FROM . RUM’S GALLERY. BY THOMAS TBOTTER, L. D. S.’ /Iv This is a reproduction of a book from the McGill University Library collection. Title: Life pictures from rum's gallery, or, Sketches written from personal knowledge of persons who have been ruined through liquor Author: Trotter, Thomas, 1853-1918 Publisher, year: Toronto : Printed for the author by William Briggs ..., 1886 The pages were digitized as they were. The original book may have contained pages with poor print. Marks, notations, and other marginalia present in the original volume may also appear. For wider or heavier books, a slight curvature to the text on the inside of pages may be noticeable. ISBN of reproduction: 978-1-926671-46-8 This reproduction is intended for personal use only, and may not be reproduced, re-published, or re-distributed commercially. For further information on permission regarding the use of this reproduction contact McGill University Library. McGill University Library www.mcgill.ca/library LIFE PICTURES FROM RUM'S GALLERY OK, SKETCHES WRITTEN FROM PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN RUINED THROUGH LIQUOR. BY THOMAS TROTTER, L.D.S. OWEN SOUND, ONTARIO. “ Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the waj s of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes : hut know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”— Eccles. xi. 9. TORONTO: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 & 80 KING STREET EAST. Montreal : C. W. COATES. Halifax : S. F. HUESTIS. 1886. Entered, according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty -six, by Thomas Trotter, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa. DEDICATION. TO THE ACCUMULATING FORCES OF TEMPERANCE, TRUTH, AND CONVICTION, AND TO ALL WHO ARE EARNESTLY LABORING IN A JCHRISTIAN SPIRIT TO MAKE THEM INCREASINGLY POWERFUL, THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE. jjjHE following pages are the product of a well tested conviction of duty — a duty which for some time I shrank from attempting to discharge, but was finally encouraged by the homely proverb, “ The back will be fitted for the burden.” Having for a period of my life suffered from the terribly seductive and treacherous power of liquor, and having by a fixed determination on my part, and trust in the Omnipotent, been delivered therefrom, I am not conscious that I owe an apology to any one for voluntarily taking my place in the ranks of an army that is now pushing the battle against a foe that spares neither combatant nor prisoner, and who has proved himself to be one of mankind’s bitterest enemies. From all personal feeling against any one in the liquor trade I am absolutely free, and with pleasure admit that all through my public life I have received many disinterested kindnesses from men engaged in it, but against the use of liquor as it now prevails, and the principle of a system that legally leads men into the commission of wrong, I unhesitatingly draw the sword of Christian warfare. In the present unsettled state of prohibitory legislation I refrain from discussing the subject, contenting myself for the present with exhibiting a few sample pictures from “Rum’s Gallery,” the sight of which may so arouse the hearts and con- sciences of readers that they may be led to seriously ask them- IV PREFACE. selves the question, “To which army should I belong in this great moral and religious contest ? ” The walls of the gallery whence these pictures are taken are still covered with pictures of the same class, and were I to continue my task of removing them for public exhibition, it would be only a matter of time for me to swell this book to a thousand pages. If, in the pictures or life sketches which I have given to my readers, there seems to be a preponderance in numbers of one nationality over another, or a seeming repetition of facts and influences that operated on the persons described in these nar- ratives, let no reader blame me for it, for I have just given them as they transpired in the localities where I have lived since the days of my boyhood. Immediately on making the subjects of these life sketches a matter of close study and recollection, I discovered that in the greater number of persons the same habits and influences had combined to work their ruin, and hence no reader need wonder that I have registered liquor, infidelity, gambling, the “society ” dancing party, or wherever liquor is used, as twins, triplets, and quartets, and I doubt not that whoever may take my place in the future at the birth register of vices that are born of questionable amusements, will have to give roller rinks a place in the registration column. It may be said by some, “O it would be an easy matter to find as many persons who have been ruined from other causes than that of liquor as you have given in your book.” Remem- ber, reader, these are only representative cases of what liquor and its legitimate offspring have done, and are doing, to millions of our race. Moreover statistics and all honest observation prove that from no one cause in the world does so much misery and ruin arise as from the use of liquor. In these sketches it has required no effort on my part to make plain the fact that a disposition in men to ignore the sublime teachings of Christianity leads to failure, inability to resist temptation, and in many cases to positive ruin. When a PREFACE. V man’s life is inspired by the principles and power of religion, he is well armed against liquor and all other temptations. While I write from the standpoint of full acquiescence in the teachings of the Bible, I have no wish to wound the feelings of sceptics, yet I feel constrained to warn young people to beware of any form of incipient infidelity that may lurk within them, lest it be fanned by the lectures and productions of such design- ing, dishonest infidels as R. G. Ingersoll, and the whole batch of his class. Infidelity offers to young men nothing ennobling in this life (and without arguing the so or not so of a future state), presents to them a future indefinite, dark, blank and dismal. That I am to-day mentally and physically, in the prime of life, a victor, a crowned conqueror, over the power of liquor, I owe to the fact that, when assaulted by the unscrupulous foe, I never entirely let go my grasp on my early Christian instruction and experience. The fact that I have placed my own and my little boy’s pic- ture in the book may appear to some an egotism, but his being placed there I have designed to operate as one of the training influences by which I intend to surround him as long as I am spared to guide his footsteps. On submitting the manuscript to the publisher, I was in- formed that the whole of it would make a book too large to sell at & low price, which induced me to dispense with the intro- ductory and several other chapters. If this, my first attempt at writing a book, meets with public favor, and accomplishes any part of what I have designed it for, I think I may say (D.V.), “There’s more to follow,” on a kindred subject. T. TROTTER. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAOE The Medical Student 9 CHAPTER II. The Twin Demons, Infidelity and Liquor 21 CHAPTER III. On the Scaffold trrough Whiskey 39 CHAPTER IV. The Only Son 45 CHAPTER V. The Wealthy Miller’s Only Son 65 CHAPTER VI The Two Brothers 77 CHAPTER VII. The Oxford Student 86 CHAPTER VIII. “The Wicked hath no Bands in their Death” 96 CHAPTER IX. Music and Liquor 107 CHAPTER X. The Model Family 117 CHAPTER XI. The Female Slave 138 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. PAGE The Slain Family 146 CHAPTER XIII. A Clerical Victim 164 CHAPTER XIV. The Gold Medallist 172 CHAPTER XV. A Fortune Squandered through Liquor 190 CHAPTER XVI. The Rural Victims 218 CHAPTER XVII. Practical Philosophy 229 CHAPTER XVIII. The Young Doctor 234 CHAPTER XIX. Young Doctor L 256 CHAPTER XX. “ From Wealth to Poverty ” 268 CHAPTER XXI. The Converted Hotel- keeper 282 CHAPTER XXII. ‘ Let Him that Standeth take heed lest He Fall ” 299 CHAPTER XXIII. Blighted Matrimonial Hopes 311 CHAPTER XXIV. Matrimonial Hopes Blasted, No. 2 328 CHAPTER XXV. Delirium Tremens 341 Conclusion 302 CHAPTEK I. THE MEDICAL STUDENT. . was the son of a Scotch physician, who, immediately after graduating in an Edin- burgh school of medicine, married a young lady in that city, and emigrated to Upper Canada about the year 1832, and settled in a hamlet not far from one of the great lakes. He brought some money with him from Scotland, and by judiciously investing it in the then cheap lands of the county of N. and by his large medical practice, which he faithfully attended to, at the end of thirty years was, perhaps, one of the wealthiest men in the county. Scotch readers will not be surprised when I state that the worthy physician brought with him from his native land the then almost universally prevalent custom of taking on various occasions the “ wee drappie of hot punch.” Those who are now old enough to remember the family toddy customs of thirty or forty years ago, will remember that it was customary, when 10 rum’s gallery. the older friends of families met, for them to regard the hot punch as one of the indispensable cements of true friendship, though it did not always answer the purpose for which it was used. It was then thought nothing of to give to mere children a portion of the liquor that was commonly used at the family board. It was in the midst of family drinking customs, such as I describe, that C., the eldest son of Dr. M., was bom and received his early impressions. Mrs. M., being “ a highly educated lady,” according to the old country “ groove ” idea of an education, which means that when she was placed in a new country face to face with the practical part of life, she was about as much m place as a railway locomotive is when off the track in a Canadian cedar swamp. She had, however, a sound English education, as well as all the finishing touches of French, music, drawing, etc., etc., and took the greatest pains to lay the foundation for a liberal edu- cation in all her children. By the time C. had become ready to attend a good common school, the hamlet had become a village, part of his father’s property forming the site, and in the village was an excellent school. C. was sent to the school, and in course of time to a high school, where he prepared to matriculate in medicine, having chosen his father’s profession. In order that the reader may better understand the future part of this sketch, I will here state that between C. and a little girl schoolmate a very decided attachment sprung up and lasted through life, sorrowful as it afterwards proved to her. The little girl’s father kept the principal hotel in the village, and hence the seeds THE MEDICAL STUDENT. 11 which were sown in the boy by early indulgence in his father’s home did not lack occasional watering. Before C. left home to attend the medical school in T., it was known that he was in the habit of frequently getting “ tight ” on the sly, but he being apparently very ambitious to succeed in his studies, it was argued by some, especially the now grown-up girl, that he would be a clever man after he had “ sown his wild oats.” Those who know anything of the temptations to which medical students are subjected, will know how groundless was their belief. Being very clever, his first session in the medical college was marked by rapid progress in his course of studies, which may be considered wonderful, in view of the fact that as far as possible he indulged in habits of dissipation. Before C. entered the medical school, bis mother had been dead three years, and a short time after the close of C.’s first term his father died very suddenly of con- gestion of the brain. He was then merging into manhood, and his beloved, (Miss N.), into womanhood. Miss N. was acknowledged to be the handsomest young lady in the town, (the village had then become a town), and was respected by many who knew her. Through members of her own family she had good reason to say, “ a burnt child dreads the fire,” and had been sadly grieved by the reports that she had heard from time to time of C.’s dissipated life at college ; but rested in the hope that she could so utilize his sincere attach- ment to her as to break him off his evil habits. In this hope, however, she was able to repose but for a few days after his return from college. Regardless of 12 rum’s gallery. her entreaties and remonstrances, he would take his occasional sprees, and continued to so conduct himself until a short time before the commencement of his second session. Miss N.’s friends had lost all hopes of C.’s reformation and future success, and strongly advised her to break off the engagement, but her reply was, “ Years must pass before we can be married, and by that time he will be all right.” For some days before leaving for the city he entirely abstained from liquor, and gave Miss N. a solemn pledge that while at college he would not taste liquor and faithfully devote his whole time to study. Those pledges he disregarded in less than a week, and launched into even deeper excesses than he had indulged in during the first session ; in fact, so deep were his dissipations that he narrowly escaped being expelled from the institution. At the close of the term, his standing was compara- tively low in his course, and instead of returning home as he had promised, he went to the home of one of his boon companions in a western town, whose father was a wealthy manufacturer, and had always too plentifully supplied his son with money. In the native town of his companion he spent six weeks in one continued round of dissipation, not even writing to the sorrowing young lady, whose heart was still too true to her first and only love. When he did return he had not suffi- cient regard for her feelings, and respect for her friends, to return in a sober state ; but was so help- lessly drunk that he needed assistance out of the stage at the hotel of Miss- N.’s father. In a few days after THE MEDICAL STUDENT. 14 rum’s gallery. he was laid up by a severe illness and his life despaired of. He recovered after some weeks, and it was thought by Miss N. and her friends that his narrow escape from death would lead to a thorough reformation- These hopes were not shaken until some time after he had gone to finish his third term, when it was learned that he had again given way to drink. After a time he picked himself up, and worked hard (with occasional outbreaks of a night’s spree), to prepare for his final examination. The faculty knew his natural gifts, loved him for many good qualities, and helped him in every way they could, but at the examination, much to their regret, he was “ plucked.” The failure of C. to pass a final examination led him to still greater excesses, which, I presume, my readers have no inclination to follow. At three successive examinations he put in an appearance for a diploma, and at the third obtained one, the unwritten part of which might have been found in the kindness and pity of the medical faculty. Now came the time for Miss N.’s crucial trial. Her marriage with C. was understood to take place im- mediately after he obtained a license to practice medicine. In looking back over their six years’ engagement, she could find no reason to hope for his permanent reform, though he was at that time leading a strictly sober life, but what guarantee had she that his sobriety would last. On the other hand, she was bound to him by the most unwavering affection. Time and time again she had been urged by her friends to accept of good offers THE MEDICAL STUDENT. 15 of marriage, but to their persuasions she paid not the slightest attention. After a severe struggle with her- self, she told Dr. C. that if he went to his intended field of practice, and for six months entirely abstained from liquor, proving himself a true man, she would at the end of that time consent to marry him. ' I knew Dr. C. well, and I believe that when he pledged him- self to that beautiful and affectionate girl, he meant every word in his inmost heart, and, notwithstanding the tempting nature of his surroundings in his new field of labour, he kept his promise for nearly two months. To remove himself as far as possible from temptation, he procured an office and board in a large house occupied by a middle-aged couple without family. At that time in country villages, the offer of a treat was regarded as one of the constituent parts of generous feelings towards a friend on meeting him, and the indispensable accompaniment of every shade and size of business transactions, yet Dr. C., as stated, controlled his weakness under the most trying circum- stances, but the fatal time came. One of the three hotels in the village was kept by a naturally warm-hearted sort of a man, named I. B* On a very cold, stormy night, just after the doctor had returned from a long drive, I. B. called for him to attend his little boy, who, he thought, was dying with croup. The two hurried off together, and on arriving at the hotel, the doctor, without warming himself, entered the child’s room. After giving some medicine to relieve the child, and further orders, he walked into the sitting-room, where the landlord was awaiting him 16 rum’s gallery. with some brandy and hot water. When invited to take some of the brandy, Dr. C. refused, but the land- lord, we believe, with no evil intention, said, “ Take some, you are shivering all over, and it will warm you up.” The doctor partook of the brandy, seated himself by the stove, and before he left for his office, was partially intoxicated, but not sufficiently to be noticed by his host and hostess. So strong was his determina- tion to make good his pledges to Miss N. that he was never, during the six months’ probation, known to indulge much in liquor, though it was known that he drank on the sly. He soon secured a large practice, and Miss N. and her friends were delighted to think that all was well. At the end of his Jacob-like servitude, he returned to his native town to marry Miss N., much to the chagrin of two rivals, whom, we are uncharitable enough to believe, would have been pleased to hear of his non-success from any cause, so long as they were not found guilty of “ murder in the first degree.” After Dr. C. and Miss N. were quietly married, they left for the comfortable home which he had prepared. She was delighted with the neat, little village, and the hearty reception that she received from the doctor’s many friends, for by this time he had secured the confidence of the community professionally, and be- sides, was esteemed as a kind, intelligent, unselfish friend. Before the young couple seemed to lie a bright and happy future, although the means which had been left to defray the expenses of the doctor’s education had been all spent, yet his income from his practice THE MEDICAL STUDENT. 17 was ample, and if care was exercised, in a few years promised a competency; but it was not long before Mrs. 0. became aware that the doctor was taking liquor every day, and on her gently speaking to him about it, he frankly told her that he found it necessary to use some when out on long drives at night, but assured her that there was not the slightest danger of his being mastered by it again. Having now the fullest con- fidence in her husband, his assurance was enough to satisfy her fears, and for a considerable time their united happiness flowed like a broad, deep river, without any- thing beneath its deep waters to cause a ripple on the surface. It was not long, however, before this faithful young wife found cause for alarm. Steadily and rapidly she saw the monster tightening his fatal grasp, though she could also see her husband’s determination to resist. Again she gently spoke to him about his danger, and his reply was kind and honest, but seemingly tinged with less confidence in himself. About this time he began to enjoy the company of the genial landlord. 1. B., together with several others who frequented the hotel ; and ere long home and wife became every day less attractive, until he was, in the very middle of a rapid stream of dissipation. His practice was now almost entirely neglected ; in fact, he would not remain sober long enough to attend to a patient. Having, contrary to the expectations of those who knew him best at college, established a high reputation as a skilful surgeon and physician, the loss of his services was much felt in the village and 18 rum’s gallery. country round about. His friends and the most in- fluential men in the place rallied around him and tried to induce him to give up drink, but without effect, for even one day. During the first part of Dr. C/s rapid fall after marriage, his disconsolate wife used to send some friend to bring him home from the hotel at night, but he soon became stubborn, and would not leave with any of her friends sent after him ; then she would go herself at a late hour and succeed in getting him home, only to keep him there till the dawn of day, when he would make his escape to relieve his torture. Swifter and swifter still he continued to rush down the terrible stream, until it was no uncommon sight to see the pale, dejected young wife — a miracle of conjugal faith and devotion — leading him home at all hours of the day and night. The stream which had carried him thus far soon brought him near the roaring, crash- ing cataract, and yet, while he was almost in the frothy waters of its very edge, the faithful wife did not relax her firm grasp. On a certain Saturday night, Dr. C. was found by his wife lying on a lounge in the sitting-room of the hotel in a semi-conscious state. By great efforts Mrs. C. succeeded in getting him home, and he never again passed out of his own door until he was carried by six men draped in the emblems of mourning and death- Seven days after he was led into his home by his victimized and broken-hearted wife, he was carried out a corpse. If faithfulness to my subject would allow me, I THE MEDICAL STUDENT. 19 would like to draw a curtain over Dr. C.’s death. Before the lapse of twenty hours after being led home by his wife from the tavern, he was raging in an attack of delirium tremens, and never recovered normal consciousness so far as to know where he was, or that he was about to die. Had he known that the wife he no doubt loved more than his cursed tempter, was watching and weeping over him night and day, that might have given him at least a moment’s comfort, but his distorted vision could recognize no earthly friend, picturing to itself nothing but the horrible and the unearthly. From the time the delirium attacked him, one shock of terror succeeded another until he became so prostrated that he could scarcely move a hand, and his last attempts to speak were whispered execrations against the demons by which he thought himself surrounded. No young man in the county of N. had better opportunities than C., and few better natural gifts to excel in his profession, and yet we see him at the age of a little over thirty, carried to a drunkard’s hopeless grave, directly through the accursed influence of liquor. Such a death, and such a life as C. led, and caused his wife to endure, is inexpressibly sad ; but that is not all, the ripples of his ruin are now affecting his soul in the boundless ocean of eternity, as well as others still in this life. Mrs. C. was left broken-hearted, in ill health, friend- less and in one sense alone. Her parents were both dead, her brothers and sisters all married and scattered hither and thither ; she had never been accustomed to 20 rum’s gallery. do anything to earn a living ; her position after her husband’s death was helpless and sad. As usual in such cases, the doctor’s liabilities exceeded all that could be realized from his estate, and the once happy and promising Miss N. was then a penniless widow. A few months after her husband’s death she received an offer of a situation in Chicago and accepted it ; since then I have never been able to find any traces of her. Young women, this is no fancy sketch, and I ask you to think long and well over the lessons that may be learned from it. CHAPTEE II. TEE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. WAS an English barrister of considerable note, in one of the large towns in Western England. He began the practice of law when comparatively young, and in a few years was in a position to marry the accomplished daughter of a wealthy barrister in Glasgow. Previous to his marriage, and for some years after, he was a mem- ber of the Established Church and took a deep interest in some of its enterprises. In addition to the liberal amount given to his wife at the time of her marriage, W. also received a handsome sum from his father-in- law as a wedding present. Mr. and Mrs. W. lived very happily together, and all their prospects seemed to promise a bright and comfortable future. After a few years W., as it usually is with men of means, began to look about him for something more exciting than the pleasures of home, and found what he desired in a large literary and secular club, which boasted of a 22 bum’s gallery. somewhat aristocratic membership. He became a member of the club some time previous to one of the periods when the infidel mountains were in labour, and about to bring forth some scientific Darwinian monstrosity that would overturn all scriptural theology- Those of my readers who have read from time to time the announcements of new discoveries in infidel theo- ries, need only recall the history of infidelity, to learn that these new infidel theories are nothing more than the old eighteen hundred year article “done over again.” I wish just here to note a point in reference to the origin of infidelity in individual minds. I never yet met an open, declared infidel, whose history, when traced, did not show that, previous to his trying to dis- believe divine revelation, he had practised some im- morality, secretly or otherwise, condemned by the Bible. A glance at the habits and practices of W.’s club will, so far as its members apply, bear out this statement. The club was ostensibly a purely literary association for mental improvement and intellectual enjoyment, but when W. became a member of it, many of its members had fallen into intemperate and other immoral habits. Those members, like all other wrong- doers, wishing for something to weaken the authority that condemned their actions, eagerly listened to the infidel writers who were at that time trying to dis- prove the authenticity of the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Old Testament. W., who prior to his marriage, as well as after it, had been what might be called a model moderate THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 23 drinker, was soon after his connection with the club> frequently observed considerably on the wrong side of the line of moderation, just in that place where so many have rapidly drifted away from happy homes, wives and children, from business prosperity, from earth, and from heaven. When the infidel epidemic was raging in the club, in its intensified form, W., to the surprise of his wife, who was a pious Presbyterian, and the regret of the minister and members of his church, openly declared his disbelief of the Scriptures, and seldom let pass an opportunity to lead others to believe the same as he did himself. To relieve the reader’s mind of a quite natural curiosity as to how I became possessed of the minute details of a man’s private life in England, I will here state that I received the particulars from Mrs. W., and some of them from her husband, while they were fellow-boarders with me in the R. hotel, town of H. From the time that W. renounced the Bible and Christianity, the Satan of infidelity and the Satan of liquor entered into compact to build an altar on which to immolate him and all his interests. Viewed from, a business standpoint, a man cannot expect to be trusted who acknowledges his responsibility to no being higher than himself. W.’s espousal of infidelity, and his rapidly increasing intemperate habits, soon lost him the confidence of his business friends. One after another of his best clients took their business from his chambers as soon as they were able to get it into a shape to do so, and in less than six months the greater THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 25 part of his once large business was gone. Gambling, another demon in the wake of loose principles and liquor, had laid his claws on W. and was fast lessening his already diminished means. His wife, with a woman’s perception, began to see the dark future which lay before her. In his atten- tions, in appearance, and in everything her husband was changed for the worse. Being yet possessed of a con- siderable sum of ready money, he spent it extravagantly in dinners given to his friends at the club-house, and at many times, when reckless through liquor, had staked and lost considerable sums of money in gambling. An occasion was set apart by some of his associates, among whom were some real sharpers, for “ A square night’s play,” not at the club-house, but at some more private place. From this private rendez- vous W. was brought home on the following morning, in a conveyance, stupidly drunk, and did not recover till late in the day. It was noised abroad that he at the meeting of sharpers staked and lost every pound he had, and even the whole of his property. The report soon proved true, and was made known to the now disconsolate Mrs. W. by a friend. O, woman, how long shall it be that thou must be the helpless victim of the hellish fiend, liquor. When liquor, Satan’s longest and sharpest and most deadly sword, hath slain thy husbands, fathers, and brothers, thou, the innocent, must suffer for their wrong-doing and loss. To W.’s wife the loss of his property was but a drop in the bucket of her sorrow, compared with the fact 3 26 rum's gallery. that the man she loved and once could look to with pride, was now a moral and religious wreck, shunned and despised by all his former friends. Mrs. W.’s means were still under her own control, and though her husband’s losses made it necessary, for the first time in her life, for her to attend to her own affairs> she proved equal to the task. Many at that time in England were leaving their native land to seek their fortunes in Australia and New Zealand, thither Mrs. W. determined to advise her husband to go. She could not bear to remain amid the scenes of her husband’s misfortunes and disgrace, and besides she entertained a hope that a fresh start among strangers would produce a great change in his habits. Hasty preparations were made for leaving the place where Mrs. W. had for a time been really happy, but which now afforded her nothing but painful memories. It is true her real friends never deserted her, and extended to her their sincere sympathies, but there are sorrows in the world that well-meant kindness often makes more poignant to the sufferer. On the 10th of April, Mr. and Mrs. W. stood on the vessel that was to carry them on their long journey to Sydney, the capital of Australia. Mrs. W. had bidden the last farewell to all her friends, among whom were two brothers, an only sister, and her aged parents, to whom she had paid a hasty visit in Glasgow, and now all those loved faces were in a few minutes to fade, perhaps forever, from her actual vision. When an affectionate, sensitive woman is called upon to endure THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 27 snch a severance from home, persons, and scenes very- dear to her, even if her future change promises much that is bright, the trial is a severe one ; but when the future is indefinite, perhaps dark, who can conceive the intense sorrow that must have welled up in Mrs. W.’s heart? Reader, you know something about the rapidity of thought. Can you follow the panorama that passed before the mind of the sorrow -burdened woman ? But a few short years before, she had left one of the happiest homes in Scotland, and had spent some time in a home equally as happy in England. Now at the fiat of the twin fiends infidelity and liquor, she was exiled whither she knew not. The vessel made a comfortable voyage, the particu- lars of which I did not learn, further than that W. did not conduct himself in a manner that inspired his sorrowing wife with much hope of their future in Australia. The reader will bear in mind that Mrs. W. 9 had, from the time of her marriage, kept her money under her own control and beyond the squandering capacity of her husband, and that it was with her money that their Australian plan was undertaken. Arrived at Sydney, they soon found comfortable and respectable accommodations, and W. at once set about looking out for the best chance of pushing his fortune in the colony. To do him justice, he bore no particular marks of dissipation, and having the appear- ance and manners of a refined gentleman, and having, in addition, letters of introduction to influential men, he was far from being left to his own resources. Within a week he met a young English lawyer, who 28 rum’s gallery. had gone to Sydney to open a law office, and with him W. went into partnership. He promised Mrs. W., and himself also, that he would carefully guard against his great weakness, but sought to carry out his resolution in the continuance of moderate drinking. .The law business of the new firm rapidly increased, and the future, to both W. and his wife, looked bright, but for the constant dread that she felt for the final end- ing of her husband’s moderate drinking. My readers will pardon me for cutting short the narrative of W.’s career in Australia, as I have yet to trace him from the Antipodes back to England, Scot- land, the United States, and finally to Canada, where my acquaintance with him began. W.’s moderate drinking at the end of three years produced such reckless drunkenness that his partner demanded a dissolution of the law partnership, after which Mrs. W. resolved to return to her friends in Scotland, in the vague hope that perhaps her husband might do better there. She had still some means left, but she had induced him to hand over to her the few hundred pounds that he had received from his law partner, and this money she applied in defraying the expenses of their return voyage. Their voyage home was as comfortable as could be expected under the circumstances. They only touched England on their way home, and on arriving in Glasgow, Mrs. W. found that her father had died about three months before, intelligence of which she and her husband had missed by leaving Sydney, and that her mother had rapidly failed in health from the time of her father’s death, THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQtJOR. 29 and .was then nearing her end. Poor, sorrowing, buf- feted woman, how her trials were thickening ! She remained at her early home until after her mother’s death and burial, when W. determined to try his fortunes in New York City. Mrs. W. was advised by all her friends to follow her husband’s fate no farther, but to remain for the balance of her life amid the scenes of her youth ; to this advice she did not listen, not yet having lost all hope of her husband’s reformation. Again she had to endure the sorrows of parting, this time more severe, if possible, than when she left her home in England, because now she was leaving the very room in which she was born, and the halls and rooms where so often her young heart had been thrilled by the joys of her first happy home, and, what was still sadder, she was about to look, for she felt assured the last time, on the graves of a dear, dear father and mother. After arriving in New York, W. was soon convinced that the crowded city presented no favourable field for him to push his fortune, and after about a month’s stay in the great metropolis, he pushed on to Canada and settled in the town of H., where I first met him and Mrs. W. He had with him letters of introduction to the son of a prominent Church of England clergyman, who was doing a large law business in H., and who was anxious to obtain a law partner. W. was soon installed as a partner of the clergyman’s son, and so far Mrs. W. was much encouraged by her husband’s apparent good fortune. Instead of renting a house for themselves they secured accommodations at a hotel 30 RUM S GALLERY. kept by a German infidel — -a graduate of Heidelberg University, and a man who, previous to the decline of his fortunes and character, had occupied high places of trust under his Government, being at one time an ambassador to one of the smaller European Courts. The well-known tendency of many educated Germans was abundantly present in this man, which trait of character will form an important part of this narrative. For several months after W. began the practice of law with his new partner, no further evidence of his drinking tendency was apparent than that of his old moderate indulgence. Through the social standing of his partner, he and Mrs. W. were admitted to the “ best society,” and to every one but the woman who had good cause for fear, matters in general looked bright. A short character-sketch of Mr. R., the “parson’s son” and W.’s partner, will not be out of place here. He was the only son of the clergyman by his first wife, and had shown very superior mental capacity from his earliest boyhood, and, as is usually the case with boys of his class, had been much petted and flattered, not only by his parents, but by a large number of friends, and had grown up to manhood with an abiding sense of his towering superiority over the rest of mankind in general, and his father and stepmother in particular. From his first term at the university, his private life was marked by disregard for parental wishes and advice, and by ignoring many of the moral decencies of a young man’s character. Until after the completion of his studies he did not THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 31 freely indulge in liquor, but did indulge in the criminal luxury of a private household, and many other things repugnant to decent morals. Graduating with honours both in arts and law, he opened a law office in Toronto, but, like many young men who place more reliance upon their natural gifts than upon their painstaking industry, he soon found himself in the legal ranks at a point much below mediocrity. Having by this time become possessed of a considerable sum of money, through the death of an aunt in England, he for a time ceased to feel any necessity whatever for making any preparation for future life, and launched upon the broad sea of a “ fast ” life, in a very full sense of the word. Two or three years brought him to his senses among the swine and the husks,” and led him at once to enter upon the role of “ the Prodigal Son,” and accordingly returned to “ his father’s house,” where he received a royal welcome, was fed on the “ fatted calf,” and afterwards provided with means to open a law office in H., where I first introduced him to my readers. The father, of course, wished him to be an orthodox Churchman, but it will not require much effort to believe that the licentious course he had been follow- ing had given him a very strong distaste for anything sacred, and that he was morally and mentally in a fit condition to adopt theories of an infidel tendency. For a time he ostensibly complied with his father’s wishes and attended his church, but soon openly avowed his disbelief of the Bible and his disregard for all churches. His avowal was followed by his tak- 32 rum’s gallery. ing rooms in the same hotel as his law partner, and becoming one person in an infidel trinity. My readers will readily surmise that the persons in that trinity consisted of the educated German, W., and “ the parson’s son.” The fall of Belshazzar culminated at the point where he ordered the desecration of the sacred vessels of the temple ; and now poor W.’s most rapid fall was to date from the time when he and his infidel associates nightly filled their cups with liquor. Two or three nights a week the two lawyers and the landlord met in a room for indulgence in liquor and for a “ feast of infidel reason.” What surprised many of the guests at the hotel was that the lawyers were able to attend to their office after one of those night debauches. W. took a deep interest in me as a young man, and often tried to draw me within his circle, but I had prudence enough to shun it. He frequently sought opportunities for argument, which I sometimes entered into with him, but finally warned him of his fearfully dangerous position, and told him he need not try to shake my confidence in the Bible as a divine revelation. It was in a conversation I had with him about that time, that he declared it was a man’s duty to put an end to his life when everything in the world seemed to go against him. Like many who have failed through neglect of every condition of success, he charged the legitimate results of his extravagance and dissipation to fate. As before stated, the two lawyers had at one time a large business, but it dwindled to mere conveyancing THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 33 and pettifogging cases. Ere long a dissolution of partnership took place, and W. took a room for an office in a back street, but not succeeding in doing any business worth naming, he went deeper and deeper into dissipation until, on a certain occasion, he attempted to conduct a case in the Division Court while intoxicated, and was ordered out of court by the judge. After this occurrence he scarcely made any pretence of business, but spent most of his time in drinking with any one who would join him in his carousals. Mrs. W. was obliged to break upon the small re- mainder of her means that she had, unknown to her husband, saved, and it was not long before her last pound was gone. Alone, yes, worse than alone, among strangers, what was she to do ? To her husband she appealed, remonstrated, and tried every means to arouse him to a sense of the solemn obligation he was under to support and care for his family, but without any effect but that of making him more reckless. She rented a small, cheap house, into which she took such costly personal effects as had remained packed away, and employed an agent to secretly dispose of them for the support of herself and family. I would fain leave out of this narrative an account of the ordeal through which Mrs. W. had to pass, but if I did so the cursed wine-cup would not be fully shown forth in its blighting nature. W. now never crossed his wife’s door, though there had been no violent disagreement between them, but because he was on a continuous spree. While Mrs. W. was under- 34 rum’s gallery. goi n g the trials of her loneliness and poverty, she was visited by a chum of the “ parson’s son,” ostensibly as a sympathizing friend, and did for a time prove him- self, financially, a friend “ in need,” but, as the sequel will show, he was a hypocritical, designing villain. If any male reader should here exclaim, “ Ah ! I see what is coming. The old, old story of a woman’s unfaithfulness ! ” I say to him, “ Blush for your sex.” Thousands of women are to-day suffering poverty, shame, sickness and worse than death, through the vile drunkenness of men, and there have been, and are now, other men who are ready to sacrifice the women who are the victims of your fellow-men’s drunkenness and brutality. The particular villain in question, whom I shall name D., was a man of means and unmarried, and by apparently the most disinterested kindness to Mrs. W., succeeded in gaining her confidence. In the mat- ter of liquor-drinking, it was sometimes his boast among his companions, that he could “ drink half-a- dozen men drunk and keep cool himself;” but well knowing Mrs. W.’s antipathy to liquor, he succeeded in making her believe that he did not use liquor at all, and although by practice and theory a sneering infidel, he professed to her a great respect for religion. He knew very well that he could not move Mrs. W. from the path of rectitude by any direct means, and therefore secured the services of a “ brother ” to poison the brain and heart of the now wretched W. against his wife. D.’s frequent visits to her house were taken as a corroboration by W. of what D.’s brother infidel THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 35 had more than once insinuated, and the plan produced the desired effect upon W., who visited his wife’s humble cottage for the first and last time and accused her of a shameful crime. In his drunken, frenzied state, he would listen to no denial of the charges he had made against a wife who had given hint a thousand proofs of conjugal fidelity. Infidelity, jealousy, and liquor had taken full possession of him, and he madly rushed away from his wife and children, and left the next day for an eastern city. After I more fully un- mask the villain D., I will close this sketch with a recital of the tragic end of the unfortunate W. It will require but few words to unmask the man who had plotted the destruction of Mrs. W.’s character, and the final kick and shove to W. in his downward career. D.’s intentions from the beginning of his seem, ing kindnesses to Mrs. W.had been of the most dastardly, dishonourable nature, and on the same day that W. left his wife and children forever, and she was suffering the greatest sorrow, she was visited by D., who, being over-elated by the success of his scheme to get rid of her husband, committed the imprudence of giving a hint that completely stripped the wolf of his “ sheep’s clothing,” and secured him an immediate and peremp- tory expulsion from the humble cottage. When I introduced D. into this sketch I intentionally strove to create the impression in the reader’s mind that Mrs. W. was about to fall through the schemes of the vile wretch, in order that the pure gold of her character might shine the brighter after being tested in a furnace that had been “ heated seven times.” 36 RUM’S GALLERY. Before fulfilling my promise in relating the final end of W., I will state that Mrs. W., through her excellent character and musical talents, soon found means of support for herself and family, and some years after her husband’s death, married a respectable, middle- aged man, with whom she lived very happily until her death, which was no doubt hastened by the over- whelming sorrows of a part of her life. When W. reached the city, having but little money, he disposed of an expensive gold watch, a diamond ring, and other cherished souvenirs, which, until that time, nothing had induced him to part with. With the money thus obtained he went about from place to place, avoiding even the drinking acquaintance of any, and seldom taking his infrequent meals at the same table or sleeping the second night in the same bed. His daily mode of life was soon ended by his being unable, one morning, to arise from the bed in a small tavern where he had slept all night, and the landlord, on being satisfied that he had enough money to pay his way until he recovered, allowed him to remain ; but in a short time he was suffering from an attack of delirium tremens, and had to be watched by men ap- pointed for the purpose. In three weeks he was recovered, and had a few dollars left after settling his bill, and left the tavern to search for something to do, but did not know nor much care what that something was to be. By a secret sign of recognition, he got into conversation with a young business man whom he met in a restaurant, which led to an engagement to enter an office. Unfortunately the heads of the busi- THE TWIN DEMONS, INFIDELITY AND LIQUOR. 37 ness were all men who indulged in liquor, and it was not long before poor W. was incapable of attending to any business. He voluntarily left the office, and went about the city as he had done before, drinking from place to place, until on a certain Sunday morning he met his last employer and asked him for the key of his office, saying he wished to write a letter and would return the key during the day. He went to the office and wrote the letter, noted the time when he finished it, half-past eleven a.m., and after remaining in the office till four p.m. added a postscript. In that letter he expressed the same views in reference to suicide that I have in a former part of this chapter stated that he held. In the postscript he stated that he had spent four hours in considering the views on suicide expressed in the letter, and that after doing so he was fully satisfied that they were correct. He further stated that a bottle labelled poison would be found beside his dead body, the contents of which he was about to take with his own hands, and particularly requested that if an inquest was held on his body, “ That the jury would not bring in the absurd verdict of temporary insanity.” When one of the clerks entered the office on the following morning, the corpse of the unfortunate W. was found lying beside a chair, and the labelled bpttle empty on the floor. In the letter found on the table no reference was made to his wife or children, but mainly consisted of a lengthy argument in favour of his views on suicide. 38 rum’s gallery. Reader, I ask you, whence came all the poverty, sufferings, and sorrows of Mrs. W. and her friends, and the tragic end of W., if not from infidelity and liquor ? CHAPTER III. ON THE SCAFFOLD THROUGH WHISKEY. * N the town of M. was born a boy named K. His father was a labouring man, who from in- fancy had been accustomed to the use of Irish whiskey, and as a matter of course was always ready to partake of Canadian whiskey whenever he could lay his hands upon it. His wife, though less fond of liquor, was not very lukewarm in her “ spirit- ual devotions,” hence it may be judged that if K. became fond of liquor he came by his fondness very honestly. Tim, K.’s father, had the regulation amount of Irish wit and superstition, and I have often, when a schoolboy, gone into a little enclosure in front of his house, where Tim, if his audience of schoolboys was large enough, would tell his exciting ghost and “ ban- shee ” stories. I can well remember K. when he was only six months old, and when I relate what I saw his mother give him one day, no wonder that the Irish couple regarded whiskey (as they put it) as good “ for 40 rum’s gallery. both man and baste.” Tim had been across the street for a “ naggin,” and on his return poured some whiskey into a cup for his wife, and K. being then only about two years old, was sitting on his mother’s knee, on see- ing the cup he began to cry for some of its contents. Tim rather disapproved of the little fellow getting any, but his mother put some brown sugar in the cup and said, “ Now, Tim, wid ye be afther kapin’ the brath av a boy from havin’ some av what is good for ould an’ young,” and the infant took from his mother’s hand spoonful after spoonful of the strong, unmixed liquor. Little did the poor woman think that she was then sowing the seed the full growth of which would in the future make her infant boy her own murderer. It was amid the free use of whiskey and its concomi- tant influences that K. spent his early and advanced boyhood. Few earnest sentences were uttered by father or mother in his presence that lacked the emphasis of an oath, and, what is a rare thing among the religionists to which they were supposed to lean, they took no pains to lead him to believe in the teach- ings of “ the Church.” Another incident in connection with K.’s boyhood will illustrate the total neglect of his moral training. His mother nursed him until he was over four years old, and one morning while I was delivering a message to her for Tim, K. ran up to his mother and demanded something in the room from her with an oath. The incident made such an impression on my mind that it is now, while I write, as plainly before me as though it had occurred only five minutes ago. Instead of receiv- ON THE SCAFFOLD THROUGH WHISKEY. 41 ing reproof, the little boy received commendation from his mother, who said, “ Shure, now, isn’t he a right shmart boy ; see how he will have what he wants.” Some one may say that I am giving unnecessary and repulsive details, but I ask such persons to note well these details and mark the influence they had upon the formation of the boy’s after life. Tim was very anxious that his son should not be like his father in the matter of schooling, but declared that he should be well “ larned.” Both the father and mother impressed the boy with the ambition of be- coming a good scholar, and when eight years old he was sent to school. There the boy’s cleverness was noted by the teacher, and in twelve months his advancement, taking into account the point at which he started, had been more rapid than any other boy in the school. He was kept constantly at school for another year, when he was pronounced by his father a good scholar and put at work on his father’s little labour contracts. The early seeds of intemperance which had been so well sown in the boy now began to grow apace. His father, when he could obtain it, carried with him to his work his little tin of whiskey ; of this K. always got a share, and, at the end of two or three years, it was no uncommon sight, after they had received theii pay ; for Tim and his son to be on a spree together. At the age of sixteen K. had become a quarrelsome, swearing, besotted drunkard, refusing even to assist his father to work when he could obtain whiskey on which to become drunk, in fact, only working to get 4 42 rum’s gallery. money for that purpose. The father, who for years had generally kept himself sober enough to work most of the time, now became, through age and constant drinking, incapable of earning much money, and, as a consequence, the family was often in a state of want 5 and the poor wife was often glad to get little jobs of work to earn a shilling, and had often to take the charity of neighbours to save herself from actual want. A few years brought both father and son to the con- dition of hopeless drunkards, avoiding all work save for the purpose of getting it to buy whiskey. The wife and mother had never been in the habit of getting in that state called fully drunk, but was now deprived of her accustomed quantity, because it was solely by her own labours that she could obtain a scanty supply of food. K.’s quarrelsome nature, incited by drink, had several times got him into prison, and he had become the most degraded and dreaded boy in the town, and so heartless were the father and son that they made it one of their plans of obtaining liquor to wait around till the wife and mother returned from a day’s wash- ing or scrubbing and force her to hand over to them the money she had earned. Although K.’s appearance at this time bore many of the degrading marks of continued dissipation, yet there was much left to indicate that he was highly gifted by nature. He had a large, well-proportioned body, a head indicative of strong, active mental capa- city, large expressive eyes, and a mouth showing great determination, but not unkind or vicious in its expres- sion. Had nature’s gifts in the young man been pro- ON THE SCAFFOLD THROUGH WHISKEY. 43 perly cared for, and not destroyed by liquor, he might have been “ a finished shaft ; ” but what has not liquor done, and what will it not do, with the brightest speci- mens of humanity ? It was said that he bore a most striking resemblance to the late Hon. D’Arcy McGee. K. and his father continued in their course of dissi- pation until, on a certain occasion, they returned home about midnight in a drunken state. By some means K. knew that his mother had saved, out of her day’s earnings, twelve and a-half cents, or what was then called “a York shilling,” and both father and son, thirsting for more of the accursed drink, demanded the money from her. She refused to give it up, whereupon they both threatened her, but the poor woman again refused to hand over for whiskey the last cent she had to procure her breakfast, and the two then searched the bouse, but failing to find the trifle they beat her severely. Search was again made by the two monsters, and, upon failing the second time, K. took an axe-handle and beat his mother until she had scarcely power of speech left to tell him where she had hidden the York shilling. As soon as he obtained the money he hurried off and bought a quart of whis- key, which he and his father drank, while the woman was lying on the floor outside of her bed in an insen- sible state, and did not awake from their drunken sleep till late in the forenoon. When K. and his father awoke it was supposed that they did not even look into the room where the murdered woman lay, but she was found by a neighbour, breathing her last, while they were found in a tavern and were at once arrested. I never learned the particular evidence which crimi- 44 rum’s gallery. nated K., but I believe it was the father Tim who confessed all, and stated that it was the son who in- inflicted the deadly blows with the axe-handle before named. When K. was found guilty, and asked the usual questions by the judge before passing sentence of death, he remained doggedly silent, and throughout the time that passed before bis execution he showed not the slightest emotion or any signs of repentance. When visited by those who took an interest in his spiritual welfare, he manifested absolute indifference, and was launched into eternity covered with the murder stains of his mother’s blood. As he stood on the scaffold, the first erected in his native county for an execution, he was in full view of the house where the mother he was about to hang for gave him birth, and it was said that even that sight did not affect his totally blunted feelings. After K.’s execution, Tim, Cain-like, wandered about seeking rest but finding none, only when he could get enough whiskey to render himself insensible. He was employed by a Dr. F. to do stable work, and, on being missed one night, was found in one of the horse stalls near the point of death. The doctor took him in and cared for him, but he soon died and was taken to what was thought would be his mortal resting- place, but his body was carried off in the darkness of the same night, I suppose to be made one of the subjects in a dissecting room. No words of mine can possibly add to the force of the facts stated in the foregoing sketch, therefore I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions, CHAPTER IY„ THE ONLY SON. WAS the only child of Scotch parents who came to Canada about the year 1826. The father, after he had increased the money he brought with him to a considerable sum, commenced the manufacture of liquor in a town near to his first home, where, like many in the business, he became comparatively wealthy. G., being the only son, had bestowed upon him every care that fond parental solicitude could suggest, but that solicitude and care aimed more at giving the boy the best business education possible and fitting him to make money and enjoy it, according to their ideas of enjoy- ment, than it aimed at giving proper ideas of the objects and responsibilities of life. The boy was affectionate, generous and unselfish, so much so that he became known among his schoolmates and older people, who knew him, as the best-hearted boy in town. After he grew up to his teens he bore the 46 rum's gallery. same character at the high school, and in private among his numerous associates. When he had finished his prescribed studies at the high school he was placed in charge of the books in his father’s establishment, and became a favourite with all who did business with his father, and both parents were delighted with what they considered a realization of their cherished hopes. G.’s father and mother had indulged in liquor from their youth, and after the greater part of the battle of life was over, and they were to a great extent free from care, it became evident that their liquor habits were fast growing into excess. In a few years after G. took the main care of the business, his father had become a hard drinker, and his mother, though less observable, was not far from being abreast with him. It could scarcely be supposed that G., brought up where liquor was constantly used by his parents and frequently given to him in boyhood, had escaped its insidious and subtle power ; and now that he was in an office transacting a liquor business, where a glass of liquor was with so many a token or proof that what- ever business was transacted was mutually agreeable to both parties, that he would not find the habit grow- ing upon him ; but so far he was a miracle of his surroundings. During the time that G. had conducted the main part of the liquor business, his father had become convinced that his son was quite capable of taking its entire management, and accordingly he was entrusted with it. After G. was installed his father felt more THE ONLY SON. 47 free from care and gave rein to his confirmed habit, so that ere long he was whirling at full speed on the highway to ruin. His wife in their earlier business struggles had been to him a helpmeet, and now in their less reputable struggle she did not leave her place by his side. On and on, swifter and swifter, the unfortunate pair sped on their way to ruin. The son, who was very fond of his parents, tried to stop them, but with- out effect. At one time Mr. and Mrs. G. were considered indispensable at all the “ first-class ” parties in the town, but now they were dropped save by mothers who were anxious to get wealthy husbands for their daughters, regardless of every other consideration. On one or two occasions when interested mothers invited Mr. and Mrs. G., solely on their son’s account, the mothers were much vexed and humiliated by the pair getting drunk, which caused G. to absent himself from all “ the affairs of the season ” for a long time. Finally, the old couple ceased to appear at any social gatherings and gave themselves up to the indulgence of drinking habits, until Mr. G. was found dead in his room. A doctor was called in and stated that there was no necessity for holding an inquest, as it was very evident the cause of Mr. G.’s death was disease of the heart. The doctor’s statement was the truth, but not the whole truth. Mr. G. left all his property and money to his son, with the exception of a certain amount to his widow as an annuity. The liquor establishment with its fixtures, etc., were valued at thirty-five thousand dollars, and other pro- perty in the town, part of which was an hotel, raised 48 rum’s gallery. the entire property, apart from personal effects left to G., to sixty thousand dollars. The household effects consisted of much valuable plate, time-pieces, and vari- ous costly souvenirs brought from Scotland, which in value amounted to several thousand more. G., after his father’s death, was much impressed by its cause and suddenness, which he was well aware of, and for over a year he almost entirely abstained from the use of liquor, but his mother drank more freely than ever, and it became evident that she would soon follow her husband to the grave. Her son was most devoted in his attentions to her, using every means he could devise to wean her from the deadly habit. At length he forbade the servants to allow any liquor to be brought into the house on pain of dismissal. His mother at this time seldom left her home, but on find- ing that she could not get anyone to bring her liquor, she would go out day after day and smuggle it into the house herself. She continued to smuggle away until G., whether to avoid the disgrace of her going out or that he was convinced that she would have a supply in some way, allowed the liquor again to be brought in, which proved to be the resetting of the trap for himself. It being now well understood that G.’s mother neither received company nor accepted invitations to visit anyone, it was not any slight to his feelings to invite him alone to any of the parties given by “ the first-class families ot the town. Few young men could be found of more impressive appearance ; “ a graduate with honours” in the art of saying and acting the only son. 49 those little indefinable nothings which, I am sorry to sa J» please some ladies so much, and yet a man of good general information and capacity for vigorous thought. At times, in argument, especially when not too highly stimulated by wine, he was shrewd, inci- sive and brilliant in his language, and in the matter of responding to toasts, particularly “ The Ladies, coupled with the name of Mr. G.,” he was unequalled. But, reader, these gay scenes and exercises proved to G. what they have proved to thousands of other young men — training schools for their future downfall through liquor. Tens of thousands can trace their total failure in life to the habit of drinking liquor, fostered at the fashionable dancing party, and others, who had broken off the habit of drinking, can trace their re-entrapment to the same place. G. would return from these scenes of excitement at an early hour in the morning, and, feeling the reaction consequent, would keep himself up by freely partaking of liquor in his mother’s house until he became a confirmed, constant drinker. By this time, through his extensive social intercourse, he had become very intimate with a number of men older in deception, and in years, and general bad habits than himself. I have already spoken of G. as being very generous and open-hearted, which will account for me stating that he was very easily led. Most of those intimates of his belonged to a class that may be found in almost every large town, and their means of subsistence I have never been able to under- stand. Without any business, profession or stated employment of any kind, they are generally dressed 50 rum’s gallery. in the latest and best styles, have spare money to do the “ honourable ” and “ amiable,” and are often freely admitted into “ the best society.” The truth of “ Where the carcass is, there also will the vultures be, is plainly exemplified by their close adhesion to generous-hearted young sporting men of ample means. Perhaps some of them may be “live lords sojourning incognito ,” but I have never heard of any one being surprised by the discovery. Four of G.’s closest friends belonged to the class re- ferred to, and it was rumoured that he was in the habit of “ standing good ” for them until their “ next remit- tance.” However that might be, it soon became plain that the course they were leading him was fast tending to his financial and even more serious ruin. Instead of looking after his business and his books, he employed a foreman and a bookkeeper, while he attended to the matters of a sporting life. The sporting life, in his estimation, implied the necessity for three fast horses and all their equipments, together with the outfittings and embellishments that go to make up a young sport- ing gentleman. His order for anything passed as current with the business men of the town as would an English sovereign, and