ,i will not attempt 
to specify the  different forms of      

commercial falsehood4 ,there are        
merchants who  excuse themselves for    
deviation from truthfulness because of  
what  they call commercial custom4 ,in  
other words1 the multiplication and     
universality of a sin turns it into a   
virtue4 ,there have been large  fortunes
 gathered where there was not one drop  
of unrequited toil  in the wine2 not one
 spark of bad temper flashing from the  
bronze  bracket2 not one drop of        
needle-woman's heart-blood in the       
crimson  plush2 while there are other   
great establishments in which there is  
not one door-knob1 not one brick1 not   
one trinket1 not one thread of  lace1   
but has upon it the mark of dishonor4   
,what wonder if1 some day1  a hand of   
toil that had been wrung1 and worn out1 
and blistered until  the skin came off1 
should be placed against the elegant    
wall-paper1  leaving its mark of        
blood1--four fingers and a thumb2 or    
that1  some day1 walking the halls1     
there should be a voice accosting the   

occupant1 saying1 ,six cents for making 
a shirt2 and1 flying the  room1 another 
voice should say1 ,twelve cents for an  
army blanket2  and the man should try to
 sleep at night1 but ever and anon be   
aroused1 until1 getting up on one elbow1
 he should shriek out1 ,who's  there8   
,there are thousands of fortunes made in
 commercial spheres that are  throughout
 righteous4 ,god will let his favor rest
 upon every scroll1  every pictured     
wall1 every traceried window2 and the   
joy that flashes  from the lights1 and  
showers from the music1 and dances in   
the  children's quick feet1 pattering   
through the hall1 will utter the        
congratulation of men and the approval  
of ,god4    ,a merchant can1 to the last
 item1 be thoroughly honest4 ,there is  
never  any need of falsehood4 ,yet how  
many will1 day by day1 hour by hour1    
utter what they know to be wrong4 ,you  
say that you are selling at  less than  
cost4 ,if so1 then it is right to say   
it4 ,but did that thing  cost you less  

than what you ask for it8 ,if not1 then 
you have lied4  ,you say that article   
cost you twenty-five dollars4 ,did it8  
,if so1  then all right4 ,if it did not1
 then you have lied4 ,suppose you are  a
 purchaser4 ,you are beating down the   
goods4 ,you say that that  article1 for 
which five dollars is charged1 is not   
worth more than  four4 ,is it worth no  
more than four dollars8 ,then all right4
 ,if it be  worth more1 and1 for the    
sake of getting it for less than its    
value1  you wilfully depreciate it1 you 
have lied4 ,you may call it a sharp     
trade4 ,the recording angel writes it   
down on the ponderous tomes  of         
eternity--,mr4 ,so and ,so1 merchant on 
,water street1 or in ,eighth  street1 or
 in ,state street2 or ,mrs4 ,so and ,so1
 keeping house on ,beacon  street1 or on
 ,madison avenue1 or ,rittenhouse       
square1 told one  lie4 ,you may consider
 it insignificant1 because relating to  
an  insignificant purchase4 ,you would  
despise the man who would falsify  in   

regard to some great matter1 in which   
the city or the whole country  was      
concerned2 but this is only a box of    
buttons1 or a row of pins1  or a case of
 needles4 ,be not deceived4 ,the article
 purchased may be so  small you can put 
it in your vest pocket1 but the sin was 
bigger than  the ,pyramids1 and the echo
 of the dishonor will reverberate       
through  all the mountains of eternity4 
,you throw out on your counter some     
specimens of handkerchiefs4 ,your       
customer asks1 ,is that all silk8 no    
cotton in it8 ,you answer1 ,it  is all  
silk4 ,was it all silk8 ,if so1 all     
right4 ,but was it partly  cotton8 ,then
 you have lied4 ,moreover1 you lost by  
the falsehood4 ,the  customer1 though he
 may live at ,lynn1 or ,doylestown1 or  
,poughkeepsie1  will find out that you  
defrauded him1 and next spring1 when he 
again  comes shopping1 he will look at  
your sign and say3 ,i will not try      
there4 ,that is the place where ,i got  
that handkerchief4 ,so that1 by  that   

