A WARNING.
So the short, bright autumn days and the long, chill evenings passed
quickly and pleasantly away. All were busy and happy, and were beginning
to find that in spite of conflicts and self-denials "wisdom's ways are
pleasantness and all her paths are peace." The preparations for the
Thanksgiving festival progressed rapidly, but before the time came to
put the plans in execution a very terrible thing happened in Squantown.
Faces turned white, voices were hushed, work was suspended at the mill,
in the stores, and even upon farms. One home, where a loving mother
bowed in deepest agony, was shrouded in gloom, while others were filled
with the sympathy of mourning.
The Mountjoys first heard the news at Sunday-school, where Etta found
her class so full of the horror that they could attend to nothing else.
The stories of the girls were confused, and differed as to details, but
their teacher elicited from them the facts, which were as follows:--
Harry Pemberton, one of the best hands in the mill, one of the
pleasantest young fellows in Squantown, so the grown-up girls thought,
the very idol of the widowed mother who had only him, had gone out with
some companions on a Saturday night "spree" to a high cliff in the
neighborhood. They carried with them a barrel of beer and some bottles
of whiskey, of which, however, the others drank but little. A foolish
bet was made between him and one of the elder men, as to which could
drink the most "lager," and the others, soon tiring of the contest, left
the two with the bet still undecided. The sequel was involved in
mystery, for the other man, who was a stranger in the place, had
disappeared, and when the bright autumn sun shone out on Sunday morning,
it showed to the early passers-by the dead body of poor Harry, bruised,
broken, and disfigured, at the foot of the cliff. Whether the beer they
had taken made him and his companion quarrelsome and he was pushed over
in a fight, or whether Harry, stupefied, fell asleep on the edge and
rolled over in his unconsciousness, was never known. The boon companion
never came back to testify, and the coroner's jury brought in a verdict
of "accidentally killed."[2]
On Wednesday the mills were closed, that all might have an opportunity
of attending the funeral services, which were intensely solemn and
impressive. Harry had at one time been a member of Mr. James's
Bible-class, and during the recent religious interest his former teacher
and employer had more than once urged upon him to break away from the
evil companions and bad influences by which he had allowed himself to be
surrounded, and take his stand on the Lord's side, finding in the church
and its associations help to become a noble and good man. At one time he
had seemed to be almost persuaded, and his friend had great hopes of
him, but his companions and their influence had proved to be too strong.
He had gone back to his evil ways, trusting, perhaps, to "a more
convenient season," which, alas! never came to him.
The clergyman detailed these facts to his hearers, among whom were, of
course, all the young men of the place; and while delicately avoiding
hazarding any suggestions as to the present or future condition of their
unfortunate companion, pressed upon all present the importance of
calling upon the Lord "while he may be found," and the awful risk of
delay.
"No one could have supposed," said Mr. Morven, "when poor Harry trifled
with the most important of all questions, his soul's salvation, and put
off his final decision till some 'more convenient season,' that that
season would never come to him."
Of all the young men of Squantown he had seemed the least likely to be
suddenly called into eternity. Yet he had been, in a condition, too, in
which any one would least like to be found when called suddenly to stand
before God and answer for the deeds done in the body. Who would be
called next? Was that one all ready? Therefore, he once more urged upon
his hearers, "Prepare to meet thy God." Nor did the earnest pastor fail
to draw attention to the lessons concerning the use of intoxicating
liquors, in any form or degree, which the occasion so plainly afforded.
It was not as an habitual drunkard that Harry Pemberton met his fate,
nor was it from the use of what is usually denominated "strong drink."
Lager beer, considered and spoken of by many as "a temperance beverage,"
was responsible for the mischief, and the thoughtless joke of careless
young men had hurried one of them, known to all present as a boy of
great promise, uncalled into the immediate presence of God. Perhaps a
better object-lesson for total abstinence could not have been found,
since it is the occasional drinkers, who are not as yet bound by the
chains of almost irresistible habit, to whom alone such an appeal can be
made with any prospect of success. Poor Harry had been precisely one of
these, and probably no young man in Squantown had considered himself
farther from meeting death as the result of intemperance.
