Eleven years a drunkard, or, The life of Thomas Doner: having lost both arms th…


Read by Curt Walton

(3.8 stars; 20 reviews)

He tells of the shame, misery and pain which alcohol brought on him, and will bring to anyone whosoever be tempted by the pleasant feeling it produces at the time of drinking. It doesn't bring one home to shelter but drives them away. It leads one to forget the evil it brings and tempts one to pursue more for the pleasant feeling it produces. This "pleasant feeling" produces many murderers in our land. It doesn't push the sufferer to ask for help but to lie about the drinking. Once Satan has a foothold he wants an even tighter grasp.

He exhorts - you boys, to learn this lesson, "If you do not take the first drink, you will not be tempted to take the second." And if you take the first drink do not take the second or the monster will have done its work and will surely lead you to a third and a fourth and to associate with the inmates of taverns until you are committed to prison, executed in the gallows, a cripple (like Doner) or to a drunkard's grave.

Filth, drunkenness, crime and blasphemy, Doner writes, are the rewards for stepping in this Snare of the Devil. - Summary by Curt Walton (1 hr 29 min)

Chapters

Preface 1:02 Read by Curt Walton
Chapter I 7:44 Read by Curt Walton
Chapter II 34:50 Read by Curt Walton
Chapter III 23:37 Read by Curt Walton
Chapter IV 21:50 Read by Curt Walton

Reviews

A moving story


(4 stars)

I have never heard of Thomas Doner - he wrote this book in the 1870s as a warning to young men like him about the life destruction alcohol can cause. This is the story of his descent into alcoholism which ended when he lost both his arms lying drunk on a railway track. If you are interested in addiction and recovery this early confessional account is well worth a listen.

Must Listen


(5 stars)

Excellent warning from a first-hand account against that tried and tested snare of the devil - whiskey, alcohol and the like - and their effects on one's life. Great reminder that through Christ forgiveness is possible, but many first stepping down this path of destruction never find it and for those who do, how they wish they had never first tasted that bitter cup from Satan's hand for the results that inevitably follow! A must listen! Interestingly, two other men come to mind with similar beginnings but completely different outcomes having received the forgiveness of God and gift of salvation through Jesus Christ: George Müller of Bristol and John Bunyan. Both have their stories told on Librivox (see "Grace Abounding" for Bunyan's story). "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1)