The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-05-25
TEMPERANCE SERMON.
BY REV. JOHN ROBIsoN.

42Ax - 0GA0SOGNs
BIZ REV. JOHN RoBIseN.
..Ssr drunkards shall inherit the Kingdom Of
unto him that siveth his neighb.r drink, that
puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken
also. Habbak 81 10"
..Losk not thou upon the wine when it is red, when
it givsih its color in the cup, when it -oveth itself
Alright"
You anticlpats the object L have IN view to-
day. A.: fearful evil prevails among us. 1t
possesses a wondrous vitality, ike the polypus,
whose very head you may eleaye and yet it
lives and grows. The weapons of moral sua-
sion, of secret organization and of prohibitory
Legislation have been employed in good earnest
against it and still it stalks abroad, brutalizing,
burying and consigning to eternal perdition
tens of thousands annually. 1t enters our
houses-comes impudently to our very hearth
stones;-tcars from the very embrace of the
living wife, the husband, of the fond parents
their loved children, of the affectionate sister,
the manly brother, and consigns them to shame
and misery and death and hell. To this we in
vite your attention. The texts call us to note
LIST The fearful consequences of drunken
ness.
End. The obligation to abstain from all that
intoxicates; and
Sd. The duty of Withholding from others
the means of intexication.
Would / could depict the consequences of
drunkenness as they are. Would l could so
lower the impression of their fearfulness upon
your hearts that you would shrink back with
bare possibility of their reaching you or yours
that you would employ every energy fortheir
horror from the prevention in our midst. But
words are lame, imagination falters and the
heart sickens in the attempt They are conse-
quences involving loss, mischief and misery
for body and soul, for time and eternity. The
drunkard loses
LIST. His reputation. A few boon compan-
ions NAV stil hold him in honor because this
IL indispensable for their own standing, or be-
cause they hope to use him for their own graf
ifcation. A few loving hearts may cling to
him still with a death grasp, as the vine winds
its tender tendrils round the oak though scathed
and riven by the thunderbolt and fallen to the
earth. But who besides respects him? What
ever may have been his position before, he is
now an object of pity mingled with disgust.
The pure and high minded feel their cheeks
mantled with shame if found in his society.
And the very rowdies point to him as a proper
object of ribald ridicule.
I'd. He loses health, property and peace.
Dragged as his burning beverage is with arse
mic, or s~trychnine, or other virulent poisons, he
pours into his system at every draught what
palsies his muscle, skaters his nerves, burns
his brain, glazes his eye, stiffens his tongue,
fills bis frame with i~ncipient death and calls
TO its aid, to complete its horrid task consump-
ton, or fever, er sdelirium. The drunkard, es-
as manufactured with the hot haste of
young America, does not live out half his days.
And while he lives he is but a bloated speci-
men of disease, a melancholy pall-bearer In
the train of death. |,
The means that should supply his real
wants, minister to those dependent upon him
and make him useful, are squandered for the
ratification Of his burning appetite, and by
he idieness and thrifiessness superinduced by
degrading habit. And if large means,
" kind friends, or premature death does not
prevent he is soon reduced to penury, and :
with rags. "The drunkard and the :
ylutton shall come to poverty" .
And oh! what peace can dwell in that heart! :
A burning appetite is demanding qualification. :
Abominable passions are awakened and clam =
ring conscience goads in view of guilt Mis- .
nv, with anguish upon her face, points to loved !
dishonored, perhaps ruined, perhaps MUIR =
Tered by the weight of anguish heaped upon =
hem Fear uncovers the lake of fire and y
hows a bed of eternal burning, judgment re- d
,onstrates, conscience forewarns and passions
Hope alternates with despair. A soul
earning for deIiverance from the CALLING yoke h
brutal appetite, alternates with a reckless and x
aameful Indulgence. Painful penitence is " =
by revealing qualification, and this IL
y shame remorse and despair. u
Sd. Drunkenness leads to other,crimes. Yes, III
lou drunkard, "Thine eyes shall behold strange SC
omen and thy heart shall utter p~erverse things" @
'evils enter with every intoxicating draught. !
Drunkenness blunts the moral sense, browns a
le voice of conscience, arouses brutal lusts, q
nd often the emons of envy, jealousy, and {:
ate take possession of the heart. The appe- W
te must be gratifed, and, if honest means fail Y
left follows; and if this cannot otherwise eff sa
ct its object innocent blood must flow, and Il
lie drunkard stands before the world an assass Sc
!. Three-fourths of all the murders and thefts to
I'd other crimes punished by the scaffold and If
I'd prisons and fines, proceed from this prolific a
,urce. Drunkenness is the Pandora's Box to
ON which spring brutality and wretchedness &C
I'D horrid crimes without number or measure.
Who hath wo? 7" Who hath sorrow? Who OF
eth contention? Who hath babbling? Who hi
ath wound without cause? Who hath redness of tie
resi- Who constitute the mass of paupers al
i'd criminals !? Who corrupt Gnd ruin a~ssoci- ey
es? Who bring down the gray hairs of pa pl
with SORROW to the grave? Who break I'll
e hearts of devoted wives? Who disgrace Ell
ID hsggar dependent children Who die be- dl
re their time, or grieve in the prison, or swing VI
pom the scaffold? Who have hell upon earth la
ut themselves beyond the reach of mercy and cl
nix to eternal perdition ? They that tarry long al
the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine" to
4th. Drunkenness brings down the curse of Il
mighty God upon its perpetrator. "The Lord b.
Ill not spare him but then the angerof the fo
ord and his jealousy shall smoke against tina m
an. and all the curses hat are written in this til
ok mall lie upon MIN, and the Lord SNAIL DI0t dl
d his name from under heaven" Woe unto de
EN- that rise up early in the morning that m
ey may follow strong drink; that continue he
It'll night till wine infame them" "Woe un- st
them that are mighty to drink wine, and te
ep of strength to ningle strong drink."-m
unto the crown of pride, the drunkards WI
Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading B,
'wer the crown of pride, the drunkards of i'm
phrain shall be trodden underfeet." How tn
eadful these expressions falling from the lips co
God; east yourselves upon the foaming surge If
len the tempest dashes mountain waves upon an
e rocks. Bare your bosoms to the thunder pu
L. Throw yourself into the crater of the er
lcano pouring forth streams of molten lava. VIC
,e terrible consequences will be comparatively an