on went the increase of his liabilities and useless luxuries. His business, like any man’s business that lacks personal attention, began to grow less and less, until the avidity of his creditors to receive orders from him was much cooled by the report that one of the banks had refused to cash a note for one of his “intimate friends” endorsed by him. From that time bills began THE ONLY SON. 51 to pour in upon him, and to save his credit he quietly sold the hotel property, where, no doubt, he had in a few years spent as much money as he received for it from the man who had kept it. With the money received from the sale of the hotel he paid off his debts, and made a fresh start in his sporting career with the balance left. It has often been the case with men who have lost the whole, or a part, of their means, that they will resort to some plan of suddenly regaining them, and this plan G. adopted. At cards he had been in the habit of putting up sums varying in amount, “just to make the game a little interesting,” and from his long practice considered himself a good player. The “ car- cass ” being in the field, the “ vultures ” were not want- ing to devour it. About that time it was no uncom- mon sight to see G. and his associates emerge about daylight, and sometimes long after, from G.’s former hotel, after having spent the whole night in gambling. He kept up his gambling throughout the after part of one winter, when it was noticed that he suddenly sold his horses and everything belonging to his sporting stables, and avoided the sporting gentlemen he had spent so much time, and no doubt money, with during the winter. G.’s mother during all the time that had passed kept on in her old course, with the variation that liquor seemed to fail in producing the effects she desired, and opium was resorted to as a substitute. It was some time before her son made the discovery, and only when she was in the habit of making herself com- 52 rum's gallery. pletely stupid by its use, but on more than one occasion he found her so far gone that it was thought she would not recover. This greater fall of his mother grieved G. so much that for a time he confined himself to his home and his place of business. He tried the experi- ment of putting the drug out of his mother’s reach, but that produced intense suffering, and consulting a doctor, was told that to deprive her of opium would greatly hasten her end, and that her nervous system was so prostrated that she could not bear so sudden a shock. She continued the habit until one morning the servant on entering her bedroom found her dead on her bed. Such was the end of a man and wife, who had ability, education, means, and everything that was necessary to place them in one of the best positions in the land, where they might have fully enjoyed this life, and been prepared for the greater life to come ; but liquor, ac- cursed liquor, had sent them to a hopeless grave. G. was so shocked by his mother’s death that he determined to lead an entirely new and better life, and devote himself to business, but when he thought of the cause of his parents’ death, an inward recoil against the monster that had slain them, and which he well knew would destroy his own life and soul, if he did not retreat from him, led him to decide on selling out his entire liquor interest. Accordingly, he sold out the whole establishment to the same man who had pur- chased his hotel, and so far put himself out of the reach of his parents’ and his own great enemy. When all G.’s debts were paid, for they had again THE ONLY SON. 53 accumulated, he had a considerable sum left, which he placed in a bank, and instead of occupying his late mother’s residence he rented it and took board and lodging for himself. In his new start he exhibited good sense in several matters ; he completely cut short the acquaintance of his former “ intimates,” and, keeping himself somewhat secluded, carefully watched the social thermometer to ascertain what it would register in reference to his social standing. In doing this, he adopted a very good plan whereby to know who his real friends were, and was fully convinced that his financial reputation of bygone years had been his free tickets of admission to wherever he chose to go ; and now he determined to test the effects of reputed poverty, and by some means succeeded in making the impression that after selling everything there only re- mained about two thousand dollars and the family residence. The social thermometer soon indicated, among all the families who in the days of his wealth had courted his company, there were only three or four who did not give him the “ cold shoulder.” This treatment by his former courtiers aroused in him a high spirit of independence, and caused him to decide that he would not any more look for true friendship in “ first-class circles.” There moved into the town about that time a very respectable, intelligent man to take a situation in a large business firm. This man had three daughters, handsome and attractive, who had seen a good deal of the world and received a good theoretical and practical education. Had the father of the three daughters 54 rum’s gallery. brought tickets of admission into the “ first-class circles ” they would have aroused the bitter jealousy of the ladies, especially the shrewd mammas, and set the hearts of the susceptible young men all in a flutter. I must here state that from the time G. had taken his new accommodations he had, as far as could be judged, led a sober life, and had so recuperated in health and appearance that he looked like his former self again, and being, as I have intimated, disgusted with the hollowness of his former professed friends, it need cause no surprise when I state that he was just in the right state of mind to be strongly impressed by one whom he thought capable of true friendship. On his first meeting with Miss A., one of the three ladies I have introduced to the reader, he was deeply impressed both in judgment and heart, and well might he be. In appearance she would not be called beauti- ful, but her expression indicated an unselfish, generous nature. G. lost no time in cultivating the acquaintance of the S. family, and Miss A. in particular. His meeting with her was a matter of rejoicing to his real friends, because they thought they saw in it what would assist him in his resolve to “ turn over a new leaf.” About that time G. shrewdly got it noised abroad that he had still a larger sum of money remaining than had been supposed, which, taken in connection with his apparent reform in habits, made some of his former professed friends anxious to renew their friendship with him, but in this they could not succeed, and he, no doubt, felt a THE ONLY SON. 55 secret satisfaction in witnessing their disappointment. Some of them, however, were determined not to let the course of “ true love run smooth ” between him and Miss A., and to accomplish their object managed to have conveyed to the S. family a full and damaging re- port of G.’s past life. Mr. and Mrs. S. having good cause through some relatives to detest liquor, and an abiding dread of any of their daughters getting intemperate husbands, began at once to investigate the truth of what they had heard about G., which ended in a long conference between G. and Mr. S. directly on the sub- ject. I believe G. was fully sincere when he assured Mr. S. that he never intended to touch liquor again, and the result of the conference was that Mr. S. was well satisfied with the truthfulness and frankness manifested by him in reference to his past life, but stipulated that two years must elapse before he would allow his daughter to marry. After the interview between G. and Mr. S. the for- mer seemed inspired with new hopes and aims. He became scrupulously careful in all his associations, and not even those who had few kind wishes for him dared to say that his conduct was not exemplary. Months passed rapidly, until only about six months of the stipulated time had to expire, and Miss A., her friends, and everybody, looked upon G. as a truly reformed man ; but bear in mind, reader, that his incen- tive to sobriety was a very strong one as far as his happiness in life was concerned. His attachment to Miss A. was sincere, and he knew very well that any viola- tion of his solemn promise to her father would i*aise an 56 rum’s gallery. almost insuparable barrier in the way of his marriage, and besides all these considerations he was yet suffering in many ways from his past indulgence in liquor. Poor G. had never been taught the higher incentive to noble actions, and that trust in -the Arm Omnipotent is needed to conquer all great temptations. “ Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall,” was not thought of by. him. About that time he consented to be one of a party who were going on a shooting excursion to the western prairies. The thought of the shooting excursion saddened Miss A., but through G.’s affectionate assur- ances she cheerfully acquiesced, and on the arrival of the party at their destination received from him a very comforting letter, the first and the last she got from him for over two months. When I state that a conspicuous part of the outfit of the shooting party was a plentiful supply of all kinds of liquors the reader will anticipate much that was to follow. Besides G. there were seven young men in the party, not one of whom but was in the habit of indulging sometimes very freely in liquor. In one of the western towns they procured a large tent and all the articles they needed for camping out. G. stood firm to his promise until the evening of the first day’s shooting, when at the supper prepared by the cook from the game shot during the day, the liquor was passed round by his companions and urged upon him ; he partook, and from that night began his last down- ward career. Little hunting was afterwards done, and when ail the supplies of the party were exhausted, THE ONLY SON. 57 they adjourned to the city of 0. where they entered upon a season of dissipation and sport. G. not only drank to great excess, but in common with all the rest of the party who had means, recklessly gambled. All who know anything of the easy facilities which a western city affords for indulgence in the twin vices of drinking and gambling, may feel certain of what befel G. and the more reckless of his companions* They drank and gambled until they had lost all the funds they had with them, after which G., thinking that luck would turn, drew the greater part of his money at home, and did not cease to put up stake after stake until he had only the trifle left needed to bring him back. Miss A. during all the time G. was away was enduring secret tortures. She knew that something was wrong, but when any suspicion was expressed by her mother or sisters concerning G.’s long silence, she would say that perhaps he was too distant from a post- office to write to her. The time for his return came at last, and brought with it on G.’s face and general appearance a narrative of the life he had been leading. He tried to conceal his return for a week, but it was soon known that he was at his rooms, and Mr. S., who, like his daughter, had suspected that something was wrong, determined to satisfy himself. On the afternoon after G.’s return Mr. S. called at his rooms and found his worst sus- picions more than confirmed. He not only bore many marks of continued dissipation but was at the time intoxicated. Their meeting was mutually disagreeable, 5 58 rum’s gallery. G. was surprised, grieved, and filled with remorse, well knowing the course Mr. S. would take with his daughter. Mr. S. was in deep sorrow because of the fall of one he had learned to love for many good qualities, and deeper still was his sorrow on account of his daughter, who, he well knew, would be broken- hearted by the disclosures which he must make to her of G.’s ruin. Mr. S. went direct to his home and taking his daughter into a room related to her the sad fact of G.’s downfall, and to his surprise she did not seem as much affected as he had anticipated. The truth was she had been so tortured by a suspicion that amounted almost to certainty, that the certainty itself could not cause her an agony much more severe. After a little time Mr. S. said to his daughter, “Annie, my daughter, I advise you to prepare for taking a course that will no doubt be for your present and your eternal welfare.” The sorrowing girl only said, “ Let us wait, father,” when he, wishing to spare her feelings, dropped a few words of encouragement and quickly left the room. When Miss A. was left alone she tried to calmly reason on her situation, but reason would not drive away the aching sorrow of her heart and she gave way to an outburst of grief and retired to be alone. G. did not leave his rooms for two days, when he called on Mr. S. and tried to mend matters a little, by making a full confession and a most humble apology, and Mr. S. treated him with great kindness and con- sideration, but also with unwavering firmness. He told G. that there was nothing within his power that THE ONLY SON. 59 he was not willing to do to assist him in recovering himself, but that he would never consent to Annie marrying a man who had proved himself so unworthy of her. You know, said he, the conditions upon which I consented to my daughter’s engagement, and I have too much confidence in your sense of honor to think that you would expect her to fulfil that engagement after what has occurred. The now wretched G. was so bewildered by Mr. S.’s mixture of kindness and firmness that all he did was to ask permission to call on Annie once more at her home. Mr. S. having full confidence in his daughter’s judgment, notwithstanding her strong attachment to G., gave him permission and the interview ended. When G. called on Annie she uttered no words of complaint, nor did he need words to make more plain the terrible work he had done. There sat before him the bright, happy girl of a little over two months before; now the pale, trembling, hope-shattered victim of his own heartless dissipation and profligacy. He did not attempt to deny or hide from her the course he had pursued while absent ; but with his usual frankness outlined all but the loss of his money, and begged for her forgiveness. She said, “ God knows, I can forgive you, but I have resolved to act upon my father’s wishes.” The announcement of her decision, indicat- ing as it did so plainly what it cost her to make it, so confounded G., that he only motioned and muttered a hasty good-bye and left for his lodgings. The feel- ings of the two thus separated can be imagined but not described, 60 rum’s gallery. The next day G. wrote Annie a long letter, in which he persistently declared his undying love, and pleaded the nature of the circumstances which led him to fall, vowing that if she would but give him a ray of hope, he would never again even place himself in the way of temptation. Poor Annie’s heart was a soil too favor- able to the growth of the seed which that letter cast into it ; and she, in her reply, did give him more than a ray of hope, though she knew that she would have to practise direct deception on her parents and two sisters. G. did not again visit the home of the S. family, but Annie having quite a number of friendly corres- pondents, her correspondence with G. was never suspected by her mother or sisters, and hence a secret correspondence was kept up between them In less than three months they had all their plans complete for a clandestine marriage. Annie had well simulated to her parents and sisters a speedy recovery from her supposed broken engagement, and not the slightest suspicion existed in any of their minds that the engagement was not broken off. She had full confidence in the soundness of her father’s judgment, and knew very well that her mother and sisters were of the same mind as he, and that to make any attempt to change their opinion of G. was useless. Poor girl, her own judgment decided the same as theirs, but her heart was stronger than her head. I can imagine the conflicting sensations by which she was exercised when the time drew near for her elopement with G. On the one hand, with her father, mother and sisters she had .the only son. 61 always had the best of homes and the most pleasant associations ; on the other, she was going to leave, per* haps forever, all those who had been so dear to her, for one whom, it is true, she now loved above every one else, but in whom she had not full confidence. She had promised to visit an old friend in L., and that visit she made use of to conceal her elopement with G. On the third day after her departure, one of her sisters received a letter from Annie, informing her of her marriage in L., and asking her to make known the fact to her parents in a manner that would shock them as little as possible, and begging for the forgive- ness of all she had left behind. The grief of the parents and sisters was great, but Mr. S., knowing that his beloved daughter would yet, in all probability, have too much to bear, determined to “make the best of a bad job,” wrote Annie and her husband a kind, encour- aging letter, and offered to them his best wishes and forgiveness. His letter took a great load off her heart, and, apart from the dread she had of her husband again falling, she was happy. Before her marriage to G. he had secured a good situation in L., and it was only a short time after he began his new duties that his young wife learned his real financial circumstances. To be thus deceived by him who was now her husband greatly grieved her, but she hid her grief, and hoped for the best. Her hopes proved groundless, for in a little over four months G. had lost his situation through drink, and in fourteen months from the time of her marriage she, with a young babe, was suffering the tortures caused by a drunken, besotted husband. As 62 rum’s gallery. is usual in such cases, G.’s fall after his marriage was lower than it had ever been before it. Through his drinking, gambling and general mismanagement, when married he was only worth a few hundred dollars, and this was all gone before he began to drink after his marriage. His poor young wife, with her baby boy, was soon forced to quietly dispose of some household effects which she could spare, but to her dismay, a few days later, a bailiff entered with an execution and seized nearly all the articles she had left. G. had sold all the articles he had upon him for the purpose of buying liquor, and as long as he could get it, never crossed his own door. When he did return, it was to find some- thing that would procure liquor, and finding nothing, only made light of his wife’s entreaties, and left to try and get more liquor from his boon companions. As I have stated before, Mr. S. had only his salary to depend on for the support of his family, but when he heard of Annie’s misery he sent her what money he could spare, and begged her to come home with her infant child. Low as her husband had fallen, she would not consent to leave him alone in L., but wrote to two uncles, who sent her some money and promised to pay her rent and provide for necessary wants. She continued to live for some months a living death, while her husband was following his terrible course of dissi- pation and ruin. It was seldom she saw him, for he had his regular circuit of taverns and saloons, where he managed to get drink during the day, and was always laid up some place at night in a drunken sleep. Besides what he had taken out of the house to raise the only son. 63 money for liquor, his fine gold watch, his father’s watch, and even his mother’s jewellery, all of which he had at one time prized so highly, were pawned to raise money for the same purpose. It did not require long for him to get through all the money he had raised, and then came the time for him to estimate the grati- tude of the men to whom he had given all his money for liquor. One after another gave him the door, until at last he came home late one night, aroused his wife from her bed, and in the morning was found to be seriously ill. She called in a doctor, who pronounced his case a serious one and likely to end fatally. The poor woman attended to him night and day, until she was worn out and her scanty supply of money all ex- pended in trying to make him as comfortable as she could. A commercial traveller, who was acquainted with G. at the same time that I was, related to me in Owen Sound the particulars of his illness in L., and said that he and four other travellers raised a sum of money to assist Mrs. G. during the latter part of her husband’s illness. From the time he went home, a complete wreck, his wife could not get him to realize that his days were numbered, and he died unconscious of the fact that the once promising Annie S., whose life he had blighted, was weeping by his bedside. He was buried by a few old friends. In less than three years after her marriage Mrs. G. returned to her father’s house, under a cloud of sorrow, which has darkened that once happy place to the present day. Reader! another picture from Rum’s gallery! Sixty 64 RUM*S GALLERY. thousand dollars squandered in ten years; two parents and their gifted son carried to drunkards’ hopeless graves; an innocent, accomplished young woman’s bright hopes blighted for life; and an abiding sorrow fixed on her parents and sisters, and all through the deadly liquor cup. CHAPTER Y. THE WEALTHY MILLER’S ONLY SON. § WAS the only son of Mr. R, an English miller who many years ago purchased four hundred acres of land in the county of W. A fine stream of water, with high banks, ran through R’s property, which made more than one site for a water power available. When R purchased the four hundred acres, every acre of the plot was covered with native forest, and the country all around was but sparsely settled. Having some means, and being a mill builder as well as a practical miller, he judiciously selected the best site for forming a water head or mill dam, and cleared the land round about tlie site. The next year he built a flouring and gristing mill, which was a great boon to the new settlers far and near, and soon became a source of much profit and ultimately of wealth to himself. The land being very fertile in the whole section, was soon taken up and rapidly improved, and a part of R’s property became the site of a village. 66 rum’s gallery. The town of E. now covers nearly the whole of what K,. purchased as an unbroken forest. The growth of the village was marked by accessions of the different characters intent on the various call- ings which arise in a growing place. Almost first among these was the inevitable village tavern. The tavern was started when the village or four corners did not contain fifty people, and but a few dwellings, so that, considering the long distances the new settlers had to come to the mill, it was a necessity in all its provisions save one — the sale of liquor. Here allow me to say that I have not yet heard a good reason given why a hotel business cannot be carried on successfully without selling liquor, if its proprietor will but be satisfied with the ordinary profits made in other lines of business. As might be expected, R.’s property very rapidly increased in value, and in twenty years, from the sale of lots, his mill business, and the careful investment of money in various ways, he had become comparatively a rich man. His family consisted of five children, all of whom died young but B. and S., an only daughter. At the time I am writing of B. was aged eleven and S. over thirteen. B. had replaced the old mill by a large stone building, erected the handsomest brick residence within thirty miles, and was in a financial position to take ease and comfort while giving his two remaining children a good education. Both children were well advanced at the local school, after which S. was sent to an academy in H., and B. to what was supposed to be the best grammar school in Ontario. I have for years 67 THE MILLER’S ONLY SON. noticed that children early learn to place a pretty close approximate value on their father’s estates, and if the value be a high one, I have never known it to act as a strong incentive to literary or any other worthy ambi- tion. In a period of thirty years I have noticed many families of boys who have lain on their oars waiting for their fathers’ wealth, and when their fathers were gone, that wealth proved to them a curse rather than a blessing. B. put in his full time at the grammar school, and returned home, and, as some of the older people said, “Not as nice a boy as when he left.” I must here state that R,., in England, had always been accustomed to the use of liquors, more particu- larly beer, of all kinds, and when he settled in Canada, a long distance from the frontier, he manufactured his own beer, and freely used it in the family, and later on he constantly kept and used stronger liquors. Some of my readers will remember that many years ago one criterion for determining a man’s state of intoxication was that if he held on to the grass to save himself from falling off the earth he was considered to be really drunk. Although R. indulged in liquor for many years to an extent that would now brand him an intemperate man, then he was pointed to as a rock on which to build an argument in favor of moder- ate drinking; but the reader will presently see that his moderate drinking ended as it does in most cases. His wealth placed him beyond anxious care in busi- ness, and never having had any but very indefinite views on matters of religion, he aimed at whatever 68 hum’s gallery. brought him the most gratification without doing any apparent harm to his neighbors, among whom he was highly esteemed for his honesty and proverbial kind- ness. R. placed his son in charge of a flour and grain depot, and his own time was spent mostly in keeping a little oversight on all his interests and whiling away the rest of his time from place to place, generally of an evening dropping into one of the hotels to have a few glasses and a social chat with friends like himself. Before long he began to invite his friends to his own house for the same purpose. Ere long the social even- ings began to tell very plainly upon him, and it began to be whispered about that “Mr. R. was giving way too far to drink.” I need not multiply sentences to tell how rapidly R. was carried down the stream that has carried so many in the same way and at the same rate of speed. In his case his dissipation took no other form than that of constant excessive drinking, and it soon became a question with those wishing to see him on any kind of business whether or not they could find him sober. Miss R., the daughter, about a year after her re- turn from the Academy, had married well and gone to an eastern town, so that there only remained at home the parents and their son. Mrs. R. had always been a delicate woman, and though she had never had to endure any of the hardships incident to a new settlement, her health gradually failed, and it was evident she was not destined for long life. Her husband’s change for the worse had affected her very much in health and THE MILLER’S ONLY SON. 69 spirits. She was at midnight suddenly taken ill, and only rallied for a short time, when she beeame so low that her husband hurried off a messenger for a physician, who told him that his wife must die within a brief period. The doctor’s statement so shocked R. that he at once ceased to visit his outside places of drinking resort, but having the wherewithal ready in his house he still drank, but not so much as to unfit him for constantly showing his wife great attention* On the dying woman’s heart there rested a heavy sorrow. R. had been to her a faithful, kind husband, and their whole married life, with one late exception, had been a very happy one. Now that she was ap- proaching her end she saw too plainly that her husband was nearing the precipice over which some of his re- latives in England had fallen and been dashed to pieces. She had mildly spoken to him several times before her illness of the danger he was in through drink, but he, in his kind way, had told her there was no fear of his going too far. A week before Mrs. R.’s death, she called her hus- band and her son to her bedside, and implored them as only a dying wife and mother could implore, to give up the use of liquor forever. She named one after another of their friends in England who had been ruined through liquor, and tried to obtain their prom- ise that they would abandon the habit. Much as they loved the dying woman, they neither of them would promise more than that they never would allow the habit to master them, and it was said the poor woman 70 rum’s gallery. felt the weight of their refusal as a great sorrow to her last moments. Mrs. R. belonged to a religious family in England* and was converted when a young girl, but like many others who marry men indifferent to the claims of re- ligion, and emigrate to a new country, she lapsed into a state of indifference ; but during the whole time of her last illness she was deeply penitent, and died trusting alone in the merits of a crucified Saviour. Mr. R. and his son felt deeply their irreparable loss,, but R., like most men who indulge freely in liquor flew to the bottle for consolation. It is true, for weeks he tried to put on the semblance of sobriety, but all the while he was drinking very freely and seldom went to his bed in a sober condition. By-and-by he began to mix with his former associates at the hotels, and having no congenial company at home he seldom returned there till a late hour, and often, through in- toxication, remained in a hotel all night. His residence and grounds were upon a beautiful hill, the site of his first “ sugar bush,” above the new mill, and in crossing and re-crossing from his house to the town he bad to pass over a bridge that spanned the river below the mill. The poor man, one morning about one o’clock, was much intoxicated in one of his drinking resorts in the town, and upon his wishing to go home was urged by the proprietor of the place to allow some one to accompany him, but he refused, and would not take a lantern with him, and left, saying there was no danger, as he knew the way. His house- keeper the next day took no notice of his absence, THE MILLER’S ONLY SON. 71 because it was nothing unusual, until she had waited dinner for him till two o’clock, when she sent the ser- vant to the hotels to make enquiries, and found that Mr. R. had left the F. House at one o’clock that morn- ing. The alarm was immediately given and hundreds turned out to search for the missing man. After search had been made all over the town, the river was grap- pled and the body of the unfortunate victim found caught by a projecting root from an elm tree, which had been washed bare by the stream, at a sudden turn of the river some distance below the bridge. Such, reader, is the end that I promised you should see of R.’s moderate drinking — the end as far as this world, but the full end will never come. I left off the narrative of B.’s career at the time he had returned from the grammar school at H. In his position as manager of the flour and grain depot he had become intimately acquainted with several fast young men of the town — for bear in mind that fast young men are just as sure to grow up about hotels and saloons as a Canadian thistle is sure to grow from a root of its kind being placed in the rich earth — and their favorite place of rendezvous in the evenings was B.’s office and the rear rooms of his store. Apart from the secret rooms in hotels, saloons, and gambling houses, there are no places where the threefold demon — infidelity, liquor and gambling — holds more success- fully their high carnivals than in such places as B.’s large and comfortable private office. Real “birds of 3 feather” there meet and indulge in liquor, gambling, 72 rum’s gallery. obscene language and other vices that they would not dare to attempt in a public house. B. and his companions would occasionally set apart a night for “doing” the houses in town in a more respectable round of drinking, but their cherished spot — their deadly training school — was B.’s rooms. There the band of young men would sometimes spend the greater part of the night in drinking, card-playing, and in discussions to “post up” and strengthen them- selves in a new and then somewhat popular phase of sceptical theory, and it can easily be imagined what the immediate and after effects of such a course had upon these young men. The particulars I here relate of B. and his companions were not known to Mrs. R. when she was on her death-bed, but no doubt a great part of her sorrow was caused by her knowing that her son was in some way leading a dissolute life. R. had bequeathed to his daughter S. one-third of the value of his estate, and the entire residue to his son B. B.’s share in money was twenty thousand dollars and in property between twenty -five and thirty thousand more. With the opportunities afforded him for a business training, and the amount of capital and business property left him in hand, he might have been, when he came to mid-life, one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the county, but the demons had him in charge. There was one peculiarity in the character of B. which I will here note. When his father was drowned B. was about twenty-four years old, and of course came into full possession of his father’s fine residence THE MILLER’S ONLY SON. 73 and all the other property. Most young men, under the circumstances, would have shown some disposition to settle in married life, but for the welfare, or some other cause, of some young lady, it was entirely other- wise with B. From the time when first he began to lead a fast life to full manhood, he had shown an aver- sion to the female sex, and secured for himself the name of a “ woman hater.” This trait in his character was so well known by the women in general, that even his fine property and money did not prevent him being regarded by them as an object of dread. Young men, it is a dark day for you when, from any cause, you estrange yourself from the society, the respect and esteem of the community in which you live. I have no doubt that B.’s self-expulsion from the company of women made him a more ready victim for the demon vices that ruined him in the end. When young men, through choice, avoid the company of young ladies, it is generally an evidence that they hold and cherish sentiments that will not bear contact with refined, virtuous female influence. B., after his father’s death, chose for his sole com- panions the fast young men of the town to whom I have before referred, and there were vultures among them who did not hesitate to regard B.’s wealth as a carcass on which to feed. He gave up the manage- ment of his flour and grain business to an employee, and the mill to a new miller, who professed to have improved methods of managing a mill business ; but himself he gave up to a constant round of dissipation and pleasure seeking. About this time I well remem- 6 74 bum’s gallery. ber him calling at my hotel in M., accompanied by three of his fast companions, in a splendid “turn-out.” They drove up to the hotel, called for some one to take charge of their carriage, and then entered the gentlemen’s sitting-room. After B. had treated his companions and all present who would drink, he handed the bar-tender a ten-dollar bill, and upon the landlord coming in to give him the change, he said, with an empty swagger, “ Thank you, I never take any change,” and again called for more liquor, which he paid for with a handful of silver. I mention this incident to show how reckless B. had become in the expenditure of money after he became possessed of his fortune. That night, before he left the hotel, to show how little he cared for money, he lighted his cigar with a one-dollar bill ; but of course he had partaken very freely of that which makes many men feel as rich as a Rothschild. The sayings of our old grandmothers are very often practically true, “A wilful waste makes a woeful want.” B.’s reckless expenditure in his course of dissipa- tion soon produced its legitimate results ; his father’s friends lost confidence in him, and his business, both at the store and at the mill, soon began to fall off. The fact was, the money that should have been used as business capital was otherwise expended, and the grain needed to keep the mill running was wanting, until the mill business amounted to little more than a gristing business for the farmers. The first break made in B.’s property was the closing of the retail store and the sale of the building in which it had THE MILLER’S ONLY SON. 75 been carried on ; the next, a clean sweep of all his town plots, and then again his breaking up house- keeping and the sale of his beautiful home. There was a considerable period of time between the sales mentioned, during which time B. was travel- ling from place to place with some of his fast com- panions, who faithfully helped him to spend his money. He several times visited New York, Boston, and Sara- toga Springs, as well as the larger Canadian cities; and most of the time he was drinking so freely that had he not had some one with him to look after his corporeal interests he probably would have lost his life in travelling. On one of those trips he met with a wealthy Ameri- can, to whom he sold his splendid flour mill and all the lands attached at a high figure. He was now, as he said, “above business,” and resolved to have a better time than ever. From the perhaps tiresome details which I have given the reader of B.’s life so far, he may be able to fill in for himself what followed after he had sold all his property and was in possession of a large amount of money. I will give the final ending of his extra- ordinary (extraordinary in folly) career as far as any of his friends have been able to trace him. In five years and a few months from the time that B.'s father died he was known to be in a Canadian city, penniless, save what he earned as a billiard marker in one of the lowest billiard rooms in the place. At that time there were large bounties offered for recruits in the Northern army. B. was traced 76 rum’s gallery. from the Canadian city to Buffalo, where it was sup- posed that he, while drunk, accepted the bounty offered him and was hurried off to the front, never to be heard of again by anyone who knew him in Canada. No doubt he was numbered with the thirty-five thousand Canadians who were said to have been slain in the American civil war, and now lies in an unknown, un- honored grave. Another father, another son, slain by liquor. CHAPTER VI. THE TWO BROTHERS. LND S. were two brothers, sons of an English Nonconformist minister named N., who took charge of a congregation in the town of H. over forty years ago, and remained in charge until the time of his death. He had the advantages of an English university education, and, being a de- votedly pious man, with his excellent wife took great pains in the early education and training of their three sons, good schooling facilities at that time not being within their reach. The boys received not only a thorough knowledge of all the English branches, but were also carefully taught the Scriptures and the prin- ciples of true piety. R. and S. were very apt boys to learn, and, by the time a good school was established in H., were not much below the average teachers of the day in schol- astic attainments. They remained at school and under 78 rum’s gallery. the tutorship of their father until R. was prepared to enter an office in Toronto as student at law. S., having no early inclination for any of the professions, was placed to learn a respectable trade in the city of H. R. soon became a great favorite with the head of the law firm in Toronto for his ability, industry, and care in the discharge of his duties. Without difficulty he passed the examination for attorney, after which he remained two years in Toronto, and then returned to the town of JEL, where he opened a law office. It was noticed with much regret, especially by his parents, that his stay in Toronto had wrought a great change in his habits and sentiments. Before he left H. he was seldom absent from the services in his father’s church ; but now he was rarely present, and showed a disposition to intrude sceptical arguments upon his father, and the young men he had chosen for his companions, in themselves, were a confirmation that a change had taken place in his tastes that did not indicate an improvement in his morals. He never had tasted any kind of liquor before he went to Toronto, but now was quite at home in taking the social glass, although not yet in the habit of free indulgence. Within a year from the time he opened his law office his business had so increased that he needed an assistant, and, being a very fine penman, shrewd and comprehensive in drawing all kinds of agreements, mortgages, etc., he was considered the best convey- ancer in the county. S. two or three years before had finished his apprenticeship, and was then in the em- THE TWO BROTHERS. 79 ploy of the man with whom he had learned his trade. R. wrote him the proposal of taking him as a law student, which he accepted and entered R.’s office. During S.’s stay in the city he had formed associa- tions with, to say the least, a number of careless young men whose ways he soon fell in with, and one of those ways was the abounding evil habit of treating and being treated. When the cholera epidemic of 1848 raged in the city he was one of seven young men who volunteered to attend to cholera patients and prepare the dead for burial. For this heroic work the young men were liberally paid, and as brandy at that time was considered a protective against heat, cold, cholera, smallpox, and all other ills, the seven young men throughout the whole season of the pest indulged very freely in it, which I have often heard him say was the time he formed the habit of excessive drinking. The usual quantity they consumed while engaged in their dangerous work was two gallons every two days. When S. took his place in his brother’s office he was inspired by a strong ambition to excel in his new chosen profession, and bore the character of a steady, dilligent student for two years. In fast writing he was almost equal to his brother, and the amount of conveyancing they did amounted to thousands of dol- lars in the year. During the first two years R. and S. were together their parents both died ; and R., having erected a new building on the front street, rented the first flat for a store and occupied the whole of the second flat for an office, sleeping-rooms, and parlor. This new arrangement did not conduce to the welfare 80 rum’s gallery. in either the morals or business of the two brothers. The private rooms bore all the appearance of comfort- able home parlors, but lacked their restraining and refining influences. It was in the midst of these com- plete private room arrangements that the seeds of intemperance now sown in both brothers began to grow so rapidly. They had not occupied their new apartments long before they began to keep liquors by the gallon in a room adjoining their sleeping rooms, which at first was used by them at stated times, but soon whenever inclination demanded it. Both of the brothers were musically gifted, and R., having im- proved his opportunities in Toronto, had become an expert pianist. He placed a piano in his parlor, and there of an evening would gather a number of his male friends to enjoy a feast of music, which almost invariably ended in a flow of soul over the wine cup. S., being intent on his studies, kept himself aloof from the inner circle for more than a year ; but the liquor, being within easy reach, was partaken of by him more or less freely all the time. He had, how- ever, well kept up his studies, and was spoken of by many as the cleverest law student in town, and all who knew him liked him, and no one had any doubt of his ultimate success as a lawyer. About the time of which I am writing the rebellion in the United States was at its height, and had created such a demand for Canadian products that money was very plentiful in Ontario. The abundance of money caused a corresponding extravagance, and in many an unwise disposition to exceed their means. R. was THE TWO BROTHERS. 81 among those who did not anticipate a financial reac- tion, and became more extravagant in his habits as well as in his speculations. He purchased property in town, an expensive pair of horses with all the requisite outfit, a site for a private residence, and indulged him- self in many unnecessary luxuries, besides spending much money on pleasure trips. To add to the influ- ences that had already began to operate against his business, he brought home from Toronto a billiard table and placed it in the top flat over his office. Now, what with a fine “turn-out,” music, liquor, and billiards, R.'s time was pretty well taken off from his law business. With billiards he became completely infatuated, and would urge young men and others at all hours of the day to come up and play a game with him, which was seldom done without indulgence in liquor. The effect of his fondness for billiards told riot only injuriously upon himself, but was hurtfully far-reaching in its effects upon the young men whom he gathered around him. At many times he would leave important office work undone for the purpose of engaging in his favorite game, and at night the billiard room presented a scene of excitement and noise till late hours. All of these things were speedily pulling down his reputation as a business man, and it soon became apparent that his once large business was nearly gone. S. was still industrious in his studies and office work, taking no part in billiards or other games when he could avoid doing so, but it was sadly plain that liquor was gaining the mastery over him. Sometimes after 82 rum’s gallery. finishing his office work he would join some companions at the saloon, and come home to his rooms in an intoxi- cated state, and frequently he would be found incap- able of attending to business during the day. That he was rapidly falling through liquor need cause no surprise when I state that R. now brought liquor into his rooms by the barrel. The time had arrived for S. to pass his examination for attorney, when he took the necessary funds and left for Toronto, but instead of going up for examination, he spent the money he had taken with him and after- wards got a situation in the office of a Toronto law firm, where he remained for some months. When he returned to H., R. took him into his office, intending to give him another opportunity of preparing for exami- nation, but liquor had such a hold upon him that almost every afternoon he was to be found drunk, and yet, strange to say, his destroyer was still kept within his reach. When R. thought he could do nothing with him, he advised him to go to their brother in the United States, who was a temperate man and in good circumstances. S. gathered together all the law books he needed, and left for his brother’s. Poor S.! I saw him a few minutes before he left H., and have no doubt that he was fully determined to devote himself to study. R. had written to their brother in T. the particulars of S.’s case, and asked him to do all he could for him, and when S. arrived he was treated very kindly and given comfortable rooms to study in. F., the brother, thought S. was getting on nicely until he had been with him about six weeks, when he thought THE TWO BROTHERS. 83 he could notice in S. strong signs of indulgence, but could not imagine where he got the liquor, for he was seldom absent from his rooms. F. held a high position on a line of railway, and being a great favorite with his brother officers, they had on the occasion of his birthday sent him a half-dozen demijohns of old Bour- bon whiskey, and not using liquor himself he had placed the demijohns in an attic store-room. By some means S. had made the discovery of the liquor, and regularly indulged in it until the fact was discovered by his brother. On the discovery of his larceny, S., either through shame or disagreement with his brother, left for H., and arrived there in a very dilapidated condition. R., through being left alone to attend to his business, had been more moderate in his drinking, and was very angry with S. when he returned in the condition before stated. He refused to take S. into his office again, whereupon a young friend who had an office near by offered to take him in and board him at his house on condition that he kept sober and applied himself to study. S. refrained from drink, with an occasional break out, until the law examinations were again approaching, and I have heard his friend say that night after night he questioned him from a book of questions prepared by a Canadian lawyer, and that he scarcely failed once in answering the questions correctly. R. again furnished him with the fifty dollars to deposit before going before the benchers, together with money for travelling expenses, and he departed Si bum’s gallery. determined to be successful this time. He deposited the fifty dollars with the treasurer of the Law Society, and entered upon his examination. Students who sat alongside of him in the first day’s examination said that, had he gone up every day until the close, there was no doubt of his success; but the second morning, on his way to Osgoode Hall, he met with a student who was going there also, and they mutually agreed to take a drink together. When a student deposits fifty dollars with the Law Society, he has the right to withdraw forty-five dollars of the amount if he decides to withdraw from the examination before it closes. S. did not leave the saloon until he left to draw the forty-five dollars, and with it entered on a round of drinking from which he did not desist until the money and the proceeds of a gold watch and some other valuables were spent in liquor. When completely run short of money he wrote to his friend asking to be taken back, but his friend, as well as R., knew there was no hope of his doing better in H., and advised him to get a situation in the city, if possible. He made his way to Buffalo, and, like thou- sands of Canadians at that time, took the large bounty, was hurried off in the same manner as B., whose sketch I gave in the last chapter, to the front and never heard of by any one in Canada. The regiment he enlisted in was terribly cut up in a battle soon after it was sent to the front, and no doubt poor S. lies in an unknown grave or trench. In the history of these two brothers I have not noticed a very important fact — that from the time of their parents’ death they ceased to regard all religious THE TWO BROTHERS. 85 obligations, although few men were better instructed in religion than they had been from youth. Elsewhere I have stated that all shades of scepticism begin with a course of action which is condemned by God’s law, and the life of these two brothers forms no exception to the general principle. R, after S. disappeared, continued to attend to what business remained for him to do, but still allowing his habits to more and more gain the mastery over him, until he was overwhelmed by liabilities and lost all he ever had, after which he sank very low in dissipation, and finally went over to his brother in the United States. There he became so completely abandoned that his brother despaired of doing anything for him, and took him to an inebriate asylum, and said to the manager, “ This man is my brother ; do all you can to save him, but if you fail, take this hundred dollars and give him a decent burial.” I am glad that I can now point to one bright spot in the dark cloud which I have so long kept hanging over the heads of my readers. Under the treatment R received at the asylum he recovered and went forth again upon the world resolved to lead a new life. Seven years from that time I saw him, and he assured me that in the seven years he had not tasted liquor of any kind. He is now doing a law business 'in 0., and leading a sober and respectable life. But think of poor S. and the amount of time, talent, money and in- fluence squandered by the two brothers. R and S. were kind-hearted, generous friends, but the whole current of their lives was turned aside by accursed liquor. CHAPTEB VII. THE OXFORD STUDENT. Am doubt many readers can call to mind more V™y|f than one instance of young men who, in the V © Old Country, have had the best advantages of 1 ^ an education, but who, on coming to this coun- try, have failed to make a good use of it. I believe one cause of those failures may be traced to the absence of practical ideas in reference to the objects to be gained by a good education in the Old Country system of educational training. An intelligent American or Canadian regards his diploma as a young mechanic re- gards his full chest of new tools, the full skill for using which he has not yet acquired, and enters at once upon the work of constant, careful practice. Too many young men from the older countries, when they arrive in America, regard their college training as so many life passes that are to carry them into distinction and suc- cess without much effort on their part. I have known THE OXFORD STUDENT. 87 some very sad illustrations of this idea in the cases of young men who brought with them from their native lands the best proofs of high theoretical scholarship. P. was the youngest son of a comparatively wealthy English trader, and graduated at either Oxford or Cambridge. His mother died when he was young, and at his father’s death he received over two thou- sand pounds sterling, with which he resolved to visit America and make his fortune, but in what way he had not the slightest idea. In youth he had not been in the habit of using liquor, only as it is usually used in well-to-do English families, and “ which being inter- preted ” means in too many instances the sowing of the seeds of intemperance in one or more of said families. He left the Old Country in company with an old college mate, and the two landed in New York, where 5 I was about to say, they remained unemployed for two months ; that is seldom true of young men of means who remain any time in that city — for any con- siderable time. The word employment has more than one meaning, and there is, perhaps, no city in the world where cunning and all the arts that can add anything to the production of what is alluring and fascinating are more directly brought into service than in the city of New York. Its stock of vices are so skilfully strewn on almost every path that a young man needs to carefully watch every step lest he soon find himself on the broad road to ruin. As a liquor consuming city its capacities are enormous, in its wholesale adulterating skill it cannot be surpassed, and in its retail enticements to drink its vile stuff it has 88 RUM S GALLERY. no equal. Even Yankee slang phraseology has been well searched to find names for the endless beverages offered to the public, the chief constituent part of each being “doctored” whiskey mixed with kindred poisons. Before I proceed any farther with P.’s sketch I will give an account of the “ tricks of the traffic ” which I know to be very frequently practised in New York, and which will serve to show some of the villainies with which the liquor traffic allies itself in the char- acter of an accomplice. The visitor in New York, on entering one of the large second or third rate drinking saloons on A. street, will find a large room filled with drinking tables, wide aisles passing between each row. On looking over the crowd he will perhaps see one or more men dressed as railway engine-drivers usually dress while running their trains — blue cotton smock and overalls. These men have all the appear- ance of just having dropped in to take a glass of some- thing, and if their eye rests upon any stranger that they think would make easy game, they approach him and ask him to join them in a drink, at the same time finding out all they can about him. If the visitor be a stranger, the driver will make himself very agree- able, and offer to show him the sights of the city. If the driver’s offer be accepted by the stranger, the former will say, “ I have just come off my train ; if you will walk up a door or two with me and wait at my house till I dress, we will take a turn round while it is daylight.” If the stranger is green enough, he will go with the driver, and perhaps in less than a THE OXFORD STUDENT. 89 minute will find himself introduced to a woman and one or two children, amid surroundings in keeping with a driver’s circumstances, and the driver politely asks the stranger to wait until he dresses himself. The dressing is soon done in an adjoining room, as the man has only to cast off his blue covering and put on a coat. On coming out he says to the stranger, “Take a glass of something before going out;” and if the stranger declines, the driver will say, “ I don’t mean anything strong,” and enters another room, re- turning in a moment with two glasses of something which he gives a nice name. The unsuspecting stran- ger drinks the stuff and feels a strange sensation, which in a short time ends in total unconsciousness. The victim is then robbed of everything worth taking, and allowed to sleep till an opportunity offers of carry- ing him out and dropping him in some place where he will be picked up by the police or lie until the effect of the drug is gone. When daylight comes he has no idea of what saloon he entered on the previous even- ing, and if he should have, all the inmates deny all knowledge of him or of what he complains. The police know that villainies of this kind are practised in con- nection with many of the drinking resorts in the city, but they are powerless to bring them home to the proprietors. The captain and owner of a Newfoundland fishing vessel related to me his experience in New York some years ago. He took a cargo of codfish to New York, which he sold for over five thousand dollars, and of course had on his programme “the sailor’s spree in 7 90 RUM S GALLERY. port.” He entered a saloon, on what street he did not know, and there met some sailors, with whom he “ exchanged courtesies.” After coming out of the saloon he saw standing in the next door to that from which he had emerged, a woman with dishevelled hair and marks of blood on her face. She begged him to come up stairs, and said that her husband was going to murder her two children. The captain, on the impulse of the moment, followed the woman up, and sure enough found a man threatening two children with a carving-knife. He was astonished at how readily the man yielded to his persuasions to desist from his murderous designs, and in a short time the two men were quite friendly enough to drink together. After liquor had been partaken of, the old salt remem- bered being offered a seat and feeling very sleepy, but remembered no more until he found himself stripped of everything and lying in a narrow passage, how far from the saloon he had entered the night before he did not know. The reader will understand that in both the cases related the apparent households were mere shams — kindred auxiliaries of the drinking saloons. P. and his companion remained in New York over two months, making their rendezvous at a first-class hotel near Mercer street, where they paid full fare by the week. After becoming fully satiated with New York life they had a consultation, and P. decided on coming on to Canada, but his companion determined in returning to England. P. was wont to say, when speaking of New York, that no two young Englishmen THE OXFORD STUDENT. 91 had ever “done” New York better than he and his companion ; but, at the same time, he bore many marks to show that New York had “done” him too successfully. P. arrived in the town of H., and enquired for an English hotel. He was directed to a house kept by a middle-aged Englishman named E. E. was a “ swell ” hotel-keeper in more than one sense of the word, and, coming to the town with considerable money, had bought, renovated and enlarged a fine stone building, which he soon made one of the first-class hotels of the place — a statement that will give a pretty good idea of the class to whom P. was introduced. Among the con- stant guests were several “ young men of leisure,” single professional men, and the travelling patronage of the house was mainly made up of the well-to-do business and pleasure-seeking class. Far and near among fashionable sportsmen it was known as the English sporting house. P. soon became very intimate with E., and made him his confidential adviser in all things, and among other things which he had confided to him was the fact that he had deposited at the M. Bank over seven thousand dollars — a fact which deepened and widened E/s friendship to a wonderful extent. In fact, it brought forth such a profusion of favors and pro- fessions that P. felt bound to return them with brotherly affection. I want to say somewhere in this book— and perhaps this is the best place for me to say it — that a large number of hotel-keepers are a much-abused class of 92 rum’s gallery. men, and often accused of wrong motives when they really do not entertain them. During my single life I was a boarder in hotels for nine years, and was always treated with great kindness. I can call to mind but few instances of hotel-keepers who would try to lead their customers astray by urging them on to intem- perance, but, of course, there have been, and are, many who form a contrast to this statement, and, in justice to my subject, I must say that the selling of liquor will degrade any man that engages in it. E. was a bad type of an hotel-keeper. His ruling passion was love of gain, and to gratify it he made all else subservient. He would devise all sorts of plans to lead his guests and others to spend money, and never refused liquor to any one so long as they had money to pay for it, unless he thought their after con- duct might bring him into discredit. On P. he brought all his arts to bear. P. had no definite idea of what he was living for, and if asked the question, what were his intentions as to going into business or other- wise, he would answer that “ he was just waiting for something to turn up,” and of what that something was he neither seemed to know nor care. He had formed the acquaintance of all the young bloods, and when surrounded by them in the gentlemen’s sitting-room it was E.’s plan to make some excuse for entering, and before he left start a round of treating by ordering a liberal treat himself. P. would say, “ Isn’t he a jolly good fellow ?” and ring the bell for champagne. On and on the treating would go till near midnight, at THE OXFORD STUDENT. 93 which time P.’s generosity was enlarged to the point of ordering an expensive lunch. E. was also an expert gambler, and kept a private room for that purpose, to which none but the initiated could gain admission. The two friends, E. and P., spent much time in that room alone, especially after P. began to drink very excessively; and one thing was very certain, E. would not have spent much time in a room with anybody if he was losing money. When a man gets to a certain point in drinking habits, it is really surprising how blind he becomes to the men and the in- fluences that are robbing him of health, means, repu- tation, business prospects, and everything that ought to be regarded by him as priceless. E. was not con- tent with what he could do in the matter of relieving P. of his means by gambling, but employed some of the “ creatures ” whom such men as he always have at their nod, to “ put up ” jobs on the silly fellow, and yet, in the midst of all, P. did not suspect his friendship. P. continued to live the kind of life I have pictured for over three years, when all of a sudden he realized that his money was far spent and nothing had yet turned up. He made some listless efforts to turn his education to some practical account; but he had made for himself a character in H. that was at once a barrier in his way. Instead of his failure stimulating to a change of habits, he gave himself up to “square drinking,” and soon became an abandoned sot. By E. he was treated with contempt, and all those who at one time had courted his company now cut his 94 rum’s gallery. acquaintance. He was seldom to be found in any- place but the bar, and never sober if late enough in the day to have had time to get drunk. He continued to drink, drink, until he had no money to pay his board, whereupon E. told him he must find another place or leave, in a week. Now, poor dupe, he was in a position to estimate the real value of E.’s friendship. He tried every place that he could think of to get some kind of employment, but failed in every instance. Those who knew him would not give him a place on account of his habits, and those who did not know him could read the narrative of his life in his face, more especially in his nose, which was something in shape like a small bunch of cauliflower, the main difference being in color. The end of the week of grace came, and the poor victim was without a place. In vain he appealed to E. for sympathy and forbearance until he could find something to do. E. knew that he had made a finished job of the poor fellow, and was bound to get rid of him. At length some one spoke pretty plainly about the amount of money that P. had spent in the house, and induced the landlord to give his former wealthy friend a situation as book-keeper and assistant hostler in his livery stabl’es, on condition that he would keep sober. The front of the stables came up to the sidewalk on which I passed to my meals, and in that stable I have often seen poor P. sitting shivering with cold. The small sum E. allowed him for keeping his livery books and assisting the hostler was all spent in drink, and tHE OXFORD STUDENT. 