He need not lose
their respect by telling them of his own mistakes, if these
mistakes have been hidden from them. Let him simply tell them,
without personal reference, what he knows about whiskey, its
effects on a man's happiness, success, self-respect and physical
comfort.
Whiskey gives a great many things to men. Of these gifts here
are a few:
Lack of friends, lack of will, lack of self-respect, lack of
nervous force--lack of everything save the hideous craving that
can end only with unconsciousness, and that begins again with
increased suffering when consciousness is restored. ----
Fathers and mothers blessed with self-control and with good
children should use the picture of a drinking man as a useful,
moral lesson in talking to boys and girls from seven to twenty
years of age.
Children are impressed most easily through their imaginations.
An intelligent father or mother can produce upon a child's
receptive mind an impression that will last for years.
With the fear of whiskey there should be impressed upon children
sympathy and sorrow for the unfortunate drunkard.
One of the ablest men, and one of the most earnest in America,
said to his friends very recently:
"I never drink, as you know. But when I see a man lying drunk
in the gutter, I know that he has probably made that very day
a harder effort at self-control, a nobler struggle to control
himself, than I ever made in my life.
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