This sad and sudden death made a great impression upon James Mountjoy.
Always a perfectly _temperate_ man, as became an earnest, devoted young
Christian, he had never been known as a _temperance_ man, that is, an
advocate of total abstinence principles, and an active worker in the
cause. But he now was deeply impressed with his responsibility and duty
in this respect; and accustomed to turning good impressions at once to
their legitimate results,--good actions,--he, with his father's full
consent, called a meeting of all the men connected with the mill, that
night, and presented to them a total-abstinence pledge, which he was the
first man to sign.
"I have always," said he, "been opposed to such pledges. I thought a
Christian communicant might be trusted to use all these things in
moderation, and that it was, somehow, an undervaluing of his church
privileges, to say nothing of his manhood, to bind himself by anything
else. I will confess, also, to having occasionally enjoyed a glass of
wine or champagne. But I have completely changed my mind. Who knows what
might happen to me, in some unguarded moment, if I should continue to
tamper with that which is in its very nature a deceiver? But, even
supposing I were to escape all evil consequences, some one weaker or
less favored than I am might be influenced by my example to take that
which would injure him in body or soul. St. Paul said he would 'eat no
more meat and drink no more wine while the world standeth,' if it should
cause his brother to offend, so I have resolved that not another drop of
anything that can intoxicate shall ever pass my lips, and if it will be
any help for any of you to make or keep to a similar resolution, I will
be the first to 'sign away my liberty,' as pledge-signing is foolishly
called." And he wrote _James Mountjoy_ in clear letters at the head of
the paper.
A great cheer greeted the action, and many men and boys pressed forward
to follow their young employer's example. Elderly men they were, some of
them, who had tried again and again to break off a habit which they felt
to be injuring them and defrauding their families, and who found a great
moral support in being thus associated with others, one of whom stood in
such relation to themselves. Others were young men who greatly admired
and emulated Mr. James, and who had heretofore justified themselves in
acquiring a taste for whiskey on the ground that the young gentleman
was known occasionally to indulge in ale and champagne. And still others
were boys, who liked to do what their elders did, by way of appearing
manly, and whose adherence, given to the right side of the question,
before they had had an opportunity of acquiring a taste for intoxicants,
was a great gain on the side of righteousness.
Eric and Alfred were among these latter, and though neither had as yet
spent an evening away from home, nor, to her knowledge, knew the taste
of liquor, their mother, when she was told of it, gave hearty thanks
that another safeguard against evil had been thrown around her boys.
Some of the men declined to sign the pledge, one saying in a surly
manner that he was not going to be coerced into doing a thing of this
kind. Mr. Mountjoy paid for his work, not his principles, and he should
eat and drink just what he liked. To him James replied, pleasantly, that
he did not wish to coerce any one. Those who were conscientiously
opposed to signing a pledge would, of course, not be expected to do so,
but he had no doubt he should have the unanimous support of all present
in whatever efforts might be made to put down the growing evils of
intemperance.
James Mountjoy never did anything by halves. He at once threw himself
earnestly into the temperance reform; supplied himself with books and
papers, and became thoroughly conversant with all phases of the
question, wondering, as he did so, how as a Christian man he could so
long have overlooked his duty in this matter. Resolved to do so no
longer, he at once commenced a series of temperance meetings, inviting
speakers and lecturers to come to Squantown and make the people
intelligent total abstainers. He did not select so much men who were
noted for their fervid oratory, nor yet reformed drunkards who often
divert their audiences with amusing accounts of their past performances
while under the influence of strong drink, but plain, common-sense
business men, who put before their hearers in simple terms the evils
that the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcohol work to the
purses, bodies, and souls of any community.
He also added to the library at the factory reading-room a number of
valuable works on the nature and effects of alcohol; and before the
winter was over had the pleasure of seeing a very marked change in the
condition of the factory people as the result of his efforts.
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[Footnote 2: An actual occurrence.]