one dishonest bargain1 you picked your  
own pocket and insulted  the ,almighty4 
,would you dare to make an estimate of  
how many falsehoods in trade  were      
yesterday told by hardware men1 and     
clothiers1 and fruit-dealers1  and      
dry-goods establishments1 and importers1
 and jewellers1 and  lumbermen1 and     
coal-merchants1 and stationers1 and     
tobacconists8 ,lies  about saddles1     
about buckles1 about ribbons1 about     
carpets1 about  gloves1 about coats1    
about shoes1 about hats1 about watches1 
about  carriages1 about books1--about   
everything4 ,in the name of the ,lord   
,almighty1 ,i arraign commercial        
falsehoods as one of the greatest of    
abominations in city and town4    ,in   
the next place1 ,i notice mechanical    
lies4 ,there is no class of  men who    
administer more to the welfare of the   
city than artisans4 ,to  their hand we  
must look for the building that shelters
 us1 for the  garments that clothe us1  
for the car that carries us4 ,they wield

  a widespread influence4 ,there is much
 derision of what is called  muscular   
,christianity2 but in the latter day of 
the world's  prosperity1 ,i think that  
the ,christian will be muscular4 ,we    
have the  right to expect of those      
stalwart men of toil the highest        
possible  integrity4 ,many of them      
answer all our expectations1 and stand  
at the  front of religious and          
philanthropic enterprises4 ,but this    
class1 like  the others that ,i have    
named1 has in it those who lack in the  
element  of veracity4 ,they cannot all  
be trusted4 ,in times when the demand   
for  labor is great1 it is impossible to
 meet the demands of the public1 or  do 
work with that promptness and perfection
 that would at other times  be possible4
 ,but there are mechanics whose word    
cannot be trusted  at any time4 ,no man 
has a right to promise more work than he
 can do4  ,there are mechanics who say  
that they will come ,monday1 but they do
  not come until ,wednesday4 ,you put   

work in their hands that they tell  you 
shall be completed in ten days1 but it  
is thirty4 ,there have been  houses     
built of which it might be said that    
every nail driven1 every  foot of       
plastering put on1 every yard of pipe   
laid1 every shingle  hammered1 every    
brick mortared1 could tell of falsehood 
connected  therewith4 ,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    
pieces2 but by promises never fulfilled 
keep all the undertakings  within their 
own grasp4 ,this is what they call      
nursing the job4    ,how much wrong to  
his soul and insult to ,god a mechanic  
would save1 if  he promised only so much
 as he expected to be able to do4       
,society has  no right to ask of you    
impossibilities4    ,you cannot always  
calculate correctly1 and you may fail   
because you  cannot get the help that   
you anticipate4 ,but now ,i am speaking 
of the  wilful making of promises that  

you know you cannot keep4 ,did you say  
that that shoe should be mended1 that   
coat repaired1 those brick  laid1 that  
harness sewed1 that door grained1 that  
spout fixed1 or that  window glazed1 by 
,saturday1 knowing that you would       
neither be able  to do it yourself nor  
get any one else to do it8 ,then1 before
 ,god  and man1 you are a liar4 ,you may
 say that it makes no particular        
difference1 and that if you had told the
 truth you would have lost the  job1 and
 that people expect to be disappointed4 
,but that excuse will  not answer4      
,there is a voice of thunder rolling    
among the drills1 and  planes1 and      
shoe-lasts1 and shears1 which says3 ,all
 liars shall have  their place in the   
lake that burneth with fire and         
brimstone4    ,i next notice            
ecclesiastical lies2 that is1 falsehoods
 told for  the purpose of advancing     
churches and sects1 or for the purpose  
of  depleting them4 ,there is no use in 
asking many a ,calvinist what an        

,arminian believes1 for he will be apt  
to tell you that the ,arminian  believes
 that a man can convert himself2 or to  
ask the ,arminian  what the ,calvinist  
believes1 for he will tell you that the 
,calvinist  believes that ,god made some
 men just to damn them4 ,there is no    
need of  asking a pedo-,baptist what a  
,baptist believes1 for he will be apt to
  say that the ,baptist believes        
immersion to be positively necessary to 
salvation4 ,it is almost impossible for 
one denomination of ,christians1        
without prejudice or misrepresentation1 
to state the sentiment of  an opposing  
sect4 ,if a man hates ,presbyterians1   
and you ask him what  ,presbyterians    
believe1 he will tell you that they     
believe that there  are infants in hell 
a span long4    ,it is strange also how 
individual churches will sometimes make 
misstatements about other individual    
churches4 ,it is especially so in       
regard to falsehoods told with reference
 to prosperous enterprises4  ,as long as

