Chapter XIV: Introduction: To Chapter VIII

BY GEORGE W. BAIN

Intoxicants are like anger, they make us strong,
Blind and impatient, and they lead us wrong;
The strength is quickly lost, we feel the error long.
_Crabb._

Temperance is reason’s girdle and passion’s bridle, the strength of
the soul, and the foundation of virtue.

_Jeremy Taylor._

In all the world there is not to be found an old man, who has been a total abstainer from intoxicating liquors through all his life, who regrets the rule he adopted and kept. Such a man was never heard to say: “I am sorry I did not learn to love wine, whiskey, ale, beer or brandy when I was young.” This is a very safe rule for young men, that has not a single exception in all the wide world. On the other hand, how many have said: “Drink has been my curse”? Take the pledge, boys, keep it, and you will find it a jewel in nature, a comfort through life, and a consolation in death.