95 when his Old Country clothing was all worn out I have often conversed with him when he was clothed from head to foot in E.’s cast-off suits. Time and time again as I passed he would ask me for small sums of money, which I could not refuse him. I tried to encourage him, and endeavored to persuade him to write to his friends in England, but of that he would not hear. Unfortunately, the man had never received a reli- gious training, and could not be induced to look to the Strong for strength, and having lost all confidence in himself, was sunken in an utterly helpless state. About two years after I left H. he died in an attic room of the hotel where he had spent his thousands, and was buried in a grave which, to the present day, remains unmarked even by a piece of board. From the time his rapid descent began, he never wrote to his relatives in England, and it is perhaps better for them that they know nothing of his fate. Reader, P. was once a bright, happy boy, then a young man, filled with a student’s ambition, and left old Oxford covered with a scholar’s laurels. What has placed him, at the age of thirty-six, in a hopeless, unknown grave ? CHAPTER VIII. “ THE WICKED HATH NO BANDS IN THEIR DEATH” JPfflT has been said, and thought by thousands, that §4s[( it was not possible for a man who had read the Bible and been so educated as to lay open to him ' ^ the book of nature, to disbelieve the revelations of both, but a few such cases have existed. If the private history of such men be carefully followed it will be found that generally they have just wished that there was no God, to whom they are responsible, because they have entered upon some wrong course of action, and through continuance in that course “ the wish becomes father to the thought.” Whoever met a young man of professedly sceptical- tendencies who had arrived at that point through a sincere desire to learn the truth and conform his life to it ? R. was born in Germany and was the only son of wealthy parents who belonged to the Lutheran Church. He was carefully instructed in the truths of the Bible and all social and moral obligations. At the earliest “the Wicked hath no bands in their death.” 97 age possible he entered Heidelberg University and graduated with very high standing. His parents had not designed him for any particular profession, pre- ferring to allow him to choose for himself after he had finished his course in the university. When R. left home to begin his studies at Heidelberg he was what might be truthfully called a fine specimen of a moral, well-trained German youth. According to German ideas, it will not lessen the force of that state- ment to say that he had always been accustomed to the use of German wines and beer in his father’s house. His ample means and social standing soon gathered around him at the college a class of associates who were much older in the ways of the world than him- self, and he being the younger and more innocent was more likely to receive impressions than he was to make them. All who have read about the literary discipline of old Heidelberg know that it is very strict, but there seems to be a great lack of moral and religious restraint as well as oversight of the students after the labors of the day are over in the college. Young R. was not long at college before he began to be invited to the select meetings which were frequently given by the more wealthy and higher classes of the students. It is needless for me to say that at these reunions the students threw off all restraint, and, as is usually the case at gatherings where no ladies are pre- sent, indulged in whatever added most to their varied personal gratification. This gratification included drinking, gambling, music, recitations, readings, and very frequent discussions of an atheistic tendency. 98 Sum’s gallery. These meetings were for some time rather distasteful to R., but he soon began to relish them, and before long was one of their most enthusiastic promoters. Each student knew very well that if their attendance at any of these meetings unfitted them for the duties of the following day they would have to suffer severe consequences, and hence any bad habits they indulged in were more likely to become fixed habits because of their gradual formation. About this time the German infidel world was very active, and mustering all the forces of science to strengthen its position. Among R.’s most intimate associates were several pronounced sceptics of different shades, who eagerly procured all the latest productions of the German infidel press, carefully read them, and circulated them among their fellow-students. Through reading these books and the arguments of his associates, R. soon became tainted with infidelity. It is a strange characteristic of men who espouse infidel belief, that instead of trying to become better acquainted with the Bible than they have been, they at once throw it aside as though they knew all it contains, whereas most of them are quite ignorant of its sublime teach- ings. R. took this course, and spared no pains to establish himself in his new position, until he thought it was impregnable. Scores of the students took the same course, and eternity alone will reveal the evil which then began to flow out from the students of the old German University. A change soon followed in the morals of the students — the change which had . taken place in their “THE WICKED HATH NO BANDS IN THEIR DEATH.” 99 religious belief. The intellectual part of their pro- grammes at the social meetings was now dropped, only so far as discussions on scepticism went, and the more sensual indulgence in drinking, gambling and outside immoralities were substituted. R., during the whole course at college, never retreated from his infidel position, though he outwardly respected his parents’ feelings by keeping them in ignorance of his departure from what they had so carefully taught him. After passing his final examination, he asked his father to allow him to study modern languages under special tutors. To this wish his father con- sented, and he, as soon as possible, placed himself under the best tutors, and continued the study of languages and some other special branches for six years. About two years after he completed his col- lege course, his mother died, and a little before the close of the sixth year his father died, leaving him a wealthy man both in property and in money. With different principles and different moral and religious tendencies he would have been still more rich in learn- ing, but the whole tide of his being was already flow- ing in the wrong direction. Soon after the death of R.'s father, he married the daughter of a very wealthy wine-dealer, to whom he had been affianced for some years, and secured with her the large sum of two hundred and seventy -five thousand dollars. He had completely renovated his late father’s property, and after moving into the man- sion, lived in a very extravagant manner for a German gentleman. His literary attainments led him in the 100 rum’s gallery. direction of politics, on which subject he wrote a series of very learned articles in the most prominent political paper in Germany, after which he was elected to the German Parliament. There he soon became a very influential man with the Government, and at the end of his parliamentary term was sent as ambassador to one of the smaller European Courts. When R. assumed the duties of his new position — a position he was well qualified for — he surrounded him- self by all the luxuries within his reach afid his resi- dence bore the air of a palace. By virtue of his office he was raised into a higher social position than he had ever held before, and this implied the expenditure of a sum of money equal to his official income, but being possessed of private wealth he indulged in a style that drew heavily on his own and his wife’s resources. The duties of his office were more nominal than intricate or arduous, which very much widened his field of temptation. “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop,” in R.’s case became a truism. In addition to the large and very expensive parties given to the higher class, he entertained a number of gentlemen very frequently in a more private way. These entertainments for gen- tlemen alone were modelled somewhat after the latter- day style of the students’ meetings at Heidelberg ; their most prominent features being drinking, gambling, and conversation on various subjects, not forgetting R.’s now most absorbing theme — infidelity. It can be easily understood that the kind of life which R. now led would soon produce its legitimate results. .His drinking habits were soon fanned into a “THE wicked hath no bands in their death.” 101 flame and his taste for gambling into a passion. All who know anything of the habits of the German peo- ple are well aware of the extent to which the vice of gambling is carried in that country, and like many other vices all over the world, its hot-bed is among: the higher classes. R. did not confine his gambling operations to his immediate associates, but clandes- tinely visited the houses frequented by the more aristocratic gamblers, and before long had lost im- mensely large sums of money. His wife, who was really an excellent woman in her way, foresaw what the end must be, tried to dissuade him from his course, but without effect. He continued in his course of dissipa- tion, until it was quite plain on several occasions he was quite unfit to attend to his consular duties, and he was reported to his Government. By some means he escaped dismissal until one of the surest crops of liquor and infidelity sprang up in connection with his career, viz., an intrigue with a handsome lady. The circum- stances of this scandal were so serious that R. had to flee from the vengeance of the lady’s husband, and a short time afterwards was relieved from his position, He remained away from his wife for several months, but finally returned, a mere wreck of what he once was. All his own and the greater part of his wife’s money he had squandered, and his estate was deeply in debt and going to ruin. After reconciliation with his wife they determined to dispose of all they pos- sessed in Germany and settle in Austria. When everything was settled they had enough to satisfy any reasonable man, and went to Vienna. I know but 102 rum’s gallery. little of his career there beyond the fact that through drink and its concomitant influences, in a few years he was possessed of little more than enough to bring himself and family to New York. Here he adopted criminal means to obtain money. Being familiar with the language of the emigrants landing at the Metropolis he played upon them a confidence game by assuming to be an emigrant protector sent out by the Government of whatever country they bad come from, and in this way obtained from some emigrants quite large sums of money, with which he escaped to Canada. On reaching Canada, he located in the county town of W., the population of which county are principally wealthy and comfortable Germans. Having sufficient money to appear for a time independent, and proofs of his former high position and distinguished learning, he was not long in gaining the confidence of his fellow- countrymen — a fact which many of them had good rea- son to regret. He quietly slipped round among them and borrowed money from all who would lend him. In a few months it was learned that he had been victim- izing all his friends, which so exasperated the hot- headed Germans that B,. left the place and came to the town of H., and opened the most stylish hotel in the town. It is well known that German daughters are, from their youth, trained in the art of cooking, no matter how wealthy their parents may be. Mrs. It. and her daughter, who was now about eighteen, took charge of the cooking department of the hotel, and the fame of their table soon secured a large number of the more “the wicked hath no bands in their death.” 103 “nobby” class of boarders. Poor Mrs. R. I have at many times pitied her, while she related to me the story of her own and her husband’s life, while now her daily life was, from early morn till late at night, con- stant toil and anxiety. R. attended to the general business of the hotel pretty well until all was running nicely, when he let loose his passion for drink, and ere long was worse than useless about the hotel. He was never sober, and the more drunk he was seemed to take the more delight in abusing, with his tongue, his wife and daughter. Sometimes, especially on Sundays, when he met with any of the boarders after returning from church, he seemed to be possessed of an evil spirit, and would violently ridicule Christianity and intrude his atheist arguments. After various attempts to influence me to his way of thinking, I said to him, “ Mr. R., I have no wish to argue with you on these subjects ; you cannot shake my faith in Christianity, and you will oblige me by no further intruding upon me your opinions. I hope the day will come when you will entertain differ- ent opinions.” “ 0,” he said, “ I suppose you refer to that old scare-crow that frightens so many — the death- bed ; that can never frighten me.” I wish the reader to note this declaration of R.’s, as it will appear very prominently in a future part of this narrative. Mrs. R. and her daughter struggled on bravely, amid R.’s dissipation and abuse, many of the boarders re- maining in the house for their sakes, until about the end of three years, when everything was sold out under a landlord’s warrant. 104 rum’s gallery, I omitted stating that W. and Mrs. W., of whose life I have in a former chapter given a sketch, were boarders in the R. house nearly all the time of its ex- istence. Many were the seasons of fellowship which R. and W. enjoyed over their cups and their infidelity. I remember well one evening passing W.’s room, where the two were in ecstasies over some new idea that had penetrated their brain. They called me in, and said, “ Now, T., what a pity it is that a young man like you should have his head filled with such nonsense as the Bible; take a seat and just listen to R.’s new argument.” I said, “ Gentlemen, I have discussed this subject with you before, and do not think it worth while to do so again,” and retired. After the landlord’s claim was satisfied R. had little left, and left the town for I know not where. Some four years later I spent four days in Hamilton at the exhibition which the Prince of Wales formally opened. On the afternoon of my last day in Hamilton I took the little steamer Argyle and crossed over to Burlington Beach. While walking through the grove I came upon a little wooden building with a few candies and some knick-knacks in the window. Over the door I read on a sign R. R., and said to my companion, “ This must be my old landlord’s name ; let us drop in and see.” On entering I found Miss R. behind a little counter, and after a few moments’ conversation enquired for her father. She told me he was so ill that her ma did not expect him to live over the night, and invited me in to see him. I followed her into the next room, and there, lying on a comfortable bed, was the learned and once “THE WICKED HATH NO BANDS IN THEIR DEATH.” 105 distinguished German, now almost a literal skeleton. Months before, all over his chest a number of running sores had broken out, and had reduced his body to complete emaciation. The sores caused no swelling nor pain, and had the appearance of a clear puncture in the skin, from which oozed a pinkish colored liquid. His voice was quite strong, and his talking to me caused him no pain. After sitting with him a few minutes he looked at me very sharply and said, “ Mr. T. I have but a few hours to live.” I said to him, “ How does your old theory stand you now ?” His re- ply was, “ Very goot,very goot ; in a short time I will know nothing.” In reply to all that I said to him in reference to a future state he thanked me, but as to believing in a future after death he literally laughed at the idea, and in a few hours after I left he died. As intimated in the beginning of this chapter, in common with many others, I had always thought it not possible for any educated man to die holding an absolute disbelief of a future existence after death, but here was one case before me. How am I to account for it ? Simply by the fact that R. had from his mature boyhood persistently disregarded all light and followed “ the devices of his own heart ” until he was left entirely to himself. From the lips of his broken-hearted, faithful wife I received the particulars which I have given to the reader ; but R. entered into many more degrading vices and criminalities, which I deem it prudent not to insert here. From the time that he left home to commence his college course he constantly indulged in the use of liquor — though, a 106 rum’s gallery. of course, he was obliged at Heidelberg to keep within bounds — until mature manhood, and from that time his indulgence was excessive ; add to this the fact, that he gradually came to the point of denying his responsibility to anything above humanity, and you have before you the two influences which dragged him down from wealth and distinction to a pauper’s hope- less deathbed at the age of a little over fifty years. The atheist or infidel may claim that R.’s indiffer- ence to the future at the hour of his death was the result of his intelligence and learning, which raised him above the so-called superstitions of Christianity ; but no, it was simply an exemplification of the in- spired words, “ The wicked hath no bands in their death.” CHAPTER IX. MUSIC AND LIQUOR. Although music may justly be regarded as one of the most refining and pleasure-giving influences of which the mind is capable, yet like many other good things it may be perverted, and lead, in connection with other influences, its de- votees to ruin. I have very frequently observed that men of strong taste for music, when entrapped by strong drink would always seem to be incited by stirring music to indulge in drink more freely, and, vice versa, by strong drink become more enamoured of music. One of the cleverest students who ever left a Canadian school of medicine was taught the violin from boyhood, and after he began to practise became a drunkard. He would often for a time give up both the violin and drinking, but just so sure as he began again to practise on his violin it proved to be the precursor of a drinking spree. This is not the place to discuss the benefits and merits of music in 108 rum’s gallery. general, but I wish to give a sketch of the career of a young man who was passionately fond of dancing music. It will be noticed that in all the sketches given In this book I have been careful to note the habits of the parents whose sons form the subjects of my sketches because I deem it of great importance as showing the potency of early training for either good or evil. J. was the son of Scotch parents, born in the town of H., and was, as is generally done by Scotch people, given a good common school education, after which he was apprenticed to a machinist. His father was one of those rare cases where men use liquor through life and seldom drink to excess. From boy- hood he had practised on the violin, and in Scotland for years [had furnished the music for the greater part of the dancing in his neighbourhood. He early taught young J., very carefully, the violin, and after the boy commenced his trade he devoted his leisure time to that instrument. Before J.’s appren- ticeship ended he placed himself under a professional tutor and the result was that when he went on journeyman’s pay he had a wide reputation as an ex- pert violinist. He had always been in the habit of ‘ taking a glass with a friend,” but no one had ever seen him “ the worse ” of liquor. For over two years he resisted all solicitations and inducements offered him to furnish music for dancing parties, but finally, being very earnestly pressed by Colonel K. to accom- pany his daughters and other ladies on the piano at a large party given by the Colonel, he consented. The Colonel’s guests were so delighted with the music MUSIC AND LIQUOR. 109 that J.’s fame spread from one end of the “ aristocra- tic circle ” to the other, and his services at all the fashionable parties henceforth were considered indis- pensable. He had more reasons than one for being disinclined to attend these parties. In the first place he had higher aspirations than that of being a paid musician for dancing parties ; and, besides, going to one of those parties simply meant the loss of a whole night’s sleep and unfitness for work the next day. However, tempting offers of ten and even fifteen dollars a night were made to him, and before long he could make more by playing three nights in the week than he could make by working every day at his trade. He never stopped to think that as soon as the winter season was over the parties would cease and then his income from that source would be very precarious. My readers will all know that a profusion of liquors at fashionable parties is considered quite as indispen- sable as good music, and that the musicians, so long as they keep sober, are well supplied with stimulants. In fact, many regard a certain “ head of steam ” as necessary to produce spiritual music. Sometimes J. would be up all night four and five nights in the week, which caused him to be off work at the machine shop the greater part of his regular working hours. At first he used to put in an after- noon’s work after he had played at a party all night, but he soon formed the habit of spending his unoccu- pied time in the saloons, where he frequently met young men who had been at the parties where he had MUSIC AND LIQUOR. Ill played. These young men would take friendly notice of him, and it was not long before he had established a drinking intimacy with them. His employer became dissatisfied with his neglect of work, and dismissed him from the establishment. From the time of J.’s dismissal, he made it known that he was prepared to furnish music for dancing parties, and associated himself with three other musi- cians, in the formation of a quadrille band. Applica- tions now came in to him from all quarters, and soon a competition sprang up between the higher and the lower classes as to who could secure his music. In fact, he was in a position to charge just about what he pleased for his musical services. Five nights in the week, week after week, J. and his companions played for all who engaged them, and every night indulged more freely in the liquor so liberally supplied them. Their daily habit was now to sleep till noon, after they had played all night, and then spend the after- noon in whatever way their inclination led them. Three months of such a life was enough to make J. a slave to drink, and when the spring came he was a confirmed bar-room loafer, wholly disinclined to any kind of settled employment. His speedy decline in habits and reputation had been noticed with much regret by his former employer and all the men in the same line of business, for he was known to be a first- class workman. After loafing about for a few weeks he secured a place in a large foundry and finishing- shop, but after a few days’ work threw it up and entered a billiard room, in connection with a saloon, as 112 rum’s gallery. billiard marker. There the facilities for indulgence in his already fixed habit were too easy for him to withstand, and in a short time he was discharged for his intemperance. It was now impossible for J. to get work at his trade in his native town, so leaving home, he found employ- ment in the town of G. After taking his new place he managed to control himself so far that he retained his situation till the beginning of the winter, when he returned to H., and reorganized his quadrille band. The winter parties were “ in full blast,” and J. and his associate musicians were in as much demand as ever. It soon became evident to those who hired his musical services that they must not supply him with liquor if they wished to get value for their money. On several occasions he got intoxicated long before the parties wished to break up, and it soon became one of the stipulations in his agreements to play, that he must keep sober or otherwise receive no pay, and as a pre- caution liquor was sparingly dealt out to him, but he soon adopted the plan of supplying himself with sundry “pocket pistols,” which he dexterously con- cealed, and when a pause in the gay dancing occurred he would slip aside and take a drink. To such a length did he carry this habit, that on his entering a house where he was engaged to play, he had to submit to examination lest he might have the wherewith stowed away to disappoint the assembled people before morning. Had there been his equal in the town he would have been discarded long before he was. As it was, long before the winter was over, his services were MUSIC AND LIQUOR. 113 refused by all classes who brought in music for their dancing parties. From this point J.’s descent was swift. His father and mother mourned over him as one worse than dead, tried to keep him at home and break him off his terri- ble habit, but without avail. His father saw his own fatal mistake, and acknowledged that his hand had sown the seed which was producing such bitter fruit All that a father could do to save a son, even to the giving up the use of liquor, was done by this father, but too late. I have often heard parents say that one of the best ways to prevent their children becoming drunkards, was to familiarize them with the use of liquor in their youth. Tens of thousands Qf drunkards to-day trace their master-passion to liquor given them in the homes of their clildhood. Towards the close of J.’s besotted career, when all other methods of obtaining liquor had failed, I have often seen him, with trembling steps, his violin under his arm, going from tavern to tavern, and saloon to saloon, where he would play for any crowd that would give him a glass of whiskey. In one of his terrible seasons of tormenting passion for relief from a dose of liquor, he even effected an entrance into his first employer’s finishing shop, took a number of tools, and sold them to get liquor. Through pity, he was not prosecuted. He appeared to feel very deeply the dis- grace of this act, when it was talked about around town, and suddenly left, taking his instrument with him. Nothing was heard of him for about a year, 114 RUMS GALLERY. when he returned to his parents, ragged and more besotted than ever. They had mourned for him as parents alone can mourn for a son dying a hopeless death, and it is very doubtful if his return produced any mitigation of their sorrow. His mother had been in ill health for several years, no doubt in part caused by her once promising son’s dissipated career, and now his returning in such a horrible condition hastened her end. A few weeks after his return she took to what proved her dying bed. While her strength lasted she would call him to her bedside, pray for him with her trembling hand placed upon his head, entreat him to give her a promise that he would drink no more, but even to his dying mother he would not, or dared not, give what would have been more to her than all the world besides. During the few days that she lingered she either witnessed or was aware of the fact, that he returned home every night drunk. When the hour for his mother’s funeral ser- vice at the house eame he was tying in his bedroom in a drunken sleep, and his eyes beheld not the troubled face of the mother he had done so much to hasten to her grave. After his mother’s death he never visited his now disconsolate father, but would make any shift to find a stopping place away from home, often tying in stables and similar places all night. His father now being entirety alone in his house, after repeated efforts to make a change in J. without any success, sold out what little he had and went to end his sorrow- ful days with the family of a younger brother. He MUSIC AND LIQUOR. 115 urged his son to go with him, but he would not. The son being now without a home, soon became a begging vagrant. Everybody in H. knew him and pitied him. Kind ladies induced male members of their families to bring him to their homes, where they thought they could effect a reformation in the poor victim. They could only keep him a few hours, when he would be off in quest of his destroyer. Three of the town minis- ters tried the same experiment but failed ; one doctor placed him under surveillance and treatment, until he was beginning to recover from the effects of his drink- ing, but he found an opportunity to escape and sank deeper than ever. Six members of a temperance organization assumed the cost of placing him in a comfortable boarding-house, where one of his early friends undertook to be his companion night and day, and assist him to master his habit, but twenty-four hours after he was allowed to be alone, he was worse than ever. About this time the advance bill-posters for a circus came to H., and two of the party being taken ill, J. got some small jobs to do for the party for which he received some money. With the money he bought two bottles of liquor, placed the liquor in the pockets of an old overcoat which he wore, crept into an old building which the owner had partly filled with hay, and there drank nearly the whole of the two bottles. His absence was not noticed by any one for several days, and when it was spoken of it was not regarded as strange. Some boys returning from school were, passing the old building, when some of them thought 116 rum’s gallery. they would have a frolic in the hay. On entering the hay mow they found the body of poor J. They gave the alarm, and when the proper officers went to the place they found the body of J. in an advanced state of decay, having lain in the hay over a week. One bottle was entirely empty and the other contained but a glass, showing that the wretched man had drank nearly two quarts in a few hours, which had caused his death. So lived, for a few years, this once promising young man, and so died at the age of twenty-nine the only earthly hope and support of fond parents who, though they made mistakes in his training, yet sacrificed their all to fit him for a life of success and usefulness. After J.’s death his father became one of the most zealous advocates of prohibition, and during the few years that he lived never ceased to reproach himself for having taught J. the use of liquor in his youth. CHAPTER X. THE MODEL FAMILY. § N the county town of N., an English gentleman named H., held a fairly lucrative Government office, had been liberally educated in England, * seen much of the world, and was what is called a very well read man. His wife was a woman of rarely fine appearance, and in education and literary taste was quite capable of being a real companion to her husband. Mr. H.’s. private income added to his salary was sufficient to enable him to live very respect- ably and give all his family a good education. His family consisted of seven children, four daughters and three sons. The father and mother were devotedly pious members of the English Church, making the moral and religious training of their children their greatest anxiety. When the youngest child was twelve years old every member of the family had read through together the entire Scriptures, besides the special study which they had given to particular portions. The 118 rum’s gallery. stated reading of God’s Word and family devotion was never neglected. In this duty, if the father was absent the mother would take his place, and if both parents were absent one of the elder daughters would dis- charge the duty. Mr. H. understood the training of his family so well that every child acquiesced in carry- ing out every rule of the household without feeling it irksome. In addition to a very carefully selected library, the prolific mind of Mr. H. was always on the alert to devise innocent amusements and recreations for all his family, and the household seemed always to be the centre of innocent enjoyment. Wherever the H.’s were well known they were, by those who were not envious, spoken of as the “ Model Family.” The H.’s lived in this happy state until the eldest son was about sixteen, when he was placed in the largest dry goods house in the town of H. The pro- prietor of this house, whose name was G., gave all his young clerks an excellent business training, but cared nothing for their morals or religion so long as they were good salesmen. He was wont, however, like many others who affect to disregard religious principle, to place the most implicit confidence in a clerk who, he thought, was sincerely religious. Young H., whom I shall call V., was tested a short time after he entered Mr. G.’s establishment. A consignment of goods arrived on a Saturday afternoon, and when the busy evening’s work of selling goods was over and the shutters on G. called his clerks together and told them he wished them to unpack and mark a part of the goods on Sunday. Every one of the seventeen clerks signified THE MODEL FAMILY. 119 their willingness but Y., who walked up to G. and said, “ Mr. G., I hope you will excuse me; I have never worked on the Sabbath day, and I promised my father that I would try to put in practice his religious in- structions.” There were those in the group of clerks who felt very deeply their want of moral courage, but knowing the self-will of their master they said nothing. When Y. requested to be excused, G. stared at him in amazement, and said to the other clerks, “We had better give the stripling a salary as chaplain of the house,” and most of the group joined in a laugh at the expense of Y. G. then said to V., “ I will see you on Monday morning at the office.” The young man ex- pected nothing less than dismissal on Monday, and I remember his coming to my rooms after church the next day and relating to me what had occurred. I encouraged him in the course he had taken and assured him he would lose nothing by it. When V. presented himself at his employer’s, on the following morning, G. rather good-naturedly told him to take his accustomed place. Being a young man of handsome appearance, good manners, intelligent and well informed, a few months made it apparent to G. that his “ stripling” was fast becoming one of the best salesmen and the most popular clerk in the house. I omitted to state that V. had put in two years in a dry goods store in N. while at home with his father. He was soon placed in a higher department and at the end of three years possessed more of the real confi- dence of his employer than any other clerk in the 120 rum’s gallery. large house. Constant and faithful in the discharge of his church duties, an efficient teacher in the Sunday school, he was pointed to by his minister and others as a model young man. Envy and jealousy are the same wherever found. Y.’s success as a salesman and popularit}' with G. turned the envy of some of his fellow-clerks into positive hatred. To still more add fuel to the flames of their envy, they saw that Y. was socially recognized by. and invited to visit, families who did not associate with those considered ordinary clerks. The thought- ful reader will ere this have concluded that Y. was standing on dangerous ground. If the testimony of every young man could be taken who has gone out into the world determined to ]ead a religious life, it would be found that few influences have been more potent in preventing him doing so than that arising from his introduction into what is called “ fashionable society.” Y.’s father and mother, from their stand- point, had never regarded dancing in the quiet home social party as having any tendency to evil, and both V. and his sisters had been taught the accomplishment. Y.’s envious fellow-clerks had devised many plans to injuriously affect his character and high -standing with Mr. G. They first tried to entrap him by en- ticing him into disreputable company, but he read their motives and escaped the snare in such a smooth way as not even to arouse their suspicion that he was aware of their designs. He had always made it known to his employer and others that he was a total abstainer from all kinds of strong drink, In this the THE MODEL FAMILY. 121 plotters thought they saw a chance of success, and invited him to a clerk’s oyster supper at P.'s saloon. They had all the details of their scheme “ to catch the young Churchman,” arranged with P., even to the drugging of a particular kind of temperance wine. This scheme failed also, and again I remember him coming to me and telling me of the trap his fellow- clerks and P. had tried to get him into. At the end of five years from the time he entered G.’s house he was receiving the largest salary with but two exceptions, and it was G.’s intention at some future time to take him as a partner. He was not only highly esteemed by his employer but also by all who knew him in the community. In social standing, as already intimated, he rated above most of the young men in his position, which we shall soon see was no advantage to him in the end. Of dancing parties, to say the least, it is very questionable if they ever added anything to the noble aspirations of any young man, while it is not at all questionable that they have led to the ruin of many. When the fall and winter parties began in H., the popular and gentlemanly young Y. was considered an embellishment to most of them, and it was not long before he found himself in a whirl of fashionable ex- citement. G. was one of the most enthusiastic pro- moters of those entertainments, and it was with a degree of pride that he witnessed the hearty welcomes given to his now most trusted salesman. Twenty- five years ago — I know not what the general custom is now — at all fashionable dancing parties wine and all 9 122 rum’s gallery. kinds of liquors were regarded as indispensable, and I am sorry to say that some ladies considered a young man as somewhat incomplete who had any scruples about exchanging compliments over a glass of wine- Through this custom many a young Samson was “ shorn of his strength ” by careless young Delilahs, and in years afterwards,' when firmly bound fast by the strong cords of intemperance, have traced their downfall to the first glass of liquor taken through the persuasion of some young lady. Y. remained true to his total abstinence principles at all the parties which he attended until one night, after dancing with the daughter of a wealthy distiller, he found himself urged by Mr. G. and the young lady to join them in a glass of wine. Though it may seem less gallant, I believe Y. would have overcome the mild persuasions of the young lady, but his employer rather reproachfully said, “ Come, Mr. H., you will surely not deny a young lady’s request and continue to be so singular. Instead of wine, G. mixed him a glass of brandy and water, which he drank. No doubt the whole of his past life, with its noble adherence to principle and parental instruction, flashed before his mind, and he saw and felt bitterly what he had lost. Young man, in all matters of conduct, the line between right and wrong is so narrow as to be invisi- ble. If you are near enough to it, you can cross it in an instant and do a wrong that you can never recall. The taking of a glass of liquor by V. might be thought a matter of no note, but before one hour it was THE MODEL FAMILY. 123 whispered around the party that Mr. V. H. had abandoned his temperance scruples, and, as if to make sure work, several others of both sexes urged him to further indulgence. V. had never tasted liquor before that night, only when prescribed in mixtures by a doctor, and its effect upon him can easily be ima- gined. His naturally buoyant spirits rose to their greatest height. He entered into the exciting dance with redoubled vigor, and when the party broke up and he returned home he was so excited as to be un- able to sleep. The next day he was the subject of conflicting feel- ings ; on the one hand, tortured by remorse of con- science, and on the other tempted by a recollection of the increased pleasure he had received at the party from the effects of liquor. The strength with which he had warded off all former importunities to drink was now gone ; and, besides, there was a kind of conviction in his mind that what all the respectable people did there was no harm in his doing. One thing is certain, he did not determine that in the future he would abstain from liquor, but that very night, in company with a fellow-clerk, par- took of liquor in a saloon. In that fact his envious shop-mates saw their opportunity for the accomplish- ment of their cherished purposes. Henceforth they lost no chance to encourage Y. in his already growing habit. One of the men occupied private sleeping rooms and to these apartments he induced his intended victim to go night after night, where he soon was on 124 RUM'S GALLERY. the way to graduation in the social pipe and the social glass. About ten days after the last party described V. at- tended a large party at the fine residence of Captain E. E. was an elderly, retired British officer, and always took much delight in the company of clever, well informed young men, especially if their manners were modelled after his English ideal style. He had met Y. at several parties and had spoken of him in the highest terms. The captain was a wealthy man, and his family consisted of two excellent daughters. It was said that neither the captain nor his youngest daughter would have been displeased if Y. had paid special attention to her. Y. received a hearty welcome at the party, and, much to the delight of the captain, had overcome his “ Puritanic idea of refusing a glass of wine.” Y. spent much time in conversation with the old gentleman over the social glass, and this in- dulgence, together with what liquor he drank with ladies and others during the night, produced an effect slightly noticed by some of the guests. However, no remarks were made, and it was not spoken of after- wards. Before the winter was half over Y. was a much changed young man. He had been a welcome guest at many of the fashionable parties, and some balls, the programmes of which he carried out pretty nearly in the manner already described. The first-class saloon regarded him as a valuable acquisition to its trade, and the envious, cunning shop-mates knew well what the future would bring forth. Instead of attending to THE MODEL FAMILY. 125 church duties he was frequently absent from religious service, and the Sunday school he abandoned alto- gether. What with the amount he spent in drinking and treating, his salary was not sufficient to cover his expenditure. At this rate he moved along till the middle of the summer, when one morning on entering G.’s establishment he was summoned to the office, paid his balance and peremptorily dismissed. To do all the other clerks justice, I may state that not one of them knew the cause of his sudden discharge, but there was strong grounds for suspecting that he had tampered with the funds. To say that all except the envious who knew Y. felt sincere regret at his sudden discharge, is not the whole truth, but none of the many promoters of the influences which had so seriously injured him seemed to take any responsibility to themselves. The distil- ler’s daughter, and his employer who had tempted him to take his first step on the road to ruin, never referred to the fact. P., the saloon-keeper, who first plotted with his fellow-clerks, and who afterwards sold him hundreds of dollars worth of ruin, rubbed his hands and said he was sorry the nice young man had left the town. Poor V., in his intercourse with all, was kind and generous to a fault. The true gentlemanly principle of caring more for the pleasure of others than for his own, was always apparent in his conduct. On his dis- missal he obtained the promise from G. that his father and mother should never know the cause, and he immediately left the town for his home where, while 126 BUMS GALLERY. he remained, he entirely abstained from liquor, but the seed was sown which, in the future, was to bring forth a terribly abundant harvest. After Y. had been staying with his father a month, he obtained a situation in the city of R., but not with- out some difficulty, because in his application he had to state the length of time he had experience in the dry goods business, and was expected to produce a recommendation from his last employer. Through his father’s well-known character, and the influence of the county M.P., he obtained a very desirable place in a leading house. The firm with whom he engaged con- sisted of two members, excellent business men, but very different in their moral and religious principles to G. Y. was engaged on trial, with the promise of a speedy advance in salary if he suited the firm. When I state that the amount he engaged for was less than one-half the sum he was receiving from G. at the time of his dismissal, the reader can estimate what he re- ceived in return for his devotion to fashionable plea- sure and strong drink ; and yet there are thousands of young men in our Dominion to-day who are throwing away their prospects of success through the same influences. It would be well for them to bear in mind that the time has come when young men who indulge in liquor are not trusted, even by employers who indulge in it themselves. I know men who sell liquor in their places of business the year round who will not employ one whom they know is in the habit of tasting liquor. This fact proves that men engaged in the sale of strong drink have convictions that its ^Hl] MODEL FAMILY. 127 use is very dangerous, and that it will unfit their young men for the discharge of duty. When V. entered the B. firm no questions were put to him on the subject of habits, the firm leaving that point to be tested during the term of his probation. He was made aware of the strong sentiments of B. as to any of his clerks using liquor, and honestly resolved not to deceive B. in this or any other, particular, and he did actually for more than two years totally abstain. Before the end of his probation his salary was raised and he had gained the full confidence of the firm and his fellow-clerks. He was now in the full bloom of manhood, in appearance not outshone by any young man in the city ; and though it was not possible for him in a large city to mix with “ the higher fashionable class,” yet he was admitted into a class the influence of which was far more conducive to his general welfare. If a former companion of Y.’s in his palmy days had met him for a few days, he would have said, “ V. is himself again,” and so he was with one or more serious exceptions. In his palmy days in the town of H., be- fore he tasted of fashion and the wine cup, he delighted in the services of the Episcopalian Church and in being a teacher in its Sunday-school, and never neglected his private religious duties, and his reading was then of a character to profitably exercise and improve the mind. Now the services of his church were irksome, and frequently neglected ; he had no connection with any Sunday-school ; his private devotions were aban- doned, and his reading he chiefly gathered from the wide fields of sensational fiction. Few young men 12S rum's gallery. have ever stood firm against the evil allurements of the world after their decline in religious sentiment and fervor ; their neglect of public and private religious duties, and one very potent influence to produce such a sad state is the formation of a passion for reading sensational fiction. This change in V. did not produce any immediately apparent results, but it is sad to think of a young man ostensibly appearing to be what he ought to be, through motives of policy, when he should do so through conviction and principle. Most of B.’s clerks were religiously inclined men, and none of them drank liquor. The latter fact very much strengthened V.’s resolves on this point, and lessened his temptations. Just here I would ask all employers, if they have ever given a thought to the effect of their example, in drinking customs, upon the young men and others they employ ? The reader will remember that V.’s first glass of liquor was taken, in part, through the persuasion of his employer at H., and I have not the slightest doubt that if his employers in R had been men of the same stamp as G., he would soon have fallen again. After V. had been in R a year he stood well in the confidence of B. and the class of people with whom he associated. He was on intimate visiting terms with a family named P. The father of this family never had a strong desire to be very rich, but had retired on a competency, owned a comfortable residence and con- siderable cottage property in the city. As to his esti- mate of young men who aspired to be the husbands of the model family. 129 his daughters, he regarded industry, ability and good moral and religious character of greater consequence than wealth. He had noticed strong indications of more than friendship between his eldest daughter and V., and, from what he had seen of him, was favorably impressed with his character ; and I must here say, to Y.’s discredit, that he had somewhat deceptively con- cealed his real character both before his employers and the old gentleman, especially in matters pertaining to practical religion. After the old gentleman, whose name was L., had noticed his daughter’s preference for V., he observed him more closely, and incidentally made enquiries respecting him at B.’s. The result was a confirmation of the good opinion he had formed of the young man. Henceforth he rather encouraged Y.’s attentions to his daughter, and in a few weeks the young pair were betrothed, with the full approval of the young lady’s father. V. was now receiving a salary quite sufficient to support a young couple very respectably, and, considering his known ability and apparently rising prospects, the relatives and friends of Miss L. looked on what, they thought, promised a happy future. V. obtained the promise of a perma- nent situation, and in three months from the time of his engagement was married in church. Mr. L. had, unknown to either his intended son-in-law or daughter, furnished a neat cottage in a pleasant part of the city, and the day before their marriage took V. to a solicitor’s office, where he gave him a lease of the cottage and grounds at one-half rent for ten years, after which time, if the rent was paid up, the property 130 RtTM’s GALLERY. was to be Y.’s own. The agreement also specified that any failure to keep its terms would cause a reversion of the property to Mr. L. The reader will see that Mr. L. acted very liberally and, at the same time, very shrewdly with his son-in-law. The young couple spent two weeks in New York State on their wedding trip, and on their return found that thoughtful friends had taken possession of their sweet cottage home and had every needed comfort ready for them, even to a meal on the table. The next day Y. was in his accustomed place at B.’s, and all who knew him and the L. s seemed delighted with the present and future prospects of the happy young couple. There were not a few fashionable young men in the city, whose attentions to Miss L. had been discouraged, but now envied Y. what they called “ his confounded good luck.” Well they might call it good luck, for there were few ladies in the city of R. more amiable, intelligent and refined than she who was now the wife of Y. For a period of eight or ten months there appeared not a ripple on the smooth stream of the young people’s happiness. Y. was very faithful in the dis- charge of his business duties, and fell in quite naturally with the clock-work precision of the L. family, in church attendance and all outward religious duties. Every one of the family were so well satisfied with the addition to it that Mr. L. told his daughter that at the end of a year it was his inten- tion to furnish her husband with the means of starting business in his own name, reserving an interest in it THE MODEL FAMILY. 131 for himself. The fond father had before the lapse of a year too good reasons to change his mind. There was direct railway communication between the town of H. and the city of R., and between the two places there was considerable traffic. Y. had often met in R. some of his old H. chums, but had, as a matter of both feeling and prudence, avoided them. On one occasion, when Mrs. V. was absent in the country for two days, he met with Mr. G.’s old book- keeper from H., who was spending his holidays in R. I suppose he thought it most prudent to treat a man in a friendly way who was in possession of a damaging secret, and invited the book-keeper to his house after business hours. With the exception of the servant they had the house to themselves, and of what passed between them I know nothing more than that V. went out with the book-keeper and was let in by the ser- vant between three and four o’clock in the morning. Y. sent a message to JB.’s when he awoke, stating that he was not well and would not be in his place till the next morning. The firm never suspected the cause of his absence, and he secured from the girl the promise that she would “ keep mum,” so that this his first fall in R. did not leak out. The day after Mrs. Y.’s return she was shocked to believe that her husband was secretly indulging in liquor. She had not long to wait, for on the next Sunday morning, about one o’clock, until which time she had waited up for him, he came home very much intoxicated. The now unhappy woman sorrowed be- yond measure over this startling discovery, but had 132 rum’s gallery. she known that this outbreak was but the beginning of a harvest from seed which had been sown and cul- tivated years before, her grief would have been over- whelming. She did not know until sometime after- wards that Y. had been the slave of drink before she had married him. She so managed matters that none of her friends or the B.’s knew anything about this second fall. She, however, noticed throughout the week unmistakable proofs that her husband was drinking, and spoke to hinuon the subject in the most prudent way possible. He admitted the truth and assured her she need have no fears ; but, alas ! she had known of too many who had been dragged down from position and happiness, by accursed drink, to feel anything but intense dread at the danger her husband was now in. Weeks passed with but little change in V., but at length on a Saturday night, after the establishment closed, he joined some parties who were drinking from place to place, and did not return home to his wife until late on Sunday night. She had been taken ill during the day, and when he did return home drunk, he found her parents and sister waiting with his wife. In all her trouble she had never spoken to her parents or any of her family, and now, in a moment, the elderly father and mother and single daughter had forced upon them the awful reality that V. showed strong signs of being an old veteran in drunkenness. On the following Monday morning the trouble of the whole family was increased by Mr. B. calling to inquire after V., of whose conduct on Sunday he had been THE MODEL FAMILY. 133 apprised of. V. had not left his bedroom, and B. seemed much annoyed and perplexed, stating that he wished to see him at his office. Mr. L., on learning that B. had called, followed him to consider what was best to do. Mr. B. was sincerely sorry for what had occurred, but said he could not run the risk of having such a thing occur again, but would first acquaint him- self with what V. had to say about his conduct. After Y . had dressed himself he repaired to his employer’s office, made an apology as best he could, and promised that such a thing should never take place again. B. forgave him and sent him to his department on the understanding that a repetition of the offence would cause his immediate dismissal. Y. fought with his aroused passion throughout the day, sending a messenger home at noon to say that he could not leave the store, and when closing time came, returned home to find himself the father of a beautiful little baby daughter, but the doctor, who was still waiting, said the double shock to his patient might prove fatal. The husband was shocked and stricken with remorse to see his loving wife lying before him, able to only speak in a whisper, and not even allowed to do that. He, with all but the doctor and Mrs. Y.’s mother, was requested to leave the room, arnd then Y.’s remorseful reflections rushed upon him. For the time he found no difficulty in quenching the flames of passion for strong drink. The whole night he spent without sleep, in the room adjoin- ing his wife’s, and, when the morning came, was told by the doctor that with great care she was out of danger. After a morsel of breakfast, he quietly told 134 rum’s gallery. his wife that she need have no anxiety on his account, and hurried off to his place. At dinner-time her symptoms were still more favourable, and in a little longer than the usual time was quite recovered, but she was much changed, and on her face was stamped a deep sorrow — the first real sorrow of her life. Her family were also sorrow-stricken, and the old gentle- man’s plans and hopes completely reversed. He now, too late, took means to ascertain V.’s career in H., and was astounded to find that Y. had been dismissed for some disreputable conduct from G’s. establishment in H. However, nothing could be done but labour and hope for the best. His son-in-law had so far fulfilled the conditions upon which he had placed him in the cottage, and he hoped, from the severe lesson he had just received, and from the additional incentive to good action to be found in his little daughter, that a complete reformation would take place. But, reader, you know very well that liquor will cause the once good man to erect altars upon which he will sacrifice the most sacred objects and interests. For a little over two months Y. did not fan the smouldering flames within his breast, but at length he began again to tipple on the sly, and in a short time left the shop on a Saturday night to enter on a spree, which he did not finish till the middle of the second week. In this outbreak he became quite reckless, never returning home while it lasted, and made him- self conspicuously known at most of the saloons and drinking places in the city. When quite ill from the effects of his drinking he returned home to his now THE MODEL FAMILY. 135 wretched wife. After partially recovering, he made no attempt at reconciliation or reinstatement in B.’s firm, well knowing such an attempt would be fruitless, but began a life of living and drinking by his wits. He seldom returned home, and in a short time his wife’s broken-hearted parents had to take the crushed woman and her baby to her once sweet, happy home. Friends of humanity! can you plead for, or withhold your help from anything that would in any measure crush a demon that is making scenes all over the world similar to the one I have pictured ? In less than two years and six months from the time Miss L. was led by a fond father up the aisle of church, she has to be taken home by the same father in a worse condition than a broken-hearted widow, and upon her aged parents and relatives is stamped an indelible sorrow, while Y. has thrown to the winds two of the best opportunities any young man ever had in a similar sphere, and is now wandering from liquor fountain to liquor fountain a miserably besotted drunkard. From the day that Mrs. Y. re-entered her father’s home she never saw her husband, nor had any inter- course with any but those she there met. To meet joyous, happy people outside would but have reminded her, by contrast, of her own crushing sorrow, and the last I heard of her she was living a secluded life in her father’s house. V. went on from bad to worse, until finally his wits failing him in his efforts to procure a living and drink, he perpetrated a dishonest transaction on a cousin, and 136 rum’s gallery. had not his uncle quietly interfered in his behalf he would have been punished as a criminal. After all his schemes had become known in the city of R., he went to another city in the Dominion, where his father was then living, There he made wretched the whole family, and in four years served five terms of imprison- ment for criminal offences, one of them being a term of eighteen months. Seventeen years from the time I last saw him in the town of H., I was one afternoon reading a paper in my office, in Owen Sound, when my bell was rang vio- lently, and on my opening the door, I saw standing before me a very degraded-looking tramp. The figure immediately extended his hand and said, “ Why, Dr. T., how do you do ? I am so glad to see you.” I at once set the man down as trying to play a confidence game, but he walked into a better lighted part of the room, and requested me to take a good look at him. I looked at him for some time, and said to him, “ Well, my man, I see you need help in some way - tell me what you want but don’t try to deceive me by a confi- dence trick.” Degraded as the man was, I could see he felt wounded by this remark, and lifting his torn, slouch hat from his head he stood in front of me, and again said, “ You must know me.” I looked and re- looked, but could find no trace of any one I had ever known. He again seemed hurt, and said, “ Do you not remember V., in G.’s establishment in H.?” I again looked, and the only trace I could see of the former Y. was in his forehead, from above the brow up to the hair. I looked at the poor fellow in complete amaze- THE MODEL FAMILY. 137 ment, and thought, 0, cursed liquor, what canst thou not do with any man ! I treated him kindly, and tried to arouse in him a wish to reform, but there was nothing in him to appeal to but a yearning for liquor, and his first request was for money to procure it. When refused money to get liquor, he would not take an order for meals, but left quite angry at what he considered his want of success. I afterwards learned that he worked his way on one of the steamers from Owen Sound to Duluth, whence he travelled as a tramp through several States of the Union, until he was caught as the leader of a gang of burglars who, in attempting a robbery, had shot two men, one fatally, for which they were tried, and V. was sent to one of the State penitentiaries for twenty years, whether as the man who did the shooting or as an accomplice I have never ascertained. When he called at my office he was only about thirty-eight years old, but his hair was nearly white, much whiter than his father’s hair at sixty-eight. His former neat, well-proportioned body was distorted into an unwieldy shape, and every feature of his face changed beyond recognition. Such was the effect of liquor, in sixteen years, on a clever, well-educated young man, who twice in a brief period had as bright prospects before him as any young man in the Dominion. 10 CHAPTER XI. THE FEMALE SLA VE. E who undertakes to give a record of represen- tative cases of ruin by liquor happily does not find many such cases among the native wo- men of the Dominion. There are, however, too many, and some of them of a very painful char- acter ; but when the history of such cases are fully traced, it will be found that most of the women who have fallen into drinking habits in Canada have either emigrated when young from older countries, or have been taught Old Country habits by their parents in this country while they were growing up. Professor Gold- win Smith, E. King Dodds, and other Englishmen, would appear to better advantage in some other role than that of teaching us benighted Canadians how to manage our liquor question, while liquor has proved and is proving itself to be the greatest curse of their native country. It is so well known, however, that the latter gentleman manufactures his arguments for THE FEMALE SLAVE. 139 sale to the highest bidder that they have become “ a drug in the market.” Canon Farrar, while in America, spoke of the drink- ing customs of the English people as follows : “ I will not accuse the people of America of drunkenness, but I must admit that if all the liquor drank in England was colored there is enough of it drank to tint the Atlantic from shore to shore.” The result of this enormous consumption of liquor in England and other old countries is too well known to Canadians for them to regard with much favor the oracular assumptions of the two gentlemen named. The last English election presented to the world twins, viz., political excitement aided by liquor, that should in future make English- men a little modest in their dictations to Canadians on politics and liquor questions. S. was the eldest daughter of English parents who were among the very earliest settlers in a county north of Toronto. Both parents from childhood had been accustomed to the use of liquor in their homes, and the only time they abstained from its use was when they had to do so through the necessity incident to early settlers. As soon as spirits were brought into the settlement for sale, and many early settlers know how soon that was done, Q., the father, and his wife were among the first customers at the “ new store.” Of a family o.f six sons and two daughters all were born in England but the two youngest sons. When a boy I have had frequent opportunities of noting the habits of the family in the use of liquor. Either of the parents would have considered it a sad 140 rum’s gallery. omission of kindness to a neighbor calling at any hour of the day not to offer them something to drink, and of an evening several rounds of punch, sweetened with brown sugar, was the almost invariable prepara- tion for bed. On several occasions I can well remem- ber Mrs. Q. preparing punch and serving it round v to every member of her family, the youngest boy then being only four years old. When the older ones had drank the contents of their earthen cups the little fellows would go from cup to cup sipping the dregs of sugar, and telling their mother they wanted more liquor. “ As the twig is bent the tree’s inclined.” Q. was a very industrious man, notwithstanding his drinking habits ; made all his family work as soon as they were able, and, by the time the elder boys were grown up, had a valuable farm property of three hun- dred acres of the best land in the county. I will “ lump ” the history of the male portion of the Q. family, and then as briefly as possible trace the career of the eldest daughter S. Five of the sons went to ruin and early death through liquor, and the other two, through religious influences, became re- formed men. The youngest daughter married a very excellent man, who, after he discovered her love for liquor, used such prudent and firm means that she be- came a pious and useful woman. From a religious standpoint, both of the parents died very doubtful deaths. It was well known by all Q.’s neighbors that he and his wife and sons drank freely, but so secretly and cunningly was the habit controlled by the daughters, THE FEMALE SLAVE. 