 a church is feeble1 and the singing is 
discordant1 and the  minister1 through  
the poverty of the church1 must go with 
threadbare  coat1 and here and there a  
worshipper sits in the end of a pew     
having  all the seat to himself1        
religious sympathizers of other churches
 will  say1 ,what a pity6 ,but1 let a   
great day of prosperity come1 and even  
ministers of the gospel1 who ought to be
 rejoiced at the largeness and  extent  
of the work1 denounce1 and misrepresent1
 and falsify1--starting  the suspicion1 
in regard to themselves1 that the reason
 they do not  like the corn is because  
it is not ground in their own mill4     
,how long before we shall learn to be   
fair in our religious criticisms6  ,the 
keenest jealousies on earth are church  
jealousies4 ,the field of  ,christian   
work is so large that there is no need  
that our hoe-handles  hit4    ,may ,god 
extirpate from the world ecclesiastical 
lies1 commercial lies1  mechanical lies1
 and agricultural lies1 and make every  

man1 the world  over1 to speak truth    
with his neighbor6          ,a ,,good   
,,time ,,coming4      ,as on some bitter
 cold night1 while threshing our hands  
about to keep  our thumbs from freezing1
 we have looked up and seen the northern
  lights blazing along the sky1 the     
windows of heaven illumined at  the news
 of some great victory1 so from beyond  
this bitter night of  abomination a     
brightness strikes through from the     
other side4    ,i have thought that it  
would be well1 in these chapters on the 
sins of  the times1 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  redeemed4 
,i doubt not that sometimes men have    
shut this book1 thinking  that the      
gigantic wrongs we depict may never be  
discomfited4 ,lest you  be utterly      
disheartened1 ,i will show you that we  
fight in a war in  which we will be     
completely victorious4 ,this is to be no
 drawn battle2  for1 when it is done1   

the result will not be disputed by a man
 on  earth1 or an angel in heaven1 or a 
devil in hell4 ,we shall have  captured 
every one of the strongholds of         
darkness4 ,you and ,i will  live to see 
the day when gambling-hells will be     
changed into places of  ,christian      
merchandise1 and houses of sin swept and
 garnished for the  residence of the    
purest home circles4    ,beethoven was  
deaf1 and could not hear the airs he    
composed2 but when  the song of         
universal disenthralment arises1 and    
white ,circassian  stands up by the side
 of black ,ethiopian1 and tropical      
groves wave to  the ,lebanon cedars1 we 
shall1 standing somewhere1 know it and  
see it1  and hear it4 ,if gone from     
earth1 we will be allowed to come out on
 the  hills and look4    ,we do not talk
 about impossibilities4 ,we do not      
propose a medicine  about which we have 
to say that it will kill or cure4 ,for  
this balm  that oozes from the tree of  
heaven will inevitably cure4    ,i      

remark that this coming time of         
municipal elevation will be a time  of  
financial prosperity4 ,many seem to     
suppose that when the world's  better   
days come1 the people will forsake their
 industries1 and give  themselves to    
perpetual psalm-singing1 and1 being all 
absorbed in  spiritual things1 will     
become reckless as to dress and         
dwelling2 and  very rigid laws then     
governing the commercial world1 all     
enterprise  and speculation will cease1 
and all hilarity be stricken out of the 
social circle4 ,there is no warrant for 
such an absurd anticipation4 ,i  suppose
 that when society is reconstructed1    
where there is now1 in the  course of a 
year1 one fortune made1 there will be a 
hundred fortunes  made4 ,every one knows
 that the commercial world thrives in   
proportion  as there is confidence      
between man and man2 and the extirpation
 of all  double-dealing and fraud from  
society will increase this confidence1  
and hence greater prosperity4 ,the heavy

