Rensselaer Union, Volume 10, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1878 — A Retrospect and the Thoughts Awakened Thereby. [ARTICLE]

A Retrospect and the Thoughts Awakened Thereby.

AM KSSAY KKAI> HKFOHKTHK MAIIXOLIA, MIS*., TKMSKKAKCK KOCIKTV BY MISS KVA HALMTKAP. As 1 close my eyes in reverin there appears before me a vision of 'be river Time, and U|x>n its turbulent waters there Hunt spectres of the post which a nearer view reveals to be certain events standing out bold and prominent in their majestic grandeur; events that, from their awe-inspiring results mark certain crises in the World's hi-tory that led to the burinl of old worn out creeds and the birth of new systems of thought; to the volcanic upheaval of wrongs fetid with sin and shame and the firm implantation in a newer and purer soil of truths destined to enlighten and benefit mankind. First, there looms up before me the dark image of a time when all Christendom was suffering from the goading* and cruel despotism of papal jurisdiction; when a free interpretation of the glorious religious truths were unknown, but each individual, however hungry and thirsty for the mental food contained* within the pages of the blessed Bible, must content himself with the scant morsel dealt out by the ancient clergy; a time when the powerful and educated few subjected the weak, illiterate masses to the most atrocious and ignominious crimes human mind could invent, and this merely to satiate their greed for wealth and power. Year after year did this abominable practice strengthen until there seemed not a ray of hope for emancipation from. the barbarous serfdom that enthralled the lower classes. But there was- hailed eventually throughout all benighted Europe tbe first grey dawning of the glorious Reformation, and the names of Wickliffe, Luther, Calvin and Cranmer have each a sacred place in the memory of those who recognize in them God’s agents to rescue the world from mental and moral stagnation. The seeds sown by these husbandmen were long in taking root, but the harvest was a rich one!

That has long since passed, ani now before our vision comes the scene of the struggle of our own mother country, England, when a victim to her own cupidity, she was rescued from a Onal destruction only by the timely succor of the renowned Cromwell. Whatever may have been his private character, whatever his faults, his deeds as recorded In the annals of history reveal him to be a man who, fearless of public opinion, dured to act—dared to suffer, if needs be, in behalf of his country .' Ah, would that the world furnished us more such! Cromwell and his times uro borne rapidly down the stream of Time; and we are brought face to face with the familiar scenes enacted within onr own beloved America, when she was but an infant and so lately estranged from the loved parent across the stormy deep. Many brave men there were when her position became perilous who fought and died rather than succumb to the cruel exactions of that unnatural mother, England. Washington is one of the many who immortalized their memory in the struggle to uphold the right and render futile all attempts to make our country subject to the domineering rule of another. It was a titne that demanded brave, ewevgetic men, and they were there and nobly performed their work. Many, many ofM'Y scenes are visible upon the troubled (fitters of the I’ust, but time will permit us to note t>qf one morj—the extinguishing of an evil almost co-existent with time itself, for the twrfMest history furnishes us records of one' prrbyte in bondage to another. Years with their Wnceasing roll have made (Ids with innnmsyaWe other evils a thing of the past, and we #RI not rekindle the smouldering embers of forgetfulness, but rather allow it to remain an error of days agone.

While our country has been cleansed and purged of many of its impurities, there yet remains upon its surface the visible marks of a foul, loathsome disease, which M even now preying upon the very vital# of <>iW nation, and if not stayed in its progress will soon exhaust the current of Iffe’ffel to* through its veins and render it a biJeotnf, shapeless corpse, fallen in its oafl poliutlm/ Men with untiring energy, unswerving.allo-' glance,and above all, with divine assistant*,have time and again snatchei our beloved America from destruction, and why need she perish now? Is there not brain and sinew sufficient to rescue her from the grinning monster—lntemperance? Will her people sit idly by and witness annually the downfall of thousands of her best citizens? No. wc proudly answer. No I Are we to believe that the men of the nineteenth century are less valiant than those of the fifteenth and sixteenth? Let us rather believe that although their faculties have long been lying dormant, yet it was only because they hive never been aroused to a true realisation of the danger surrounding them. Were they to view in its true light one tithe of the terrible anguish and sorrow he has caused, they would arouse as one man and array themselves in battle against the huge demon that for ages has been feeding upon countless human victims, nor would they desist until every vestige of his stained gatenent had been consumed in the flames.

“New occasions teach new. duties, Time makes ancient good uncouth.” Our deliverers will have to assume tactics entirely different from those required by our ancestors in their triumphant victory over papal authority, or those which were requ : red to tear asunder the British yoke. If we would conquer we must not “attempt the Future's portal with the Past’s blood-rusted key;” but with a keen realisation of the requirements of the present age, and with courage and perseverance eqnal to that displayed by the veterans of the past rid our country of this curse as it has been fried from the tyrannical grasp of thousands of others. Snail not we, my hearera, in the small town of Magnolia drop our pebble in the vast ocean of human effort—and who shall say shut the wavee caused by its fell shall not extend farther and farther until our influence is borne far beyond our immediate vicinity? The little band that has convened here week after week is yet email, but we rejoice to say, receives new strength at each meeting. To any without its encircling fold we would say, come and join us. We do not offer you the frail bauble of worldly fame, nor the less subetantial prise of illgotten wealth, but simply • harbor of rest and safety, where we can mutually assist and encourage each other. If we would battle against the treacherous foe Intemperance we must stand united, and if there is a doting mother here who sees with tearftil eyes her beloved son sinking deeper and deeper Into the lowest depths of degradation, we would say, come—who knows but that through your influence he will yet be rescued from a drunkard's grave and return to a sober and industrious life? If there is a lather that hesitates, we would say, by all means add your name to our list, whether your son is addicted tn the accursed practice or not, we want year influeaee, —if not for yenr own, Usew so» the sake of

, other men's eras. Young indies, we would urge ItAi to be* come one of tut, for even though the utefti de l mauds of public sen lament will scarcely al f low you to become intemperate, yet wewdhf you to show by yotlr ncUoifa that you abhor* and will not tolerate Iliff vile practice that mfthes beasU of num after robbing then! of their genius, their wealthOnd their mindA Young gentlemen, you wlio hare life be' fore you with nil of its bright hopes and promises, we want you to join us With th<f determination fliat your lives hent'trfbrtW shall be unsullied by the foul breath efthff tempter. If you have tested the bitter drags of thd sparkling wine-cup; ire want you to renounee for ever the pofstmeufi draught, and if yon have thus far withstood the tempter's Wiled and steel t ecu re in the strength of your young manhood, wo wank your aid in reclaiming others. If there be any hesitating, fearful tfcdt ours is not a popular assembly, we sure// want you. We need you to aid us is re-' moulding the unstable structure of public opinion until it shall rest upon a firm and solid basis, unwavering in its scornful spurning of the ungodily traffic and utitlring in its seal to vindicate tbe rfgtiU of worse than widows and orphans. Remember that* “in this theater of man’ff life it remains only to God and angels to bo lookers-on,*’ Then come all, and aid us isr ridding our country of an accursed tempter that makes fiends of the best of men and brings down mdurning age in sorrow t* the grave. ' It will take years to effectually eradicate, this evil and it may not be accomplished in our life tinw, but let us feel, that we have set the chords to vibratiug which may eventually produce one harmonious melody, gladdening tbe hearts of all humanity. <