141 that no suspicion attached to them. S. was of rather ordinary personal appearance, and did not marry until she was over thirty, when she married a rather wealthy farmer, named E. E.’s training, in the matter of liquor, had been almost precisely similar to his wife’s training, and, after installing her in her new home, was not a little surprised to find that she was pecu- liarly at home among the stock of liquors which he constantly kept. Drinking men the world over dis- play like traits of character in some things. They will complain of their wives’ ill-temper and scolding habits, but if their wives follow the example set by the husbands, that puts the matter in another light altogether. E. would often return from the neighbor- ing town quite intoxicated, and partook of liquor, more, or less every day, sometimes enjoying a few glasses with his wife alone, but whenever he saw that she could go as far, if not farther, than himself, he be- came alarmed. He used gentle means to dissuade her from indulging in what he now plainly saw was an old habit in his wife, but that only caused her to be more cunning and as secret as possible in her gratification. After he had tried all the gentler means without effect he became much enraged at his wife’s increasing ex- cesses ; he resorted to threats of various kinds, and once or twice punished her by confining her in a room for several days. The punishment had no restraining effect, and how could he expect it to have any so long as he kept a stock of liquor within his wife’s reach ? During the months which had passed, there was no improvement in Mrs. E.’s habits, but rather a much 142 rum’s gallery. worse state of things. E. now put all his liquors under strong locks, but that made little difference to her, for when he was away from home on business, which he frequently was, she would send after liquor and con- ceal it in small quantities in different places, so that if one bottle was secured and taken from her, she had more to fall back upon. E. now, through his own excessive indulgence in drinking, and the discouragement caused by his wife’s drunkenness, very seriously neglected business, and it soon became known that he was much involved in debt. To save a part of his means, to get away from a neighborhood where neither he nor his wife were regarded with respect, and to remove his wife as far as possible beyond the reach of liquor, he sold his valu- able farm and moved into a strange neighborhood, eight miles from any town. Instead of giving up what was producing his speedy ruin, he brought whiskey in large quantities to his new home, and for a time succeeded in concealing it in the outbuildings of the farm. To himself the liquor was always of easy access, and his want of thrift and frequent intoxication soon lost him the confidence of his neighbors. Reader, remember that liquor has formed a chain, and bound millions, which with all their good judg- ment and best resolutions they could not break. Here is the case of a man before you, who before he became the slave of drink, was an industrious and successful farmer, and now with the fact before him that both himself and his wife were on the road to ruin, seems powerless to rise above the cause of their ruin. No THE FEMALE SLAVE. 143 word in our language has fully expressed the danger that, to all new beginners in drinking habits, lies for a time concealed in the wine cup. A part of E.’s instructions to his servants was that they should very carefully watch Mrs. E., and not allow her to get the use of any conveyance or other means of leaving her home for the purpose of obtain- ing liquor. It could hardly be expected that a woman who had used stimulants daily from her youth up would long bear such a restraint. Nor did she. Her first ingenuity was displayed in cultivating the acquaintance of a near neighbor who, she had ascer- tained, constantly kept liquor. From this neighbor, on her apparently incidental calls, she would not only get twenty-four hour supplies, but would furnish the money for more, and share it from time to time. When E. discovered this plan, he put a stop to it, which caused a quarrel between him and his neighbor. Frustrated in her first scheme, Mrs. E. would con- ceal herself in the driving-house, where her husband kept his supplies, and having found his store, did not fail to help herself whenever he was absent. She carried out this daily theft so cunningly that it was a long time before her husband discovered it, and now he was called upon to exercise ingenuity in devising plans to conceal his own supply. He tried one place after another, but in almost every change of place she succeeded in tracing it. Being thus foiled, he placed a very strong padlock on his oat bin and placed the stuff' therein. Shortly after using this extra precau- tion, E. was absent for two days, and on his return 144 RUM S GALLERY. found that his wife had broken the lock with an axe and taken the whole supply into her bedroom, where he found her in such a drunken state that it was thought she would not recover. Perhaps the most amazing part of this occurrence to E. was that his wife had exhausted the whole of his supply. He immediately despatched his man for a five gallon keg> and this time determined to place his treasure beyond the reach of any thief. Tying a long rope around the keg, he hoisted it to the purlin plate of his bam roof, and there fastened it about thirty-five feet from the barn floor. I will venture to say that not one of my readers could guess the plan which Mrs. E., the poor slave of a drinking passion, adopted to get at the contents of the keg. She first placed, immediately below the keg, on the barn floor, a wash-tub, and then taking sure aim with her husband’s rifle, she punctured the bottom of the keg with a bullet, which of course brought the whole contents of the keg into the tub. She carried a part of the whiskey to the house, concealed some in the barn, and again when E. returned he found her in a helpless state. When he saw what had happened to his beloved keg and contents, he securely fastened all the barn doors, first putting what whiskey remained in the tub in bottles. In the bottom of one of the barn doors was a large hole, through which a small person could barely squeeze themselves. When Mrs. E had drank all the supply which she had carried to the house, she returned to the barn for what she had concealed. On findi ng THE FEMALE SLAVE. 145 the barn door securely fastened, being a small woman, she crept through the opening and secured the con- cealed liquor. When E. and the farm hands returned at night she was missed, but it was deemed useless to make search for her. It was a frosty September night. Early in the morning E. went to the barn for his drink when, on reaching it, he found his wife half-emerged from the opening in the door, her life almost extinct. She was carried to her room, and remained unconscious until she passed into eternity. It was supposed that on entering the barn she drank freely of the liquor, took two bottles, which she passed through the opening, and then tried to come out her- self. Being much reduced in strength, and no doubt intoxicated, she was unable to squeeze herself through, and, it was thought, had remained in the trap all day and all night. I again leave the reader to draw conclusions. o CHAPTER XII. THE SLAIN FAMILY. S T is not my purpose in this chapter to discuss hereditary tendencies produced by liquor, but to simply sketch the history of a family, and notice, very briefly, the habits of their ancestors ; which will, I think, lead my readers to conclude that the theory of intemperate parents trans- mitting a like habit to their children is a sound one. I must admit that a habit practised by a child is a very powerful training influence, but there are not wanting instances where both the male and female offspring of drunken parents, who had never before maturity tasted liquor, have suddenly broken out into excessive tendencies and habits of drunkenness. The U. family numbered two daughters and six sons. Part of the family were born in one of the middle counties of Ireland and part in Ontario. They early emigrated to Upper Canada, and took up two hundred acres of land in one of the very best sections. THE SLAIN FAMILY. 147 U.’s father had manufactured “ the mountain dew ” in Ireland, knew all about its supposed life-giving powers himself, and did not fail in practically teaching his sons the same knowledge. One of U.’s arguments, when defending the daily use of liquor, used to be, that “his father was more or less drunk every day of his life, and yet lived to be over seventy years ‘ould.’ ” I need not state that in the matter of learning his children the use of liquor, he followed in his father’s footsteps, and as the sequel will show, they proved themselves very apt pupils. U. was a man very fond of money, which fondness- restrained him from drinking to great excess when business interests specially demanded his attention. His prolonged “sprees” were for a long period indulged in at a time when the interests of his farm could best spare his attentions, and hence it is not surprising that he was a more successful farmer than most men of his class. Although he was constantly a pretty heavy drinker, yet he controlled himself in the constant use of liquor as few men have been able to do ; but the inevitable result of all this had to come at last. For many years he worked hard during the summers, and made his children do likewise, but when the more leisurely time of winter came, he let go the rein of passion, and towards the end of his life he spent the entire winter season in drinking, either at home or in the nearest town. When he left home for a spree he would take with him, as caretaker, one of his sons, who of course, to some extent, was a participant in his father’s amusements ! and before long was able to 148 rum's gallery. amuse himself independent of his father, but in the same line. One of my first recollections is that of see- ing this father and three of his sons making them- selves very conspicuous at the first fair held in the town of N. When intoxicated both father and sons were “ trooly loil,” very decided politicans, and con- ceived the most convincing arguments, to themselves, in favor of the doctrine of unconditional election and predestination. Predestination they applied to them- selves in its absolute sense, which they interpreted as saying that it was foreordained that they should -drink whiskey and become drunk. At the fair referred to, the father and sons, under the verandah of an hotel, were holding a highly “spiritual” discussion with some “birds of a feather” on politics and the doctrine of election. Their utterances, made more emphatic, as they thought, by bitter oaths, I have never forgotten. A few years brought the four eldest boys up to man- hood, when their father thought it was time for him to cease laboring, and gave his sons the working charge of his farm, himself attending to the financial part. In fact, not one of the sons or daughters had ever been sent to school, and were little more than able to read the figures on a coin or bank note. They had been made to work whenever farm work was to be done, and when left to themselves were industrious through force of habit. They were allowed by the father a liberal supply of pocket-money, most of which they expended in liquor, for now each of the four sons kept a private supply for himself, in addition to the THE SLAIN FAMILY. 149 father’s general supply in the household. The young men were rather liked for their civil and obliging ways by the neighbors, but the effects of their habits soon began to injuriously affect other boys and young men with whom they had the ordinary relations of neighbors. At all the “bees,” “threshings,” etc., of the U.’s liquor was never absent, always pressed upon all present, and did not fail to produce its legitimate effects on the character and habits of some of the young men in the neighborhood. After the elder sons of U. took charge of the farm, his two youngest boys he made the partners of his habits and his caretakers wherever he went. These boys were naturally gifted, possessed of all the warm- hearted nature attributed to the Irish, and had they been well taught, might have made bright men ; but the influences by which they were surrounded from infancy made their warm impulsiveness a factor in their final ruin. When these two boys were fifteen and seventeen, it was no uncommon sight for them, when returning home with their father, to furnish a true exemplification of “the blind leading the blind.” When U.’s sons had managed the farm four years, he found himself possessed of means to purchase some property for the two eldest, for be it remembered that, although the whole family drank much liquor, they understood the secret of wholesale purchase, and would even, while in town, do the most of their drinking by the bottle. U. purchased two separate hundred acres, partly improved, and gave a hundred to each of his sons. The two brothers repaired the small houses on 150 rum’s gallery. their new farms, and began the search for wives, but it seemed that, for once, there was going to be an exception to the aphorism — “ There never was an old shoe without an old stocking to mate it.” While the two brothers were in search of wives, it so happened that an Irish family named M. purchased a small farm a few miles distant from U.’s homestead. M. had three grown-up daughters, really good, innocent, fine- looking girls. The two matrimonial candidates lost no time in forming their acquaintance, and, with a haste that would shock some ladies, proposed a speedy marriage. The girls, as is usual in many Irish matches, referred the entire management of the case to their parents. A time was appointed for the parents of both parties to meet and arrange preliminaries. M. and his wife were invited to visit the U. family, and on the day appointed U.’s eldest son drove after and brought the newly arrived Irish parents to his father’s house. When the hearts of U. and Mrs. U. had been sufficiently mellowed by the ever present cup, they retired with the other two contracting parties to settle “ the terms.” In fancy I can hear U. and his wife expatiating on their “ two fine hearty boys,” the hundred acres of land they each possessed, the fine horses, the number of cows and pigs, feather beds, ploughs, harrows, young heifers, chickens, hens, etc. There have been many Old Country matches made where much smaller items than those I have mentioned have been matters of serious consideration between the contracting parents. THE SLAIN FAMILY. 151 In years gone by the possession of a hundred acres of land constituted its owner in the eyes of some Irish- men almost “ an estated gentleman,” and when M. and Mrs. M. heard of the landed possessions of U.’s sons, with all the horses, cows, pigs, sheep, etc., to be thrown in, they were delighted, and the four parents soon returned to the expectant boys with their verdict of accepted. Some very strong writing has been done upon the subject of Old Country parents buying and selling their children, but nothing has ever been written strong enough. The lower and some of the middle class of Irish openly go about their match-making in a business way, but I have several times heard English mothers urging their daughters to marry men whom, they knew very well they disliked, for the reason alone that the men could “ take them into good society and give them a good home,” adding, by way of solace, “Never mind, dear, you will soon learn to like him if you do not like him now.” No wonder so many marriages prove unhappy ones, when the elements and first principles which constitute the “ mystic tie ” are turned into a business contract. Before the business meeting closed the wedding day was appointed, and the usual place of holding it reversed by the parents deciding that the marriage should take place at U.’s home. It is probable that the U.’s concluded, in their minds, that what they considered one of the indispensables of a wedding feast could be made more abundant at their own home than at the house of M., their new family connection. 152 rum’s gallery. On the morning of the wedding day, the two brothers brought their intended wives and the entire M. family to their father’s house. The reception given the family was warm — truly Irish, and no doubt much intensified by the cement of Irish friendship — “ a drop of something to do them good.” I will here state that although the older members of the M. family occasion- ally took a glass of liquor, yet they were by no means given to its free use, and I believe that if they had been fully aware of the habits of the two brothers, none of the family would have consented to the marriage of any of their family with them. Nearly all the young men of the neighborhood assembled on invitation to celebrate the wedding feast, but few of the young women were present, because they knew that the proceedings would begin, continue and end in the free use of whiskey. The minister was somewhat late in arriving, and was not a little surprised to notice that young and old of the U. family showed strong signs of free drinking. This fact was noticed long before the arrival of the minister, and it was stated by an eye-witness that the two girls freely wept when they saw him enter the door. Poor innocent girls ! had they then known how deep were the waters of sorrow into which they were about to enter they would have shrank back in horror, but the indissoluble knot was soon tied, and they were the wives of two young men who were already confirmed drunkards. All the M. family were tolerably good English scholars, and when the two young husbands were re- THE SLAIN FAMILY. 153 quested by the minister to sign their names, it was sorrowful so soon to notice the evident humiliation of their wives, when they saw they could only do so by making a cross. The minister evidently mourned at heart the state of things which he saw before him, and addressed himself not only to the newly married couples, in words of warning and good advice, but also to all present. As a matter of courtesy he remained for dinner, at which U. would have been much pleased had not the reverend gentleman entered a protest against the way the majority of the company were in- dulging in drink. His presence had the effect of re- straining “ the flow of spirits,” and hence a part of the company did not fully enjoy themselves until after he left. The evening soon came, supper was partaken of, and a short time after “ two fiddlers ” arrived, when the “ Ould Country ” dance commenced. To the full enjoyment of the dance a serious obstacle stood in the way. The house was half full of young men, but the number of young girls, besides the two brides, were only three, hence the peculiar “ stag dance ” had to be freely indulged in. A preponderance of “ stags ” and a preponderance of whiskey soon produced a pre- ponderance of rough conduct, which I will spare my readers the displeasure of reading about. About ten o’clock the newly married couples left for their'homes, and the remaining part of the company danced and drank until fatigue either put them to sleep or sent them home. What remained of the M. family left for their home the next morning, and, as they stated after- 11 154 rum’s gallery. wards, with "sore hearts.” With all their love of lands, horses, cows, etc., they had on the previous night seen enough to convince them that they had sold their two daughters into a life of misery. Their daughters’ husbands, even on the day of their marriage, had not enough respect for themselves and their friends to refrain from over-indulgence, and had left for their new homes, it was feared by some, incapable of taking proper charge of their teams. The home of the U. family for weeks after the wedding was the scene of constant drinking and drunkenness. The father, and, in a lesser degree, the mother, kept up a continuous debauch. The sons and, it must also be said, the daughters, were little better. The former partially attended to the feeding of the stock, while the latter managed to do the little cook- ing that was done for the family. At the homes of the two young wives, as regards their husbands, things were little different to those at the U. homestead. Daily one week after their marriage these two women had to painfully realize that they had no future before them but that of a drunkard’s wife.. Being possessed of much Irish affection and good temper, they tried to win their husbands from their slavery to drink, but alas ! they found nothing to appeal to. The winter wore on with but little change in the conduct of either the young husbands or the occu- pants of their father’s home, but a great change to the young wives, in an increase of sorrow and regret at the fate which had befallen them in America, THE SLAIN FAMILY. 155 As spring approached, the young men began to realize that they would have to moderate in their habits, else let their new farms go to ruin. Their father had given them a good supply of provisions, plenty of seed and a sufficient amount of money to carry them through until they had realized on their first crop, making it at the same time clear that that was his last donation. After their winter’s idleness and heavy drinking, hard work was very distasteful to them, but they were soon slashing away with their accustomed industry, every Saturday night visiting the tavern and bringing home enough liquor for a “ good time on Sunday ” and their rations through the week. They put in a good crop, worked upon the whole well throughout the summer and until they had harvested, threshed and sold their grain: Few young farmers in the county were in a better position than the two brothers, as far as business prospects went. Their farms were paid for, they had good teams, all the implements they required, and had just reaped and sold an abundant harvest at a good price ; but no sooner had the leisure season come than they entered upon their old course. Hitherto they, in their way, had been kind to their wives, but now the more liquor they drank the more disagreeable they were to them. Often when the brothers were drunk they would order their wives to attend to the feeding of the horses and general stock, and the unfortunate- women had to do it or let the animals go unwatered or unfed. A like fact might be 156 rum’s gallery. stated as to the preparation of wood, etc., that was required in the households. Reader, ask and endeavor to answer the question* How many women in the world to-day are, as these women were, undergoing a worse than African servi- tude through strong drink? The poor slave in his position did not expect the kindness and affection that these two women had a right to expect from their hus- bands, and was scarcely disappointed at any treatment he received, but the two wives, instead of receiving kindness and affection, received brutal treatment. The young farmers continued to idle and drink at their homes till a certain Saturday in the beautiful month of October. On the morning of that day they travelled on foot, each provided with a gallon jug, to the town of N. They got their jugs filled with whis- key, and took a near cut which led them through two hundred acres of wooded land. The weather had been dry and clear for some time, and the surface of the woodland was covered with a thick coating of dry autumn leaves. It is supposed that the two brothers had seated themselves by a large tree in the middle ef the wood, and partook freely of the contents of their jugs, after which they had attempted to light their pipes, or, what is more probable, they had lighted their pipes and lay down to smoke, in which position they had dropped the pipes and set fire to the dry leaves on which they lay. Their absence that night was not noticed, but on the following afternoon the wives sent a messenger to N. to make enquiries, when it was found that they had left for home the morning before. THE SLAIN FAMILY. 157 It so happened that two men engaged in ploughing had seen the brothers enter the wood, and on search being made their two almost nude bodies were found, blackened and distorted, close by the jugs, the contents of which were considerably lessened. The fire had caught in a dry fallen tree a few feet from one of the bodies, and had literally roasted it. Faithfulness to the subject which I have taken in hand is my motto, therefore let no reader accuse me of giving “horrible details.” Men brutalized through drink have filled the world with millions of illustrious instances of woman’s undying fidelity to her matrimonial vows. Has any of my male readers thought of how men would act towards wives, if wives became drunkards, and treated their husbands as meanly and as brutally as many husbands have and are treating their wives? I am safe in saying that from the first hour the two Irish girls spent in U.’s house on the day of their mar- riage to the tragic end of their husbands’ lives they had not spent one happy day. On that morning they saw too plainly that they were about to be bound to two ignorant, brutalized men, and in a week their fears were fully confirmed. All their subsequent ill- treatment th ey h ad patiently borne, had never quarrelled with their husbands, and now that the men had come to such a horrible end, the grief of the women was beyond doubt uncontrollable. Fortunately for their temporal interests they were the sole heirs of their husbands’ entire property. It might reasonably be supposed that the tragic end 158 rum’s gallery. of TJ.’s two eldest sons would have deterred him and the remaining part of his family from running the attendant risks of drunkenness, but it did not. The family was, no doubt, troubled and shocked as much as their calloused sensibilities would allow them to be, but the only apparent change produced in them was a practical determination to drown all their troubles in whiskey. The old man’s generally good temper, when drinking, was changed into a disposition to tyrannize over and abuse every member of his family. He sud- denly began to regret that his two daughters-in-law were the legal heirs to the farms which he had bought for his sons, and tried to recover them. Failing in his attempt, he began a systematic persecution against the two young widows, which caused their father to sell his small property and move to the farm of his second daughter, and take the management of both of his daughters’ farms. This enraged him more and more, but fortunately he was helpless to injure them. After what had happened, through liquor, the whole of the M. family at once and forever banished it from their homes, and in time became a very respectable and use- ful family in the community. The winter season’s drinking was now in “ full blast” at the U. homestead. Father, mother, sons and daugh- ters were all alike. In labor, all they aimed at was to take care of the live stock. Beyond that their literal programme was to lie up and eat what little they could, and drink all the whiskey they could. When their supply of liquor ran out, sometimes the old man and one of his sons would drive to the town THE SLAIN FAMILY. 159 for more, and sometimes two of the sons would go for more. There are many now living who will remember the very cold winter of 1858 — a winter that was more pro- lific of deaths by freezing than any other within recol- lection. On one of the coldest afternoons of that winter, U. and his second eldest living son drove in a sleigh to N., where they remained till a late hour, when they started for home. A mail carrier passed their farm three days in the week at five in the morning. As he drove up to U.’s gate he saw a team standing before the closed gate, and could see no lights in the house. He got out of his mail cutter and found in the sleigh the frozen bodies of U. and his son, and alongside of them a five-gallon keg of whiskey. To be in time with his mail bags, he could not wait, but aroused a neighbor who lived on the roadside. When the neighbor tried to arouse the remaining part of U.’s family he had to burst the back kitchen door before he could awake any of them from their drunken sleep, and when two of the young men were taken out to the sleigh containing their dead father and brother the neighbor said they seemed incapable of realizing that anything unusual had occurred. An inquest was held on the bodies, and of course a verdict returned of “ found frozen to death,” with the plain English, “while drunk,” that ought to have been added, left out. Our more recent verdicts are made still more deferential to the relatives of deceased and the dignity and influence of King Alcohol. The bodies were prepared for burial, and the neigh- 160 rum’s gallery. bors assembled to bury them, but such a house of mourning as presented itself to them on that cold winter’s day. The five-gallon keg had done duty as consoler and comforter. The three female liquor slaves — the widow and her two daughters — were keeping up a half drunken wail, while the three sons looked vacant and stupid. I suppose if any of the family gave any thought to the souls of the departed, they were com- forted on that point by the belief “ that what is to be must be,” one of the inevitable sequences of a belief in unconditional election. Four of the U. family now lie slain in the battle- field, and I fancy I hear a reader say, “Surely the remaining five will retreat.” The Mohammedan is taught that if he is slain while fighting the giaour he secures heaven, and hence the mad fanaticism he often displays in courting death, but the drunkard has no such ground for a hope of heaven, and yet it often seems that he courts death in the wine cup. The remaining part of this wretched family were affected precisely in the same way by the death of the last two members as they were by the first two. Some time after the death of the father and son, the five children and their mother were on such a debauch that they neglected the animals in the outbuildings, and some of the neighbors threatened to have them prose- cuted for cruelty to animals. They had a great dread of the civil law, and this threat made them more care- ful on that point, but they still continued to grow worse and worse. To avoid any neglect of what had to receive attention about the place each one of the THE SLAIN FAMILY. 161 sons had to take his turn at these duties and keep sober enough to discharge them. On a certain day in the month of February the eldest son was summoned as a witness at a court sitting in N., and remained in the town two days. On the second morning of his absence, about three o’clock, the house of the U.’s caught fire, while, no doubt, the inmates were sound in a drunken sleep. The centre of the building was the first square log house, erected on the farm, but had been nearly surrounded by frame additions. The logs were cedar, and when the fire started the whole structure must have burned very rapidly. The first to discover the calamity was the nearest neighbor, who, on his way to feed his horses early in the morning, discovered that U.’s dwelling was gone. On running to the spot nothing was to be seen but the slightly smouldering ruins. The family all slept below and above in the log part which had burned so long and so fiercely that not a body out of the five could be found, and, in fact, but very small traces of them. The neighbors gathered around the sickening sight, and three of them hurried off to N. to make known to the only living member of the U. family what had happened, but on reaching there found that the young man, when called upon in court the afternoon before, had appeared before the judge so drunk that he was committed for twenty-four hours for contempt of court. When the miserable young man was informed of the sad end of his relatives he was but little affected, and on being released made no effort to abandon 162 rum’s gallery. drink. One of his neighbors allowed him to remain in his home, so that he might attend to the animals that belonged to the late homestead. He soon sold all the stock, and lived with a family suited to his tastes in N. for the balance of the winter season. Before spring he sold the farm and placed the greater part of his money in the hands of a wealthy man in the town, subject to his order. With the balance he paid for his board and lodging, and drank away. Efforts were made by different persons to induce him to reform, but without the least effect. He continued in this mode of life until he became a pitiable object. He always had money to pay for liquor, and never found any difficulty in getting it. Towards the end of his exces- sive drinking he dropped senseless in a kind of fit, and was warned bv doctors that his habits would soon end his days, but would pay no attention to their warn- ings. About eighteen months from the time of the calami- tous fire, he attended a fall show in the village of 0., and was seen at a late hour in one of the taverns much intoxicated, and in that state left for N. The next morning he was found in the corner of a fence, near a farmer’s gate, where it appears he had lain down, never to rise again. The last of the entire family was slain by liquor. If any reader should think that the case I have given is not a fair representative one of others similar, I will, in a few words, record another instance, of which I also had personal knowledge. On a certain “four corners” was a tavern kept by a THE SLAIN FAMILY. 163 man who had a wife and four children. On the first night of the year 1871 there was a dance in the tavern, which did not break up till four o’clock, when the tavern-keeper and his wife retired to bed. Daylight revealed the awful fact to the nearest neighbor that the log tavern, the frame shed, the wood-pile and all that had formed the tavern premises, together with six human beings, had perished — were totally consumed. Let any reader make a retrospect over a period of twenty-five years, for calamities caused through lioqur, and I have no fear of their credulity being withheld from the narrative I have here given. CHAPTBE XIII. A CLERICAL VICTIM. |IME and observation has proved that liquor finds its victims among men of every rank and condition in life. From thrones down to the humblest subjects, men and women have been sacrificed on its altars. Men of the greatest intellectual capacities, of the best educational training, of moral and even religious culture, have furnished sad cases of its destroying power. Indeed, it seems that the men who have been most liberally gifted by nature are those' who fall lowest and most rapidly when caught by the stream of intemperance. Who cannot call to mind numerous instances of the most promising men in the country who have at an early age been utterly ruined through liquor ? The case of the Rev. 0., a sketch of whose career I am about to relate, is perhaps one of the saddest which could be chosen, and were it not that I believe “ the A CLERICAL VICTIM. 165 whole truth ” should be told in this book, I would leave the story untold. O. was an English M.A., became an ordained minister in a leading Protestant church, and was appointed to take charge of a wealthy congregation in the town of P. Soon after his appointment he was married to a young lady to whom he had been betrothed in England. For sixteen years he labored very acceptably among his flock in P., and then received a promotion in the ministerial ranks, after which he accepted an offer from a congregation still larger and more wealthy in the town of C. The reader will bear in mind that the time of which I am writing dates back twenty-seven years. At that time the use of liquor was perhaps more general in families than it is now. 0. had from boyhood been accustomed to the use of liquor in his father’s house, but never had shown any marked liking for it, but the habit grew upon him in the usual way. As a scholar and preacher he ranked high above the ordinary, which fact the C. congregation were well aware of before they secured him, and highly appre- ciated it afterwards. Among the people outside his own congregation he was less lofty and exclusive than some of his ministerial brethren, and was really beloved by his own flock, with whose every, interest he heartily identified himself. After he had been in C. three years it began to be whispered among the initiated that O. was showing signs of being rather fond of liquor. Sometimes when he entered his pulpit his appearance indicated that his oratory was, in part, inspired by a doubtful spirit. He 166 rum's gallery. had always greatly delighted in attending social parties at the homes of members of his congregation, and now it began to be noticed that when liquor was offered the guests, 0. would partake of it to such an extent as to cause remarks. As the cause of the remarks was not lessened, but increased, these remarks turned into murmurs at what the members of the congregation could not but consider very unbecoming conduct on the part of their minister. The officers of the church met and consulted upon what was best to be done, when it was decided that three of them should wait on their pastor and delicately caution 0., and apprise him of the gossip which was afloat. The three appointed to discharge this unpleasant duty were the highest officers in the church and, besides, were their minister’s most intimate and sincere personal friends. When the officers introduced the disagreeable sub- ject 0. did not seem surprised, but frankly admitted that he had given cause for criticism among his peo- ple, and promised that the cause should be removed. The deputation left, rejoicing over the result of their mission and full of hope that their beloved pastor would regain the confidence he had lost, and no more give occasion for complaint. Up to this time not many of the people were aware of O.'s slight declen- sions, and after he had pledged himself the yet slight rumor was completely hushed up. The next Sunday he appeared in his pulpit himself again, and the con- gregation was delighted by one of his brilliant and earnest sermons. For weeks the only change in his conduct was his ceasing to visit the families of his A CLERICAL VICTIM. 167 charge, as he had formerly done in the week days, and it did not require long for his people to ascertain the cause. To give an instance of what the real opinion of men engaged in the sale of liquor is, one of the officers of O.’s church kept a grocery and liquor store, and it was through him that information came that the minister had adopted the plan of having considerably large quantities of liquor sent privately to his house. The dealer was an enthusiastic churchman, and although business prudence suggested silence, his apprehension of consistency was such that he would not allow his minister to disgrace his position by using liquor to excess. No action was taken by the church officers until it became apparent that 0. was again on the downward scale, and soon the speed at which he was descending became plain to the whole community. A wealthy member of the church gave a large party, to which the parson and his family were invited. While there no particular notice was taken of his condition until the guests began to separate, when it was discovered that the minister was so intoxicated as to be unable to walk the short distance to his home, and had to be lifted into a vehicle and sent there. The scandal was carried far and near ; the church officers called an official meeting, which resulted in the calling of a full meet- ing of the congregation. 0. did not appear at the latter meeting, but sent in an humble apology and full acknowledgment of his wrong doing in writing, stat- ing, at the same time, that if no action was taken to 168 rum’s gallery. secure his dismissal he would put himself right in the community by a full public admission of his wrong. The whole congregation felt the deepest sympathy for a man who was in all respects but one all that they could wish for as a minister, and without dissent decided to take no further action. Their sympathy was well meant, but thev did not think that the chain which was to ultimately bind fast their beloved pastor had been slowly, for years, forged link by link, and would soon he long enough and strong enough to rivet around him and hold him fast till death. On the following Sunday Mr. 0. very judiciously did all that any man could do under the circumstances, by way of acknowledgment and promises for the future, but he made the great mistake of determining t.o control his habit instead of ceasing to take liquor. He also practiced deception, for, in order to create the impression that he now purchased no liquor, he had his supply sent to him privately from a city dealer. In less than three months the people were again sorely grieved to find that their pastor was the greater part of each week partially, and sometimes wholly, intoxi- cated. I have at this point in my sketch to make my readers acquainted with a very painful fact in connec- tion with a member of the 0. family. The eldest daughter now in her eighteenth year had, from the beginning of her father’s declension, been deeply grieved on account of his conduct, and when she foresaw his certain downfall, she became not only discouraged but reckless. One of those vipers-scor- pions, which lurk everywhere in society, in the form A CLERICAL VICTIM. 169 of a respectable young man, had always paid great attention to Miss 0. She was gifted, well educated, and acknowledged on all hands to be the most hand- some young lady in C. The viper deceived and ruined her, which, added to the effect of her father’s conduct, about a year afterwards led her to choose a notoriously abandoned life. This, in turn, reacted upon her father, and no doubt helped in leading him to actual daily drunkenness. Pending the action of the higher authorities of the Church, O.’s pulpit was temporarily supplied by a city minister. When the Church Court sat upon the case, they suspended the unfortunate victim from all rights of a minister for one year, in the hope that by that time he would be a reformed man, but no sooner had he learned the action of the Church towards him than he moved with his family to the city of R., and there secured a class of pupils in the study of modern lan- guages. He was succeeding well, when he again totally abandoned himself to drink, and lost all his pupils. His poor wife and the members of the family who were old enough to realize their position, were now crushed by a double sorrow. A daughter worse than dead, and a husband on the brink of ruin, was too much for any woman to bear. She had, however, done all that she could do to save her husband, and now, by placing her children in situations, secured sufficient income to afford a somewhat scanty living. Poor 0., before 'the expiration of a year, was a besotted drunkard. The hopes and efforts of his fellow- ministers and other friends who had tried to help 12 170 rum’s gallery. him were all dashed to pieces, and nothing now seemed to lie before him but a drunkard’s death. It soon came. Twenty-five years ago liquors were sold in all the refreshment rooms at stations on the different lines of railways in Canada. 0. left by an evening train for the city of H. in an intoxicated state and upon the train reaching a small station he imagined it was a refreshment station and left his car to get some liquor* On entering the station he saw his mistake, and re- turned to the train to regain his place in the car. The train was then in motion, but 0. attempted to board it, and in doing so slipped and fell under the car. Be- fore the train could be stopped the wheels of two cars passed over both limbs above the knees, and the poor man was carried into the station, and only survived the shock for two hours. An inquest was held, the railway company exonerated from blame, and a ver- dict of “Came to his death by accidentally falling under a railway car while in motion,” but not a word about the real cause of his falling. After the inquest O.’s body was taken to his late home, and the already broken-hearted widow had to view the one, who with all his faults was the dearest one to her on earth, slain by the murderous hand of strong drink. I have often wondered what the feelings of minis- ters must be while they stand at the grave into which the body of a man is about to be lowered who has died the death of a drunkard. The Bible says, “ No drunkard shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven,” but A CLERICAL VICTIM. 171 the minister has to say at the drunkard’s grave, “ In sure and certain hope of a joyous resurrection.” As soon as intelligence reached England of O.’s death the friends of his widow sent for the whole re- maining family, and the woman, who twenty years before bad settled in Canada under circumstances that promised the greatest happiness, had now to return to her native land a disconsolate widow, with the aggra- vating conviction on her mind that all her misery was wrought by accursed drink. CHAPTER XIY. THE GOLD MEDALLIST. « N the year 1860 there graduated in arts two students, who all through their college course had been very close competitors, both being determined on. securing the gold medal at their final examination. R. was the only son of a wealthy father, and M. was the fourth son of a man who had barely sufficient means to respectably maintain his family and train one son for any of the professions which his inclinations might lead him to prefer. The home training of the young men was in some respects very dissimliar, but as to strict morality was precisely the same with one very important difference : R. taught his family strict morality from the standpoint of a general belief in the truths of the Bible, while M. regarded practical religion, as revealed in the Bible, the only true basis of morality. The two young men prepared for matriculation in the same collegiate institute and began their arts course at THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 173 the same time. At the start there was little differ- ence in the scholarship oi‘ either of the two students, and throughout the whole course they kept very evenly abreast. In natural gifts they were regarded as about equal; in fact, so near equals were they considered that the faculty, and the students who knew them from the beginning of their first session, pitted them against each other as rivals in a great scholastic contest. With- out appearing to notice it, they accepted the position assigned them, but did not allow anything to de- stroy, in any measure, their personal respect and esteem for each other. This fact, in itself, shows that both young men were possessed of very generous natures, for under circumstances of rivalry between men jealousy is apt to cause estrangement between even the best friends. R. from a high notion of the dignity and respect- ability of a good moral character, and M. from similar views, to which he added the precepts of religion, were noted throughout their college course, not only for their industry and progress in their studies, but also for their excellent conduct in general. M. was un- doubtedly the leader in industry and general good deportment, and whithersoever he went R. was deter- mined to follow or keep pace with him, because it was quietly understood between them that they were friendly rivals in everything that would, to any extent, influence their award at the close of their final exami- nation. If M. denied himself an evening’s pleasure for the sake of study, R. would do likewise. When one was very anxious to engage in anything that 174 rum’s gallery. would take him away from his studies, he would, in parliamentary fashion, get his fellow student to “ pair off” with him. Their rooms adjoined each other, and so unselfish was the friendship of these students that they would often assist each other in preparing for their classes. By mutual consent they denied them- selves many of the social pleasures and “ college larks” in which many students indulge and adopted a syste- matic plan for taking a proper amount of physical exercise. With such a programme, faithfully carried out, the two young men made solid and rapid progress in their studies, and had the full confidence of the entire faculty, as well as of their fellow students. At the close of R. and M.’s third session I heard R. deliver a lecture under the auspices of the N. Mechanics’ Institute, which was a masterpiece in thought and elocution, and secured for him an enviable fame as a young lecturer. A month afterwards M. was invited to lecture in the same place, and though his lecture was less brilliant than R.’s, yet the audience were much delighted at the solidity and vigor of thought displayed in it. The ability, the character and the scholastic attainments of the competing students had now produced a fame almost provincial. Former graduates of the University, scholars and literary men all over the country had heard of them, and many were much interested in their final examina- tion. No athlete ever paid more earnest or strict attention to the training of his muscles than the two students had done to the training of their mental capacities for their final intellectual contest. THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 175 When the time for examination came the two young men were so equal in popularity with the faculty that each member of the faculty specially determined not to be influenced by anything but by the scholastic merits of the competitors, and in carrying out this determination they were put to a severe test. Through- out the entire examination the students stood abreast with each other. M. had been the most industrious, but R. was his superior in memory, and it became apparent towards the close of the examination that R. had slightly gained on his competitor. The difference in their aggregate standing was, however, so slight as to make it somewhat puzzling who should receive the highest mark of distinction ; but strict justice must be done, and the College gold medal in Arts was awarded to R. Their near equality was, however, recognized in the published report in such a manner as to place M. in the estimation of the public on an equal footing with R. After a short rest, M. entered the office of an eminent law firm, and with his trained mind diligently devoted himself to the study of law. His ability, industry and faithfulness soon gained him the full confidence of the firm, who saw in him more than ordinary promise of distinguished eminence. Unlike many young men, who have received a professional parchment, he did not look upon it as a sporting license, which entitles them to take “ a good time,” but only as a foundation upon which to build a nobler superstructure. His high standing as a scholar did not raise him above the teachings of the Bible, and superinduce “big 176 rum’s gallery. head,” but led him to heartily accept its truths and conform his life to its Divine precepts. Let no reader be surprised, for even lawyers have lived pious lives. When M. passed his examination as a barrister he was offered and accepted a membership in the firm with whom he had studied law, which shows the estimation in which he was held by those who knew him best. In a few years he became a lawyer of more than provincial note, and in ten years occupied one of the highest judicial positions in his native province, where I shall now leave him, enjoying the fruits of his early industry, patience, faithfulness, and strict adherence to sound principles. It. was now in his father’s luxurious home, the pride and pet of over-indulgent parents and three fond sisters. He had matriculated at the University and gone through the full course, ending it with honor and dis- tinction, but in the larger and more dangerous college of society he had neither matriculated nor graduated. The race between himself and M. had been so closely contested that he had neither time nor inclination to learn much of the curriculum of “society;” but now being free, and his family occupying a prominent place in that peculiar circle, he soon became enchanted by its charms. In personal appearance R. was what is called “ a good-looking young man in manners, easy and self-possessed, had superior conversational powers on congenial subjects, and had, in a large degree, the gentlemanly quality of making himself very agreeable. He soon found, however, that his former perplexities in dealing with Latin verbs and Greek particles were noth- THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 177 ing compared with the difficulties he now found in keeping his sister’s numerous lady friends in chit-chat on the current topics of social life, nor need we won- der at it, for many an intellectual Hercules has found himself a lingual Lilliputian under similar circum- stances. The summer season, with its endless picnics, excur- sions, driving parties, croquet parties, boating parties, etc., etc., were in full blast, and at all these R. was considered absolutely necessary. The heads of cer- tain families seemed not to tire in speaking of "Mr. R., the only son and distinguished graduate of — — Uni- versity,” and it was not long before a society rivalry sprung up, less unselfish and friendly than the rivalry which had existed between R. and M. in their college life. R. had seen very little of life in the outside world from his advanced boyhood, was really a modest, unpretentious young man, and moreover was very honest and sincere in all that he professed. He therefore was much surprised to notice that many of his lady acquaintances were in the habit of appearing very friendly with each other when they met, and after- wards found that they would despise each other when apart. Like many young men when taking their first lessons in the outer world, he estimated the value of certain principles according to the way they were exemplified by those who professed to be guided by them. In placing an estimate on religion he adopted this unsound process of reasoning, and at the very outset in' life was led to regard it as something unreal. In 178 rum’s gallery. the social circle into which he had been ush- ered he saw that most of the people were members of Churches which taught almost the reverse of the prin- ciples and habits which he saw them practice. His father’s theory and example of strict morality he com- pared with the example of Church members, and un- hesitatingly gave his decision in favor of the former. This was the precise point at which R first began to doubt on the subject of revealed religion. Had he closely reasoned the subject he would soon have learned that men cannot change truth, but truth can change men if they follow its teachings. R passed the entire summer and fall in a continued series of recreations and pleasures, without, perhaps, even once, giving a thought to what calling in life he would choose. In the late fall, “ society ” had its full programme of parties made out, and the prominence of R’s family, the attractiveness of his sisters, and the high estimate placed on himself as an eligible young gentleman, caused the name of the brother and three sisters to appear on every programme. I fancy I hear some reader say, “ He is going to drag his everlasting fashionable party into this sketch too.” Precisely so, my reader, for all experience has shown that the “ society ” fashionable party is one of the greatest dis- sipators of mind, health, wealth, and happiness in the world to-day. So true is this statement, that a true life-sketch of any prominent young man who has fallen through drink cannot be written without pointing out the “ society ” party as a main factor among the causes of his downfall. I am not aiming a THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 179 blow at properly regulated social intercourse, which is one of the sweet and profitable pleasures of life, but at the prevailing custom of providing and freely offer- ing, in some cases to young men who have never tasted stimulants before, wines and other liquors at social parties. R s father was a shrewd, reasoning man, and, though not a total abstainer, seldom took liquor, and never used it in his household only at times when he thought himself called upon to conform to the party customs of his social circle. He had seen too many sons ruined through drink, and did not feel sure but that his own son might add to the list. Up to the time of R.’s matriculating in society he had been almost a total abstainer, and had even been wont to discourage drinking habits in some of his college companions. For these total abstinence senti- ments he was much indebted to the close companion- ship and influence of his fellow-student M., who never under any circumstances indulged in liquor. During the whole summer after R. had finished his college course he had very frequently been urged by young men, with whom he associated, to join them in a social glass, but had always refused, stating that he never intended to form a habit that had ruined so many young men in the city. None but those who have had to withstand repeated importunities from young companions to drink, can estimate the amount of moral courage that is needed to stand firm, and R. did stand firm in his resolve until the winter season 180 bum's gallery. had fully ushered in all its accustomed pleasures and pastimes. R. by this time had become well advanced in his course of social training, and was a very popular young man in fashionable circles. His father, wishing to leave him free to choose a profession had not, dur- ing the summer, made any reference to him on the subject, so that he was not only a popular young man but also “a man of leisure,” and could devote himself to the requirements of “ society.” The first great social event of the season was the marriage of a lady friend of R.’s sister. Both the young lady and the young man to whom she was married belonged to wealthy families, which caused their mar- riage to be regarded as a noted event of the season. The marriage ceremony took place in C. Church, which was packed with the wealthy and fashionable classes. After the usual wedding breakfast, the married couple left on their trip to some of the American cities, and the wedding guests prepared for a grand party at the home of the bride’s father. Among the amusements at the party dancing was the most popular, in which R. was now sufficiently advanced to enter with zest and delight. There was also another “amusement” pres- ent, and in which I must say many of the gentlemen were wont to indulge. The reader will understand that I refer to an abundant supply of wines and liquors, which were placed in a room near to the large one occupied by the guests. To this room the gen- tlemen would retire in small companies, when they wished to raise their spirits to a higher pitch, and it THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 181 was also customary for the gentlemen to invite a lady to join them in a glass of wine after they had closed a dance together. Is it from the fact that men, and women too, love company in misery, and when they indulge in ques- tionable or wrong habits, that they so often show a desire to lead others to practise these same habits ? In young men who are in the habit of drinking, I have, almost without exception, noticed in them the desire and determination to lead other young men to do likewise. At the wedding party R. was a prominent guest, and though he did not in any way refer to his opin- ions on the subject of drinking, yet his objections were well understood by many of the guests, and a deter- mination formed by both young ladies and gentlemen to lead him to overcome his scruples. The attempt was first made by three young men, particular friends of his, who met him at the door of the refreshment room, and taking him by the arm, led him in, urging him to join them in a glass. He politely refused, but they, with less politeness, continued to urge him. Whether by pre-arrangement or not, another young man with two of R.’s lady friends entered, and added their influence in urging R. to drink. For a few mo- ments he felt amazed at their positive rudeness, but at last said, “Well, if my taking a glass of liquor will afford you so much pleasure as you say it will, to oblige you I will do so.” As in all similar cases, this victory was soon known and spoken of by many of the guests, and though R. did not partake of liquor freely 182 RUMS GALLERY. during the balance of the night, yet he had entered upon the path that leadeth to danger. No night in the lifetime of R. was more prolific of consequences than the night on which he reluctantly abandoned his resolution to abstain from the use of liquor. So soon as the next day after the party he met on the street some of the young men with whom he had drank liquor on the previous evening, and was soon in a fashionable saloon, taking his glass and enjoying a chat over the incidents of the wedding party. At all the numerous parties, at the more respectable drinking places in the city, and wherever he happened to meet his drinking friends he was “ Hail fellow, well met ” throughout the winter season. In fact before the winter was half over, his meetings with his young men friends were not by chance but appointment, to spend the evening together in drink- ing and kindred amusements When the party season was over, what, with late hours and free indulgence, R. was very much changed even in personal appearance. Instead of the clear, healthy complexion, his face was much fuller, and bore the unnatural flush, produced by the free use of strong drink. The quick eye of his father had all along noticed the change on his son, but he reasoned that when the festive season was over his son would be satiated with pleasure, and would make choice of some profession and settle down to it. The fond father was doomed to disappointment, for the once promising son had advanced too far on the road to danger. His case illustrated the aphorism, “The devil’s workshop is THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 183 an idle brain.” Now, throughout a whole year he had been an idler, save what employment he had found in seeking pleasure, and the fact was apparent to his friends, that in the race after pleasure he had become fond of the intoxicating cup. Much of the time which he at one time spent in calling upon his lady friends was now spent with idle young men in places of drinking resort, and the little circles which frequently met at these places often did not break up till the mornings were well advanced. Such habits speedily produced their inevitable re- sults : a distaste for labour of any kind, the destruction of all worthy ambitions, the weakening of moral prin- ciple, and the repudiation of religion, and for the loss of all these noble traits there was nothing to take their place but a passion for strong drink and other sensual gratifications. R.’s father now became alarmed at his son’s con- dition, which he well knew foreboded future ruin, and began, too late, to advise, and, if possible, effect a favourable change in his son’s habits. He reminded him of the fact that he had already allowed much valuable time to pass unimproved, and gently referred to several young men in the city who had wrecked their fine opportunities by a similar course to that on which he had entered, but the siren song of idleness and pleasure had been heard too often by the son for him to listen to his father’s advice and entreaty. His mother and sisters, also too late, added their combined influence to lead the son and brother to change his course, but without effect. Sometimes, when alone 184 RUM S GALLERY. with his sisters, he would say in reply to them, when they urged him to choose some respectable position, “You are all going to marry wealthy men; then what’s the use of me troubling myself about a business or profession ? father will leave me enough to keep me as long as I live.” Ever since I became, in any measure, practically acquainted with the world, I have wondered at the intense anxiety, in some cases passion, of parents to pile up before their expectant sons a mass of property and money that in most cases acts against the develop- ment of their proper manhood. My mind is full of instances where fathers and mothers have worked and struggled, saved and scrimped, and deprived them- selves of needed comforts, that they might leave their sons wealthy. Just in proportion as the sons saw the pile accumulate, did they cease to cultivate those habits and qualities which are necessary to fit a man for usefulness and success. It was R.’s expectancy of his father’s wealth that formed one of the main factors in rendering his splen- did abilities and University training a failure. That expectancy, coupled with other influences, led to idle- ness, and idleness, as usual, led to drink and other im- moralities. Wealth and competency are blessings if properly used, and had R.’s father held those Christian views of life and character which open out a much wider field of responsibility than the strictest morality can possibly do, he would, from R.’s boyhood, have presented to him life as a varied and multiplied responsibility, not merely as a period of time given in THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 185 which we are to avoid wrong, but as a period in which we are to cultivate our gifts in order to accomplish noble purposes. Mr. R. now saw the great mistake he had made in the early training of his son, He who trusts in morality as anything else than the outcome of religion must neces- sarily ignore a great part of the teachings of the Bible, in truth, the most important part, and this he had done all through life. The same thing he had taught his son by example and precept, and now he saw that morality as a principle, produced little more than self- respect, and that self-respect in his son had given way to the power of strong drink. Although he was well aware that even religious young men in the city had fallen through liquor, yet he had the conviction that the cases were more rare than those were who relied on their moral strength. I may here remark that the history of reformed drunkards proves that there are few men who have broken the shackles of intemperance without placing their trust in the Arm Omnipotent for strength. All entreaty and advice on the part of R.’s family and friends failed to induce him to alter his mode of life. His father had always allowed him a sufficient sum of money, more than sufficient to enable him to appear respectable in society, and in addition, after leaving college, he had been bequeathed a considerable sum through the death of an uncle. The money in both cases, especially the latter case, was not a benefit to him, but an injury. Not long after receiving the legacy his habits and frequent late returns to his home 13 186 rum’s gallery. became a cause of deep sorrow and annoyance to his parents and sisters. To avoid this unpleasantness, and to he more free to follow his own inclinations, he took hoard and rooms at a large hotel. He had not been long in his new home before even his filial and brotherly instincts were so demoralized by liquor that he scarcely ever entered the door of his parents’ house. A fellow-student, who had seen him only four years before this time, met him on the street one day and could scarcely be made to believe that he was the old college R, so changed was he in appearance. His father and mother and sisters visited him at his rooms time and time again, trying to persuade him to go home and lead a different life. All their efforts had no effect. He was now not only away from his father’s house, but also a social outcast from all the circles where he was once so popular, and in fact cared noth- ing for the society of respectable ladies, only delight- ing in the company of his boon companions. Over his father’s house there now hung a mourning pall, indicating a deeper sorrow in the hearts of its occupants than if the cause of their sorrow had been carried from that house to his last earthly resting place. The father mourned as David did over Absalom, and the mother could think of nothing but the ruin of her only son. The whole family retired from that “ society ” whose customs and habits was one of the chief causes of their beloved R’s wreck and almost total ruin, and had no intercourse, only with their rela- tives and special friends. The miserable young man was fully aware of the woe he was causing in his THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 187 father’s home, but seemed not to care ; nor need we wonder, when we consider that there was but little of the former young man’s individuality left; he was now possessed by the seven-fold demon — whiskey. A new and very silly argument used by liquor advo- cates is that it is not liquor which makes men bad, but that it only stirs up the badness in their nature. A wooden structure possesses all the material needed to make a great fire, but is inert and harmless until the match is applied. Just so with men and liquor. Many men have been good men until they formed drinking habits, when they became very bad men, and the same men when reformed and free from liquor, have become good men again. The silly argument is only worth notice as a sample. When it became really apparent that there was no hope of the prodigal’s reforming in the city, the father’s pity for him can best be told by the estimate which Divine inspiration places upon the intensity of a father’s love, “Like as a father pitieth his son, even so doth the Lord pity them that fear Him.” It was arranged by the family that they would try once more to induce the fallen son to return home, and, failing in that, offer to accompany him on a European tour, which they thought would wean him from his dissipated habits. Both offers were rejected with unfeeling indif- ference, and the final sorrow settled on the broken- hearted parents. Reader, can you picture to yourself that now elderly couple, as they stood, in company with their three daughters, in the hotel parlor before the ruined young 188 rum’s gallery. man, pleading with him to return and remove the deep sorrow of their hearts, and he, with stupid indifference, refusing? They linger, to plead with him again, and passing out of the room, return to repeat their sorrows, their love, their last request, but it is denied. “Ephraim is joined to his idols,” and must he let alone. The bowed and sorrow-stricken parents never saw their only son again. That sepulchre for young Canadians — the American civil war — was then wide open, and a few days after R.’s last interview with his parents he was induced by some of the young men about the hotel to go on a trip to Detroit. The tricks of American recruiting ser- geants are now familiar to most Canadians, and some of them, meeting with R. in his usual state, induced him to join a company then forming. Before leaving Detroit he scribbled a few lines on a postal card to his eldest sister, informing her of what he had done. The company was immediately afterwards sent to the seat of the campaign in western Virginia, and poor R. was never directly heard from again. A short time after entering the camp in Virginia he was attacked with fever, placed in hospital, and there died. During the civil war in the United States hundreds of young Canadians died there under similar circumstances. R. requested one of the hospital doctors to inform his family of his death, and a few weeks afterwards the now whitened heads of the two parents received another lift towards their sorrowful end. Up to the time when R. left his university there was not in the city of N. a more happy family than the THE GOLD MEDALLIST. 