A Solemn Appeal - James White

drink, and carouse, and rob, and even murder? In
what part of Boston was that recent tragical murder
of Mrs. Bickford committed? In Old Town, the
'Five Points' of that goodly city. By whom? A
libertine. On whom? A lewd woman. In short, the
dens of prostitution are everywhere the dens of
crime in all its forms, in all its aggravation. And
what is true of these masses, is true of those
individuals which compose them. Who are our
defaulters, our swindlers, our gamblers, etc.?
Frequenters of lewd houses, always. No equal
incentive to dishonesty and criminality exists.
Fortunes are yearly stolen by clerks, agents, etc.,
and covered by false entries, simply to obtain the
means of gratifying this passion. How much, the
judgment alone can reveal. Though intemperance
will soon run a man down, and wring his last cent
from him to feed those fatal fires which are
consuming soul and body, yet it is a pigmy
compared with this giant robber. It will drain the
last cent, and then pursue its victim night and day
till he becomes literally desperate, and is almost
compelled to lie, steal, forge, rob, ANY AND
EVERY thing to procure the wages of this sin. Do
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