 commercial disasters that have  smitten
 this land were the work of godless     
speculators and infamous                
stock-gamblers4 ,it is crime that is the
 mightiest foe to business2  but when   
the right shall hurl back into ruin the 
plots of bad men1  and purify the       
commercial code1 and thunder down       
fraudulent  establishments1 and put into
 the hands of honest men the keys of    
commercial prosperity1 blessed will be  
the bargain-makers of the city4    ,that
 will be a prosperous time1 for taxes   
will be a mere nothing4  ,every style of
 business is taxed now to the utmost4   
,city taxes1 county  taxes1 ,state      
taxes1 ,united ,states taxes1 license   
taxes1 manufacturing  taxes1 stamp      
taxes1--taxes6 taxes6 taxes6 ,our       
citizens must make a  small fortune     
every year to meet these exactions4     
,what hand fastens  to all of our great 
industries this tremendous load8 ,crime6
 ,we have  to pay the board of every man
 and woman who1 by intemperance1 is     

cast into the alms-house4 ,we have to   
support the orphans of those who  plunge
 themselves into their graves by beastly
 indulgences4 ,we support  from our     
pockets the large machinery of municipal
 government1 which is  vast just in     
proportion as the criminal proclivities 
of the city  are great4 ,what makes     
necessary hospitals1 houses of refuge1  
police-stations1 and alms-houses1 the   
,tombs1 ,sing ,sing1 and  ,moyamensing8 
,in that good time coming there shall be
 no exhaustive taxation2 no  orphans    
homeless1 for parents will be able to   
leave their children  a competency2 no  
prisons1 for crime will have given place
 to virtue4  ,then the vast swindles    
which now1 from time to time1 disgrace  
our  cities1 will be unheard of4 ,no    
voting of public money that1 on its way 
to some city improvement1 falls into the
 pockets of those who voted  it4 ,no    
courts of ,oyer and ,terminer1 at vast  
expense to the people4 ,no  empanelling 
of juries to inquire into theft1 arson1 

murder1 slander1  and black-mail4 ,in   
that day of redemption there will be    
better  factories1 grander architecture1
 finer equipages1 larger estates1       
richer opulence4    ,again3 when our    
cities are purified the churches will be
 multiplied1  purified1 and             
strengthened4 ,now1 denominations1 and  
the individuals of  the different sects1
 are often jealous of each other4       
,christians are  not always kindly      
disposed toward each other2 and         
ministers of the  gospel sometimes      
forget the bond of brotherhood4 ,in that
 day they will  be sympathetic and      
helpful4 ,there may be differences of   
opinion and  sentiment1 but no acerbity1
 no hypercriticism1 and no              
exclusiveness4  ,in that day all the    
churches will be filled with            
worshippers4 ,we  have not to-day1 in   
the cities1 church-room for one-fourth  
of our  population2 and yet there is a  
great deal more room than the people    
occupy4 ,the churches do not average an 

attendance of five hundred  people4 ,the
 vast majority do not attend public     
worship4 ,but in the  day of which ,i   
speak there will be enough church-room  
to hold all the  people1 and the room   
will be occupied4 ,in that time what    
rousing songs  will be sung6 ,what      
earnest sermons will be preached6 ,what 
fervent  prayers will be offered6 ,in   
these days a fashionable church is a    
place where1 after a careful toilet1 a  
few people come in1 sit down1  and what 
time they can get their minds off their 
stores1 or away from  the new style of  
hat in the seat before them1 listen in  
silence to the  minister--warranted to  
hit no man's sins--and to the choir1 who
 are  agreed to sing tunes that nobody  
knows2 and1 having passed away an  hour 
in dreamy lounging1 go home refreshed4  
,i pronounce much of what is called     
church music1 in our day1 a  mockery and
 a farce4 ,though ,i have neither a     
cultured voice nor a  cultured ear1 no  
man shall do my singing4 ,when the      

storms1 and the  trees1 and the dragons 
are called on to praise the ,lord1 ,i   
feel that  ,i must sing1 for ,i know    
more about music than do the dragons4   
,nothing  can take the place of artistic
 music4 ,the dollar that ,i pay to hear 
,parepa or ,nilsson sing is far from    
being wasted4 ,but1 when the hymn  is   
read1 and the angels of ,god stoop from 
their thrones to bear up  on their wings
 the praise of the great congregation1  
let us not drive  them away with our    
indifference4 ,i have preached in       
churches where  fabulous sums of money  
were paid to performers1 and the harmony
 was  exquisite as any harmony that ever
 went up from an ,academy of ,music2    
and yet1 for all the purposes of        
devotion1 ,i would prefer the hearty1   
out-breaking song of a backwoods        
,methodist camp-meeting4 ,when these    
fancy starveling songs get up to the    
gate of heaven1 how do you  suppose they
 look1 standing beside the great        
doxologies of the  glorified8 ,let an   