189 R.’s, and his success in carrying off the university gold medal made them more happy still, but in their case, as in every other where liquor seeks and finds a victim, their happiness was ruthlessly dashed to pieces. The father and mother never recovered from the weight of their great sorrow, and the three sisters, though married to excellent men, have ever felt the effects of the family blight. If ever this book goes forth to be read by the pub- lic, I doubt not but every member of the R. family now living will read it, and though it may for a time reopen partially healed wounds, I am certain they will feel thankful that the temperance cause, which they have now deeply at heart, has been helped by the sad history of their brother’s life and sad death. CHAPTER XV. A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. f T is really surprising that the populations of the Dominion and other civilized countries have so long tolerated with indifference the ruin and misery caused by liquor. There cannot be found a neighbourhood, a village, a town or city which have not their record of the wreck and ruin of many per- sons by liquor. Men of ability and influence brought to worse than beggary ; husbands and wives separated, and, where this is not the case, wives compelled to live wretched lives; accidents, murders, sudden deaths, crimes of numerous grades, all the outcome of liquor, and yet we view all these horrors with comparative indifference. B. was the youngest son of a wealthy Edinburgh merchant, who retired from business at the age of sixty-five. The two elder sons were given the entire business and stock as their first portion, and the youngest son, who had never been trained to any A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 19l special calling, determined to “ receive his portion and go into a far country.” Accordingly he came to America with a very indefinite idea of what kind of a country it was or what he was going to do in it. He brought with him such a complete outfit in the shape of household furnishings, servants, clothing and even the commonest general articles that a person would suppose he thought himself coming to a country not much farther advanced in civilization than Central Africa, and, above all, he did not fail to bring an abun- dant supply of old Scotch whiskey. He had a distant relative living in the city of H. and to that place he directed his course. After spending two weeks in H. he visited some of the fine farming sections around the city, and became enamored with the idea of going into farming on a large scale. He had brought with him drafts to the amount of over four thousand pounds sterling, and soon decided on purchasing two farms which lay alongside of each other. The smallest farm contained one hundred acres, and the largest one two hundred acres. On the latter was a very comfortable brick residence, but by no means such a one as would accommodate a gentleman farmer, and on the smaller farm the buildings were much less pretentious, but these B. decided to use for the accommodation of his servants, while he would resuscitate and enlarge the brick dwelling for himself. The farms were purchased from the two owners without delay, because he gave them the full amount demanded, and immediately secured men enough to almost carry the brick dwelling away, to repair and enlarge it. In two months one of 192 rum’s gallery. the finest houses in that part of the county of W. was ready for B., his wife and three children to move into. Mrs. B. was an excellent woman, hut in no way fitted for the sphere in which her husband had placed her. She was the daughter of a wealthy manufacturer in Edinburgh, and had never known what it was to have even the oversight of her own household. “A fish out of water ” does no more than fully express her position in her new Canadian home. She had received a thorough education, and her religious training had been very carefully looked after by a pious mother. Her father, before, and more especially after he re- tired from business, became very intemperate, and came to a comparatively early death. Through her father’s misfortune she determined never to marry a man who used liquor of any kind, and - never would have married B. had he not, like many young men of the present day, deceived her on this point. She had seen the gradual process by which her gifted and kind father had been led to intemperance and drunkenness, and before she left her beloved Scotland a fear existed in her mind that her hushand had entered on the same course that led to her father’s death. One reason of her willingly consenting to leave Edinburgh and her friends was the thought that her husband’s removal from his numerous associates and the drinking tempta- tions of a city life, would cause him to abandon what she well knew was in him a growing habit. From serpents which creep on the surface of the earth a man may run and escape, but he cannot run away from the A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 193 serpent of intemperance because he carries it in his own bosom. Little did the anxious woman know until her hus- band’s numerous crates and cases were unpacked at their new home, that her husband had brought from Scotland a sufficient quantity of liquor to fill a large corner in a capacious cellar. From the time that she first learned that he drank liquor she had relied solely on the power of affection and kindness, and now, being settled in their partially isolated home, she determined to redouble her efforts to make home more and more pleasant to her husband. Before they left Scotland he was considered a very moderate drinker, and his wife had but a few times seen him in a stage of intoxi- cation described as “being under the influence of liquor,” and now that his time was fully taken up in looking after and directing the changes and improve- ments on his farm, he only took liquor at stated times, which caused his wife’s worst fears to somewhat subside. B. secured an experienced farm labourer, who was not long married, as his chief manager, and Mrs. B. employed his wife to manage the household and from her received instructions in its general management. B.,like many wealthy men who try farming in Canada, had extravagant ideas in spending money to make his farm look like an old country farm, and found, before the first winter had set in, that in the purchase of his land and other expenditures, he had pretty well exhausted his funds. Aided by an experienced stock buyer he had bought the best of the stock belonging 194 rum’s gallery. to the farmer from whom he purchased the farms, and when the winter came everything about the B. estate, as its owner called it, looked very prosperous. So far all had been outlay with but scarcely any income, but B., determined to make his estate a grand success be- fore the snow fell, solicited his wife to prepare a neat sketch of their residence and the tastefully laid out grounds, which he sent home to his father together with a glowing description of his success and prospects in Canada, at the same time asking him for a remit- tance of two thousand pounds, which, he stated, would make his success complete, and no doubt it would have done so under good management, not as a financial speculation, but as a beautiful farm home, the proceeds from which would keep any family in the height of comfort. B.’s season of increased danger, and his wife’s season of increased anxiety, began with the setting in of winter. The men who he retained for winter service had little to do but look after the stock, and as for himself, he kept pretty close to his home, not caring to snuflf very freely our Canadian winter air. Being a very social man he was much esteemed by, and had become intimate with well-to-do farmers in the old county of W., and also two professional men in a village about a mile from his farm. Several gentle- men from the city had during the summer taken a run into the country to visit him, and some of them had received invitations to return and stay a week with him in the winter season. What I have elsewhere called, though not truthfully, “ the cement of friend- A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 195 ship/’ was always present when B. entertained these friends in his home. His farmer friends never re- mained late at night when they visited him, but when the city gentlemen paid him a visit it was common for he and they to have a convivial time till hours well advanced in the morning. The truth was, the quality of B.’s Scotch liquors soon gained a name that brought many to visit him, whose personal friendship would have been found sadly lacking if weighed in a proper balance. Throughout the whole winter Mrs. B. was bearing a heavy weight of secret anxiety and sorrow. She saw the unmistakable signs of a rapidly growing love of liquor every week increasing in her husband. Nojv, what he had never done before, only when he had company, he would frequently, at irregular times, drink alone. She also noticed that he seldom went out to exercise an oversight on his men in their manage- ment of the stables, had lost much of his former taste for reading and pleasant conversation, and seemed to be dissatisfied without companions to drink with. Reader, if you are in the condition described, remem- ber “ that extra hands ” have been put on to complete the chain that will ultimately bind you fast. Beyond what I have noted, no very marked change was visible in B. before the arrival of spring, and having received the amount asked for from his father became again absorbed in new plans of improvement on his “ estate.” He re-engaged the men he had em- ployed the previous summer, carefully directed in per- son all the operations and entered into the spirit of 196 rum’s gallery. them with greater zest than he had ever done before. Mrs. B. was much relieved, but could not shake off the abiding dread of what she feared the future would bring forth. Although her husband only took liquor at stated times he had made the intervals between the indulgence more frequent. Mrs. B. had another cause of sorrow to which I have not yet referred. In Scotland she had been from her advanced girlhood a member of the Presbyterian Church, and her husband was also a member of the same church when she married him, but from the time that she discovered that he drank liquor he never even attended the church only through defer- ence to her wishes. From the time he had settled in his Canadian home, he had when called upon by minis- ters, carefully avoided everything that would, place him under the restraint of any church ; and now his wife, not wishing to make him more conspicuous in this respect, had deprived herself of a cherished privi- lege of attending church. Reader, did you ever know a man that became fond of liquor becoming fond of true religion also ? Or did you ever know of a man that was religious and became fond of liquor, that did not lose what religion he had ? All my observation proves that either one or the other must go. When harvest time came the result of B.’s first year’s farming proved very satisfactory. His ample fields yielded an abundance of valuable grain, the con- dition of his stock interest was all that he could ex- pect, and he was much delighted with the result of A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 197 his essay at Canadian farming. The prices of all kinds of farm products were good, and long before winter he had disposed of all that he wished to part with. From the time his produce was ready for mar- ket, he had been called away from home more fre- quently than he had ever been before — a fact which caused his wife much anxiety, and not without cause. Several times on his visiting the city he had remained over-night, not returning until late the next night, and then in an intoxicated state. After one of these occa- sions Mrs. B. spoke in kind words of warning and remonstrance to him, and for the first time after their marriage received very unkind words in reply. Hence- forth, with deep but uncomplaining sorrow, she was obliged to witness the forging of the future captive’s chain link by link. B.’s outside business being all completed, and the fall work on his farm finished, he paid off his super- fluous hands and began the former winter’s mode of life, with some additions to it which did not tend to his welfare. I have before referred to two profes- sional men in the village near by. With these two men, and some business men with whom he had be- come intimate, he was now in the habit, when time hung heavily on his hands at home, of meeting at a tavern in the village. The two professional men like most men of their class who drink, were best suited with a drinking companion who had money in abundance. For this they had more reasons than one. In the first place, through liquor and consequent loss of reputation and neglect of business, they had little money of their 198 rum’s gallery. own; and, in the second place, they were sporting men and did not scruple to reach the contents of another man’s pockets by their sporting arts. They were the tavern-keepers’ most intimate and confidential friends, and in all “ the jobs” that were “ put up” they and the landlord shared equally, with the exception, of course, of the profits of the drinks going to the vendor. I need scarcely tell the reader that B. ultimately became a spendthrift and gambler, mainly through the machinations of this trio, and spent the whole of his time in the village excepting that spent at home with his city friends. To the men employed about his farm was left the entire management of everything, while Mrs. B., having no congenial lady friends, was left to sorrow alone with her three chil- dren. When her husband did happen to be alone with her, he was so changed and disagreeable in his deport- ment that his presence, which was formerly her great- est pleasure, was now, from his actions, a cause of pain. No candid reader, if they have seen real life, will say that I am coloring this picture, because they have doubtless seen similar instances of noble wives doomed to suffer at home, while the men who had used all their arts to keep him on the road to ruin were gloating over their ill-gotten gains. B. had the reputation of being possessed of great wealth, and with a certain class was the most popular man for miles around his home. When frequenting his favorite tavern, no matter how many farmers or others he met, he would treat them all to the best in A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 199 the house, which was in itself a heavy drain on his means. So well was his treating generosity known by the loafers in the village, that his appearance was the signal for a general assembly in the tavern where he stopped, and often he would be found in the midst of a crowd composed of the lowest class of men in the place cracking vulgar and obscene jokes with them. Before the end of the winter B.’s drinking, treating, betting on races, etc., gambling and other follies had taken away nearly all his ready money. His stock of Scotch liquors had by this time run out and with the balance of money he went to the city to get them re- plenished. One of his friends in the city was a dealer in liquors, and B. happening to mention that he was short of money for a while, the dealer generously (?) supplied him with all he wanted on time, advising him not to run himself short. However when he left the city he had little money left, and returned home to his wife in a sad state of drunkenness. His stock of liquors soon followed him, and were unpacked by his men and placed in the cellar. He now remained more at home, but there was no abatement in his drinking habits, until the opening of spring, when he seemed to realize the necessity of getting a sufficient number of men at work on his farm. Having secured all the men he wanted and, as he thought, given them all necessary directions, he again betook himself to his home and village drinking. His home drinking now told on him more rapidly and injuriously than for- merly, from the fact that he was using a very inferior class of poisons, or rather more deadly poisons. In a 200 rum’s gallery. short time he ceased to take any interest in his farm- ing operations, and being now short of money began to sell off some of his mostvaluable stock. But a very small amount of the money obtained by the sale of stock was used for the comfort of his family, the larger part going to the village sharks. The men he employed were faithful men, but how could they be expected to take an earnest interest in a farm which, they well knew, its proprietor would sooner or later send himself and all his property to ruin. B. having sold most of his stock, and gone through the proceeds, he cabled to his father for an additional two thousand pounds, but the father had received a hint from some of B.’s neighbours who had visited Edinburgh, that all was not right, and had sent and obtained fuller information of how matters stood. When B. cabled for more money, a letter was on its way to him from his father, remonstrating with him on his reckless conduct. Of course his father did not send him the money he sent for, which he worked up into an excuse for increased recklessness, and now abandoned himself to continuous dissipation. Animal after animal was sold off the farm until only a few remained — two or three milch cows — besides the working teams. When the proceeds of these were spent he mortgaged the farm for all the money he could raise upon it, and became more abandoned to drink than ever, spending most of his time, night and day, in his favorite tavern, where I shall ask the reader to leave him for a short time. Mrs. B. had never been a woman of robust constitu- A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 201 tion, and, from the continuous strain upon her nervous energies, had in four years, become reduced to the con- dition of an almost helpless invalid. Tor a few months after her arrival in Canada she was in very good health, and her physicians said our clear, bracing cli- mate would have effected a complete change in her constitution had her life not been made intensely miserable by her husband’s wretched career. At the time I am writing of she is in a beautiful home made wretched by accursed liquor, and her attendant doctor says has but a few months to live. She was one of those who could bear up long under a heavy load of sorrow and pain, but who, when the last too heavy weight is added, sinks suddenly. Her first heart- sorrow, after her marriage, commenced with the knowledge that her husband had deceived her by a feigned religious profession, and by declaring himself to be an abstainer from all kinds of liquor. The knowledge of this deception and falsehood deeply grieved her, but when she was forced to add to that grief the dread of her husband’s future ruin through liquor, her abiding sorrow was fixed deeply in her heart. In all her married life she has had but a few months’ freedom from a secret sorrow, and for four years has witnessed her husband’s increased speed on the road to ruin. Is it any wonder, then, that she is at last sinking under a load which she is no longer able to bear ? B. has all along noticed the changes which sorrow, caused by his own conduct, was producing on his wife, but the brutalizing power of liquor has left him no- 14 202 rum’s gallery. thing but the vision to see what he has no heart to feel for. Mrs. B. on several occasions, which I have not referred to, when she saw that her husband was rushing on to ruin, begged, entreated and used all her affectionate powers to stop him in his course, but with- out the least favorable effect. Her last hope was found in her own return to God, and in seeking His forgiveness for her weakness in passively complying in her husband’s neglect of all church and religious duties, and in interceding with God that He would save her husband with herself. In her lonely room, with her three children only for her companions, with the dreadful knowledge that her husband is drunk in the village tavern, she commits all into the hands of God, and determines that she will make another effort to win her husband from the path of vice. Before making this effort she wrote for the first time a full account of her condition and trials to her mother, and requested her, after her death, to take charge of her three children. Ah! reader, how far do the ripples of sorrow, caused by the accursed cup, extend. To her mother, in far-off Scotland, she had to read the sad story of the ruin of her beloved daughter’s husband, and of her expected sudden deatlq added to which was the sad thought that, instead of ever seeing her daughter, there would come the sad memento of three orphan children. When Mrs. B. had finished her letter to her mother she sent for her physician, and when he arrived the next morning requested him to drive to the village and bring her husband to her room. She also A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 203 begged of him to assist her in her last appeal to induce her husband to reform, and to state to him her condition and the probability of her early and sudden death. The sorrowing physician willingly assented to her wishes, and immediately drove to the village tav- ern, where he found B. middling sober, it being early in the day, and induced him by some pretext to come home, for if B. had known he was going to have an interview with his wife he would not have gone home at all. Mrs. B.’s physician in Edinburgh had told her that she had symptoms of heart disease, and cautioned her not to violently exert herself, and to avoid every cause of sudden excitement. Her physician in Canada had given her similar warnings, and when he returned with B. from the village he left him in the sitting-room while he hastened to Mrs. B.’s room to caution her to keep calm in her meeting with her husband. When the doctor told the suffering woman that her husband was in the family sitting-room, she feebly arose from her easy chair, and walked out to meet her now wretched husband. With calmness and without showing any vexation, she kindly called him by his familiar name, and said, “I am so glad you have come home this morning. I was very anxious to see you.” The man was so demoralized that he was quite un- moved by any tender or sorrowful emotion in presence of the frail wreck, his own wife, who, trembling with weakness, now stood before him, and said, “Well, it’s not long since you did see me ; wha.t are you anxious about now ?” At this unfeeling reply the heart of the 204 rum’s gallery. poor wife sank within her, but she was nerved by a wife’s love and fidelity to make what, she fully be- lieved, would be her last effort, to persuade her hus- band to abandon drink. Seating herself beside him and offering the doctor a chair close by, she said, “Sandy, I do not wish to speak of anything that is past, but have sent for you this morning that we may once more, as man and wife, talk over what, by God’s help, may be done in the future. I would not utter a word to wound your feelings, but you know that unless you stop your present course you will very soon ruin both your body and soul. You are a young man but in the prime of life, and if you will but resolve to give up liquor you may soon be yourself again. Trusting in God, other men of less force of will than you are pos- sessed, have mastered their habits of drinking, and why cannot you do likewise ? Here are our three dear little boys, who, if you follow your present course, will soon be left lonely orphans in a strange land. 0 ! Sandy ! my husband, will you not this moment resolve to make the effort, and here in your own home the doctor will do all that he can to help you.” B. listened to his wife’s earnest appeal with an in- difference that can only be begotten by the brutalizing effect of liquor, and, turning to the doctor, said, “Well, doctor, what do you think of that for a morning curtain lecture ?” The doctor’s indignation at the man’s brutal indifference instantly rose, but remember- ing that he had promised to assist Mrs. B. in her effort to win her husband from his dissipation, he suppressed his feelings, and said, “ Now, Mr. B., will you allow me A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 205 first as a friend, who wishes you well, to urge you, for the sake of everything that ought to be dear to you, to abandon your drinking habits ; and, in the second place, as a physician, to make known to you your own and your wife’s precise condition. You have for a number of years been a very heavy drinker, which has left your somewhat delicate constitution in a very shattered condition, and unless you abandon your present excessive habits you will be carried to an early grave. I warn you thus faithfully and plainly, be- cause I know you are naturally a man of good sense and will not accuse me of any unkind motive. In your present condition there is nothing to warrant me in saying that, with proper treatment, you would run any risk in giving up your habit at once. My dear man, take a faithful warning before it is too late. I have made your wife a promise which I would not dare to fulfil in her presence, were it not that for months she has been fully aware of all that I am going to state to you. A Scotch physician stated to her, after the birth of your eldest boy, that in her case there were symptoms of heart disease ; those symptoms have so increased, under her accumulating trials and sorrows, that they may at any moment end in sudden death. So certain does she feel that her end is near, that she informed me this morning that she did not expect to have another opportunity of appealing to you on behalf of your welfare and that of your three sons. My dear sir, illimitable consequences hang upon the action you decide to take this day.” While the doctor made this appeal, Mrs. B. watched 206 rum’s gallery. the face of her husband as a person would watch a dying friend in their last moments, but in vain she looked for an indication of acquiescence in what either herself or the doctor had appealed for. When the doctor spoke of Mrs. B.’s dangerous condition, and the probability of her early death, B. seemed for a moment startled and moved by his tenderer feelings, but soon settled into his immovable indifference. The doctor continued, “ Your wife has written to her mother and brother to take charge of the three boys after her death, for how could they be left here at their age among strangers ; and moreover, I am in- formed that the heavy mortgage on your farm matures in a year, at which time, if you do not redeem it, you will be thrown out of house and home almost penniless. Your wife informs me that friends in Edinburgh will pay off every dollar of your indebtedness if you will but give them six months’ sobriety as a guarantee that you are a completely reformed man.” A few moments’ silence ensued after the doctor had ended, when Mrs. B. arose, and with trembling and dangerous agitation, took her husband by both hands. Looking him full in the face, she said, “ Sandy; my dear husband, if you have not decided to act upon our appeal I feel certain your ruin is assured, and this is perhaps my last opportunity of making an effort to save you. Think, 0 ! think of the fate to which you are tending, and for my sake, for the boys’ sake, but, above all, for your soul’s sake, make now one great effort and decision. God will be your helper.” The husband arose from his seat, paced the room for a few A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 207 minutes, never once looking at the doctor or his wife, and then said, looking out of a window, “ I do not see any reason for bringing me here to have such an un- pleasant scene as this, and as to my giving up the use of liquor all at once, I cannot do it, but I will think over it.” He then sought liquor in the £lace where he usually kept it, and finding none passed out at a side door, leaving his wife, the three boys and the doctor without even wishing them good-bye. That was the last time he saw his wife living or dead. Mrs. B. watched her husband’s retreating form, as he wended his way towards the village, and when he had disappeared was so prostrated that she had to be helped by the doctor to her private room. Before leaving he comforted her as best he could, promising to call in a few days, or whenever sent for, and left the drunkard’s home, as physicians often have to do, with a sad and hea^y heart. He felt assured that the hus- band and wife, for whose welfare he had spent so much time and sympathy, would soon be far beyond the reach of human aid, but the little bright innocent boys he could not keep away from his mind’s vision. It may be supposed that after the occurrences of the day, Mrs. B. spent a suffering, sleepless night, and after rising in the morning sent one of the servants to make enquiries about her husband in the village. I may here state that from the time B. had raised money on his farm he had taken two rooms and board at his favorite tavern, and had shown some prudence in the disposition he had made of a part of his money. There was in the village a money lender who received sums 208 RUMS GALLERY. of money on deposit and allowed bank rates of inter- est for it. To this man B. entrusted the larger amount of his money, with the understanding that he was to receive it back in such sums as he needed it from time to time. When the hired man called at the tavern he found B. on a lounge in his room, where he had lain all night. The man did not state that he was sent by his mistress, but talked with B. about general farm matters. He soon learned that his master had decided to make no effort to redeem his farm, but was deter- mined to abandon everything but liquor. The faith- ful servant endeavored to dissuade the deluded man from such a fatal course, and, failing in this, reminded his master that there was a considerable sum of wages due himself and other farm hands. B. went into the next room, took a drink, and, returning, said to the man, “Come with me.” They went together to the money lender’s office, and after entering B. retired with the lender to a private room. In a short time B. returned and handed to his servant a large package of bills, saying, “ Give this money to Mrs. B. and tell her to pay off every one about the place. She will have enough left for her own use,” on which he left the office for his fatal haunt. The servant followed him, and again endeavored to reason with him. B.’s only reply was, “I tell you once for all I will have nothing more to do with the farm or anything about it; I’m going to enjoy myself as long as I live.” The poor fellow returned with the money and the sad news to Mrs. B. and his wife. I before stated that A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 209 his wife was Mrs. B.’s household manager, and feared to fully make known the result of his mission. How- ever, Mrs. B. could imagine all when he had told her a part, and seemed less shocked than either he or his wife had thought she would be. That night she called all who were employed about the place into the sitting room, and paid them their wages in full and a month in advance, stating that if they remained as long as they were required she would arrange for their full payment. She had always been beloved by all the hired people about the place, and when she referred to her deep sorrow and spoke to each one in words of kindness and good advice, every one present freely wept. These servants, while all together in that room, never saw Mrs. B. alive again. A few days after Mrs. B. had paid her husband’s hands, her physician called and was much surprised to find her much more composed and stronger than he had expected. The truth was, she had been relieved of all suspense, and her strong mind had grappled with and overcome what she considered the worst pos- sible reality — her husband’s certain ruin. She related to the doctor what took place in the village between her husband and the hired man, and said, “I see it all; of him I have no hope.” The doctor knew that words used to raise within her any hope of her husband’s reform would only be an aggravation of her sorrow, and he changed the subject to her own apparently improved condition of health. She told him that sometimes she felt quite well, but often had to endure sudden and severe pains in her left side, but that she 210 rum’s gallery. was well aware these pains were caused by the condi- tion of her heart. The doctor simply nodded assent, and after some further conversation was about to leave, when she suddenly said, “ O, doctor, will you again call on my husband before you return to the city ?” The doctor said, “I will, at once, and call on my way back from the village and let you know the result.” The good physician left at once for the village, where he found B. in a bar room with a number of drinking loafers. The doctor requested a private interview, to which B. at once assented, and took the doctor to his own room. The doctor was a shrewd judge of charac- ter and used his best judgment in trying, once more, to induce the unfortunate man to return home and give up his ruinous course, but B. became enraged and said, “ Once for all I have given my decision and will not allow you or any one else to come here to interfere with my liberty,” after which he left the doctor standing alone, and returned to his companions in the bar room. The doctor up to this time had a lingering hope that he might be the means of saving this wretched man, but now that last hope was gone. On his return he called on Mrs. B. who, after an agitated enquiry about her husband, watched his lips, as the prisoner in the dock would watch the face of the judge who was about to pass sentence. When the doctor said, “No use,” Mrs. B. was not startled but despairingly said, “ O no, there is no use ; all my hopes have fled,” and slowly took a seat, requesting the doctor to remain a while with her. A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 211 Mrs. B. made no enquiries as to the particulars of the doctor’s interview with her husband at the tavern, but after an interval of earnest thought said to him, “ Doctor, I have not allowed your faithful professional opinion, for which I feel thankful to you, to exercise such a depressing effect upon me as might in some cases hasten death, because I have for years felt as- sured that my disease would take me away suddenly, and have made my peace with God and am ready for the messenger at any moment. I can only think of my poor husband as lost, and now my only earthly care is my three dear little sons. I will, before you leave me to-day, give you my mother’s and my brother’s address in Edinburgh, and if I die suddenly will you immediately after my death cable to them and ask what disposition they wish made of the boys ? If they wish them taken care of until my brother, or some one in his place, comes over to take them to Edinburgh, will you take them to your home and care for them until they are called for? Ihave my dear mother’s and brother’s joint promise that if I die they will at once make ar- rangements to take the children under their care.” The doctor not only promised to attend to the par- ticulars which Mrs. B. mentioned, but also promised to do everything that would tend to the boys’ welfare and comfort. After repeatedly thanking the doctor for his comforting promises, she said, “ All that I have any hope in in this world is now arranged for, and I can now willingly leave myself in the hands of God, for Him to do with me as seemeth good in His sight.” If the crushed woman could have felt sure of her 212 rum’s gallery. wretched husband’s present and future safety, her cup of happiness would have been full, but alas ! as she had before said, “ All my hopes have fled.” Like her husband, and like the servants all gathered in the sitting room, so was this the last interview of Dr. with Mrs. B. For two weeks after Mrs. B.’s last interview with her physician, she frequently sent her confidential man-servant to the village to enquire after the condi- tion of her husband, but there was no change in him, only for the worse. He angrily repelled any approach to him which had any reference to his course of action, and continued to drink both day and night. Every week he would draw so much of his money from the money lender, and after paying his bill at the tavern would spree out the rest. If similar cases were not known throughout the country it might seem an imposition on the credulity of any rejader to state that this man would not now listen to a word about the condition of his wife, who he well knew could not live long, nor would he take any notice of his three charming little sons who were one day sent to see him, in the hope that their request to him to come home might touch his heart. When the three little fellows called at his room he brutally ordered them out, and sent them home crying to their dying mother, which, she said, caused her the deepest grief that any occurrence had ever caused her to feel. The little boys slept in the same room with their mother, and on the night after their father had treated them so unnaturally, the mother and her children re- A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 213 tired to their room as usual. Mrs. B. requested the maid, who attended to herself and the children, to remain with them for a while. The mother seemed to feel a heavier load of grief than usual, and talked and prayed with the little company. After the children were placed in their bed Mrs. B. requested the maid to remain with her until the children went to sleep, which they soon did after their walk and their grief. When they were sound asleep their mother bent over them several times, kissed them again and again and passionately wept, then turning to the girl she said to her. “O ! Alice, my heart is breaking; I cannot de- scribe the pain I feel in my left side.” She then went to a drawer, took out a beautiful brooch and a sum of money and gave them to her saying, “ Remember your poor mistress, and be good to the children.” The faith- ful girl was filled with grief, from an indefinable con- viction that something was going to happen to her mistress, although she had said nothing beyond com- plaining of the pain at her heart. Af ter the mistress had retired to her bed she still complained of the pain, and the faithful Alice wanted to remain by her bedside, but she said, “ No, Alice, you must not ; the door will be unlocked and you can call earlier than usual in the morning and see to me and the children.” Alice went to her own room but could not sleep till near morning. When she awoke, to her horror she had overslept herself more than an hour and lost not a moment in hastening to the room of her mistress. On entering the room the second little boy was in his mother’s bed tugging at her shoulder and 214 rum's gallery. calling out, “ Ma, ma, wake up,” but none but “ the voice which wakes the dead ” could accomplish what the little motherless child was essaying to do. At what hour the spirit of the broken-hearted Mrs. B. had taken its flight no one knew, but on her sweet face there rested the smile that accursed liquor had totally banished for many years. As soon as the hired people learned of the death of their beloved mistress, the head man went to the vil- lage tavern and found B. in such a sound drunken sleep that he could not for some time awake him. After being aroused to consciousness, and informed of his wife’s death, with a great yawn he exclaimed, “ Well, I suppose you and I must die some day too.” The man urged and begged him to come home and in- struct the hired people what to do, but B. would neither leave the house nor consent to do so. The hired man called in the landlord, but he had no better success, upon which he told B. that he should not have another drop of liquor until after he had attended to his wife’s burial. Even this threat had no effect, and the man had to return home not knowing what to do. While he was away his wife had sent to the city for the late Mrs. B.’s physician, who did not arrive till the evening. He also repaired to the village but found B. so helplessly drunk that he could do nothing with him. It was afterwards discovered that B., on being refused liquor by his landlord, had smuggled in and locked up in his trunk a dozen bottles, to keep him drunk until after his wife’s burial. Hr. at once cabled to the friends of the A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 215 deceased in Edinburgh, and received an answer that some person would be out by next steamer to take charge of the boys. He also attended to all the pre- parations for the funeral of the deceased, and on the morning of the third day after death, the mortal re- mains of B.’s wife left her late home to be laid among strangers in the city cemetery, while her husband was lying unconsciously drunk in the village tavern. After the funeral of B.’s wife efforts w r ere made by various persons to induce B. to return to his home, but he would not leave the temple of his idol, and con- tinued to drink still more excessively. Some weeks after Mrs. B.’s death, the Township Agricultural Show was held in the village, which in those days was regarded by many of the drinking class as a befitting occasion for “a regular blow out.” B. had all through the show day been drinking very freely, and when evening came was staggering through the crowd which was gathered about the tavern, and pressing himself into a knot of men on the platform, where two men were fighting ; he found that one of his friends was a principal in the affray. He forced himself between the two antagonists, and received a blow which one of them had aimed at the other, which caused him to fall off' the platform very heavily on the gravel beneath. He was carried in an insensible state into his room and the village doctor called in, who, on his arrival, said that B. had received a severe shock. The next morning he was still in an unconscious state, and was carefully carried by his farm hands to his own home. The city physician was sent for and gave as his 216 rum’s gallery. opinion that the injuries, considering the physical con- dition of B., would ultimately prove fatal to him. In twenty-four hours he was fully restored to conscious- ness, and with that consciousness came an intense longing for liquor, which the doctor thought it pru- dent to give him in moderate quantities. He slowly rallied, hut could only move on being helped. While B. was lying in this condition a cousin of the late Mrs. B. arrived from Scotland to look after the two boys, and when the young man was informed by the physician that there was no possibility of B.’s recovery, he procured the services of a lawyer to arrange the dying man’s affairs. B.. seemed utterly incapable of realizing his real state, but at once empowered the young man to wind up all his affairs for the benefit of the little boys. After receiving these full powers, the young man devoted himself to the alleviation of the sufferer. He found B.’s faith to consist of a mixture of predestination and infidelity, and could not arouse in him any active anxiety as to his future. The only expression that any person could get from him, who spoke to him about his soul, was, “If the Bible is true I will be saved, if I am to be saved; and if it is not true, I am all right any way.” One morning B. thought he was much better and persisted in rising from his bed. On being assisted to rise he suffered much and had only been placed in an easy chair when he began to cough very violently, which caused the rupture of a blood-vessel, and in a few minutes had breathed his last breath, within a few feet of the couch where his wife had died but a A FORTUNE SQUANDERED THROUGH LIQUOR. 217 few weeks before. Reader, I have traced for you another picture ; I leave you entirely alone in its study. The young man sold the B. property, subject to the mortgage, all the remaining effects, and with what money was left started for Scotland. The boys were given the best education Edinburgh could afford them. One of them is now a prominent lawyer in a Scottish city, and the other is a leading professor in a Scottish school of medicine ; but they have no father or mother to love and feel proud of their distinguished success- What killed them ? 15 CHAPTEE XYI. THE RURAL VICTIMS . « HE larger number of sketches in this book are taken from the class of victims through drink, who have lived in towns and cities, and who have associated with the vice of intemperance other vices, such as gambling and flagrant immoral- ities, which sometimes of themselves lead to ruin. Instances are, however, numerous where persons and families living in isolated rural districts have become absolute slaves of liquor, unaided by other evil influ- ences. In fact many proofs abound that a certain class of mental temperament is in greater danger from what I may call lonely indulgence in liquor than when in company. The man who derives from a glass of liquor a peculiar pleasurable sensation and incitement to indulge in congenial mental activities or pursuits, is in more danger than a man who is urged on by liquor to hilarity and boisterousness. It is generally believed that liquor rouses the prevailing tendencies of a mgu’s THE RURAL VICTIMS. 219 nature, but experience proves that Satan or some evil genius is ever ready to add liberally to the stock in hand of a man’s evil tendencies when he is under the power of liquor. The father and mother of the D. family were natives of Ireland, and on their arrival in Canada bought two hundred acres of excellent land in the now wealthy county of N., to which they afterwards added two hundred acres more. To the present day the nearest village to their property is four and a half miles dis- tant. In the family were four sons and four daugh- ters. The parents were nominally adherents of the Presbyterian Church, but, unpresbyterian-like, totally neglected the religious instruction of their children. For many years the ruling passion of the whole family was the acquisition of property and money, but at all periods in their family history their love of money did not prevent them keeping a supply of liquors in their home. The boys and girls were more or less accus- tomed to the use of liquor from their infancy, and when the circumstances of the family permitted the expenditure, liquor was as regularly brought in as was sugar and other groceries. In two of the boys the tendency to drunkenness was fully developed before the age of twenty, and the same tendency in all the other sons and daughters, though less rapidly developed, was quite as unmistakable. By the time the youngest son was sixteen it was not an uncommon occurrence for the entire family to be intoxicated at bed-time or on the Sabbath-day. Like the idolatrous tribes which surrounded the Israelites, 220 rum’s gallery. they became a contaminating influence to the neigh- boring farmers’ sons, some of whom formed habits of drunkenness, alone by occasionally associating with the D. family. At all “ bees,” “ threshings,” and on all occasions where a number of neighbors were employed, Mr. D. regarded a free supply of whiskey as the motive power necessary to a good day’s work. As a saving off-set to the money expended on liquor, the family deprived themselves of “ Sunday clothing,” and for many years never attended a religious service of any kind, though I must do them the credit of stating that not one of the family professed to doubt the truths of Bible teaching. I need not say that such a condition of affairs in a family was not conducive to the growth of matri- monial aspirations. Of the family of eight only three of them married, two sons and one daughter, and the daughter died in her first illness through neglect of her husband while he was on a drunken spree. When the two eldest sons married, their father gave them good farms, but they were so fixed in their drunken habits that the wife of the eldest one returned to her father’s home after living with her husband about a year, and the husband sold his farm and went to Ireland, where he died of drink in a few years. The other married son, after a period of eight years’ dissipation, completely abstained from liquor until his eldest son was able to manage the farm, when he again returned to “ wallow in the mire,” and soon ended his days. After the third son had received his farm, he erected THE RURAL VICTIMS. 221 a house, and peddled matrimonial “ pop ” from door to door for years, and though he offered the article “ free of charge,” yet wherever he offered it the ladies thought it too dear, even as a gift. Whenever he returned from one of his unsuccessful peddling tours to his “ bachelor’s hall,” he would seek consolation in continued drunkenness, and finally abandoned all hope of getting any woman to marry him. From that point his still lower descent was speedy and his end very pitiable and sad. He employed a farm laborer, but the work of the farm was too heavy for one man, and it soon began to run to waste. Its owner, with his five gallon keg in his house, had no thought for any- thing but his love of drink, and continued to drink until he was attacked with delirium tremens. I have elsewhere given a description of delirium tremens , and need not here refer to what this man suffered. I may state that had he not been placed under the care of two men he would have ended his own life by shoot- ing. After recovering from his terrible attack, he, for a time, moderated his drinking, but soon became worse and worse. On a cold stormy night in the beginning of Novem- ber he returned from the village with his five gallon keg in a one-horse waggon, and succeeded in lifting the keg from the waggon and rolling it to the door of his house. In the morning the horse was seen stand- ing by the gate, and the neighbor who saw it went to the house where he found the unfortunate man in an unconscious condition, having lain in the cold rain all night. After being carried in the poor victim only 222 rum’s gallery. lived a few hours. Thus ended the career of D.’s third son. His farm was re-added to the old homestead, and now I take up the history of the remaining portion of the D. family. The parents, the three daughters and the youngest son named G., were now the sole occupants of the homestead farm of two hundred acres, with good out- buildings but a rather small house. The sad end of the three sons and a daughter seemed powerless as a warning to Mr. and Mrs. D. and their remaining son and daughters. G. had always been a little less ex- cessive in his habits than his three brothers, and now that he had the sole management of the farm and was the prospective heir to it, he seemed inspired with an improved ambition to make his farming operations a success, and that ambition and his inherited love of money restrained him from the excesses which had ruined his brothers. None of the family were recog- nized by the people of the place, beyond the ordinary civilities of peaceable and necessitous good neighbor- hood, which of course placed them under circumstan- ces of little restraint in the indulgence of their home- drinking habits. To give the full truth in this narrative compels me to state that the mother and daughters so abandoned themselves to drink that they were very frequently incapable of preparing meals for their brother and his hired laborers. I believe that at one time G. would have abandoned drink had it not been for the discouraging and tempting circumstances by which he was surrounded. For a time he dressed decently on a Sabbath-day, and tried to induce his THE RURAL VICTIMS. 223 sisters to do likewise. He bought them a plentiful supply of decent clothing, and succeeded in getting them to accompany him to the services in the Presby- terian church, but they soon lapsed into their old Sun- day habits and abandoned the religious services alto- gether. From force of habit, or from discouragement, G. soon followed his sisters’ example, and this retrograde step was soon followed by free indulgence in liquor. About this time, the latter part of the severe winter of 1862, the family had a very narrow escape from death. The house in which they lived was a log-house with frame additions attached. It was said that the family all retired to bed under the influence of liquor, leaving the wood in the fireplace in such a position that some of it fell forward upon the floor and fired the building. The inmates of the house slept so soundly that they did not awake until they were almost sur- rounded by flame, and none of the family secured any clothing but that in which they slept, the aged mother being carried out by her son with part of her clothing on fire. This narrow escape from a sudden and terri- ble death was regarded by the D. family just as a matter of course, and exercised no reforming effect upon them. D. and his son, when their house was destroyed, were possessed of a considerable sum of money, the accumulations of many years’ saving, and determined on building a very large and handsome brick dwelling — a dwelling that would extort the respect and admira- tion of all their neighbors, which they well knew was not accorded to them on personal grounds. As 224 rum’s gallery. soon as the spring season would allow, materials were procured, and a full force of men set at work to erect the D. mansion. The early fall season witnessed the full completion of what was really a very handsome and commodious dwelling, and the father and son spared no expense to procure furniture in keeping with the style of the building. When all was fully com- plete the family decided on a gi'and “ house warming,” but the carrying out of this design presented certain social difficulties not easily surmounted. As stated before, none of the D. family’s neighbors had ever been on visiting terms with them, and the problem now to be solved was, where were the guests to be found to warm the house ? The truth was, the family had vainly conceived the idea, on account of their grand house and furniture, of making a social balloon ascension above their farmer neighbors and settling down among the “ village aristocracy.” After the description I have given of this family, I fancy some reader saying, “ I cannot believe it,” but I assure the reader that such was the expectation of the D. family in their ignorant and demoralized state. When matters were fully arranged for the grand party, the man went to the village and in person invited a large number of both married and unmarried ladies and gentlemen to a party on a certain evening. Ex- cuses, evasions and indefinite answers abounded in the replies which Mr. D. received, and none but those who were ready to join in a Bacchanalian feast really intended to accept thednvitation. When the evening of the party came round, about THE RURAL VICTIMS. 225 twenty men put in an appearance at the “ D. mansion,” one or two grocers with whom the family dealt, and the rest married and single men who were ready for “a lark.” The programme consisted of — part first, drink; part second, drink ; and no intermission. Some of the company left before daylight, and the remainder, whether from necessity or choice, did not leave till noon of the following day. The silly family had wisdom enough left to see that they were laughed at for their attempted social stride, and never again made a similar attempt, but betook themselves to the large kitchen and the four bedrooms in connection with it, scarcely entering the grandly furnished rooms. I need hardly state that the ordinary common schooling of the D. family had been almost entirely neglected, only three of the family being able to read common English. A capacity to distinguish one bank bill from another and count copper and silver coins being deemed by Mr. D. a good enough education for his family. Like all families where liquor is freely used, they frequently quarrelled among themselves, and seldom had any pleasant pastimes or amusements to while away their time. Under these circumstances, after being finally cut off from association with their neighbors, their inclination to drink became stronger than ever. As of yore, their nights and Sundays were mainly spent in devotion at their bottle shrines. Two or three years brought the farm to a sadly neglected condition. Many of the best fields were left unculti- vated, the son G. caring to raise little more than the 226 rum’s gallery. necessary provisions for the family. By this time G. was considerably over thirty and his three sisters being older were of course matured “ old maids,” their habits causing them to look much older than they really were. The parents had both nearly arrived at their allotted time, and more through drink than through age were so palsied as to be almost incapable of helping themselves. I shall never forget the last time I saw the D. family gathered around their kitchen stove on a cold winter night. On either side of the stove sat the parents, their heads shaking like a leaf in the breeze, and their hands trembling in like man- ner; in the shade behind the stove the three girls were ranged on a long bench, commonly used for setting pots upon, and in front G. was seated in a large chair, snoring anything but musically. The complete silence of the party was only disturbed by G.’s snoring, and their heads were all leaned forward so as to fix their eyes upon the floor. On a table near by was placed a half gallon jug and three cups, from which they had no doubt taken the stuff that rendered them so quiet and contemplative, or, I might with more truth say, more void of thought. I need only state that the family continued the same mode of life until the death of the old couple, after which G. and his three sisters sank lower still in their habits. The minister who visited the old couple on their deathbeds could not succeed in arousing either of them to realize their real condition. They died as they lived. Not long after their death G. found that his want of industry, through drink, made it necessary THE RURAL VICTIMS. 227 for him to raise money, and for this purpose he sold a part of his farm. The remaining portion of his farm he abandoned to whatever kind of weed could gain the mastery, while he and his sisters were spending the proceeds of his sale of land. He suddenly con- ceived the idea, helped by a designing sharper, that he could grow rich by entering into a certain speculation, and to raise money for the purpose mortgaged the fine house and the remaining portion of his farm. Not being a man of sober habits, he was not capable of managing the business he took in hand, and the result was that he soon lost all the money he invested. Nothing but ruin lay before him when the mortgage of short date matured, and he was advised by a neigh- bor to sell the property and save what he could after paying off his debts. He took the advice and saved enough to purchase a small house and twenty acres nearer to the village. The two elder sisters died about a year after their removal to their small farm. Their nearness to the village led them into shameless habits of drinking, it often occurring that they were found on the side of the road, midway between their home and the village, unable to make their way home. Like their parents they died as they lived. The remaining brother and sister a year ago, were in such a helpless condition of dissipation that the authorities were considering the propriety of devising some means of taking proper care of them. Some reader may say that the ruin of this family was brought about by a want of education and proper 228 rum’s gallery. home training. They had the same schools and better means than most of their neighbors, but the whole truth was, that both by precept and example they were faithfully taught the use of the whiskey bottle, and that was the main, the direct and indirect, cause of their disgrace and ruin. CHAPTER XVII. PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY. * HAVE been acquainted with a respectable gentle- man for many years, who related to me the fol- lowing practical piece of reasoning, and which led him to abandon the use of liquor altogether. Up to the age of forty he had been what the advo- cates of moderate drinking would call a model moder- ate drinker, never, perhaps, in his life having been intoxicated. He had occupied several positions of trust, and in all the varied relations of life was a man of unblemished character. At the time of which I am writing, he had accepted a responsible situation in a leading hardware firm, the duties of which were some- what constant and arduous. In the programme which he made out for himself while in the employ of the hardware firm, was a peremptory determination that he would confine himself to three glasses of liquor a day, — morning, noon and night. Coupled with the stipulated number of glasses was the economic resolve 230 rum’s gallery. that he would discourage the treating system and always take his glass alone. All his resolutions were “ cast in iron,” and after months had passed away he had faithfully kept them all but one. At a respectable hotel where he always called for his glass he some- times met good customers of the firm and other friends in whose presence he did not like to drink alone. On one occasion he invited a farmer who was just going to take dinner at the hotel, to join him in a glass, urg- ing as a reason that a glass would improve the farm- er’s appetite. The farmer assented but remarked, “A glass of liquor may improve the appetite for a time, but, after all, it gives but a false relish for food, and does a man no good in the end.” My friend told me that that remark “ haunted ” him until his return to the hardware shop, and shortly after entering the shop a little business transaction “ enlarged the ghost.” On showing an article to a customer, and being asked the price the customer said, “ Well, that is a good deal of money, but the article is good, and I don’t mind paying for anything so long as I get good value for my money.” Friend E. said the farmer’s remark, “ and good value for my money,” was running through his brain all the afternoon, and abreast with the two thoughts was the question, “ Do I get good value for the money which I spend on liquor?” He took the first opportunity to make a calculation and test the question, and found that during the months he had been with the firm his fifteen cents a day and occa- sional treating expenditure on liquor amounted to forty-seven dollars and some odd cents, fie wrote PKACTICAL PHILOSOPHY. 