The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-05-25

pt'crd3e VI any lnlRG tnaG lnt0Xlcate5 tends II
produce a vicious appetite and bring ON drunk
enness. Now the divine law not only forbid
overt acts of sin but whatever tends directl,
to produce transgression. AS tending to pro
duce damning guilt, the law of God, therefore
forbids the use as a beverage of that which in
toxicates. Drunkenness is not the only result
of drinking habits. Disease and prematur,
death, especially in these days when sthe win,
giveth its color in the cup and moveth itsel
Alright" by reason of poisonous admixtures
are the inevitable consequences. But God for
bids self-murder whether by the dagger Oh
by poison, by slow or quick degrees. He ha.
given us all our powers of body, heart anG
mind for high and noble purposes. Shall we
pursue a course adapted to burn up this beau
tiful frame, to put out the light of this i'm
mortal mind, and fill this heart, capable of the
purest and noblest affections, with loathsome
passions-to make it a cage of every unclear
beast Oh has God ever made it cur privilege
to pursue a course adapted to destroy the body,
imbrute the soul, lead to crime and plunge into
eternal wo?
"Wine is a mocker and strong drink is "a
cling; who so is deceived thereby is not wise
Shall we put ourselves in the power of this
mocker? Shall we subject ourselves to that
which deceives only fools, or makes fools ofall
deceived?
God utters terrible woes against the drunk
ard; and shall we pursue a course that tends
directly to subject us to these woes?
God will plunge the drunkard into hell; and
and shall we trife with that which millions in
hell to-day curse as the cause of their eternal
indoing? "Look not on the wine when it is
red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when
it moveth itself Alright. At the last it biteth
like a serpent and stingeth like an adder
NTouch not, taste not, handle not"
But you say, 81 am in no danger of becom-
ing a drunkard though use Intoxicating drinks
occasionally" All, yes! and just as secure as
you, have been the millions who now rot in the
drunkard's grave. Gould you question the
wailing millions, once drunkards, now in perdi-
ton" aud you not once feel sure that you were
in no danger of becoming drunkards ? "With-
out an exception, with a wall of despair, they
would answer, yes" Did you not often re-
solve against excessive indulgence and strive
to shake off this deadly habitY" With what
agony of despair they make their prison walls
ring with the answer, eyes, yes, but all in vain"
fCan you now attribute your drunkenness and
eternal undoing to any other cause than the
or habitual use of Intoxicating
drinks as a beverage? These millions mingle
in one universal and almost scornful, No. Are
you possessed of prophetic foresight of the fu-
ture ? Are you stronger than all these millions,
in your own strength? Fling such thoughts to
The winds; and the more if you find already a
forming for these drinks. Will you hug the
7iper because, when cold and stiff, it seems a
harmless and beautiful thing? Yonder lies a
deeper, can he tell the moment when sleep
;iezed him I 1t anne stealthily. So does drunk
.nness upon the drinker. Yonder grows a dead
y upas. Can you see it growing2 And yet it
rows and spreads its deadly shade more wide
All sirs, you have heard this plea urged
W many who were already within the folds of
he old serpent, whose feet were already sliding
o perdition.
But if you are in no danger are there none
theirs, to whom your influence extends, who
re ? The charmer has his fascination already
pom his poor unweary victim, and he is Hut
ering around the very vortex of eternal ruin,
pell-bound. And that victinu as your brtoher,
our father, your SON, ,your netghbor. Some
he sees his condition and struggles to es-
ape, and hopes for better days, and then rush
S recklessly into deeper danger. Every month
is circle becomes smaller and he approaches
carer the awful gulf; your example may en-
1urage lin to proceed, or your abstinence
lay save him. o, for his souls sake dash away
lie cup.
Besides, if you profess the religion of Christ,
is honor demands this of you. The world
nows full we'll how inconsistent drinking is
it'll religion. You cannot, in any measure there
re, indulge without bringing the ,scorn of the
1godly upon yourself and the Saviour, whose
you profess. The ungody Of this toon
ythcy can tell the By conducted some professors
: religion uhere Intoxicating drinks are sold.
hey make a Decline to the dram-shops daily.
lario4e %heels of the gospel? Will you give
.e enemy occasion to biaspheme? Will you
the Saviour in the house of his friends?
sirs, at the command of God, for your own .
kes, for the sake of your fellow men, and for '
e sake of Christ and his cause dash away alb I
lutely, entirely and forever, the cup that in |
"Look not thou on the wine." And :
any of you have already formed to any exten :
for alcoholic drinks, l %solemnly declare !.
you I have no hope for you but in this /
urse. 9
Sd. Learn also the duty of Withholding from .
hers the means of intoxication. "Woe unto +
m that giveth his neighbor drink, that put .
st thy bottle to him and makest him drunken :
Here is a curse upon all, who for mon |;
or for social reasons, or through their exam .
e furnish others with the means of intoxica- a
IN or encourage them in the path to drunk
ness. The druggist who sells poisonous =
without marking the fact upon their en- =
is held responsible by the laws of the :
and by the divine law too, for the mis- n
that may follow; how much more then q
e those responsible who sell poisonous drinks j
those of whom they know that they will destroy =
with them? The man who stands n
r and sees a house robbed, and makes no eff n
TT to prevent it is partaker of the theft; c
UGH more if he furnishes the key by which 4
e thief enters. But the seller furnishes the
mixer the implements by which he robs his
ar ones of every thing precious in life al
ost and himself of his humanity ana his
pc of glory. The man is a murderer who
lnds carelessly by and sees another assassinn
! without attempting to prevent it, much r
IRE if he furnish the assassin with a dagger 1
lich he knew he would employ in this way. I
1t the seller of poisoned drinks furnishes the
plement with which the drinker often breaks
e hearts of parents, or wife, or children and
mmits suicide upon his own body and SOUL
a man were to open a bakery in community A
d mingle arsenic with his bread and sellit to all 6
rchasers, who would notdeem him a murder t.
? And who, that has the heart of a man, c.
uld not join to stop Sc nefarious a business L
d prevent the fatal consequences? And if S