operatic performance1 floating upward1  
get many  hours the start1 and it shall 
be caught and passed by the shout of the
  ,sailors' ,bethel1 or the hosanna of  
the ,sabbath-school children4    ,i know
 a church where there was no singing    
except that done by the  choir1 save one
 old ,christian man2 and they waited    
upon him by  a committee1 and asked him 
if he would not stop singing1 for he    
disturbed the choir6    ,the day cometh 
when all the churches will rejoice in   
this department  of service1 rightly    
conducted1 and when from all the great  
audiences  of attentive worshippers will
 rise a multitudinous anthem4    ,o     
,god6 let all the people praise thee6   
,again3 when the city is  redeemed1 the 
low haunts of vice and pollution will be
 extinguished4  ,mr4 ,etzler1 of        
,england1 proposes1 by the forces of    
tide1 and wind1  and wave1 and sunshine1
 to reconstruct the world4 ,in a book of
  much genius1 which rushed rapidly from
 edition to edition1 he                 

says3--,fellow-men3 ,i promised to show 
the means of creating a  paradise within
 ten years1 where everything desirable  
for human life  may be had by every man 
in superabundance1 without labor and    
without  pay2 where the whole face of   
nature shall be changed into the most   
beautiful forms1 and man may live in the
 most magnificent palaces1  in all      
imaginable refinements of luxury1 and in
 the most delightful  gardens2 where he 
may accomplish without labor1 in one    
year1 more than  hitherto could be done 
in thousands of years2 may level        
continents2  sink valleys2 create lakes2
 drain lakes and swamps1 and intersect  
the  land everywhere with beautiful     
canals and roads for transporting heavy 
loads of many thousand tons1 and for    
travelling a thousand miles in          
twenty-four hours2 may cover the ocean  
with floating islands1 movable  in any  
desired direction1 with an immense power
 and celerity1 in  perfect security1 and
 with all the comforts and luxuries2    

bearing  gardens and palaces1 with      
thousands of families1 and provided with
  rivulets of sweet water2 may explore  
the interior of the globe1 and  travel  
from pole to pole in a fortnight2       
provide himself with means  yet unheard 
of for increasing his knowledge of the  
world1 and so his  intelligence2 leading
 a life of continual happiness1 of      
enjoyment yet  unknown2 free himself    
from almost all the evils that afflict  
mankind  except death1 and even put     
death far beyond the common period of   
human  life1 and1 finally1 render it    
less afflicting4 ,from the houses to be 
built will be afforded the most         
enrapturing views to be fancied2  from  
the galleries1 from the roof1 and from  
its turrets may be seen  gardens1 as far
 as the eye can see1 full of fruits and 
flowers1  arranged in the most beautiful
 order1 with walks1 colonnades1         
aqueducts1 canals1 ponds1 plains1       
amphitheatres1 terraces1 fountains1     
sculptured works1 pavilions1 gondolas1  

places for public amusement1  to delight
 the eye and fancy4 ,all this to be done
 by urging the water1  the wind1 and the
 sunshine to their full development4    
,mr4 ,etzler  gives plates of the       
machinery by which all this is to be    
done4 ,he  proposes the organization of 
a company2 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        
community1 of from three to four        
thousand individuals4 ,at the  end of   
five years we shall have a principal of 
two hundred millions  of dollars2 and so
 paradise will be wholly regained at the
 end of the  tenth year4    ,there is   
more reason in this than in many of the 
plans proposed2 but  mechanical forces  
can never recreate the world4 ,i shall  
take no shares  in the large company    
that is proposed2 my faith is that      
,christianity  will yet make the worst  
street of our cities better than the    