231 down this amount and began the search for “ value for my money” by putting to himself a series of questions. I am naturally thin in flesh ; have I gained in weight? No. Have I stronger muscle ? and am I less easily tired ? No. Do I relish my food any better, and do I feel more lively and active after eating my meals ? Just the contrary. Am I generally less nervous, and do I sleep longer and more soundly ? No. Is my mind more clear and active ? No. Can I do a better day’s work, day after day, by taking liquors ? Not as good. Well, then, what value have I for the money expended on liquor ? Worse than no value. E. then questioned himself as to what he might have done with forty-seven dollars and forty-five cents, and before he got through was so fully convinced of the folly of moderate drinking that he at once gave it up, and for a period of nine years has not taken a glass of liquor. The most extended observation can single out but few men who could handle liquor with the same self- control that E. did, and he is now ready to admit that it might, in the end, have gained the mastery over him. I have in my mind several men who for periods of fifteen and twenty years confined themselves to three glasses a day and were wont to say that liquor never could gain power over them, but who afterwards became slaves. Before the tendency to drink can appropriately be called an appetite, a clearer definition of, or in what an appetite consists, must be given. Appetite in its ordi- nary and restricted sense is accepted as meaning a 232 RUM S GALLERY. palate relish or love of the taste of certain kinds of food or beverages. In a period of thirty years I have only known three persons who would say that they really liked the taste of any kind of strong liquor. Few men can swallow a glass of strong liquor without an ugh ! or a grin, and often have I, while boarding in hotels, seen men make more than one attempt to retain a glass of brandy for the purpose of steadying their nervous system, while every muscle of their shaking faces made it evident that they abhorred the smell and taste of the liquor. What many write about and speak of as an appetite for liquor is a state of nervous torture produced by over-stimulation of the nerves of sensation, and there is just as much misconception of the man’s mental state while thus suffering as there is of what it is that urges him on to take more liquor. I have seen men who would give all they were worth to get absolute freedom from this torture without a resort to the liquor which caused it, and whose mental and moral sensibilities were fully alive, and whose con- sciences were whipping them with a thousand lashes. Men in this condition are often spoken of as that “poor, miserable, degraded drunkard,” when, at the same time, if they were freed from their physical torture, they will be found to be men of sterling principle. This state- ment is not true of all men who are drunkards, but I make it because all men who have unfortunately been entrapped by liquor are by many spoken of as lacking in sound principles. As I have elsewhere said, the world abounds with proofs that no natural excellence, PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY. 233 except in comparatively rare instances, is safe against regular and continued indulgence in liquor. There are millions to-day bound fast by the chains of intemperance, who would have laughed at the idea of liquor ever gaining control over them, had they been spoken to on the subject, when they first began to take a glass of stimulants. The common-sense philosophy of E., described in the first part of this chapter, may be safely adopted as a safeguard against future danger by either young or old, who are now taking their three glasses a day, “ be the same more or less.” 16 CHAPTER XYIII. THE YOUNG DOCTOR. f T is a fact worthy of notice that many of the leading professional men in the Dominion are the sons of agriculturists — a fact of which the farmers of the country have reason to be proud. If any reader discovers in prefacing some of my life-sketches in this book, that I have indulged in a few practical thoughts somewhat foreign to the main subject in hand, I hope they will attribute it to a wish on my part to make the book practically useful. Why is it that so many of the high grades of scholars and professional men in the country are the sons of farmers ? Simply because in their youth they breathed a purer air, both physically and morally, than the youth who live in the greater centres of temptation. And why is it that so many of our “ ripe scholars ” are physical wrecks ? Mainly because in their student life they neglected proper exercises of body, and allow- ed their physical forces to decline to the point of weak- THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 235 ness. Students who have always lived in large cities have demonstrated, by proper attention to outdoor exercise, that physical vigor may be kept abreast with mental training and development. Of what use to its possessor or anybody else is a well-stored brain without bodily strength to sustain it ? If farmers’ sons and other young men would but realize the amount of study they could do from the age of twelve or fourteen up to eighteen or twenty, we would have in our Dominion in ten years the most intelligent class of young men to be found in any country. Unless a young man is much over- worked on a farm, he will find himself in good condition after a day’s work for a few hours’ study, and there may be found, at the present time, men holding high positions who have had in their younger days few opportuni- ties for study, apart from their leisure time when they were boys or young men on their father’s farm, or ap- prentices in the workshop. I do not wish to encour- age the already overgrown ambition among farmers’ sons to leave their noble employment to become pro- fessional men, but no country can possibly possess a more valuable class of men than intelligent, well- informed agriculturists. H. was the youngest son of a farmer in good circum- stances in the county of N., and from very early boy- hood was noted for his buoyancy of spirits, good nature and uncommon aptitude to learn. His parents came from a part of the Lowlands of Scotland, and, like most Presbyterians in those days, systematically taught their children the “ Shorter Catechism ” and the Scrip- 236 rum’s gallery. tures. H. used to wonder why the little book was called the Shorter Catechism, and of all the days in the week there was none so much dreaded by Mr. H.’s four sons — especially the younger one, who was called “ Tam” — as the Sabbath. On that day for one of the boys to be found outside the H. dwelling, except on the way to church, or some errand of extreme necessity, was, in the estimation of Mr. H., an unpardonable offence. After Sabbath morning devotions, the four brothers and two sisters were placed in a row, Cate- chism in hand, before their father, where they had to learn and recite its contents until “ church time,” when they were marched off in solemn procession, and after “ Kirk ” the boys and girls returned in the same man- ner. When dinner was over and the “ beasts ” attended to, the Catechism penance was again proceeded with and continued till tea time, after which the animals were attended to for the night, and the boys were allowed an hour’s relaxation on condition that they made no noise. After the lapse of an hour the family devotions were again attended to, and the “ youngsters” had to retire for the night. If a “ titter ” or the least noise came from the boys’ room, silence was instantly ordered and the boys had to while away their time before sleeping, in silence, as best they could. To a person who has never seen an instance of the old Presbyterian style of family government, my picture of it may seem over-colored, but there are many who will say that I have not fully described all its hyper- strictness. Unfortunately, at the present time, the extreme in family teaching, Sabbath observance, and THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 237 religious instruction, is on the wrong side of strictness, which is causing a decreased reverence for the Sabbath, and a lax idea of religious responsibility. I describe the particulars of Tam’s early training because, as the sketch of his career develops, the reader will discover that the monastic ideas which his father’s extreme restraint gave him of religion proved one of the ele- ments in his final ruin. It has been said of some old country parents that, when they had taken intellectual stock of their sons, they were wont to say of the one they thought the dullest, “ 0, he is a blockhead ; We’ll train him for the Kirk.” But this idea was not followed out by Mr. H. and his wife. The boys were all fine, healthy, gift- ed boys, but Tam was the cleverest of them all, and his parents decreed that he should be educated for some of the learned professions. All the boys and girls of the family were sent to a good common school until Tam was twelve years old, good care being taken by their parents that both boys and girls were trained to industry in farm and household work, each one having their special duties assigned to them. Tam’s common school career was a marvel of rapid progress. At the age of fifteen he was much in ad- vance of any boy in the school, though there were a number much older than himself, and was fully pre- pared to enter the county grammar school. From the time that his parents decided on educating him for a profession, he had been inspired by a strong ambition to excel in whatever profession he chose, and the com- 238 rum’s gallery. mon school teacher, being an educated man, had taken pains to make Tam’s early training very thorough. Before entering on Tam’s grammar school and col- lege career, I will refer to his father’s opinions in the use of liquor and the manner in which he used it in his household and elsewhere. Mr. H. from boyhood had been accustomed to see liquor used in his father’s house in Scotland, and had always taken more or less himself. His circumstances in Canada had always been comfortable, permitting him to enjoy more of the luxuries than most farmers are able to do, and although his house was seldom without a supply of liquor, he was one of the few men who, at the end of life, could say that he had used liquor in strict moderation. At all farm gatherings, social and business, he always treated those who would partake, but would not toler- ate in any one what he deemed over-indulgence. To his whole family he was in the habit of giving liquor, his theory in reference to his boys being that if they early knew what it was they were not likely ever to become drunkards. About the time Tam was fourteen years old the first temperance pledge society was organized in Mr. H.’s neighborhood, and received from him and most of his neighbors the most bitter opposition. He lived and died a temperate man, but as he approached his latter end he saw in his four sons abundant cause to regret that he had trained them to the early use of liquor. The history of each one of the three elder brothers would furnish facts for a startling sketch, but here I will only state that through drink they neglected their THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 239 farms, two of them losing them altogether, lost the respect of all who knew them, and died leaving their families poor, and, what was worse still, the legacy of a tendency to drunkenness. When Tam entered the county grammar school he was the picture of health and good nature, his height and “build” indicating that he would develop into one of those able-bodied men with physical forces quite capable of driving strong intellectual powers. He was placed in a private boarding-house, which freed him from the extreme restraint which he had always been under, and his natural good humor and buoyant spirits now made the most of things in general. It did not take long to make him a favorite in both the boarding house, and the school, where his name “ Tam” soon became Anglicised to Tom. By this time he had made choice of medicine as a profession and received from the head master a special preparation for ma- triculation in that profession. After he had attended the school for one term and developed his muscle by spending the vacation at home in hard work on his father’s farm, he again returned to his school and his former boarding-house. At the latter place he met with four young men, older than himself, from the city, who had been sent “ to the country,” out of the way of temptation, and among them was one who had become wise above the teaching of the Bible, and had in his possession a copy of “Tom Paine’s Age of Reason.” When I referred in the beginning of this chapter to the well-meant but extreme strictness of Mr. H.’s mode 240 rum’s gallery. of religious teaching in his family, it was not my intention to depreciate the most careful and systematic training of families in a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, but rather to show that it is possible to teach the precepts of Christianity in such a way as to give children a life-long distaste for them. Mr. H.’s absurd prohibition of many innocent and useful recrea- tions in his family had given young Tom a false idea of religion, and when he read Tom Paine’s subtle rea- soning he was ready to listen to any arguments that he thought would free him from his responsibility of Chris- tian teaching. He read and studied Paine’s book until he either was, or thought he was, a disbeliever of the Bible ; but he knew very well that if his father became aware of the fact he would at once take him from the grammar school and put him back on the farm at hard work — an occurrence that would have given him much sorrow, for he was already inspired by an intense am- bition to excel in his chosen profession. He made known his new belief to none but the owner of the book and another companion, who had also become a believer in Tom Paine’s doctrine, but it was not long before this change in religious belief produced a change in moral conduct. Nothing could induce him to neglect his studies, but there were some “ fast accomplishments ” that his four city companions had brought with them, that he soon acquired and took much delight in. Among these accomplishments were, “playing a friendly game of cards for a small sum,” carrying in the pocket and into their room at night “a pocket pistol,” or flask of THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 241 liquor, an entire new vocabulary of slang and obscene phrases, etc., etc. As in all cases where a young man tries to doubt the existence of God as revealed in the Bible, Tom now felt his responsibility to nothing higher than civil law, the amenities of society and whatever would tend to the furtherance of his ruling ambition — success in his professional studies. Regard for these will, to a large extent, restrain a young man of naturally strong sensibilities for the respect of others, so far as the outward conduct is con- cerned, but there is left a large field in which to prac- tise secret immoralities, and we are bound to say that Tom’s former open and frank character was much changed in this respect. The necessity which existed for concealing his real sentiments and some of his practices from his father, made his character more and more disingenuous, and while his father saw plainly that there was some marked change in his son, the latter’s new cunning rendered it difficult to define in what the change consisted, and the father had no real apprehension that any serious change had taken place in his son’s principles or conduct beyond what might be expected from his mixing more with the world. The time came for Tom to enter on his course of medical studies, and he matriculated very successfully, and soon became as popular with the professors and students in the medical school as he had been in the county grammar school. If a medical student on entering any of the schools is possessed of those rigid religious principles which will not allow him to be in full accord with some of the very questionable habits 242 rum’s gallery. of many of the students, he is likely at first to have a hard time of it. Tom had none of those principles, complied with all requisitions, and became “ a member in full standing ” at once. The question has been asked over and over again* why is it that so many medical students and prac- titioners are sceptical in matters of religion, when their whole course of study is so pre-eminently calcu- lated to prove the existence of a supreme and all-wise designer ? I cannot answer the question, but I believe there is a good reason for the question being put. Before Tom left his native county he had never«read any books on scepticism other than Tom Paine’s, but among his fellow medical students he found several later productions, all explaining more fully “ the ad- vanced thought ” of the times, and, in addition, copies of one or two infidel papers published in the United States. These productions became Tom’s Bible, and most of his Sabbaths were spent in the company of his infidel friends in a manner that may be guessed. Reading infidel literature, sham discussions, deriding churches and Christianity, card-playing and drink- ing made up the programme of this little social band of infidels. Had Tom’s father known the course his son had taken, he would never have given him another dollar to finish his course of studies, but Tom took good care that he did not know, and was more plenti- fully supplied with funds than tended to his welfare under the circumstances. Throughout the whole of the first term his conduct, in the estimation of the faculty, THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 243 was unquestioned, and his standing in the course of study was high. At the close of the session Tom and his friends spent ten days in having what they called “ a good time ” in the city, and each returned to their homes, Tom to cast off his student’s clothing, and please his father by working hard at whatever was to be done on the farm, comply with all the religious rules of the home, piously attend church, and suppress all his opinions and feel- ings in these matters. He had an object to gain, and that was to get sufficient money from his father to put him through college, but any reader can readily see how such a course of practical hypocrisy must have weakened in him any principle of truth and honor that was left. During the whole of the summer vacation he worked faithfully on the farm, mingled with the neighbors, met all the people who visited his father’s family, and kept so within himself that no person suspected the change which had taken place in his real character. His father was well pleased with him, and the whole family thought they saw in him what would ultimately be an honor to themselves — an eminent professional man. Tom left home for the city at the commencement of the fall session of the medical school, and rejoined his former companions both in person, sentiment and the pursuit of their occupations and pastimes. I need not ask my reader to follow him all through the pro- gramme of this period, but will only state that his reputation as a student was higher than it had ever been before, while I may with equal truth state that 244 bum’s gallery. in morality, though it was known by few, he sank much lower, and per sequence became a more confirmed infidel. At the close of the second session he returned home and spent his vacation in much the same way as he had done the summer before, but felt himself called upon, by circumstances, to act a more untruthful part than he had done during his first vacation, because his father had got an inkling of his son’s infidel tendencies and loose conduct while in the city. The only plan Tom adopted to dispel his father’s fears was a flat, positive denial of the truth. I have before stated that Tom’s father always kept liquor in his house, to which every member of the family had access. On several occasions, Tom nearly overshot his mark by getting intoxicated to a noticeable point, and for this his father severely rebuked him. On Tom’s leaving for the third time to attend the medical school, his father cautioned and warned him that he intended making enquiries from time to time, and that any misconduct on his part would certainly leave him to his own resources. These cautions exer- cised a good effect on Tom, as far as his outward con- duct was concerned, but made no change in the princi- ples and motives of his actions, only to make him more deceptive. Mr. H. had determined from the first that his son should spend four full sessions in the medical school, instead of putting in one year with a practi- tioner, as is usually the case, so that when Tom closed his third session, he again returned home to spend his vacation as he had done before. During his third THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 245 vacation he knew that so much depended on his correct deportment that he practised great caution and still greater deception, though his father had heard no unfavourable reports of him while attending his third session. The time soon came for Tom’s fourth and last session, through which I need not follow him. He kept on the mask which had concealed his character from his father, when he received his diploma, and left the col- lege with a very honorable reputation as a graduate in medicine. Before leaving the city, he spent a two weeks’ “ free and easy ” with those of his “ advanced thought ” companions, who had graduated with himself, but con- ducted himself in a very quiet way, because he had yet the point to gain with his father, of getting enough money to start him in a medical practice. On his return home he received the hearty congratulations of his parents, who were now more than ever proud of their son and of everybody who knew him, and was advised by all to commence practice in the nearest town to his father’s home. Tom, now Dr. H., decided to take his friend’s advice, and was at once furnished with all that he needed by his father. The H. family were very popular, not having so far given way to liquor, and widely known in all that section, and Tom’s reputation was estab- lished long before he was legally made a doctor, he having performed several difficult surgical operations and treated many patients very successfully. No young man could wish for more favourable circum- 246 rum’s gallery. stances under which to commence a medical practice. Although there were then other doctors in the town, Dr. H. had not completed his office before he was called upon to attend patients in every quarter, and the success which followed his operations and treat- ment was heralded far and near. Two of the other doctors became alarmed and intensely jealous of Dr. H., but the third one said, “ Never mind ; Dr. H.’s popularity will not last long.” He was shrewd enough to know that the regular and steady drinking habits that Dr. H. had already formed would soon lead to his ruin. From the first day that he began practice in the town of N., he became a practical advo- cate of the treating system, and later on adopted when out late at night and on long trips, the plan of carrying pocket flasks, which is to-day all over the country, among both young and old, one of the most dangerous forms of using liquor. It was in the spring season of 1859 that Dr. H. commenced practice, and up till the beginning of August he was kept almost constantly on the run. In the month of August Cana- dian cholera became very prevalent, and before the close of the month there were many cases of the worst type all over the county of N. The services of all the doctors were in great demand, but Dr. H. was almost “run to death.” On the street behind his office there was a large lumber-yard, where I have known him to take a quilt and robe to cover himself while he stole a few hours’ sleep. The incessant toil and loss of sleep which he had to endure led him to indulge more and more freely his habit of drinking, until it THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 247 was common for him to be found incapable of attend- ing to his patients; yet so great was the confidence the people had in his skill, that some of them would re- main with him until he became sober, and then drive him out to visit their sick friends. I need not say the prophecy about the decline of Dr. H.’s popularity was now fast proving true. Many of his best friends, through his unsteady habits, were forced to employ the other physicians, and before the close of his first year’s professional career more than half of his suddenly acquired practice had left him. Knowing the cause of this falling off of support, and through the persuasion of his father and many sincere friends, he attended more carefully to business, and so far moderated his drinking as never to be seen really intoxicated, which course soon restored the confidence of the community. Between Dr. H. and the daughter of a wealthy farmer there had existed a tender attachment (tender as far as it was possible for a man of his principles to feel) from “ Tam’s ” grammar school days. While he was attending the medical school, Alice was pursuing a full course of study in a ladies’ college, where she finished some time prior to Tom’s graduation in medi- cine. Her parents were strictly religious people mem- bers of the Methodist Church, to which she heartily inclined, and would no doubt have become a member, had it not been that she intended to go with her future husband to the Presbyterian church, which Tom had always led her to suppose he would make his religious home. He never gave her the slightest idea of his 248 rum’s gallery. sceptical belief, and even during his first year’s dissipa- tion she could not be persuaded by her parents or friends that there was little hope of his reformation. The engagement between Tom and Alice was to have ended as soon as he became Dr. H., but the priu- ciples he had adopted, and the secretly unnatural life he had led while a student, was in no way calculated to produce in him a desire for the joys of a pure do- mestic home ; besides, Alice would not consent to mar- riage until she saw evidences of a change in his drink- ing habits. The truth was, her attachment to Dr. H. amounted to blind sincerity, though at times his drinking habits made her inexpressibly wretched, but still she refused to entertain any advances from several worthy young men who would have considered their fortune made by obtaining her for a wife? As Dr. H.’s reform continued to appear real, Alice at last, contrary to the advice of her best friends, con- sented to marry him, but when the two were consult- ing over the choice of a minister, the doctor let drop a bit of his infidel belief, which grieved Alice very much, and, had he not deceived her by an evasive ex- planation, would have put an end to their marriage. He said “ that, apart from the requirements, of civil law, marriage was a farce.” If he had truthfully ex- plained this statement to her he would have said that he didn’t believe in God or anything that was taught in the Scriptures, but it was an easy matter for him to satisfy poor blind Alice. Their wedding day was the beginning of her real sorrows, The doctor had purchased, paid for and fur- THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 249 nished a respectable residence in N., into which the newly married couple moved on the day of their mar- riage. He was kind, attentive, and steady. But a week had not passed before Mrs. H. became aware of the fact that her husband was an infidel. As stated, the doctor had furnished the house before his mar- riage, but among the many things which completed the furnishing, including a very large number of books, Mrs. H. could not find a copy of the Bible or any religious book, but she did find quite a little stock of anti-Christian literature. From several visits she had paid the doctor’s sisters while he was at home, she rested under the impression that while Tom was not a professing Christian he always seemed to respect the reading of the Bible by his father and Christian wor- ship ; but now in his own home, at meals, on the Sab- bath, or at any time, did he show any regard for religious obligations. When Mrs. H. spoke to him on the subject, he abruptly withdrew his mask and told her he had long since ceased “ to believe silly fables.” Poor Alice’s persistent faith in the doctor’s reforma- tion from drink had always been based on the belief that he would ultimately lead a religious life, but now on the earliest morn of her married life her long cher- ished hope was crushed, and her former dread of a drunken husband became insignificant when compared with the fact that her husband denied the existence of God, and believed himself to be responsible to nothing higher than himself. Just in proportion as we love a person do we sorrow for them when in pain or dan- ger, and so it was with the faithful Alice. ' She had 17 250 rum’s gallery. sacrificed every prospect to the love she bore to Dr. H., and still loved him after all his deception and false- hood ; but how could she bear the thought that, even if he still remained an entirely freed man from liquor in this life, there was no hope for him in the next. When Dr. H. unmasked himself, Alice betrayed as little of the deep crushing sorrow of her inmost heart as possible, and instantly resolved that she would win her husband by affection and a strictly faithful Chris- tian life. For the time being she made no further reference to her new discovery but made herself as agreeable and cheerful as possible in her husband’s company ; he, in turn, seemed anxious to avoid wound- ing his wife’s feelings by any reference to his infidel opinions, but I may slightly change an old declaration and render it applicable to his case, — “ Out of the abundance of the heart the conduct speaketh.” The doctor’s surgery was in his residence, and for some time after his marriage he spent most of his leisure time in his wife’s company, especially his evenings; but later on he began to entertain gentlemen “ birds of a feather” in his surgery, and Alice soon discovered that her husband and these men were in the habit of indulging in liquor, cards and fellowship meetings on the current scepticisms of the day. She made no remonstrance, but was often obliged either to wait up after midnight or retire alone and listen to their noisy discussions till one or two in the morning. When the doctor’s conduct became more and more extreme in spending his time with his friends, and even neglect- ing to attend to his professional calls, she did gently THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 251 remonstrate with him hut without any effect for the better. A few weeks later found him absent from his office both night and day, treating and drinking with his boon companions, and, in short, on the high road to ruin. His father tried to induce him to adandon drink, and in the attempt received a heart- wound which he carried with him to his grave. The wound was not inflicted by a sword or a dagger, or by any weapon of steel, but by the tongue of his own son, and this was the form of it : " If you hadn’t taught me to drink whiskey when I w r as a boy I wouldn’t be a drunk- ard now.” The old man had additional reasons for feeling the severity of the wound given him by his youngest son, in the fact that his three elder sons were also fast becoming drunkards. Fathers! take warning before you swallow that glass of liquor in presence of your sons, or allow a drop to pass their lips. Remem- ber that, like the youngest son of Mr. H., they may, when they find themselves bound fast by the chains of intemperance, “ turn again and rend you.” Two years have passed since I described the attempt of Dr. H.’s father to induce his son to abandon his career of dissipation, during the whole of which time the doctor has been sinking lower and lower until he is now “ without house or home,” and his wife and one little daughter have been taken to her old home. Alice remained with her husband until she was driven from their home, and even then urged him to rent a small house and abandon drink, but could not. He is now boarding in a hotel, a hopeless slave to drink, but, by virtue of his well-known skill, able to earn enough to 252 rum’s gallery. keep him in drink and pay his board. Alice is but the ghost of her former self, and lives a life of seclusionfin her father’s house, scarcely mixing with any one but the members of her own family, and looking upon the whole world as a complete blank. The doctor’s mother has been some months dead, and his father is stooped, his head wool-white, and his face careworn and sad. His two daughters are well mar- ried ; two of his sons, besides the doctor, are going to ruin through drink, and the fourth son is little better. In addition to the pangs that a father feels over his sons going to ruin, he has to bear the self-accusation that he himself first placed their feet on the path of ruin. There I leave all the actors in this narrative and pass over a period of six or eight months without noting anything that transpired in that time. A stranger calls at the residence of Alice’s father, and upon the door being opened he enquires for Mrs. Dr. H. Alice leaves her quiet room and meets the stranger in the sitting-room, and receives a message from her husband that he is dangerously ill and wishes to see her before he dies. Alice had long expected some startling news about her husband, and had the stranger told her that her husband was dead she could have borne it better than to be thus called upon to go and witness his death. The stranger was a respectable- looking man and informed her that he had a com- fortable vehicle to take her to her husband at once. She did not hesitate a moment, but prepared herself and her little girl, now about two years old, for the journey, which was one of about twenty miles. Her THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 253 forethought anticipated her husband’s wish to see his child, and she cherished the thought that the little innocent might be the instrument of effecting some great change in her husband. The doctor had for some weeks been drinking to great excess, and was, at the time he sent for his wife, suffering in the first stages of an attack of delirium tremens. Those who have waited upon delirium tre- mens patients know that they are, at times, particu- larly in the day time, quite sensible. Dr. H., from his thorough knowledge of the nervous disorder and of his own condition, did not close his eyes to the fact that his attack would end in death, and while he was in a sensibly conscious state had sent for his wife. Mrs. H.,on reaching N., called at the house of an old lady friend, and besought the lady to accompany her to the doctor’s room. The lady afterwards stated that the scene of the doctor meeting his wife and child haunted her mind for months. He was quite sensible when his wife and child entered the room, but weak and nervous. The moment his eyes saw them, he ut- tered the most bitter self -accusations, and begged again and again for his wife’s forgiveness. He reached his hand to his little daughter, but his wild and wretched looks so frightened the child that she had to be carried from the room in a fit of screaming. Poor Alice wept bit- terly over her husband, and tried first to raise in him some hope of recovery, but his reply was, “ You do not understand my condition as I do, or you would not try to make me believe that I can live.” Then she spoke to him about his soul, and to her surprise and 254 rum’s gallery. joy, as far as joy was possible under the circumstances, he requested her to send for his father and his father’s minister. Mrs. H. at once complied with the doctor’s request, but on the messenger reaching the house of old Mr. H. he found that he was very ill, and could not leave his bed. The minister was absent and could not reach N. before some time the next day. When the messen- ger returned and informed Mrs. H. of his ill success, she asked her husband if he would allow her to send for the town Presbyterian clergyman, but to this he objected. She then prayed with him and endeavored to lead him to trust in God through the merits of Christ, but it was now evident that he was suffering such mental illusions that he scarcely knew her or understood what she was saying. During the fore part of the night he became so tortured by what he saw that two men had to take charge of him, and Mrs. H. retired to the next room, but not to sleep. Several times during the night when he was quiet she entered the room, but he knew not who she was. The old minister called the next day about noon, but the doctor could not be made conscious of his presence, and the sorrowful man had to leave, feeling that one whom he had known from infancy was about to pass into eternity without hope. For nearly a week Dr. H. suffered, night and day, the most horrible tortures, when he finally sank into an unconscious, quiet state, and his soul passed into eternity to solve the problem, “ Is the Bible a silly fable ?” THE YOUNG DOCTOR. 255 The history of this gifted and accomplished physi- cian furnishes many suggestive facts for practical reflection, a work which I ask every reader to honestly undertake. Eighteen years after the death of Dr. H., I spent an evening in company with his widow, who always remained single, and never did I see sorrow so indel- ibly impressed upon a woman’s face as it was upon hers. CHAPTER XIX. YOUNG DOCTOR L. AS the youngest of two sons, whose parents were natives of Ireland. The family means were always so limited as to preclude the possibility of either of the sons receiving more than a limited common school training in their youth, but L. was possessed of a gifted mind, Irish fire and ambition, and from the day he left the common school was determined to make something of himself. The preliminary step towards accomplishing this object was a determined resolve to employ all his leisure time, while working on his father’s farm, in home study. He and his brother had a small room upstairs, in the humble log-house, entirely to themselves, a part of which L. made into a private study. He systematically followed up the subjects he had been taught at school, and when he got through with them as best he could, ascertained from the section schoolmaster, what subject he was to be taught next in the school, and in YOUNG DOCTOR L. 257 this way kept more than even with some of the boys who were attending school all the time. In time he became a striking illustration of the benefits which a student derives from a proper division of mental and physical labor, as well as of what a boy may accom- plish by setting one object before him, and persist- ently striving to attain it. When L. was seventeen years old he was spoken of by all who knew him, including the schoolmaster, as a “ pretty good scholar.” Almost from his infancy L. had been very fond of music, and from the age of ten or twelve the only re- creations he allowed himself to take was in playing on the “ fiddle ” and the old-fashioned accordion, these being the only instruments he could possess. In the summer time he practised on his instruments in the fields or barn, but in the winter season the other members of the family used to say they were tor- mented by L.’s “screamers.” Like the other sketches in this book, I enter into details of L.’s early habits and pursuits, because their influence on his after life can be traced all along the way. His parents were nominally Christians, teaching their children to accept the Bible as God’s revelation to man, and to obey its moral precepts, such as strict observance of the Sab- bath, honesty in dealing, and the rest of its moral code, but they went no farther. In the matter of using liquor, the parents seldom partook of it, and never brought it into their home except on very rare and special occasions. On these occasions the children were allowed to have their glass of whiskey, with brown sugar and water, but up to the age of eighteen 258 rum’s gallery. L. had never drank a pint of liquor; he had, however, taken the first step on a dangerous path. Mr. L. had always been an industrious man, and when young L. was eighteen, had, with the help of his boys, made for himself and family a very comfortable home. Seeing that bis youngest boy was clever, and had a strong desire for learning, he offered him an oppor- tunity of preparing himself for a school teacher, which L. joyously and thankfully accepted. The school in the neighborhood was then taught by a young man who held a first-class certificate, and on L. making known to him his intention of studying for a teacher, the young man took special pains to assist him in every possible way. L.’s cleverness and industry soon made him ready to attend a higher school, and after the usual time spent there by students, passed an examination and took a second-class certificate. He soon obtained a good situation as sole teacher in a vil- lage school in one of the older counties, at a good salary. L. was not long in the village before his taste for music was discovered, and he was invited and urged to join a glee club, which frequently gave enter- tainments of a semi-musical and semi-theatrical caste. Before commencing teaching he had added to his fiddle and accordion a guitar, and had acquired considerable skill in vocal music, which soon brought him into prominence in the village society. In appearance he was a fine-looking young man, of more than medium height, and in manners was easy, but sufficiently timid to save him from that excessive familiarity which some young men call easy manners. YOUNG DOCTOR L. 259 The glee club was composed of young men who might be called “ pretty fast ” for natives of a country village, but were upon the whole a rather respectable lot of young fellows. They met sometimes twice a week for practice and rehearsal in a large room over a store, which they had furnished and fitted up for giving their entertainments in. L. found much enjoy- ment in the musical part of the rehearsals, but found that attendance on them occupied too much of the time he wished to devote to study, because he had al- ready determined on preparing himself to enter on the study of a course of medicine. His love of music, how- ever, and a growing pleasure which he found in the society of his new companions, constrained him to remain in the club and economize time in another direction. His singing with his own accompaniments on the guitar soon became very popular, and there was no pastime in which he delighted so much as practice on this instrument in his own room or elsewhere. In fact, it became in him almost a ruling passion, but his strong ambition to succeed in his studies circumscribed it, and also prevented him from joining in with some members of the club, who were in the habit of having their social glass after the club meetings closed. But here he took his second step on the liquor-drinking path, and, before he left the village, a good many sub- sequent steps. In those studies — languages, in which he required assistance for matriculation in medicine — he secured the private assistance of an English Church minister, who resided in the village. I will not trace the history of 260 rum’s gallery. L. from the time he went under the tuition of the minister until the time he entered the medical school more fully than to state that he was respected as a school teacher, made good progress in his private studies, and left the village with a good character. Those able to detect the incipient causes of danger in a young man’s future could see in him an ominous fond- ness for company and the social glass, but while in the village no one had ever seen him intoxicated. When L. left home for the city his father promised to give him all needed help to take him through a full course in medicine. By teaching he had earned and saved enough money to pay the expenses of his first session, and he considered his financial prospects rea- sonably good, but knowing the value of money, as one knows who has always had to labor for it, he shaped his mode of living in the city on the most economical plans. His humble boarding-house and his careful ways made him an object of unpleasant remarks among many of his fellow-students, but he paid no attention to anything but his studies, and at the close of the first session received what was better to him than the smile of his moneyed companions — a very high stand- ing in all the subjects he had studied. Before leaving the city he was offered a lucrative berth during vacation term, and he returned home to stay only a few days when he returned to take the situation. In the city he had but few companions, but one of the few happened to be of the wrong stamp of character, and, as is often the case, possessed a wonder- ful controlling influence over L. The young man’s YOUNG DOCTOR L. 261 name was S., and was a law-student, employed as a copying clerk in an office during the summer months. He had private rooms where he slept, and took his meals at a restaurant. After a short acquaintance with L. he urged him to share his rooms, and follow his example in boarding. S. had always been in the habit of keeping liquor in his rooms, and as L. had by this time made some progress beyond his first steps in the path, he did not hesitate essaying a few more steps. Both young men were very ambitious to excel in their chosen professions, and did not use liquor for the purpose of helping them to jovially while away their evenings and other leisure time, but because they felt stimulated by it to increased ardor in study. Neither of the young men had been carefully taught religion, and when thus placed among strangers they scarcely seemed to even regard the simplest obedience which it demands, never attending any place of divine worship, but generally spending their Sabbaths in- dulging in an occasional glass with two other young companions. L. and S. shared equally the cost of pro- viding liquor, and in after life they shared about equally the consequences of using it. Until both young men passed their final examination they continued to room together, and follow the same habits, “ only a little more so,” as I have briefly described. Before the fall commencement of the medical school L. paid a short visit to his parents, after which he entered upon his second term under very encouraging circumstances. The session passed with him unevent- fully, and at its close he again ranked among the best 262 rum’s gallery. students in the college. The situation he held the previous summer was again offered him, which he accepted after taking a week’s rest and recreation. While in the city L. had not allowed anything to seri- ously divert his attention from the main object he had in view. Having had experience of the time-dissipat- ing effect which the exercise of his musical taste pro- duced, he had kept his skill in music a secret, even from S. and his other companions — a piece of self-denial that must have cost him a great effort. The end of L’s third session came at last and the farmer’s son had, as some would say, “reached the top rung,” and was now a full-fledged doctor, hut L. knew that he had not fully learned the skilful use of “the chest of tools” which had been presented to him, and determined not to rest satisfied with ordinary attain- ments. In the county town of C. there was a good opening for a physician through the death of one of the resi- dent doctors, and Dr. L. lost no time in filling the vacancy. He was an entire stranger in the town and the sole recommendation in his favor was that the people had heard of his high standing at his final examination in the medical school, but his first patients were well satisfied with him, and ere long he was in possession of a growing practice. After leaving his father’s house, Dr. L. had spent the greater portion of his time in the company of his own sex, and this had produced on him, if not a dislike, an aversion to ladies’ company, and this in their presence gave him a certain stiffness and distant manner which YOUNG DOCTOR L. 263 often operates against a young professional man’s suc- cess in beginning life. In his case it led him into a very serious mistake, that of forming and cultivating the acquaintance of single men and spending all his leisure time with them. Several of the young men 'in the “set” with whom he became intimately associated, were of the “ fast” type of character, and their influ- ence upon their companions was of a very unwhole- some nature. The rooms Dr. L. occupied consisted of reception room, surgery, large private room and bed- room. As soon as he was settled in these quarters* he unearthed bis favorite guitar and violin, and began to indulge in the old pastime. Before long his rooms of an evening were made the rendezvous of his single companions, who always brought with them what they thought would help them to enjoy a feast of music and a flow of soul. Some of the young men played on a violin, some the flute, some the bass violin, some the piccolo, and before long the doctor’s private room very frequently presented the appearance of a place for a band rehearsal than that of a physician’s apartment. I need not give the details of the process by which Dr. L. was gradually led into intemperate habits by the associations and influences that he gathered around himself. In truth, the associations which surrounded him in C. were little more than the watering process which caused the seed to spring up that he had sown in the glee club and in the city while a student. At the end of eighteen months after he began practice in C. his professional reputation was superior to that of any of the other three doctors in the town, but when 264 rum’s gallery. spoken of there was generally coupled with the remark, “ The doctor is so unsteady we are afraid to trust him!” Time after time, for short periods, he abandoned drink, and requested his companions to cease calling and bringing liquor to his rooms, but as often failed to keep his resolutions. In another sketch in this book I spoke of the pecu- liar power of music to increase the desire of some in- temperate men to drink. To a friend of mine he stated that sometimes, when he had spent weeks with- out taking liquor, if he sat in his room alone, and began to play on his violin or guitar, and sing some of his favorite pieces, he was sure to be seized with an uncontrollable passion to drink, and at various times gave way to it. On a certain stormy night, or rather morning, about one o’clock, a man rode up to Dr. L.’s office and loudly rapped on the door with the butt of his whip, without alighting from his horse. The doctor was in the midst of a “ festival ” with his companions in his back room, and much the worse with liquor, but hastened to open the door, and was told by the farmer on horseback that his wife was in a critical state, and had particu- larly requested him to take out no doctor but Dr. L. At once the doctor got ready and left with the farmer, but not without taking with him his “ pocket pistol.” On arriving at the farmer’s house he found himself called upon to exercise his skill in a complicated case of midwifery. To make him still more unfit for the responsibilities of the crisis, the farmer had liquor in his house, of which both he and the doctor partook YOUNG DOCTOR L. 265 freely. The two sat drinking until the time came for the doctor to discharge his professional duty, when, through the most brutal blundering, he caused the woman to die a fearful death in twenty minutes. The farmer was a man of very violent temper, and on seeing that the doctor had caused the death of his wife, and being intoxicated himself, would have shot the doctor had he not made his escape back to the town. When Dr. L. reached his office he left his horse standing at the door, locked himself in, drank liquor until he became insensible, and did not attempt to leave his rooms till night. In the meantime the ex- citement in the town was intense, the coroner had gone out to see the deceased woman, and a warrant had been issued for Dr. L.’s arrest. The constable waited for him to leave his rooms, whereupon he arrested him and placed him in the jail. The unfortunate man was suffering terribly from the effects of his debauch, added to which was the realization that he had taken a woman’s life, and for a time it was feared that the man’s reason would give way. The result of the inquest was a verdict of man- slaughter, under aggravating circumstances, and Dr. L. was committed for trial at the county assize. There are many cases of supposed repentance where the penitent’s sorrow does not arise so much from the enormity of the wrong done as from the dread of the penalty attached to it, but this was not true in Dr. L.’s case. He was naturally kind and sympathetic, and very conscientious when free from drink ; and, what 18 266 rum’s gallery. was not known till later, had carefully read the Scrip- tures, and, like many other men, had much respect for religion, intending at some time to accept it as the rule of his life. After fully recovering from the effects of liquor, he said to a minister and friends who called to see him in his imprisonment, that he dreaded no punishment that criminal law could inflict, — that no punishment, not even death, could be too severe ; but what troubled him most was the guilt upon his own soul, and the thought that he had sent a woman, unprepared to die, into eternity. It was with difficulty that Dr. L.’s counsel could induce him to plead “Not guilty” at his trial, but was persuaded to do so as a matter of form. When sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, he stated to a friend that the sentence was more welcome to him than an acquittal, because he believed that to be given his liberty would have driven him wild with remorse. I have now to point out to my readers the second oasis in the desert of intemperance, which I have been mapping out for my readers in this book. Dr. L., in the penitentiary, underwent a terrible ordeal in con- viction and repentance, after which he gave undoubted evidence of a complete change of heart. He was much pitied (because they all knew that it was the world’s curse that sent him there) by all the officers of the prison, was much employed professionally, and at the expiration of a part of his term was, in answer to a very largely signed and influential petition, released from confinement. After his release he went to a city in a distant part YOUNG DOCTOR L. 267 of the United States, and by his careful and consistent Christian life and professional ability he gained a large practice and the confidence of the community. In the great temperance movement in the United States, that has effected so much reform, Dr. L. has been a promi- nent leader, and his whole life is now a consecrated effort on behalf of every moral and religious reform. After Dr. L. had been in the United States two years a mutual attachment began between himself and the daughter of a wealthy citizen in the city where he practiced. Had he wished to conceal the dark part of his life he could have easily done so', but he did not. When he learned that the lady was disposed to enter- tain his offer of marriage, he related to her and her parents the particulars of his life’s career, and they, though no doubt pained, respected him more for his voluntary proof of truth and honesty, and willingly consented to the marriage. The oasis I wish to point out to my readers is the present position of this man in the United States. With the exception of the sad recollections of the time when he was the slave of drink, and the consequences which followed, he is now a happy, influential citizen of a large city, with a family of three daughters and four sons, two of whom are graduates of Williamstown College, the Al ma, Mater of the late President Garfield, and both apparently on the high road to distinction. It is indeed a pleasure to be able to record one man’s escape from the slavery of drink, but alas ! such cases are rare. CHAPTEE XX. “FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY:' *jHE above quotation forms the title of a very j j|l| interesting and instructive contribution to jilff) temperance literature, written by the Rev. w d Austin Potter, of Teeswater, Ontario, and suits me so well for the heading of the following narrative, that I appropriate the title without as much as saying “ by your leave.” J. was the youngest son of a wealthy Englishman, whose family consisted of two sons and one daughter. The father, whom I shall name T., received through the death of an uncle in India, a very large sum of money and valuable property in an inland town, as well as a beautiful land property on the outskirts of the same town. J. and his brother received the best education that could be given them outside a univer- sity, which means, in many cases, that they were more practically educated than many young men who gradu- ate at the universities. T. was always anxious that “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 269 his eldest son James should enter the army, and as the boy grew in years his inclinations developed in full accord with his father’s wishes. J. was allowed full liberty to choose for himself as to his future calling in life, and the consequence was, he made his choice of doing nothing but waiting for the portion he expected from his father, in the meantime taking all the pleasure he could find. The world abounds with young men who are likewise engaged. I do not understand the preliminary course through which a youth has to pass before entering the army in England, but know that James, at the earliest age possible, entered it and rose very rapidly. Before I met J. I well remember reading an account of the prominent part General N. (J.’s brother) took in the storming of the Redan, when Sebastopol capitulated to the British and French, and were I to give his name in full, there are few who are conversant with the modern exploits of the British army who would not recognize in him the name of a general of marked celebrity. About five years ago he died at his beauti- ful home in England, and his death was noted and his military career commented upon by the leading jour- nals of the empire. Before T., the father of the two sons, had arrived at his majority, and some years before marrying, he travelled constantly, and among other countries that he visited was Canada and the United States, remain- ing several months in each country. In both countries his old country ideas of a lineal and moneyed aristo- cracy received a “ terrible shaking up.” He plainly 270 RUM S GALLERY. saw, and especially in the United States (it is not so true now), that men rose to the highest positions mainly on account of their ability and general merits, and was fully convinced that that was the true prin- ciple by which men should be elevated to position and power. On his return to England from Canada, he married the daughter of a wealthy man, who occupied a high place in “ society,” and his father-in-law was horrified to find that T. associated with many families far below him in social position. T. paid no attention to remonstrances coming from his father-in-law’s family, and his wife’s social sentiments being in accord with his own, he chose his society on his favorite principle of merit. This led his father-in-law to speak of him as “ an American democratic monstrosity.” Mr. T.’s social departure surrounded J. from early youth by a mixed class of people, among whom he frequently met wealthy and intelligent Americans who were visiting England, and that fact, together with his father’s democratic example, early aroused in him a desire to visit the United States and Canada. It must be borne in mind that while Mr. T. did not in his social practices pay court to the higher grades of English society, that he was cut off from them, and young J. was brought up in what is called “ good so- ciety.” When arrived at the age of eighteen he was considered by his mother and sisters as indispensable to act the part of family ladies’ man at the theatre, concerts, balls, weddings, etc., and was besides a family representative at cricket clubs, boat races, and the usual sporting assemblies of young men. As I have “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 271 done in other sketches, I note the various influences which operated in the formation of J.’s character. I need not state that it is a rare thing to find a wealthy family in England, who does not keep and use different kinds of liquor in their home. Mr. T. had always been accustomed to the use of liquor in his father’s home, and in his own home he followed his father’s example in this respect, though in the use of liquor he was “ as regular as the clock.” His religious opiniods were by no means of a positive or clearly defined type. He had been baptized, was confirmed, and occasionally at- tended church. There the matter ended. The family followed in his footsteps, with a somewhat increased tendency to looser ideas on religious subjects. When J. was twenty-two years old he made known to his father his wish to visit America and engage in some enterprise, the nature of which he had not the slightest idea. On account of the aimless life which his son had been living, and various other influences, Mr. T. was beginning to see that J. was in danger of becoming a worse than useless man, and he was much pleased at his wish to do something for himself. J.’s mother and sisters could not endure the idea of parting with their constant companion, but well knew there was no use in raising any objection, and busied themselves in preparing for him what they thought would add to his comfort in America. The time arrived for him to leave his native land and his luxuri- ous home, which he did with an aching heart, and left behind him a mother and two sisters overcome with grief. 