best  street now is4    ,archimedes     
consumed the enemies of ,syracuse by a  
great sun-glass4 ,as  the ships came up 
the harbor1 the sun's rays were         
concentrated upon  them3 now the sails  
are wings of fire2 the masts fall1 and  
the vessels  sink4 ,so1 by the great    
sun-glass of the ,gospel1 the rays of   
heaven  will be concentred upon all the 
filth and unchastity and crime of our   
great towns1 and under the heat they    
will blaze and expire4 ,when the  day   
comes that ,i have shown will come1     
suppose you that there will  be any     
midnight brawls8 any shivering          
mendicants1 kicked off from the  marble 
steps8 any droves of unwashed1 uncombed1
 unfed children8 any  blasphemers in the
 street8 any staggering past of         
inebriates8 ,no6 ,no  wine-cellars4 ,no 
lager-beer saloons4 ,no distilleries    
where they make  the ,,xxx4 ,no bloated 
cheeks4 ,no blood-shot eyes4 ,no        
fist-battered  foreheads4 ,the          
grandchildren of that woman who now     

walks up the street  with a curse1 as   
the boys stone her1 will be             
philanthropists1 and heal  the sick1 and
 manage great commercial enterprises4   
,when our cities are so raised1 we shall
 have a different style of  municipal   
government4 ,the great question1 in     
regard to the execution  of the law1 now
 is3 ,what is popular8 ,our city        
governments  slumber--great carcasses of
 insufficiency1 sending up their stench 
into the nostrils of high heaven1 while 
there are thousands of  gambling-houses1
 and drinking-saloons1 and more places  
of damnable  lust than the decency of   
the country has time to count4 ,do you  
tell me  that the authorities do not    
know it8 ,they do know it4 ,all the     
police  know it4 ,the sheriff and his   
deputies know it4 ,the aldermen know it4
  ,the mayors know it4 ,everybody who   
keeps his eyes and ears open knows  it4 
,in the name of ,god ,i impeach the     
municipal authorities of many of  our   
cities1 that they neglect to execute the

 law4 ,you cannot charge  it upon any   
one party4 ,within the past few years   
both parties1 and  all kinds of parties1
 have been in power2 but the work has   
never been  done4 ,you have but to pass 
the ,city ,hall1 or look in upon the    
rooms of  some of our city officials1 to
 see to what sort of men our cities have
  been abandoned4 ,look at the swearing1
 bloated1 sensual wretches who  stand on
 the outside of the ,new ,york ,city    
,hall1 picking their teeth1  waiting for
 some crumbs of emolument to fall at    
their feet2 and then  tell me how far it
 is from ,new ,york to ,sodom4 ,who are 
those wretched  women sent up in the    
city van to the police-court1           
apprehended for  drunkenness8 ,they will
 be locked up in jail2 but what will be 
done  with the groggeries that made them
 drunk8 ,who are these men in the       
city-prison8 ,that man stole a pair of  
shoes2 that boy1 one dollar from  the   
counter2 that girl snatched a purse--all
 villanies of less than  twenty or      

thirty dollars' damage to the community2
 but for  that gambler1 who last night  
took that young man's thousand          
dollars--nothing6 ,for that man who     
broke in upon the purity of a           
,christian household1 and by a perfidy  
and adroitness that beat the  strategy  
of hell1 flung that girl into the chasm 
of earthly  despair1 from which her lost
 soul goes shrieking to the bottomless  
pit--nothing6 ,for those who fleeced a  
young man1 and induced him to  filch    
from his employers vast sums of money1  
until1 in his agony1 he  came to an     
officer of the church1 and frantically  
asked what he should  do--nothing6      
,verily1 small crimes ought to be       
punished2 but it were more just if  our 
authorities would turn out from our     
jails and penitentiaries the  small     
villains1 the petty criminals1 the      
infantile offenders1 the  ten-dollar    
desperadoes1 and fill their places with 
some of these  monsters of abomination1 
who drive their roan span through our   

fine  streets until honest men have to  
fly to escape being run over2 and  if   
they would turn out from their          
incarceration the poor girls of  the    
town1 and put in some of the magnificent
 ladies who cover up the  sidewalk with 
their unpaid-for fineries1 and with     
scornful look1 in  the church-aisle1    
pass the daughters of poverty1 who with 
their  faded dress and plain hat dare to
 come to worship ,god in the same       
sanctuary4    ,but all these wrongs     
shall be righted4 ,our streets shall    
hear the  tramp of a regenerated        
multitude4 ,three hundred and sixty     
bells were  rung in ,moscow when the    
prince was married2 but when            
righteousness  and peace shall kiss each
 other in all the earth1 ten thousand   
bells  will strike the jubilee4 ,poverty
 enriched4 ,hunger fed4 ,disease cured4 
,crime purified4 ,the cities saved4     
,,the ,,end4