272 rum’s gallery. J. was furnished with an outfit considered amply sufficient to meet all contingencies during his sojourn in America, with plenty of money, and the assurance from his father that all needed funds would be forth- coming when he fully decided to engage in any satis- factory enterprise. He landed in New York in the month of June, and proceeded to the residence of a distant relative of the family whom he had never seen, but to whom he had a letter of introduction. After spending a month with his relative, he visited some other northern cities, and went south to New Orleans, from which place he soon beat a hasty retreat on ac- count of the extreme heat. From New Orleans he made his way back to New York, and from there to Niagara Falls, where he formed the acquaintance of some English people from Toronto, who induced him to try his fortune in the capital of Ontario. For a young Englishman he felt very much at home in To- ronto, and soon became very popular, especially with many young ladies in the city, who were suffering from a severe attack of preference for young English gentlemen, and a very aggravated form of the same disease for any old country man who could lay any claim to rank. J.’s associations with ladies in England had been so o extensive, and of such a general character, that it seemed he had never thought much of any lady in particular, but now he had met with some blooming young ladies of English descent, and his heart was “ led captive ” by one of them at her will. Before the transition of a young city, from its youth to an older “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 273 and more experienced age, we often find the social am- bitions of its people assume a very extravagant and “ high falutin ” form. In Toronto, at the time I write, the wealthy families rivalled each other in an effort to imitate in style, manners, and social customs, the rich in the old countries. J. was delighted to think that he had met with a young lady whose family could in social matters furnish to him what seemed a veritable reproduction of the “ real old English style,” and “ declared his intentions ” and was accepted by the young lady and her parents. But a little difficulty arose in the way of a speedy marriage. He could not write to his father for money to carry out his matri- monial enterprise without associating with it the statement that he needed money for something par- taking more of the nature of real business, because that was the condition on which his father had pro- mised him money. I need not tell my readers that J. had scarcely an idea of what business was. He knew that he could command money, and he thought that if a large amount of money was invested in any business, it would assuredly bring a large amount of profit. He had a very narrow idea of a saying that is in one sense really true, viz., “ Money makes money,” but he thought nothing of the management necessary to produce that result. I have said nothing so far about J.’s drinking and other habits from the time of his coming to America. Most Canadians know that when young men come to the United States or Canada, who have been in the 274 rum’s gallery. habit of using liquors in the old countries, that the habit generally increases upon them, and so it had been with J. from the time he first landed in New York. One of the old country practices which J.’s Toronto circle imitated was that of keeping and using liquors in their homes and all social reunions. As in other cases I have noted in these sketches, the early seeds of drinking habits in him were well watered, and soon showed a vigorous capacity to sprout. With this slight digression I return to the time when J. was casting about for some business enterprise. In a town about a hundred miles distant from To- ronto, a man had advertised for a partner in a brewing business, with a good capital, stating that his orders were so much in advance of the producing capacity of his establishment that no better opening could be found for the investment of money. J. and his father-in-law answered the advertisement in person and at once completed an arrangement, at the same time purchasing the most complete residence that was for sale in the town. Through his father-in-law’s credit he obtained what money he needed until funds came from his father, and he and Miss N. were married, their marriage being one of the great social events of the season, and moved to the town of H., the place where began J.’s business career. In the town of H. there were perhaps more families who assumed the aristocratic than any other town of its size in Canada. J. had become very unlike his father during his stay in Toronto, and one of his strong reasons for wishing to settle in H. was the reputation “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 275 the town had for “good society.” Among the families that formed the so-called good society of H. was the family of a wealthy distiller and that of J.’s partner in the brewing^ business. Men old enough now to re- member the social customs among the well-to-do thirty- five years ago, know that among that class liquors of different kinds were freely used. In fact, when J. settled in H., for a family to give a party without having a plentiful supply of liquors would have given much dissatisfaction to the guests, and called forth much criticism in their circle. The reputation of J. as a wealthy and “ highly con- nected ” young Englishman, and of his bride as belong- ing to “ a high circle ” in Toronto, had preceded them in H. They were only allowed the regulation time of quiet for a newly married couple before they were besieged by the proper representatives of the leading families in town and were soon received into full membership of the order aristocratic. Their initiation into society was followed by a series of parties in which the families of H. zealously vied with each other in an effort to ingratiate themselves in the good opinions of the young couple. J. had full confidence in his business partner and, after handing over to him a large sum of money, seemed to think that any oversight of the busi- ness by himself was quite unnecessary. He had found ample scope for his old and congenial employment of associating with ladies, and taking an active interest in the sporting pursuits of his gentlemen friends. At that time the English game of cricket was becoming very popular in H., but the newly formed 276 rum’s gallery. club were short of funds and lacked a suitable cricket ground. J. could not allow his national game to sink into desuetude, but purchased a plot of several acres, had it levelled and fenced, at great expense, and pre- sented it to the club on the condition that for all time to come it should be called the “J. Cricket Field,” and that the game of cricket should always be fostered in H. On the completion of the ground a day was appointed for a grand exhibition of cricket, and a banquet to J. at the principal hotel in town. Before the close of the banquet J. became very much intoxi- cated, conducting himself in sundry unseemly ways, and causing an ugly scandal to pass current in all directions. His conduct at the dinner was the first glaring step in his downward career, and to follow him all the way on his descent would enlarge this sketch to a little volume. I will, therefore, pass over fifteen, or perhaps more, years of his life without noticing details. Those years were marked by the usual drinking habits and accompanying follies which lead a man to confirmed drunkenness and ruin of character and fortune. His neglect of the business in which he had invested such a large sum, his extravagance in style of living and his drinking, gambling and general sporting habits caused him to squander over ten thousand pounds in less than twenty years, and to lose his beautiful home and all the property that he once owned in the town of H., and, what is very unpleasant for me to relate, his wife, alike with himself, had become a drunkard. In the year 1860 I became a resident of the town of H. and remained there for several years. Wishing to “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 277 obtain private board, I was advised to apply at the house of a Mrs. J., who occupied a large rough-cast house that in the early days of H. had been built and used for a hotel, but was now a little distant from the busy part of the town. The gentleman who advised me to apply to Mrs. J. stated that she was an educated lady reduced in circumstances, and understood well how to make her boarders comfortable. I was met in the boarders’ sitting room by Mrs. J., who was then about fifty, and had in her expression that peculiar look of suppressed grief which we often see in the face of those who have endured continued misfortune and sorrow, and also slight evidences of having resorted to that which has always proved itself a very poor solace in circumstances of trouble. At my first meal at Mrs. J.’s house she presided at the table, and not seeing any but single boarders I got the impression that she was a widow, but being detained out that night till eleven o’clock, when I reached my new home I met in the sitting room and was introduced to Mr. J., the husband of my hostess. He was but poorly dressed, showed some signs of liquor, but withal bore marks of culture and refinement, and gave me a very hearty welcome, stating that he took a great interest in young men who were just commencing a business or professional career. The children of the J. family, two boys and a little girl, were then very interesting and clever, the eldest of whom afterwards studied medicine, and I learn since I came to Owen Sound that he has thrown away through liquor a fine professional prospect, and brought himself, wife and young family, to ruin. The second 278 rum’s gallery. son, from the time he became old enough to learn what liquor had done with his father, could never be induced to taste it, and is now doing a large and prosperous wholesale business in the Dominion. The daughter became a miracle of excellence, considering the circum- stances of her training, married well, and is now an energetic worker in a temperance organization in the town of N. A character sketch of my fellow-boarders at Mrs. J.’s would be interesting, but I must confine myself to the career of J. Among them were two lawyers, a doctor and four merchant clerks. I had not been long in Mrs. J.’s house before I saw that poor J. was her most unprofitable boarder, doing nothing from morning till late at night but loafing from hotel to saloon and vice versa, seldom coming to more than one meal a day. When not intoxicated he was very interesting and instructive in his conversa- tion, especially on the social manners and customs of old country people, and it was from frequent conversa- tions with him that I gathered the materials for this sketch. Poor fellow, I have seen him, while relating some of the incidents of his palmy days, shed tears as freely as any child ever did over a lost toy, and denounce “the cursed stuff” that had brought him to ruin in bitter words, accompanied by a violent stamp of his foot. All the boarders sincerely pitied the family, and were ready to put up with some things in the house which made us uncomfortable rather than deprive them of our support ; but a few months brought J. so “ FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 279 low that he was never sober, and Mrs. J. to the point of almost constant semi-intoxication. The servant could not attend to everything, and all the arrange- ments of the house became so uncomfortable that one after another of the boarders left. The reader may wonder why Mrs. J.’s friends in Toronto allowed her to remain in such uncomfortable circumstances. Her parents were both dead, her two brothers had squandered all that was left them by their father, and neither of her two married sisters had the means to help her, and all this state of things in Mrs. J.’s family was mainly brought about by liquor. After I left Mrs. J.’s, I took lodgings and board in a hotel kept by the German to whom I made reference in a former sketch. While I remained in the hotel I frequently saw poor J. hanging about the bar room and sitting room, patronizingly talking to some of the friends of former days, but he generally received the “ cold shoulder,” and occasionally one of them would, to get rid of him, give the bar- tender the price of a drink for him. Mrs. J.’s house had now come down to be one of the commonest and cheapest boarding houses in the town, and finally she left to live with a married sister, who was then a widow, and who, it was said, was also of intemperate habits. J. was left alone in the town to push for himself. No doubt his brother in the army would have helped him had he made known his wants, but, as he said, he would rather “cut off his right hand ” than let his brother know his cir- 280 rum's gallery. cumstances. He belonged to a secret order, and was by them provided with a boarding place, where he was sure of his bed and his meals, but was so completely given over to drink that he would resort to the lowest methods of obtaining it. I well remember going into the reading room of the hotel one night about eleven o’clock, when I found that J. had called in a number of men whom he had met in the bar room. He had a small wooden box under his arm, and one of the men held out his hat to me and said, “ Mr. J. is going to give us a grand exhibition ; put in ten cents.” When the money had been collected, and it was done in a few moments, one of the men locked the door and removed the key. Instantly J. commenced his exhibition, which consisted of removing his coat and vest, and changing his face and part of his body into a disgust- ingly contorted shape. The show was over in a few moments, the money was handed over to him, and he and as many as would drink with him went to the bar. I record this incident to show how low it is possible for a man to get through the power of liquor, and particularly how low the unfortunate J. had descended. Had his two gons not been in the United States, and quite ignorant of the life he was living, they would have taken care of him as best they could. J. continued his abandoned mode of life in H. for two years, when his eldest son came and took him to his home, but the son’s wife was an American lady ; and would not tolerate such a father-in-law about her house. The son had the option of “ war in his own camp” or of providing for his father in some other *•' FROM WEALTH TO POVERTY.” 281 place than his own home. He placed him in as com- fortable a home as he could find for a man in his con- dition, and visited him as often as possible. The winter which followed J.’s change of home set in very severe, and he was attacked with inflammation of the lungs, which caused his death in about a week. After Mrs. J. left H. she never saw her husband, nor was she aware of his death until several weeks after it occurred. The demoralizing effects of liquor had caused them for many years to live together a very unhappy life, and in a two-fold sense separated them in death. Some years later Mrs. J. died very suddenly, and was buried in a grave distant from her husband one hundred and fifty miles. 19 CHAPTEE XXI. TEE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER . was the eldest son of Rev. R. V., a popular minister in th(? city of S., Xew York State, and was early given the advantages of a good ordinary education, and was afterwards ad- vanced through a full course in one of the best com- mercial departments of an institute in the State. At the age of eleven he began to develop strong religious tendencies, which gave his parents great satisfaction and hopes that his future life would be one marked by piety and usefulness ; but soon after commencing his commercial course he suddenly became absorbed with the idea of engaging in some pursuit whereby he could make a fortune in a short time. Cherishing the in- spiration of this idea he diligently applied himself to the study of commercial arithmetic, bookkeeping and penmanship, and at the end of his course took home with him credentials that would recommend him to good positions in mercantile houses. Through these THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 283 credentials and his father’s influence, he soon obtained a situation as bookkeeper in one of the largest firms in his native city, and at a salary much larger than was then paid to young men of limited experience. After taking his new situation his father noticed with much regret that his son had chosen his companions from -among a class of young men entirely different in tastes and habits to those with whom he had formerly asso- ciated. His companions were picked from among young men who belonged to the more wealthy and fashionable families, and were mostly young men of leisure, and, to a great extent, lacking in proper objects and aims of life. A.’s father saw the danger likely to arise from the associations which his son had formed, and prudently advised him to beware of the influence of doubtful companionship, at the same time reminding him of neglected religious duties in which he used to take so much delight. The father was shocked at his son’s bold declaration that he had changed his mind as to the reality and claims of religion, and did not intend to trouble himself any more about it, stating at the same time that, were it not through fear of shaking his father’s faith, he would show him a book that would lead him to think as little of religion as he him- self did. A., in after life, stated that he believed his statement caused his father greater grief than the bullet of the assassin could have done, but all he did was to earnestly warn his son and retire to his study full of sorrow. At the end of a year A.’s salary was increased, and, 284 rum's gallery. being a young man of good appearance and pleasing manners, had become very popular among the class with whom he associated. He had for months felt the restraints of his father’s home, although his father had studiously avoided in any way making it unpleasant to his son, yet the son felt that between himself and the purity of that home there was an unpleasant want of affinity, and he determined to make his home in a large hotel in the city, where a number of his compan- ions spent most of their time. Until A. had been a bookkeeper for several months he had never tasted liquor of any kind, and it required a great deal of per- suasion from his fast companions to induce him to do so, but he finally consented and took the first step. Young man, if from the nature of your associations or any other cause, you find the kind and pure home of your father distasteful to you, beware of the influences that are at work within you, for if not guarded against they will lead you astray. A.’s desire to make money had now become almost a ruling passion, and it might be supposed that it would have restrained him from every kind of dissipation ; but it is well known that the drinking customs of young men associated together will loosen purse strings that would under every other circumstance be kept tied fast. His fixed purpose to save money enough to start him on the road to wealth, and his abhorrence of drunkenness, made him very careful in his expenditure, and gained him the character of mean- ness as far as drinking courtesies were concerned, but did not prevent him from laying the foundation of THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 285 drinking habits ; and, if the reader will note, his love of money became in him the root of his greatest evil. After he had been three years in his situation he pos- sessed the full confidence of the whole firm, and was entrusted with the entire management of the books and most of the transactions with the bank of the firm. At the end of five years from his first engage- ment a report one morning was flying about the city that Mr. A., the confidential accountant of the firm of , had disappeared some time during the night. He had paid his bill at the hotel, and the hotel-keeper on going to his room found that his trunks had been removed and all else belonging to him was gone. The truth was, he had been embezzling little by little for years, and the firm had accidentally discovered the fact, and on account of his father had agreed not to prosecute him on the condition that he left the city for “ parts unknown.” A few weeks after A. left S., there might be seen a fine-looking young man, of Yankee style, at the hotel clerk’s desk in the R. hotel, city of N., in Canada. Hither A. had made his way, and obtained a vacant berth. He entered upon the discharge of his new duties with the determination to form as few intem- perate friendships as possible, and confine himself strictly to business, and in a short time was esteemed by the proprietor of the hotel as his most useful employee. In the meantime his parents in S. were sorrowing over him as one worse than dead, and were entirely ignorant of his whereabouts. At the time he left S. 286 rum’s gallery. he had not been in his father’s house for weeks, and slipped away, without a word of farewell, to one of his relatives. His father occupied a prominent pulpit, and was so grieved by his son’s fall and disgrace that he did not appear before his congregation for two Sab- baths after the scandal became known, simply because he was unable to do so through illness. After some months he learned that A. was somewhere in Canada, but could not trace him to the exact place nor establish any correspondence with him. Finally Mr. A. adver- tized in a leading Canadian daily paper, but received no response from his son, nor did he ever place his eyes upon that son again, being called from his earthly sorrows about two years afterwards, and his wife soon followed him. To return to A. in the R. hotel, we find him still rising in his master’s estimation, and gaining the re- spect of the permanent and transient guests with whom he had business to transact, and also with an undiminished purpose to accumulate money. He must have brought with him from S. considerable money, because he was not long in the R. hotel before he began to buy small paper from parties who were “ hard up,” at a large discount, and, in fact, “ turning a penny ” in any way he could. In his drinking habits he was very careful, and though he regularly took his glass he seldom drank with others, only when treated by the higher class of guests. At the close of his first year’s engagement his employer raised his salary nearly one- third and made him a present of a valuable gold watch. THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 28 7 When a man has ready money to lend “ in sums to suit borrowers,” it is marvellous how soon they will be found out, no matter how obscure they may be in other respects ; and so it was in A.’s case. Before he had been in the hotel a second year his in- come from shaving notes and transactions akin ex- ceeded his salary — a fact which led shrewd money- makers to say that young A. would yet be a rich man. I will now pass over a period of about ten years in A.’s life, and, in passing, remark that during the whole of that time there was no very marked change in his habits and mode of life, with the exception of an in- creased love of money and an increase in drinking habits, but the latter existed to no very marked extent. The proprietor of the R. hotel was well up in years when A. first entered it, and was now, at the time I take up the second epoch of A.’s eventful life, much broken down in health, from various causes, and anx- ious to retire from business. He owned the hotel and all its complete furnishings, and advertised for a purchaser able to buy the entire property, just as it stood, and was much surprised to receive an offer from his clerk to either rent or purchase. At first the proprietor treated the offer with indifference, but when A. pressed for a statement of the sum asked for the property and the amount required down, he was still more surprised to find that A. was fully prepared to comply with the conditions named. A bargain between the proprietor and his clerk was soon closed, and the former vacated at once, moving to a handsome residence he had erected for himself in the city. 288 rum’s gallery. The R. hotel had a large share of the best hotel cus- tom in the city as well as travellers, and it had been well known for years that A. had been the leading spirit of its management which gave him great advan- tages in becoming its proprietor. It soon became evi- dent that he had ample funds after paying two-thirds of the purchase money, for he, immediately after tak- ing possession, renovated and improved the whole establishment without incurring a dollar of debt, and soon made the R. hotel one of the most popular in the province. To those who knew A., as far as it was pos- sible to know him, he had always been a mystery. He was one of those men whom we occasionally see that seem most of their time in “ a brown study,” seldom engaging in open, hearty conversation with any one, never laughing hearty enough to open their mouths, and never expressing themselves positively on anything but a close business transaction. To his guests and the travelling public he was very polite and obliging and became generally very popular, but those who had known him from the time he first entered the R. as clerk were never able to learn anything of his former life, nor was it known that he had any com- munication with any of his relatives. A few years sufficed to clear off all his liabilities and he was on the high road to fortune with a marked tendency to indulge pretty freely in liquor, but never to an extent that would prevent him keeping a sharp oversight of his business. He had married an Ameri- can lady whom he met while she with a brother and sister were spending a part of a summer in Canada, THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 289 and who upon her father’s death received a consider- able sum of money. She was a woman of good educa- tion, and not at all suited to the position in which she was placed, which together with what she soon learned of the drinking customs of the place, led her to make efforts to induce her husband to abandon the business and return to the United States, but he was rapidly acquiring the fortune he had always had in view and would not. I will again skip over a period of A.’s life, which was chiefly marked by his continued success in acquiring money, and by his slowly but surely becoming a slave to liquor. His love of money, and his keen perception of the industry and care necessary to acquire it in any business, had enabled him to fight long against the power of liquor, but at last he was bound fast by a chain which seemed stronger on account of the long time spent in forging it. His daily condition might be described “ as never drunk, never sober, but always full,” and instead of his former h^bit of keeping aloof from those who drank freely, his chief delight was to •join them in their cups and their conversation. He had three sons, the youngest one had grown up, and all of them were wild, worthless, dissipated young men. His wife was a very unhappy woman and unceas- ingly endeavored to induce him to sell the hotel establishment and retire on his money, but no, another “Ephraim was joined to his idols” and he wished to be let alone. While A. was living this kind of life, the Rev. James Caughey visited Canada and conducted religious ser 290 rum’s gallery. vices in the larger cities. Mrs. A. had in her youth received careful religious instruction and had married A. against her parents’ wishes because of his being engaged in the liquor business, and all her efforts to persuade her husband to abandon it were based on moral and religious convictions, as well as an earnest desire to save him from ultimate ruin. After the fame of Mr. Caughey’s religious services spread over the city of N., Mrs. A. resolved to attend them and, if possible, take her husband with her. When she spoke to him on the subject he laughed at her, and for several days when his drinking chums would enter the hotel would say to them, “I have a rich joke to tell you, what do you think ? Mrs. A. wanted to take me to Oaughey’s meetings and get me done over again.” By- and-by A.’s friends brought in reports of the conversion of several “ hard cases ” well known to him, and he resolved that “ for the curiosity of the thing” he would go and see “Caughey’s doing-over machine.” On a certain evening he went with his wife, “pretty full,” as he afterwards stated, and returned home very quiet and thoughtful. That night, instead of joining his companions to drink, he retired early, and after break- fast the next morning told his wife that he would drive out to the country and not return till evening. When evening came he returned and went again to hear Mr- Caughey. That night, I think, Mr. Caughey’s text was, “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” No doubt A.’s parental training and the sweets of his boyhood piety came THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 291 fresh to his mind, together with his ingratitude to his parents and all the dark part of his life. All these thoughts, to which was added the question of the text, completely crushed A. under a conviction of his dread- ful condition. He did not attempt to hide his convic- tions, but manfully declared his determination to seek salvation and lead a new life, and returned home that very night to execute his determination. It requires great moral courage, and is generally strong proof of a real change in a man’s heart, when he is ready to do what A. did on the night of his conversion. His old chums were in their accustomed place, ready to banter him on his new departure, but were completely silenc.ed when he entered and boldly declared to them that he had enlisted under the banner of Christ, warned them of the folly and danger of their course and invited them to follow his example. The next morning he ordered all the liquors in the hotel to be removed, and placed in all the public rooms printed cards, “No liquors sold here,” and, until the day he left the hotel, conducted it on strictly temperance principles. In one sense A. was soon the most prominent and most talked-of man in the city. Among his own craft he was called “fool,” “fanatic,” “crazy,” etc., and soon went so far as to circulate a report that he was suffering from an attack of the “blues,” but to all this criticism he paid no attention. His convictions of the wrong of the liquor traffic were so strong that he determined not to allow a dollar’s worth of his property to be in any way employed in the trade, and resolved on renting or selling the hotel for dwellings or some other purpose 292 rum’s gallery. than that of a hotel, but about this time the city of N. was passing through a very severe financial crisis and properties were much depreciated in value. The R. hotel had always been mainly supported by the wealthier class of travellers, and was still a very valuable property as a hotel, and when it was known that A. was determined to sell it he was made several tempting offers— offers as high as could have been received for it in the former better times — but for any other purpose he was not offered one quarter of its value. He began to parley with conscience, and after many hard contests began to reason that he would not be personally responsible for aiding the liquor trade by selling his property, even if it was used for a hotel, and that by doing so he would have larger means to help in furthering religious and benevolent objects. The result of that reasoning was the point where the devil gained his first victory over A. and left him shorn of a lock of spiritual strength. Not two months had passed from the time of A.’s conversion until the time when he received a large sum in cash from the company who bought the entire hotel property and took possession of it. With what property and money he had on hand, and what he received from the company, he was worth over a hun- dred thousand dollars, and immediately began to evidence his good intentions by becoming one of the most liberal supporters of every good cause in the country ; but he had done serious violence to his con- science, and his religious experience was beclouded by an abiding consciousness that he had done wrong by THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 293 allowing his old enemy, the love of money, to prompt him to sell his property into the hands of the liquor trade. To those who were deeply interested in A.’s religious welfare, premonitory signs of spiritual declension be- came evident a few weeks after he left the hotel. On several occasions, in large religious meetings, immedi- ately after his conversion, he had given quite fully the history of his life from boyhood, (whence come the particulars of this sketch), and his testimony to the power of God’s grace to save from the habit of drink had so influenced a number of his class in the city that they attended Mr. Caughey’s meetings and began and continued to lead completely changed lives ; but immediately after selling his property, he seldom em- braced the opportunity of speaking in public, and was less hearty in all his religious efforts. Like the -first proprietor of the R. hotel, he had retired to a comfort- able residence, where he and his wife were surrounded by every comfort save that of the presence of their sons, who had all left home and were, some of them, they knew not where, but all leading dissipated lives. Some friends attributed A.’s apparent lack of happiness to a sorrow over the condition of his sons, and no doubt that was one cause of it, but, as intimated before, the great cause arose from his having, contrary to very strong convictions, turned so much property into a business, a part of which was ruining many as it had ruined himself and his sons. Gradually he became more inattentive to all his religious duties, and soon it beean to be noticed that he was in the habit of oc- 294 rum’s gallery. easionally dropping in of an evening at the R. hotel. Then followed, in a few weeks, what is usually the result with a man who has abstained from liquor through religious convictions — a total disregard of all religious obligatioris, and a speedy decline in morals. The pastor of the church with which A. had been con- nected, the officials and many sincere friends, put forth their best endeavors to lead him away from his peril- ous course, but failed. Mrs. A had long been in feeble health, which was now aggravated by her husband’s return to his old habits. From the time of her con- version she had been devotedly faithful to her profes- sion, and would have willingly parted with all their ample means, and ten thousand times more, to have had her husband go hand in hand with her ; but now all her hopes of him had fled, and, contrary to her en- treaties and remonstrances, he brought a supply of liquors into his house, and continued to drink both at home and elsewhere. A third time I will omit the details of A.’s life, but only for a period of about two years and a half, during which time Mrs. A. died filled with a bright hope of heaven, her only sorrow being a consciousness that her husband was on the high road to destruction. For a time after his wife’s death, A. kept pretty close to his home, and, - although he was getting considerably be- yond middle age, was again seized with his old passion for money-making, and resolved to re-enter the hotel business. The R. hotel was then doing a very large trade, and he determined, if possible, to be again its proprietor ; but on bis making the company an offer THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 295 for the property and business, he was told that neither could be bought. He was, however, determined to have it, and offered so liberally that negotiations began which ended in A.’s getting the whole concern at a price enormously in advance of what he had sold it to the company a few years before. He took everything just as it stood, engaged all the persons employed, and the manager stepped out and he stepped in. He paid the company every dollar he had and some thousands of borrowed money besides, thus again freighting a liquor craft with his entire fortune, himself taking the position of captain. The waters on which King Alcohol’s marine sail have in all ages proved to be stormy, deceptive and treacherous, and on their shores to-day may be found thousands of shattered hulks whose captains, mates and seamen have been washed over- board and dashed to pieces. When A. again assumed charge of the R. hotel it must be borne in mind that he had deteriorated in al- most every respect as a business man. Age, inactivity, constant indulgence in liquor, with a brief respite, and his want of contact with the improved methods of doing business, all combined to place him at a disad- vantage in his position as manager and proprietor of the R. The retinue of assistants whom he found in the hotel and engaged en bloc, soon discovered his inca- pacity to properly look after them, and took advantage of it in various ways, many things were neglected in all the departments which go to make up the reputa- tion of a first-class hotel, and the decline of the R. began almost simultaneously with A.’s resumption of 296 RUM’S gallery. its charge. Before many weeks the greater part of his time was taken up with convivial customers whom he met in the hotel, and its management left almost entirely to hired servants. The multiplied irregulari- ties in untimely meals, had cooking, want of taste and cleanliness in beds, towellings, etc., etc., were soon made causes of complaint by travellers and city guests, and the unfavorable reputation of the house spread far and near. To this state of things A. was oblivious, because he was now always in a muddled condition, and went to bed in the early morning intoxicated. For the fourth and last time I make a skip over an- other period of A.’s history, measured by something over one year. At the end of that time the business had run down to a very low point, he had heavily mortgaged the property to pay off the money borrowed at the time of its purchase, and many other debts con- tracted during the four years, and now the mortgages were approaching maturity, his drinking habits had led to constant and confirmed drunkenness, two of his sons were undergoing a term of imprisonment in the United States for burglary, and before himself there lay no prospect but ruin. His blunted consciousness vaguely comprehended that ruin, but called forth from him no effort to avert it, but rather a resolve to blind himself to it by liquor. His numerous smaller credi- tors had foreseen his ultimate bankruptcy, and had among themselves ran a lively race for the first prize; execution after execution was levied until almost everything that was not covered by the mortgage was gone. Some of his friends who did not wish to see THE CONVERTED HOTEL-KEEPER. 297 him left penniless by the property being sold under the mortgage, got his consent to act as agents, and sold the hotel at a greatly reduced figure, but one which left him enough to live upon for a year or two. Dur- ing the four years of his rapid decline he had sold his residence, and the proceeds had gone into the general ruin fund. When A.’s friend completed the sale, and the lawyer with the purchaser wished to have the papers executed, A. could scarcely sign them, and left for the last time as proprietor of the R. hotel, being worth a little over a thousand dollars, the greater part of which his friends got his consent to keep for him in trust. He took up his abode in a well known little tavern in H. street, kept by a man whose condition, through liquor, was little better than his own, and the two joined hand in hand in the path to final ruin. One of A.’s friends paid his board and liquor bill out of the trust fund every week, and the two landlords spent their whole time in drinking together. Before three months had passed A. had several at- tacks of what the doctors vaguely called “nervous shocks,” but at last an attack came which admitted of no indefinite appellation, and one that had no uncer- tain ending. He had for two weeks been doing nothing but drinking and sleeping, when one morning about two o’clock he awoke in his room and imagined that a man armed with a large knife had entered to take his life. He ran down stairs, unlocked the front door, and rushed out, having no clothing on but pan- taloons and socks, thinking he was pursued by the 20 298 rum’s gallery. armed man. The night was bitterly cold, and as he shouted and ran along the street a night policeman followed, whom A. thought was the armed man. Other policemen joined in the pursuit, and when caught he was taken back to the tavern, but not without his feet being badly frozen. He was in such a wild state of delirium tremens that men had to be placed over him night and day while he continued for days to suffer the terrible tortures peculiar to such an attack. At length his over-strained nervous system gave way, and in a state unconscious of everything but his terrors his soul passed into eternity. I have elsewhere stated that love of liquor is but one of the influences that may ruin a man, and in A.’s case the reader will have observed that two evil pas- sions combined to destroy his character and life — love of money, and an acquired love of liquor, but strong as was his love of money his love of liquor proved stronger. So it has always been, and so it ever will be when men place themselves within reach of its iron grasp. CHAPTER XXII. “ LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL." R kHE doctrine embodied in the phrase, “ once in |ij grace always in grace,” is believed by many, G) but it is not my purpose to discuss its sound- ness or unsoundness in this chapter, but simply to say that the world abounds with instances of men who from their youth have given unmistak- able proofs that they were “ born again,” and have afterwards, degenerated into evil ways. Among the many evil agents that have operated to destroy Chris- tian life in men, both old and young, there have been few more potent than the subtle power of liquor. This statement is especially true of young men and youths, who have been religiously trained in quiet homes, but who have afterwards been brought in contact, in their student or apprenticeship life, with careless and irre- ligious young men in towns and cities. Thousands of 300 RUMS GALLERY. men to-day trace their lapse into irreligion and intern perance to a timidity and want of courage in not openly declaring their religious principles, and to allowing themselves to be over-persuaded by a companion to do violence to their conscience in taking a glass of liquor. Satan has given the cause of Christianity severe wounds by the use of his favorite weapons — infidelity, liquor, and the multiplied forms of dissipating worldly pleasures — on young men who, at the beginning of their early lives, determined to devote themselves to Christian usefulness. Some very sad instances of lives so perverted and destroyed may be found, one of which I purpose giving to my readers. R. was the fifth son of Mr. N., an intelligent old country manufacturer who, when his family were young, emigrated to Canada and purchased a farm property in N. county. Mr. N. professed experimental religion from the age of fourteen, and bestowed much care and time on the religious instruction of his chil- dren. In all of them the fruits of their father’s instruc- tions became apparent in youth and early manhood (the children were all sons) and in R. at a very early age. (To account for my knowledge of the minute par- ticulars of a considerable portion of R’s history, I will here state that I was intimately acquainted with him from the time he was fourteen to the age of twenty, and have often heard him relate his very earliest im- pressions). From the first dawn of intelligent consciousness he had a clear idea of the existence of God, and fully LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. 301 believed that the Bible, from which his father very rarely omitted to read morning and evening, was God’s revealed will. When he was eighteen, I have heard him repeat texts of Scripture that he said had been im- pressed on his memory long before he was able to read. His farther’s farm was remote from any town or village, so that up to the time he was able to walk two miles and a half to school there was scarcely anything in the surroundings to operate against religious paren- tal instruction, or from nature or nature’s God. He was much beloved by his elder brothers, who taught him so faithfully that he was able to read before he was sent to school. The nearest school to the N. farm was one of those ill-managed schools that were too plentiful in country districts thirty years ago, and the boys and girls attending were, almost without ex- ception, the worst specimens of bad home training. At first R. was greatly shocked at the rude and wicked conduct of his schoolmates, but before three months had passed the truth of “ Evil communications corrupt good manners ” was verified in his case. He entered the school determined to do nothing but learn, found that to learn amid his surroundings was almost im- possible, yet after all his disadvantages, before he left the school he had worked himself tolerably well up in English branches ; but was much changed in his youthful religious feelings and sentiments. In after years I have heard him repeatedly state he would rather than a gift of ten thousand dollars that he had been sent to a good school instead of the one I have d escribed. 302 rum’s gallery. He was taken from school at the age of fourteen and given to understand that his school days were over ; but an ambition to rise to some noble sphere of action had been aroused within him that could not be quenched, and he forthwith devoted all his leisure time to study and reading. His father could not well dispense with the boy’s services about the farm, and thought he had an education quite good enough for the position he intended to place him in, but was delighted at his son’s zeal and industry in self -culture, more especially when he saw that the culture tended in a religious direction. R. had always been a regular attendant of a Sunday-school two miles distant from his home, and there his early religious impressions had been rekindled and fanned into a flame by his constant reading of the Scriptures and Sunday-school books, both at the school and in his home. When he was be- tween fifteen and sixteen years old two Wesleyan ministers, now well advanced in years, held revival services in the church where the Sunday-school was taught, and after the close of those services he resolved to become a soldier of the cross. He spoke to no one on the subject, but when he had fully made up his mind voluntarily went to the pastor of S. church and stated his wish to become a member of the Methodist Church. The pastor was both astonished and delighted, because throughout the revival services R. could not be induced to take any decided step, though his whole conduct was marked by great re- spect for all that was done at them, and even by a devotional spirit. After he became a church member LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. 303 his daily walk was manifestly the result of a deeper change than any that could be produced by mere con- formity to the rules of a church, and he soon began to be regarded as one of the most promising young men in the church. He had always been an industrious boy, but now his industry in work, and his zeal to acquire knowledge, were redoubled. Note, reader, where you see a profession of religion tend to make a young man, or any man, lazy, there is somewhere about the piety “ a screw loose.” Young R. had accumulated a choice little library, to which he was constantly adding, and week after week, month after month, and year after year, until he was eighteen, did he continue to work on the farm hard all day, and at night study till the morning hour. During that time he had conducted services with good satis- faction to the people, in several of the churches and school -houses on the circuit, and was urged by some experienced Christians to enter the ministry. He spent some time in a collegiate institute, and after his return home had a business offer which he accepted, intending still to pursue his course of self-culture, which he did for several years, and was at the same time very actively engaged in church and Sunday- school work. At the end of three years circumstances so shaped that he thought it his duty, for a time at least, to assume business responsibilities for himself, and began a prosperous business in the city of L. From his late minister he carried high recommendations to the min- ister in L., and at once began to make himself useful 304 rum’s gallery. in several departments of Christian work. The pastor and the congregation of the L. church respected him very much, and many said that the amount of Chris- tian work he performed was astonishing, considering the labor he bestowed upon his business. After a residence of two years in L., during which time he had, in addition to his other labors, pursued the regular first and second year’s course for probationers in the ministry of the Methodist Church, he was strongly impressed with the conviction that he ought to give himself entirely to the ministry, and that con- viction was deepened by the opinions of the pastor and officers of the L. church, as well as of the congre- gation. He had filled many appointments in country and village churches with more satisfaction to the con- gregations than had some of the regular preachers, and everything seemed to mark him as one likely to be- come a very successful and useful man ; but unfor- tunately a misunderstanding arose between him and. the pastor which resulted in his leaving the church. That the pastor wronged him, wittingly or unwittingly, the facts of the case must ever prove, and R. made the great mistake of not considering that the Methodist church belonged to him just as much as it belonged to the pastor. Before R.. formally resigned his position in the church he wrote a long letter to the minister, mildly criticising and reviewing his conduct throughout the disagreement, but the minister was a stubborn York- shireman, and, as Napoleon said of the British sol- diers, “ Didn’t know when he was beaten,” and if he LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. 305 did, wouldn’t give in. R. waited several days for a reply, but received none, and receiving nothing more than a cool recognition from the pastor when he met him several times on the street, he sent in his written resignation, and, I believe, never crossed the Methodist church door in L. again. He had always been much respected by ministers and all classes of people in L., being, in fact, a great favorite with the Episcopalian clergyman, who had been in former years well acquainted with his father. After leaving the Methodist church a friendly inter- course sprang up between It. and the clergyman, which ended in R. becoming an adherent of his church. His social position was then changed, and he began to freely mix with a class of people who indulge in many things that Methodist discipline disapproves of. Among those indulgences I note the use of liquor, and while I admire many things in the Episcopalian Church and recognize the great work she has done for Christianity, and owe most of my early religious training to a pious Church of England father, I am compelled to venture the thought that she has incurred a fearful responsi- bility all along by encouraging and tolerating the use of liquor among her people. Many rejoice that of late years some of her Bishops and clergy, together with many of the laity, are in full accord with all that is likely to lessen the evils caused by liquor. I now leave R. fully initiated into and entitled to all the rights and privileges of his new social circle, and go back to trace his father’s practices and sentiments on the use of liquor. No reader of the present day 306 rum’s gallery. must judge Mr. N. too harshly when I state that from his boyhood he had been accustomed to the use of liquor in his fathers home, and that all through his own life he used liquor in a very careful and moderate way. Forty years ago the evils of liquor using were not so clearly revealed as they are by the lights of to- day; and, moreover, we must be.ir in mind the power of early training. That Mr. N. was a sincere Chris- tian none who knew him doubted, though many believed that he was sadly astray in his views of the liquor question. Before R’s conversion he had on many holiday occasions, when friends were spending the day at his father’s home, been given a glass of wine, beer or toddy, but immediately after his conver- sion took a most decided stand against the use of all kinds of liquor. He and his father were in the habit of talking over various matters very freely together, and the father soon found that his son’s views on the liquor question were so strong as to amount to a con- demnation of his own practice of keeping and using liquor in the house, but the two never lost temper ; and, no doubt, the father in his heart was well satis- fied that his son held total abstinence sentiments. Few men can be found who, when they speak from earnest conviction, will say that liquor as a beverage ever did them much good. But to return to R, who had, according to the opinion of some, been introduced to a higher and better class of society than that in which he had formerly moved. A transition from a religious life to a careless or irreli- gious life, has generally been marked by a disposition LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. 307 in the individual to rush into the extreme of indiffer- ence to religious claims, but in R.’s case it was not so. I believe he seriously determined to maintain his pious integrity ; but, alas ! he knew not the power of the dissipating influences by which he was about to be surrounded. As referred to in a former sketch, money at the time of R.’s introduction into fashionable life was very plentiful in Canada, on account of the Ameri- can war, one effect of which was to make many people extravagant in the pursuit of pleasure. One of the first so-called pleasures that R. was invited to take part in was a large sleighing party to a large dancing hall, six miles distant from L. It was arranged that the members of the party should take supper at a large hotel kept in connection with the hall, and spend the greater part of the night in dancing. R. had, before his connection with the Methodist Church, learned most of the old-fashioned dances, but at the dance in the hall he found himself completely behind the times, nor was he sorry at it, because the truth was, he did not wish to engage in a pastime that he had scruples about, and that he had often denounced. However, before the dancing closed he had taken part in several dances, and determined that he would not be long in preparing himself to appear to better advantage on future occasions of the kind. More than one step was taken by R. that night which told powerfully on his after life. After reaching the hotel he was invited by a number of young men in the gentlemen’s room to join them in partaking of liquor. At first he irreso- lutely declined, but I have heard him say years after 308 rum’s gallery. that night that he instantly longed for the cheering effect that liquor had produced upon him in his boy- hood days. Fathers and mothers, can you here read a lesson ? He joined with the rest of the young men in drinking during the night, and before the party broke up at 3 a.m. had drank enough to wash away all the scruples that troubled him the night before. At the sleighing party It. became acquainted with two young professional men, who were really, in one sense, dangerous characters, without at all intending to be such. They were of that warm-hearted, social, jovial and intelligent type whose presence and conver- sation are possessed of a fascinating power, and were wont, whenever opportunity offered, to spur up these gifts by stimulants. They were honorable, upright men, sincere in their professed friendships, and would not knowingly lead any one astray, but withal their influ- ence upon young men was dangerous. They occupied what has rapidly, in cities, developed into an institu- tion of evil, private furnished rooms, with a large library and all the comforts of a home, with the ex- ception of the elevating and refining influences of woman’s presence. To those rooms the two profes- sional men were in the habit of inviting congenial friends, among them R., and there many a “jolly” evening was spent in reading popular current litera- ture, discussions and in drinking together. My know- ledge of what I write in this sketch is derived from R.’s own lips, and therefore I can describe even R.’s feelings while undergoing his new training process. For a considerable length of time he was the victim of LET HIM THAT STANDETH TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL. 309 remorse of conscience, and could only outwardly ap- pear to enjoy the success by which he was frequently surrounded, and when alone his mind would constantly call up the sweet delights of his religious life that he had so foolishly thrown away ; but as is too often the case, instead of retracing his steps to find his lost treasure, he would rush on in fruitless search of some- thing to make him forget what he had lost. After resigning his position in the Methodist Church he had not become a member of any Church, and soon did not even attend any religious service. This point arrived at left him to, as far as moral and religious in- fluence was concerned, literally “ paddle his own canoe,” and all experience proves how fruitless is an effort of that kind. One of the first effects of R.’s now reckless course was to cause him to neglect his business and suffer much consequent loss, but just in proportion to the degree that his prosperity seemed to wane, did he seek forgetfulness or blindness in pleasure or dissipation. In a religious sense the old saying was true, “ The greater the height the worse the fall ; ” in fact, his fall was so swift that in two years after he began to drink he was quietly dropped by all his former com- panions and friends, his business sheriffed out and he left penniless. The few personal effects he had left he disposed of as best he could, and left L. to try his fortune in a town in the Western States. During a period of twelve years in that town he was seldom sober when he could get the wherewith to make him- self drunk ; but I have another oasis to point out to 310 rum’s gallery. my readers in the terrible desert of intemperance. When Moody and Sankey joined hands in their great work, the story of the Cross, as told by them, was the power that snapped asunder the galling chains that had bound poor R. so long and set him free. Since then fifteen years have passed, R. hats remained stead- fast, is doing a good business, and is abundant in every good word and work in the town where he lives. After his reformation he married an excellent Chris- tian woman, and they have now an interesting family of four children. I have corresponded with him several times and he solemnly declares that it was the accursed power of liquor that made worse than barren a portion of his life. Let us ask ourselves together, what might not R. have done for Christianity, his Church and his country, had not his splendid powers been for a time rendered worse than useless by liquor ? CHAPTER XXIII. BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. HE matrimonial relation, if based upon the conditions that God designed it to exist, is the nearest and most tender relation of all the ties between members of the human family. and anything that tends to destroy matrimonial happiness is, and ought to be, regarded as an unmitigated curse. If it were possible for me to place before readers of this book all the influences that have combined to embitter and destroy married happiness, I could not select from among them all one influence that has done so much havoc as has the use of liquor. In fact, many other evil passions and habits which have ostensibly appeared as the direct agents in the de- struction of married happiness may very generally be traced to the use of liquor. Jealousy, bad temper, pro- fligacy and all forms of licentiousness, when developed into a form that is destructive of happiness, are fre- 312 bum’s gallery. quently found hand in hand with liquor, and in thou- sands of instances its legitimate children. Capt. T. was a native of Scotland, of whose antece- dents I knew nothing beyond the fact that he was the third son of a very respectable and wealthy family, and that he was educated at Edinburgh. In a compara- tively short time after entering the army he rose to the position of captain, and did some active service in the Crimean war. When the war was over he returned to Scotland, retired from the army and came on a trip to Canada. Incidentally, at one of the hotels in T., he met Col. B., also a retired British officer, and between the two officers a friendship sprung up which resulted in B. inviting T. to his home in the suburbs of H. The first time I saw Capt. T., he was a fine-looking young man, about twenty-eight years old, nearly six feet in height, built in proportion, and all his bearing indicated his military training, but it needed no trained eye to notice that he was a slave to drink. Nature’s signals of distress were hoisted all over his face, espe- cially on his nose, and besides his talk was a little muddled, but still there was noticeable in his manner that indefinable something called good breeding. He was not long in H. before he decided to make it his Canadian home, rented a handsome dwelling, furnished it with the best to be had in the .town and engaged two servants. It was soon known that he had more than ample funds to carry out all he undertook, and besides had a fortune at his command in Scotland. All this, and the fact that he was a live British officer of rank, was too mueh for the equilibrium of many of the BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 313 young ladies of H. to bear. The time was when plenty of money, and the prospect of a fortune accruing to a young gentleman from the old country, would “ cover a multitude of sins ” in his moral character, but I am glad to believe that among our Canadian ladies there is a change of sentiment on that point. The ladies who had determined to enter the race for Capt. T.’s heart were saved the trouble, for before the preliminaries of the race were well begun, Capt. T. made it very evident that he had chosen his own prize in the person of Col. B.’s youngest daughter. The engagement between the captain and Miss B. was known as well and talked of almost as freely as have been royal betrothals. The ladies composing Miss B/s circle esteemed her very highly, and, whatever their private feelings might be, congratulated her upon her engagement and betrayed no chagrin over her victory in the race for the captain. Sonie of them, when she was not present, spoke very disparagingly of the captain on account of his drinking habits, but I fancy they were influenced by the same feelings as the fox in the fable of the “sour grapes,” and would have gladly changed places with her. Apart from the appear- ances of excessive indulgence which the captain bore, few nobler-looking men could be found, and he was really a man of good principles and excellent moral character with but the one exception. Col. B. and his family had adopted a dangerous theory in reference to what dissipated young men are likely to do after mar- riage. He had been a rollicking, drinking young fellow before his marriage, but after it had at once become a 21 314 rum’s gallery. miracle of moderate drinking, and both he and his family had formed the habit of thinking that other young men would be likely to follow his example. All observation proves that unless drinking young men break off the habit, before or at the time of their mar- riage, they will at some future time after it become greater slaves to drink than ever. Both the colonel and his daughter spoke plainly to the captain on the subject of his habits, and he gave them the most positive assurances, I have no doubt honestly, that they need have no fear of him on that score ; but had not Miss B. been blinded by various influences, she had many proofs before her marriage that Capt. T. was being moulded into a confirmed drunkard. I will give an incident in proof, which I personally witnessed. In September, 1865, I was at a large party given by Col. B. The night was so mild that one of the windows looking into the refreshment room was kept open during the night. Capt. T., of course, was one of the guests, and was most of the time either in Miss B.’s company or under her observation. Her unwittingly exercised surveillance had deprived the captain of a desired amount of stimulants, and while I was promenading with two ladies in front of the (in the vulgar tongue) liquor room, Capt. T., while Miss B. was dancing with another gentleman, darted up to the liquor table, filled a beer goblet with brandy and drank it off like so much water. The result of the drink was that he had to be slipped out of the large room into a private room in an intoxicated state. The reader ueed not wonder that I so emphatically BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 315 denounce fashionable dancing parties as tending to lead young men into drinking habits. I have had many opportunities of observing and know “whereof I speak.” Some months elapsed before the time appointed for the marriage of Capt. T. and Miss B., and during that period the circle in which they moved devised many plans to keep in the good graces of the wealthy cap- tain and his intended bride. The inevitable excursion, pic-nic, boating and driving parties, as well as many private parties, were the order of the season, and at all of these the captain indulged so freely in liquor that many sincere friends of the colonel’s wondered that he did not object to a continuance of his daughter’s engagement with a man who was seldom really sober, but the prospect of his daughter getting a large for- tune was set down as the cause. The captain was sufnmoned by cable to attend to some important busi- ness in Scotland, and after an absence of six weeks returned to H. bearing still more evident marks of dissipation, whereupon Miss B. and her sisters remon- stated with him so strongly that he took offence and it was thought the engagement was about to end. The little “unpleasantness” was, however, smoothed dowm but, unfortunately for Miss B., not on the condition that the captain should indulge in liquor less freely. There is one trait that often becomes apparent in woman’s noble character which, I modestly venture to say, deserves condemnation. Who has not seen young, handsome and educated ladies sacrificing themselves to old age, wealth, and, alas ! dissipated men of position, 316 rum’s gallery. in none of whom existed the conditions necessary to render married life happy ? If ladies of this type possess the refined sensibilities and capacities to appreciate the beautiful and dislike the repugnant, as well as the strong affections attributed to their sex, they must have, with these gifts, an extraordinary power to control them. That Miss B. was much attached to Capt. T. few had any doubt, and I may also say that few had any doubt that her strong practical common sense clearly pointed out to her the follv of taking him for a husband. He continued to practise dissipation to such an extent up to the time of marriage that her friends could only find two probable reasons for her consenting to marry him at all. They said she must either cherish the hope that he would reform after his marriage, or that she was cooly sacrificing herself to position and wealth. Whatever her motives were she married him at the appointed time, and the number of people that assem- bled in C. church was the largest ever seen on a nup- tial occasion in that church. The captain looked well, apart from his marks of dissipation, and bore himself in the ceremony and at the wedding breakfast as a gentleman can do. It had all along been understood between him and the B. family that immediately after his marriage he would leave for Scotland, where he expected to turn all his property into money and return again to Canada. Accordingly the wedded pair left H. amid the lavishly expressed wishes of their many friends for their future happiness, but coupled with the wishes that were really sincere were many anxious doubts that the wishes would never be realized. BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 317 On Mrs. Capt.^T.’s arrival in Scotland she wrote to her parents and sisters glowing accounts of the hearty welcome she received from some of her husband’s friends, and the richness of his property, but she curiously, to them, omitted making any mention of the Captain’s brothers or sisters, or of the reception she had received from them. It afterwards became known that, prior to the captain’s leaving for Canada, his family had assisted in bringing about an engagement between him and a wealthy Scotch lady, but that she had, on account of his habits, broken it off. His family had never given up hopes of the engagement being renewed, and when he returned with his bride they very wrongfully regarded her as the sole cause of their disappointment, and gave her a rather chilling recep- tion. Mrs. T. did not for some time learn the cause of her husband’s friends treating her with so much cool- ness, and took to heart the thought that they considered her much beneath them in family position, education, etc., and allowed herself to be made very unhappy thereby. She was, however, much delighted to learn that he would soon be in a position to leave with all his means, and take up his final residence in Canada. After an absence of two months the people of H. were much surprised by the return of Captain and Mrs. T., who had given no intimation of coming home in so short a time, it being generally thought that they would be absent six months. The captain bore more evident marks of constant drinking, and in his wife’s face was a settled expression of sorrow and disappoint- ment ; but she had, I believe, even before her marriage, 318 rum’s gallery. made up her mind to endure anything for the sake of being the wife of the wealthy and handsome Capt. T. A vain ambition, however, seldom correctly estimates the cost of the bubbles which promise it gratification, and now she found that to be the wife of Capt. T. was only to have plenty of money, and lacking almost everything else that was needed to make her happy. To seek happiness in one constituent element, while all its other necessary elements are absent, is certain folly, and it has ever been a principle that what is lost will be more thought about than what is possessed. I have sat in the homes of women who, before their marriage, stated that they were going to marry a man solely for his wealth, and there saw everything to make them happy that money could buy, but that which money could not buy was absent, and the proofs were unmistakable that they were not happy. Mrs. Capt. T., a few months after her marriage, was just in the position I describe. In her home there was not a necessary or a luxury wanting ; throughout the entire furnishing of the home was done regardless of expense, so far as a Canadian city would admit of. The library contained a very large selection of books suited to almost every taste, and the outside equip- ments in horses, carriages and grounds were in keeping with the inside ; but where was the thoughtful, atten- tive, interesting, affectionate, respectable heart com- panion— where was the husband ? ' No one doubted, least of all Mrs. T., that the captain by nature and early education possessed at one time all the qualities BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 319 necessary to make a good husband, but they had been consumed on the altar of strong drink. There was one peculiarity about the captain’s habits: he rarely, unless while travelling, visited drinking resorts, and never practised gambling or any of the sporting vices, but his house was never without a plentiful supply of all kinds of liquors. There, in his home, he delighted to gather in companions and drink to his heart’s content, or, I might more truthfully say, his heart’s sorrow. Fortunately for Mrs. T., he was one of those rare specimens of drinking men who sel- dom have their good humour destroyed by liquor, and if his company and attentions to her were not of the most agreeable and refined type, the absence of ill- humour made them more agreeable than ordinary under similar circumstances ; but she soon found that she was doomed to spend most of her time without her husband’s company. J., the brewery capitalist, whose sketch I have already given my readers, was in the zenith of his social glory in H. at the time of Capt. T.’s marriage, and the two, together with a number of others akin in habits, spent much time together, and generally of an evening the greater part of their little company would be in a condition which made them undesirable companions for ladies. T.’s associates often tried to induce him to engage in gambling and various sports, but never succeeded in any degree. The truth was, his long continued habit of drinking had rendered him incapable of being excited by anything but liquor, and that had partially lost its power to do more than 320 hum's GALLERY. give him a kind of quiet, comfortable feeling while its effects upon him lasted. At the end of three years, after Capt. T. completed his home in H., both he and his wife were anxious to move away from a community in which he had sunk low down through his besottedness, and seeing a desirable property, near to the city of D., advertised for sale, went to examine the villa, and before they returned purchased it. I happened to be at the station when they returned, and remember well seeing the poor fellow helped from the car, while Mrs. T. drew her veil and followed in company with her brother, who had come to meet her and learn what they had done about the property in D. The captain and his wife lost no time in setting men at work to prepare all their valuable furniture for removal, and left the town without giving any farewell party, or receiving any significant mark of respect from their once large circle of friends. Mrs. T. had for months ceased, as far as possible, from visiting or receiving visitors, because for her to bring friends to her home was only too sure a way to court grief by making an exhibition of her daily condition, which state of things had caused them to drop out of their former circle, and in part accounted for their quiet departure from H. Mrs. T., on leaving the place and friends who had been so dear to her from childhood, placed a different estimate on money as a main element in matchmaking, to what she had done some years before. Her first sorrow she had met in Scotland a few weeks afte BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 321 marriage, and from that time to the day of her leav- ing her native town she had not enjoyed one day’s solid happiness, and saw no prospect of any in the future. The fact that Capt. T. had purchased and paid cash for such a beautiful and valuable property in the suburbs of D., and that he was a retired army officer^ flashed around D. “ society,” and caused some of the members of that peculiar institution to hope that it was about to receive a valuable addition to its member- ship. A rumor had passed current that the captain had not conducted himself as became a gentleman when he visited D. to purchase the villa, but that was entirely outweighed by his reported wealth and posi- tion. The workmen who had been employed to pre- pare the captain’s new residence reported the rich qualities of all the furniture, etc., which had arrived from H., and everything seemed to corroborate the first reports of his wealth, and the desirability of forming the acquaintance of Captain and Mrs. T. On the afternoon that they were expected to arrive, a large number of ladies wished to “ see friends ” at the station, and on going there were surprised that all had come on the same pretence. The train bearing the expected couple duly arrived and the spies were ready to receive their first impression and “report the land,” but judge of their surprise when they saw a lady, answering the description of Mrs. T., step into the ladies’ waiting room alone, and a few minutes later an intoxicated m an helped into the next room by the conductor. Some of the “ spies ” ventured to enter the waiting 322 rum’s gallery. room, and returned bringing with them a very un- favorable report. Mrs. T. engaged a cab, requesting the driver to wait until she was ready to go, which was not until all the spies had dispersed. In anticipation of representative callers from the families of the circle likely to cultivate the captain’s acquaintance, Mrs. T. urged him to prepare for making as favorable an impression upon them as possible, but like most men under similar circumstances he thought there was nothing lacking in him to ac- complish that purpose, and made no effort to moderate his drinking habits. When the representatives began to call he was always found in his usual condition, and sometimes a little more so. The offer of liquor, in his estimation, being an indispensable courtesy, and a guest’s capacity to take it a mark of congenial fitness for friendship, he had callers both willing and able to help him on to the “ more so.” It was soon almost unanimously decided by the circle that Capt. T. was a gentleman, his wife a lady, and that they should receive a ticket of full membership into their set. Some remarked that it was true the captain had a trifling weakness for liquor, but that they rather re- garded as a distinguishing mark of gentle breeding. Mrs. T. soon found among her new lady friends many whom she believed were sincerely anxious to make her happy, and some she well knew that sym- pathized with her on account of her husband’s faults, though they never expressed it in words. In fact, some of them had too well learned to sympathize with her through their own experience. BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 323 The inevitable invitations to small and great parties soon began to pour in upon Captain and Mrs. T., and the inevitable results soon began to rapidly show upon the captain. From the first to the last party of the season he never returned home in a sober state, and was often brought home in a helpless condition, but still he was so good-natured and considerate in the midst of his cups that he never offended any one, and was much pitied by all right-thinking persons. At all the social gatherings he spent as little time as possible in the company of ladies, always preferring to select a few gentlemen who, like himself, enjoyed their cups in a more private room than the one occupied by the company. I need not say that it was impossible for Mrs. T. to find any pleasure in parties, with a husband who con- ducted himself as the captain* did, both at home and abroad, and while he was fast losing his health, and severely testing the toleration that had been exercised towards him in the “ circle,” she was beginning to lose hers through the heart-sorrow and almost daily humili- ations she had to endure. After a year’s residence in D.,the captain was so much reduced mentally and physically by constant drinking that he and Mrs. T. were seldom invited to visit any of the families in the circle. She would not visit alone, and the families did not wish to subject her to the humiliation that his presence and behaviour caused her in company, and besides, some of the circle had been freely talked of for inviting their friends to meet a man on a social level who was now never sober. Reader, just for a moment think of what liquor has 324 RUM S GALLERY. reduced the captain to within but a few years. Six years before, a more gentlemanly, entertaining, and intelligent man could scarcely be found; now those who would tolerate his faults and imbecility dare not invite their friends to meet him, and his wife is cast off from the society she had always prized too highly; in short, confined to comparative solitude in her home, for although her husband is there, he is no company for anybody. Poor woman, in youth her heart had longed for wealth, a grand home, richly furnished, and all other desirable things that money could buy, but now there was nothing left to her that could afford her happiness. The captain had never been a spendthrift, and was yet possessed of much money ; everything about her home suited her good taste, but her husband was a disgraced outcast from society — a besotted drunkard, pitied it is true by many, but pity under the circumstances only caused her pain, because it was her husband’s disgrace that called forth that pity. When captain and Mrs. T. ceased to appear in com- pany he kept for a time pretty close to his home, spending most of his time with a boon companion who visited him every day and often remaining over night, and in a short time left the management of everything about the place to his wife and servants. About this time he called in a lawyer, and having no family, be- queathed to Mrs. T. all his money and property, after doing which he drank to greater excess than ever. Mrs. T. endeavored to warn and advise him, and, as & last resource, spoke to a minister, requesting him to use his influence to dissuade her husband from his BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 325 suicidal course, but the minister could do nothing with him. His end was drawing near, but he did not know it, or was so blunted in all his sensibilities that warn- ings, entreaties and advice were treated by him with indifference. Mrs. T.’s mother was taken suddenly ill and tele- graphed to her daughter to hasten to her old home. A friend of hers told me that Mrs. T. afterwards related to her that when she parted with her husband to visit her mother she had a fear that something would hap- pen to him before her return, and left his room with the crushing thought that she would never again see him alive, but he would not listen to the thought of her not personally responding to her mother’s request. When Mrs. T. reached her mother she was told by the physician that she could not long survive the sud- den and severe attack, and telegraphed the news to her husband, who at once answered, telling his wife to re- main until the worst was over. He did not say any- thing about joining her at her mother’s, and Mrs. T. well knew that he was not in a fit condition to ask him to do so. Eight days after Mrs. T. left her home she was handed a letter, and on taking it from the young oper- ator’s hand turned pale and hesitated to open it, but recovered from her fears and read what was, in one sense, not a great surprise : “ Captain T. died this mornino- at three o’clock ; what shall I do about ar- ranging matters ? J> The telegram was from the late captain’s trusted servant, whom he had brought with him from Scotland, and Mrs. T. cabled to him to place 326 rum’s gallery. all in the hands of a certain undertaker, and that she would at once return home. Her mother was in a low condition, and to her a knowledge of the captain’s death was not communicated, but some reason was given her to account for her daughter’s sudden depar- ture. On her return to D. she learned that three days after she had left the captain he began to act in a manner that the servants could not understand, but would not allow her to be sent for. Later on he be- came so terrified that two of them had to remain con- stantly with him until, through apparent exhaustion, he sank into a quiet sleep. After remaining in that con- dition for several hours he seemed to awake, and mentioned his wife’s name several times, but sank into what the servants thought was sleep, but it was that comatose state which often precedes death. The whole truth is, Captain T.’s immediate cause of death was delirium tremens. To make Mrs. T.’s position more painful, on the evening of the same day on which her husband was buried, she received a message that her mother had died that afternoon. She charged the servants to look carefully after her home until she re- turned, and on the first morning after her husband’s funeral left D. to look, for the last time, on all that was mortal of her mother. In less than seven years from the time of her marriage, and within four days of each other, she participated in the sad services of a hus- band’s and a mother’s burial, and was left a lonely widow. I cannot trace her history farther than from a short time after Captain T.’s death, when she disposed BLIGHTED MATRIMONIAL HOPES. 327 of all her property and went to reside in a large American city. Will my readers endeavor to make a computation of the amount of suffering entailed by liquor upon the persons whom I have brought before them in this life sketch ! CHAPTER XXI Y. MA TRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED , NO. 2 . § N a town east of Toronto there resided a wealthy Scotchman who had retired from business in Paisley, Scotland, and settled in Canada, mainly ' * in hopes of restoring his wife’s delicate health. His children, three sons and two daughters, were given a good education in their native land, and the young- est of the family, a son, was twelve years old when they landed in the country, most of the older children being well grown up. The youngest daughter, Jennie, was a clever, handsome girl, full of life and spirit, and had more than a slight touch of romance in her nature, something not very common in Scotch ladies. After the family had been in the town of W. two years Mr. F., I shall call the father of the family, learned that an old country friend of his had been living in the town of I., west of Hamilton, for twenty years, and he and his favorite daughter Jennie re- solved to pay the old friend (Mr. S.) and his family a MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 329 visit. A right hearty reception was given the father and daughter, and when Mr. F. fixed a time for his return to the S. family, all joined in urging him to leave his daughter with them for a part of the sum- mer. Jennie was then not quite eighteen, and Mr. F. rather reluctantly consented to her staying, and would not have done so had he not felt fully assured that her interests would be well guarded by the family of his old tried friend. Mr. S. had been in the mercantile business in I. for many years, and built up a steady, sure trade, by which he was placed in easy circumstances ; his two sons had been educated for professional callings, so that he attended to the management of his business by the assistance of persons outside his own family. His head clerk and bookkeeper was the son of a Mr. H., a Scotchman, who had up to advanced years trained his family as staunch Presbyterians usually do, but to the surprise of all who knew him suddenly swallowed the entire theological text-book of a peculiar sect, and became an earnest teacher of their peculiar doctrine. He had sufficient means to provide his sons with money to give them a good start in the world, but the fact that none of them would adopt their father’s new found faith led to feelings so bitter between him and his sons that he refused to do anything for them, and they all left him to do for themselves. Mr. H., Berean-like, “ searched the Scriptures daily,” but evidently with the design of finding proofs of his pet theory, and in two years had drifted into a kind of semi-infidelity, holding fast to texts that suited his 22 330 rum’s gallery. purpose and throwing aside those that did not. The final result was that he became an absolute disbeliever of the divine inspiration of the Bible, which led him to indulge immoralities that caused an entire separa- tion between himself and all his family and the squan- dering of his means. C., H.’s eldest son, obtained a good situation in the establishment of S., and proved to be very efficient in his position, but apart from that he lacked an inde- finable something that prevented him gaining the real friendship or confidence of any one in social life. For all this, it was generally admitted that he was the best- looking young man in town, a fact that he was well aware of himself, and endeavored to make the most of by spending much of his earnings on good clothes. Mr. S. did not object to any of his employees taking a glass of liquor so long as they did not indulge to an extent that he thought too freely, and he had all along been aware that C. occasionally drank with his friends, but he had never seen him the worse of liquor, as he termed it. Slyness, sometimes called “ always keeping within his shell,” was one of the traits in C.’s character which made him unpopular outside his place of business, and the truth was, very few in the town knew much about the man or his habits. The first time Miss. S. went into her father’s store in company with her friend Jennie, she gave C. an in- troduction to her, and in speaking of it long after- wards said that she never before saw him moved so far out of his shell. If she had been in possession of MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 331 our present corrupted English vocabulary she would probably have said that C. “ was badly mashed.” He was “ smitten at first sight,” but his cunning instantly dictated to him the prudence of concealment before Miss. S., for he well knew that the whole S. family would at once put a stop to advances made by him to the friend left in their charge, but he had the main point in his favor : Jennie was also impressed at first sight, and practised the same concealment that C. did and for the same reasons. A systematic plan was soon arranged between C. and Jennie for holding brief secret interviews, which soon brought about a marriage engagement, Jennie insisting on first asking her parents’ consent, but at the same time positively declaring that she would marry C. with or without their consent. It has often been noticed how young ladies who, before forming a clandestine matrimonial plot, were never known to practise deceit or falsehood, have suddenly become adepts in both. In the S. family Jennie had a broad foundation laid for making any impression upon them she might wish, because she had their unbounded con- fidence, and, in fact, up to the time of her meeting C. had never deceived them ; but I suppose she had read “ that all is fair in love and war,” and decided to act upon it. A written correspondence was kept up be- tween the two lovers, but not through the post office proper, they having selected for one a little receptacle in M[r. S.’s lawn fence, where a letter might lie un- noticed for weeks. Through their written correspond- ence they had all the details of their intended 332 rum’s gallery. marriage arranged, and made calculations to overcome every contingency that might arise to prevent it, chief among which, was a well arranged scheme of elope- ment. It may safely be stated that they spent more time and thought on their plans for elopement than they did on their marriage by parental consent, because elopement under the circumstances was the most probable contingency. When Miss F. wrote to her parents she wore a pair of lover’s spectacles and described C. as belonging to a wealthy family, good, handsome, clever and the trusted manager of their old friend’s business, also that he was about to commence business on a large scale in a town farther west than I. The spectacles she wore revealed not “a spot or wrinkle or any such thing” in C.’s character or circumstances, and she begged her parents not to make known to the S. family the substance of her letter, telling them that the S. family were preju- diced against C. without any just reason. About the time Jennie wrote to her father and mother, C. obtained leave of absence from Mr. S. ostensibly to attend to some private business — a statement that soon proved true — and had gone east to Toronto, though at the time the S.’s were not aware of the fact. After Jennie wrote to her parents a return mail brought from them a letter to I., but it was not for her but for Mr. S., demanding why it was that their daughter had been allowed to form an attachment for one of his clerks ? at the same time making full enquiries about the man, and requesting that J ennie be sent home at once. (The MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 333 reader may now get a first glimpse of the lovers cun- ningly laid plan.) Jennie was, of course, called to account for the revelations of her father’s letter and acknowledged the whole truth, but pretended acquies- cence in what she called her parents’ cruel decision. Mr. S. wrote her father declaring that not one of his family had the slightest knowledge of Jennie’s attach- ment for C. until they learned it from his letter and that she was preparing to leave for home. Jennie left I. apparently much grieved that her first love had been so suddenly thwarted, but the grief she felt was that caused by the deception she had practised on sincere friends and the sorrow she was about to cause the best of parents. One change of cars brought her to Toronto, where, as the reader has no doubt anticipated, she met C. by pre-arrangement. They were married within two hours after Jennie left the train, and she wrote by the evening mail to her parents stating the step she had taken, begging them to rest assured that they would never have cause to regret it if they would but become reconciled to the match. The grief and anger of Mr. F., on receiving his hitherto favorite daughter’s letter, was intense, and culminated in a few fierce lines to his daughter com- manding her never to let him see her face or send him another line. That decree of her father was handed to her by a waiter at her second dinner after marriage, and was a dessert that she has never forgotten. Some Scotchmen are said to hold very positive views on the subject of “sovereign decrees, ’’and when they pronounce a decree on a son or a daughter, or anybody else, 334 rum’s gallery. that decree is generally as unalterable as the sovereign decrees they are said to hold so positively in matters of theology. There was but a small sum of C.’s salary due him when he left I., and when he saw that there was no hope of a reconciliation between his wife and her father he wrote to Mr. S. feeling his way for reinstatement in his old positipn. Mr. S. had for some time tried to suppress an abiding suspicion that C. was in some way acting dishonestly little by little, and after seeing the deep cunning he had practised with Miss F., set about making a thorough investigation, but while his suspicion was confirmed, he could not bring any direct charge against him. In reply to C.’s letter he strongly accused him of falsehood and base deception, referred to the trouble he had created between the two friendly families, and plainly told him that he could not on any account occupy his former position. The young couple, after their marriage, had stopped at the most expensive hotel in Toronto, and they were fast reaching the bot- tom of their limited purse ; C. had no recommendation from any one, nor was he one likely to make a good push for himself in any direction. Mrs. C.’s troubles began in an early part of the period usually allotted to honeymoons. Her father had not only determined to disown her himself, but had for- bidden every member of his family to hold correspond- ence with her, declaring that if any of them recognized his offending daughter in any way they would also be disowned by him. C. had grossly deceived her in leading her to believe before marriage that he was MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 335 possessed of means, and now she had to suffer the two- fold misery caused by poverty staring her in the face, and the loss of confidence in her husband. The two removed to a cheaper hotel, and C. began to look about for a situation, but failed to obtain one because he had no recommendation from his former employer, and was unable to satisfactorily explain his antecedents. Day after day he answered in person the “vacancies” adver- tised in the dailies, but always returned to his sorrowing young wife with the same story of ill success, and ere long she discovered an additional cause of sorrow. His natural and cultivated cunning had enabled him to hide the fact that for many years he constantly used liquor pretty freely, but in his own rooms and always when alone. Now the smouldering fire began to break out, and his wife was compelled to confess to herself that she had joined her fortunes with a useless deceiver and a drunkard. He seldom returned from his searches after a situation in a sober state, and in the evenings, although only married a few weeks, would actually spend most of his time either in the bar-room of his hotel, or in drinking resorts in the city. The unfortu- nate young wife began to despair ; look in whatever direction she might she saw no grounds for hope, but rather poverty with its attendant misery, and she, it seemed to her, utterly incapable of helping herself. When she saw beyond a doubt that her husband was daily drinking to excess, she entreated and begged him to think of the ruin he was bringing upon them both, but it had no good effect. All the money she had was about fifty dollars saved out of the sum given her by 336 RUM S GALLERY. her father for her expenses while visiting at I., and C.’s funds were reduced to even a smaller amount. To think of writing or returning to her father’s home she knew would be useless, and her husband’s prospects of any assistance from his friends were no brighter. Had she made known to the S. family her real condition they would, at the risk of incurring her father’s lasting displeasure, given her a hearty welcome back, but she could not endure the thought of letting them know of the misery she had so persistently brought upon herself. Mrs. C. had been taught religion from her youth, but up to the time of her misery had never seriously thought of trusting in God and His providence, and now it seemed to her that there was little hope in trying to trust in Him after all her perverse plans had failed her, but she did earnestly pray for forgiveness and tried to resign herself to whatever might be the result. On a certain morning in the ladies’ parlor she was sitting alone, and weeping over her gloomy prospects when a lady from the town of W. entered and said to her, after seating herself, “ What is the matter, my dear woman ?” There was something about the lady which at once secured Mrs. C.’s confidence and she told her whole story, concealing only her husband’s unsteady habits. The lady’s husband carried on a large general store in W., and one of his clerks was about to leave to fill an engagement in the States which would cause a vacancy, and her sympathies had been so aroused that she seemed determined to give Mrs. C.’s husband a chance. Mrs. C., with much forethought, did not make MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 337 an arrangement for an interview with her husband until the next day, when she determined that he should be in a condition to make a favorable impression upon the lady. When C. came in that evening he seemed much discouraged and showed but little signs of liquor. He had been offered a situation that implied very hard work and one much lower in position than his former one with Mr. L., but he had felt compelled by his urgent circumstances to accept it, on final conditions to be arranged the next day. His wife’s reception indi- cated her more hopeful state of feeling and somewhat raised his drooping spirits. She at once made known to him the particulars of her meeting with the lady from W., and the probability of him obtaining a good situation, urging him to use his best endeavors to secure it. He promised and remained in his rooms until the hour appointed for an interview by the lady. The meeting ended in his receiving the offer of a fair salary on condition of his filling the vacancy at once; he agreed to do so, and obtained a release from the man with whom he had been negotiating on the previous day. On the morning after C.’s engagement he, his wife and the lady, Mrs. M., left Toronto for W., and well it was for the C.’s, for their united purses contained little more than enough to carry them to their new destina- tion. On their arrival in W. Mr. M. ratified his wife’s agreement with C. and placed him in the establishment on the second day after his arrival, and secured for Mr. and Mrs. C. board and rooms in a respect- able private boarding house. On ascertaining that his new clerk was an experienced bookkeeper M. 338 rum’s gallery. employed him most of the time at his books, there being at that time a large credit business done in country towns. C, had solemnly promised his wife that he would abstain from liquor, and he really did become a miracle of self-denial for a period of several months, during which time he gave Mr. M. muoh satis- faction, and became more popular with the people of W. than he had been in the town of I. Mrs. C. became more cheerful and hopeful, but her position and circum- stances were so changed that it was not difficult to discover the stamp of a secret sorrow in her face. In addition to the abiding dread she had of her husband some day falling, there was the aching sorrow caused by her being cut off from every blood relative she had in the world. If a young lady marries a really worthy man, contrary to the wishes of her parents, she may find in him compensation for the loss of all other friendships ; but when a lady marries a man under the disapproval of her family and afterwards discovers that she has been deceived, her case is sad indeed. When C. had been a year in Mr. M.’s store his salary was raised, and having saved some money was able to rent and furnish a comfortable house for his wife. Some weeks after entering her new home Mrs. C. became the mother of a fine boy, whose presence seemed to inspire his father with an increased determination to do all in his power to make her comfortable ; but unfortunately his prosperity and his joys, as has been the case in thousands of instances, led him to again indulge in liquor which ended in a few days in a full break out. Mrs. C. was not able to leave her house, MATRIMONIAL HOPES BLASTED. 339 but sent for Mrs. M. and obtained the promise of her influence to avert C.’s discharge from the store. He had become to Mr. M. a very useful man, and was restored after about a week to his position, with a severe reprimand and an ominous caution. He remained faithful for six months when he again broke out and was again restored on account of the deep sympathy that Mr. M. and his wife felt for the young mother and child. I will not tire the reader by giving the details of C.’s life for a period of about eleven years. Mr. M. bore with him until he had been in his service, off* and on, five years, when he was finally obliged to discharge him. After being discharged he remained in W. leading his wife and children, (they had altogether five chil- dren,) a miserable life, until he was unable to get any- thing to do, when he removed to one of the lake ports and began a sailor’s life. Long before Mrs. C. left W. she was obliged to work at anything she could get to do, in order to provide herself and children with scanty food and clothing, and when her husband was sailing, or spending his money at home on a sailor’s spree, I have often seen her returning from a day’s washing or scrubbing scarcely able to walk. As the boys grew up to the ages of ten or twelve, and could do anything for themselves they proved to be “ chips of the old block,” and left their mother to live or die without their help. On one of C.’s voyages, the schooner in which he sailed was driven on a sandbar in a storm daring the night. When the morning dawned the storm was still raging, but the vessel being but a short distance from 340 rum's gallery. land it was thought that a well-manned lifeboat could reach the shore. C. entered the lifeboat and from some cause lost his balance and was carried off by a wave and never found. After her husband’s death, Mrs. C. continued the struggle for decent life a year or two when she became discouraged, entered upon an immoral course of life, and now while I write she and her only daughter are together inmates of a disreputable house in a Cana- dian city. Some reader may truthfully say that liqour did not produce all the sad facts in the history of the unfortunate pair, but it must be admitted that while other causes operated to degrade and destroy C.’s character, there was none more potent in its effect upon him than it was. Every parent should learn a lesson from the effect that Mr. F.’s conduct towards his erring daughter pro- duced upon her. C.’s sly, deceitful, and false nature was not the kind of stuff that drunkards are usually made out of, and there never was much ground for hope that he would make a good husband ; but had Mr. F. shown the forgiving spirit that a father should exhibit towards an erring child, his daughter might have been saved from a life of misery and criminal shame. CHAPTER XXY. DELIRIUM TREMENS. ELIRITJM tremens, by those who have seen a person suffering from an attack, is cor- rectly regarded as one of the most terrible calamities which can befall a human being. The whole system is disordered and in a complete state of unrest, the stomach abhors food and the victim is unable to obtain a minute’s sleep. Add to this physi- cal condition the fact that the mind is tortured with the most vivid conceptions of everything that may be truly called horrible — the distorted vision pictures the most fearful forms and figures in the simplest objects upon which it rests, and in all this ordeal the person suffers more from what imagination has pictured than if all was real ; because he has not the nervous force to bear what appears to him real, as would a person in a state of health. Within a period of twenty-five years I have waited upon several persons suffering from delirium tremens, DELIRIUM TREMENS. 343 and will endeavor to describe the ordeal through which some of them passed. It may be thought by some that a description so shocking in many of its details, as this must necessarily be, should not be given to the general reader, but it is no part of my purpose to hide any of the pictures so closely hung together in Rum’s Gallery. R. M. was, at the time my description begins, about thirty-five years old, and was what might be called a fine specimen of a man, both mentally and physically. He was also a man of good education and culture, and, apart from his business, had spent much time in literary pursuits, being at one time a very popular contributor to a continental magazine. As I learned from him, his first taste for liquor was acquired by being treated by his father and other rela- tives ; being, in fact, more or less accustomed to the use of liquor from early boyhood until the time of his going into business for himself. When he entered upon active responsible life, he was an adherent of a Church which, by the example of its membership and its own silence, encouraged the use of liquor at social gatherings and in private houses. The taste for liquor acquired in boy- hood did not require long under these fostering cir- cumstances, to ^develop into a passion, and the grati- fication of that passion in a short time became the leading motive of his life. I met with him as a fellow- boarder at my hotel in the town of H. His once prosperous business had run down, was sold by him at a sacrifice, and he was then living on what remained to him after paying off his debts. By the “ upper 344 rum’s gallery. class,” among whom he once shone, he was avoided, but there were quite a number of persons who, on ac- count of his cleverness and kind disposition, took a deep interest in him, but none could persuade him to abandon his habit of excessive drinking. About this time, after two weeks of excessive drinking, during which he had scarcely appeared at our table, he told me one evening that he was con- stantly haunted by various unpleasant scenes and sights. I did not know how to advise him or give him any proper treatment, not knowing at the time what was his trouble ; but feeling a deep interest in the man, I endeavored to divert his attention in vari- ous ways, but all to no purpose. I spent the whole night with him absolutely without sleep, and will en- deavor to describe his imaginings as he pictured them to me in rapid succession. His utterances were at times so rapid that no parliamentary reporter could transcribe them to paper. M.’s first illusion was that near by was an im- mensely large band which furnished music of the most delicate and exquisite tones, which he followed by humming and whistling as long as he thought the band continued to play. Then ^appeared before him a number of beautiful birds, to which he imagined he was giving food. Presently, though it was midwinter, the room was filled with butterflies about six inches long, and these in a short time, he said, were forming them- selves into battalions and divisions in the air intent on making war with another butterfly army in China. Then his finger pointed to a wall on which the light DELIRIUM TREMENS. 345 shone brightly, and he said, “ What a grand review the armies of Britain and France are holding to-day before their great contest.” A few moments later he thought the contest had commenced between the two armies, and continued to repeat the orders and names of the officers, point out the advance and bril- liant charge of this and that division, and finally the complete rout and annihilation of the entire French army. Then followed, in the imagination of the sufferer, a reproduction of the Lilliputians trying to effect the death of Gulliver. In this illusion the victim thought the strategic position of the Lilliputians was on the top of a washstand a little higher than the footboard of his bedstead, and that they were around with breech-loading cannons and rifles suited to their size, which, he said, was about three inches in length. I shall never forget the intense agony which the poor man seemed to endure when he thought the army of little people were preparing for the attack. True to the original text of “Gulliver’s Travels” he lay bound hand and foot, and as the time drew near for a simultaneous attack of cannon and rifles he shook from head to foot, the perspiration on his face glisten- ing in the light of the room. When he imagined the volley was fired upon him he gave a scream and a bound, which, he thought, severed the cables by which he thought he was held fast, and then lay for a short time completely exhausted. Then he began to im- agine that his whole body was penetrated by thousands of shot so small that they could not be extracted, but 23 346 rum’s gallery. would inevitably cause mortification of his whole system. By an effort on my part to convince him that all he saw and felt was an illusion, he became quiet for a time, after which new scenes presented themselves in his imagination. There were times when the sufferer did not attempt to describe what was no doubt in his mind and before his vision, therefore I can only relate what he gave utterance to. At such times he seemed to be speech- less with terror. After one of those silent periods he thought a door opened into another room, and that there stood grinning at him a fearful-looking being with a shovel in his hand. The figure said to him, ‘‘ I’ll give it to you now,” and began to throw into the room heaps of vermin with the shovel. The poor fel- low immediately jumped out of his bed weak and trembling, and shouted, “ They are on me, they are on me,” and ran about the room trying to rub the vermin off his body. All efforts to convince him that he was under an illusion failed until I took froip a bracket a bottle containing some harmless liquid, and rubbed some of it on his hands and face, which in a few mo- ments dispelled the illusion. Again, another door opened on what appeared to him an immensely large hall so dimly lighted that he could barely discover the outlines of some inhuman figures, though their countenances were lighted by a horrible glare of bluish light. One of those figures approached the door and, grinning at my charge, said, turning to the figure behind him, “We will test him on the snake question now.” The sufferer then thought that DELIRIUM TREMENS. 347 the “ horrid gang,” as he called them, disappeared, to return in a few moments bearing on their shoulders a monster snake, thirty feet in length, the eyes of which were flashing bluish beams of light, and its tongue shooting out like sunbeams. Then he thought they placed the snake over the footboard of his bed, the head coming up near to his chin and the tongues of fire surrounding his head. The man’s whole body shook and his face was a literal picture of despair. By this time I had discovered that the only way that I could assist him in bearing the dreadful shocks was to, in some way, impress on his mind that all he was under- going was entirely unreal, and had I not succeeded in doing so I believe he would have sank under the ordeal. As stated before, the time of the year was mid- winter, and I said to him, “ Did you ever know of snakes running about when the snow was two feet deep ?” The thought drove all his horrors away for about half an hour, when he gave a sudden shriek and said, “ There is the horrid crew again.” I repeated my reference to mid-winter and, strange to say, the man was able to lie comparatively calm and describe to me the awful imaginations which followed. The monster snake was again placed in its former position, and immediately there issued from its huge mouth thousands of little snakes, which crept under the bed-clothes, into the victim’s ears, nose and mouth, and finally a large snake curled itself around his neck and tried to choke him. Some hint of mine, which I now forget, put an end to this experience of the poor fellow only to change to another equally as tryin . 348 rum’s gallery. This time, as he declared, “ two cords of snakes piled like wood ” were placed with their heads close to the bedside, their fiery tongues reaching to his body. In the exercise of the thought which I had suggested to him, it was really surprising with what equanimity the man lay and described this scene. No one can estimate the amount of nervous force which was re- quired to bear up under it as he did. Time passed on and he seemed to grow weaker and less susceptible to the shocks which he sustained, but did not describe to me, until at last he closed his eyes and remained quiet for a quarter of an hour. Then with a loud moan he started up, and thought that two relatives of his, beautiful little children, to whom he was much attached, were placed along side of him in the bed. Close to them stood two unearthly-looking beings, each having a long sword in one hand and a goblet of liquor in the other, which they commanded him to drink. He refused and said, “ I will die first,” upon which they replied, “ You shall not die, but these children shall.” Then they placed the points of their swords within a few inches of the children, and held out the goblets to the .man, saying, “ Drink, or these swords shall pierce those children.” He turned his head, as he thought, to the children, and then to the fiends, a shudder passing over his whole frame and his countenance depicting the most intense agony that any mind can conceive. I again broke the spell in the manner before referred to, and quiet again for a while ensued, with signs of increasing prostration. For the space of about an hour my pitiable charge DELIRIUM TREMENS. 349 lay without speaking, but showing by frequent shud- ders that he was still suffering from his tormentors. After a while he began to make known again the fear- ful things he was enduring. He said he was in the midst of an immense crowd of demon-like creatures, every one of which was thrusting at him with deadly weapons, and casting upon him and around him pre- parations of the most destructive fire. During all these terrors he seemed, while he described them to me, to hold firmly the thought that all was delusion, showing only at times slight shocks. Had he not been able to ward his terrors off by this thought, I believe the man would have died under them. Though he passed through much more than I have attempted to picture, the worst trial came to him about an hour before day- light. In this awful conception he imagined and described himself carried through an intense darkness until he arrived on the shores of the infernal lake. There he stood and explained its awful and horrible proportions. The lake, he said, was boundless to the eye, because of the immense masses of smoke and flame which covered its surface ; the banks of it were thousands of feet above its surface, upon which nothing could be seen but Satan in his infernal craft, manned by his infernal crew. Satan and his crew he described as visible from the red and blue glare which surrounded them, and the noise of the machinery which propelled the craft through the liquid flame as sending forth an awful noise. By watching the sufferer’s eye I saw that the 350 rum’s gallery. idea of this dreadful noise was caused by the click of the clock in the room. The mental and physical agony which this poor man suffered for an hour, while he reviewed this, to him, terrible scene, no onlooker could tell, as all efforts on my part did not help him until I stopped the clock for a few seconds, which at once gave him relief. But his relief only lasted for a few minutes. Fixing his eyes on a stovepipe hole in the wall, he said about a dozen fiendish -looking colored men had made their way through it into the room for the purpose of taking his life, and were armed and concealed all around the room. I suggested to him to close his eyes upon every- thing around him, which he did, but instantly gave a groan and a shudder, and said he saw his murderers in hundreds. Further advising him to hold on to the “ anchor thought ” that all was a delusion, he remained for a considerable time evidently trying to sustain, as best he could, the repeated attempts of his colored murderers to take his life. About this time every article of clothing hanging in the room, every piece of furniture, seemed to him to assume a demoniac form — the pictures on the wall, the chairs and everything, began to nod and dance to him in derisive triumph over his approaching death. The windows were moving up and down, and in every space of the room were stationed armed demons with their indescribable weapons pointing at him to effect his end. He then sank into a state of complete prostra- tion, apparently un&ble to do more than view with his wild, glaring eyes all that he thought was passing be- DELIRIUM TREMENS. 351 fore him. In this state he lay until the dim light of the morning began to enter the room, when it seemed to me that the agents of Satan, if not Satan himself, had conspired to effect the man’s death. In a room across the hall was sleeping a female guest, who snored very loudly in her sleep. This noise ray charge construed into the wails of the lost. This, to him a fact, was taken as proof that he was again about to visit the terrible lake, and this time to be cast into it. No words addressed to him were noticed, and there he lay absorbed in the belief that in a mo- ment he would be launched into eternal perdition. In vain were my efforts to arouse him, and scarcely knowing what to do I raised the blind of the window. His eye caught me standing in the light of the window, which at once led him to realize his real position. I spoke kindly to him, and he answered me intelligently, but with a voice so weak and tremulous that I could scarcely understand what he said. He looked around him with as much surprise as we would suppose one would do after rising from the dead. The illusions which had haunted him throughout the whole night were all gone, but in what a terribly shattered condition they had left him. His clothing and the bed were literally wet with perspiration. On his asking for a drink I handed him a glass of water, but he could not raise it to his lips, and when I pro- cured for him some tea and toast, the moment he placed the toast in his mouth he thought it was a bunch of living insects, and with a shudder spat it out again. I explained to him the necessity of his trying 352 rum's gallery. to take food, and advised him to remember the “anchor thought,” which led him to actually place food and water in his mouth which he thought was filled with living insects. I am well convinced that had the man not been pos- sessed of extraordinary force of mind concentration, and used that power in holding on to the one idea, that all he saw and felt was a delusion, he would have become under his trials an uncontrollable maniac before the close of the night described. I fancy I hear some reader saying, these are shock- ing details. I admit they are, and that to continue them farther is not a congenial task, but I am impelled by a well tested conviction of duty, and will not shirk it. No pen can too highly color the awful condition of a man suffering from an attack of delirium tremens, and to my knowledge no one has ever done more in writing than touch on the subject. Having an office business to attend to I could not be much with my patient during the day, but learned from a person who waited with him that in my ab- sence he was but little troubled by his hallucinations. After getting some sleep I resolved to remain with him the second night, and on entering his room found him comparatively calm, but very weak and anxious to have my company and to engage in conversation. He had neither eaten nor slept from the time I left him in the morning. I engaged him in the most cheerful conversation possible for me, and until about ten o’clock I thought he had tided over the worst, but at that time he began to look with a startled gaze upon DELIRIUM TREMENS. 353 the walls and ceiling of the room, more particularly into every part of the room where the light did not reveal every object clearly. I did not disturb him with any enquiries, but tried to keep him as quiet as possible. In this I succeeded but for a short time, when he suddenly started and said, “ I’m in for an- other night of it.” I at once told him that, no matter what was presented to him in thought or vision, to fight against it, as it was all unreal. He said he knew it was, but asked me “What can I do ? Here are before me numerous queer figures flitting from one place to another, some of them natural, and some of them supernatural.” For about three hours he continued to describe, sometimes with delight and laughter, the panorama which passed before him, when suddenly he turned his head and boisterously ordered a person out of the room, and, as he thought, closed the door upon the intruder. A short time elapsed, and a huge crea- ture had opened one of the windows and entered the room with several others of his kind. My plan of dis- pelling his illusions in this instance failed, and he said, “ I have just been given a ‘spirit perception and a spirit touch,” and it is you that is mistaken about these things. These huge creatures are visible to me, but you cannot see them until you receive this new gift.” Of course I saw that what I have called “ the anchor thought ” had lost its power, and he was at the mercy of his own tormenting imaginations, fully believing that he had received a gift of perception in all things far above what I possessed. For a time he acted as though unconscious of my 854 bum’s gallery. presence, battling with the monsters who were crowd- ing around his bed, shuddering and groaning as they made their attacks upon him. Then, as he had done the first night, he lay prostrated, seeming only able to stare with trembling at what he saw. I tried to arouse him, but for two hours he remained uttering only groans, when he again recognized me and I was again able to dispel his horrors. I gave him his medicine and kept his mind from fear for a long time until he requested me to give him a pipe which was in his coat pocket. As soon as he saw the smoke he shuddered and threw the pipe across the room, declaring that the smoke “ was full of imps and snakes,” which, he thought, were flying in every direction about. After a long period of suffering from this he became more calm, and talked quite sensibly about his condition, admitting that he was only tor- tured by imagination. The next ordeal through which he passed was not a hallucination of the vision, but a strange mental phenomena. He said to me afterwards that in all his recollections of his sufferings there was nothing so distressing to him as what he called “ the argumenta- tive test.” In this test he asserted that no matter how fully he was convinced of any fact, there would imme- diately arise another apparent fact to more than coun- terbalance it. Placing his fingers on his pulse he said “ Dr.—— told Mr. that I have an attack of the' ‘ blues,’ but that there is every chance of my recovery ; but the same doctor told Mr. So-and-so that one out of every ten do not recover from an attack of the same DELIRIUM TREMENS. 355 kind. “Now,” he said, “my pulse is almost gone, I am scarcely able to move my hand, and I must shortly die.” I felt his pulse and tried to assure him that there was nothing in his condition to indicate immediate danger- In answer to me he said, “Well, but Satan has received a commission to destroy my life and he is going to do it, and take me into his craft on that horrid lake.” I reminded him that there was One greater than Satan, to which he replied, “Do you not remember what God commissioned Satan to do with Job and his family?” I argued that Satan was not allowed to take Job’s life. To this he answered, “ I belong to Satan, and he has claimed me and I must obey him.” Knowing the sometimes fatal effect of a fixed belief on the mind of patients that they really had to die at a certain time, I used every means to drive away this idea from the sufferer’s thoughts, but even when I succeeded in doing this, fresh arguments would arise in his own mind and answers to them, which more and more confirmed him in the belief that he must die ; and I must say here that he never reasoned so clearly before. The appalling thought continued to increase in inten- sity, until he thought the messengers of Satan had arrived in the room to take him. At this time the poor man presented a personification of inexpressible horror that no pen can depict. Starting every few moments as he thought one or the other of the fiends approached him, and holding on to my arm for protec- tion, he threw himself about in the bed until he was unab le any longer to move. In this state he seemed to suffer even more than when he was able to move, 356 rum’s gallery. and I became so alarmed that I thought the repeated shocks would cause death. I spoke to him several times without his taking any notice of me, when I thought of the lines which have in thousands of less extraordinary cases put Satan to flight, and repeated them — Jesus ! the name high over all, In hell, or earth, or sky ; Angels and men before it fall, And devils fear and fly. The last word of these lines had scarcely been spoken before every horror was gone from the victim, and he was fully sensible, but so weak that I could only hear him speak in a whisper. I offer no positive opinion or explanation by what power or influence the sudden change was effected in the sufferer’s condi- tion, but simply state what actually occurred. It is true I have termed the ordeal through which the man was passing — a conflict with Satan — and neednotadduce arguments to convince Bible readers and Bible believ- ers that Satan has a limited power over men on the earth ; and from the second night I spent with M., and others whom I have since seen suffering from the same cause, I have never had any doubt that Satan puts forth his utmost efforts in such cases to kill the body that he may get the soul. The student of medicine and collateral sciences may explain the functional nervous derangements which produce so many of the phenomenal conditions of delirium tremens , but in all the severe cases I have known there were at times a class of terrors present DELIRIlfM TREMENS. 357 which are not met with in what I may call ordinary cases of insanity, and which could not be accounted for by any inherent capacity of the mind, whether in a normal or abnormal state. Why not, then, venture the thought that Satan does exercise a direct influence on the victim of delirium tremens ? I am aware that this statement may cause surprise, but I think careful examination will convince that I have grounds for my opinion. I need not further fully describe all the horrors through which M. passed in five days and five nights ; the greater part of each night I was present with him and saw him suffer either a repetition of what I have described, or other terrors still more severe. Before the dawn of day on the second morning that I was with him, I believe if any man ever had a fore- taste of the infernal regions I believe this man had. On recovering from one of his fits of prostration he thought himself in the midst of blue flames and sur- rounded by evil spirits, who were throwing upon him a kind of blue lava, which, with shrieks and screams, he went through the motions of stripping off his body in large sheets, as he thought it cooled. To this torture succeeded others until after daylight, when he suffered less throughout the day ; but, as already stated, did not begin to recover until the close of the fifth day. Dur- ing the whole of the time he suffered from the attack he was absolutely without sleep, and almost entirely unable to partake of any kind of nourishment. When his mental tortures were gone he was so weak that he had to be lifted by others and food given to him like 358 rum’s gallery. a child. Having a good constitution he recovered in a few weeks. I saw him in a western town a few years ago, and he told me that from the time of his recovery he had never tasted liquor. Upon my con- ceiving the idea of publishing this little book I corres- ponded with him, and have his full approval of all that I have written descriptive of his case. He is now a useful, prosperous man, and, as he says of himself, a miracle of physical endurance, but more of God’s love and mercy. I ask the reader to mark the end of another case of delirium tremens, the victim being at one time a near neighbor of mine. O. was a strong, healthy and happy farmer’s son — happy but for having a passion to make money rapid- ly, and to accomplish his end made choice of the liquor business, and to all appearance almost at once began to realize his hopes, but in less than two years was caught in the meshes of his own net, and died an awful death. After suffering for days and nights similar tortures to those described in M.’s case, the man breathed his last (as his last words stated) surrounded by Satan’s imps. While he could hiss a whisper or raise his hand he made efforts to drive away the fiends, and when both powers failed he died amid those ter- rors. Upon such a death I can do nothing better than leave the reader to reflect. But such deaths are occur- ring all over the “ civilized world ” every day, through liquor. What a misnomer it seems to call that portion of the earth civilized where drunkenness and its evils prevail most, and yet “high state of civilization” is the DELIRIUM TREMENS. 359 term applied to lands where the largest quantity of liquor is consumed. If at any time the two foregoing subjects of deli- rium tremens had been asked the question, “Are you not in danger from drink ?” they no doubt would have answered no, little knowing the nature of the smooth, silent stream that was carrying them on to ruin. A deposit of quicksand on one of the coasts of Scot- land furnishes such a good illustration of the gradual way in which young men are led on to drunkenness and ruin that I give a description of it from memory. On a secluded part of the coast at full tide a narrow strip of water runs out into the mainland a considerable distance. When the tide falls back the narrow strip presents a level, solid-like surface to walk upon, and strangers travelling on foot along the coast, on coming to this spot observe that by crossing directly over the narrrow neck they avoid the detour of following the higher shore and save both distance and time. Starting across they, find the appearance of the bed of sand pre- sents an inviting surface for a pleasant walk, and imagine that it is perfectly safe, but after advancing some distance they begin to notice that every step they take causes a trembling in the sand for some distance around them. As they advance they begin to observe that, no matter how quickly they step, their feet are leaving tracks on the sand, and that if they do not rapidly hurry forward they will begin to sink. Now comes to them their first apprehension of danger : they are on a bed of treacherous quicksand, 360 rum’s gallery. but being a considerable part of the way over, they determine to make the balance, but soon every step leaves a deeper track, although they now rush on at an increased speed, until at last their feet sink so easily that it is with difficulty they can raise them from the surface. Through fright and exhaustion they hesitate and stop a moment, when the fatal tendency of the quicksand to yield to pressure and close upon whatever penetrates it is now holding the doomed traveller fast by one foot. He places the other foot on the surface and by great struggles frees the first foot only to find the second foot has sank deeper still. The awful fact now rushes upon his mind that he is caught fast in a lonely place where few human beings ever pass, against hope he shouts but no answer comes to him but the echoes of his own voice, and struggles without any effect but that of sinking himself deeper. By this time he is embedded below his knees in the sand, and leaning forward on his arms and chest he tries to free his legs but only to find that the effort will sink hisarms and body also. Still sinking, sinking, all hope beginning to vanish, he again shouts himself hoarse no relief appears. His e$_e ranges the lonely shore but from reach to reach, then -the blue waters, but not even a distant sail is visible. Lower and lower he is settling, now the sand surrounds his arm-pits and he vainly stretches out his arms to raise himself up, but no, his arms are sinking and in a short time nothing remains above his living tomb but his head and neck. The delirium of despair seizes him, his chest and lungs are compressed by the closing force of the sand and the DELIRIUM TREMENS. 361 entrapped man can do nothing more than express with his yet uncovered eyes the horror which he feels. Now more rapidly the man sinks, the lower lip is covered, the upper, the nose, the eyes, the forehead, the last tuft of hair on the crown of his head, and in a few moments all traces of the victim have disappeared but his hat which he cast away in his terrible struggles. Young man, does not this actual occurrence on the coast of Scotland faithfully illustrate the fate of thousands, yea millions, who have attempted to cross the fatal quicksands of moderate drinking ? 24 CONCLUSION. * T may be thought by some readers that in the foregoing sketches I have given many unneces- sary details of what might be called the less im- portant habits and incidents in connection with the persons forming the subjects of them, but if these habits and incidents are carefully weighed they will appear very important as turning the balance of the characters which I have attempted to describe. In nearly every case it will be noticed that drunkenness and ruin was the result of children being allowed to use liquor from youth up to more advanced maturity. Since my boyhood I have carefully noticed the effect of infidelity upon individual character, and have never yet known it to exert upon any man an ennobling and elevating influence, or lead him to generous or unselfish exertion on behalf of his fellows; but, on the contrary, makes men miserable “ croakers ” against all the abundantly manifest good that Christianity has done and is doing for the world. To put it another way infidelity has always tried to pull down and never (beyond castles-in-the-air) done anything to build CONCLUSION. 363 up, and hence I have throughout this book treated it as a twin brother (most affectionate they are) of liquor. When I commenced to write there were only a few of the subjects of the sketches distinctly clear to my mind, but as I finished one chapter after another I was surprised with what vividness others, of which I had not thought of for years, came up to supply me with new material, and when I came towards the end of what I have written I had to “ whistle on brakes ” or the book would have swelled much beyond my design. At the present hour there are before me several indi- vidual illustrations of the terrible ruin caused by liquor, which would make more startling pictures than any that I have given, but I imagine the eye of the reader has become tired and his heart sick in looking at so many gloomy exhibits. But is it not shocking to think of the amount of suffering, ruin, death, and worse than death, that these short narratives show forth ? The trouble is, like the veteran soldier who has trodden over many a bloody field after the battle was over, we have become indifferent or accustomed to the dead and dying all around us. Regard for the relatives of deceased persons who have been slain by liquor often leads physicians, and even juries, to hide the true causes of death in our communities ; and sometimes the true causes of death are concealed from fear of, and a disposition to, “ pay court ” to “ King Alcohol ” and his realm. But the force of truth and conviction on the evils of liquor are so rapidly gaining ground, that such a state of 364 CONCLUSION. things will ere long be numbered among the weak- nesses of the past. From all the facts given in the narratives it is so easy to draw a conclusion, that were it not in “the regulation orders ” to write a conclusion to a book, I would not have troubled my readers with one. If a perusal of the foregoing pages has aroused in some a determination to place themselves in a right relation to the liquor question, or led any to resolve on enlisting in the army that must ultimately prove vic- torious, a part of my object will be accomplished. THE AUTHOR.