The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-12-28

80" ~'l-t VI az $3.50 " ' " -
more prominent part than the intoxicating cup p
What hundreds Of thousands Of young m-U-thr
promise aud hope OF the wOrld-It l. continually
bringing down 20 tEe condition II common drunk
ards Upon what millions oI women aud chill
drru-I speak accurately aud carefully when /
say mili1nS-uG HIye- AID children. % bring
pyuury. aud want. aud rrpiuIUg. aud ~Iu4IUr. aud
wTetCLedur--- that no words Cin Depict What
multitude 81 homes H. rob- Of peace AID comforts.
What blight hopes 10 destroys What uum5er- b.
dTugs d,Su from LIgbts u u--iuiuyss ana worth 20
ia grrdatiDu aud shame. What a Gl gut 10 j. upon
TIE worlds prosperity, How mich VI tue choice
talent vi the world j. oJ-cur-I and ruined by IT,.
Ii d. a snare and a temptation and a destruction. 10
which every boy that grows up tU manhood j. *
posed. 10 = Oue % the great prIi.- ltt Ii- Ia tie
way OF every young nan-l.- avoiding Ui which.
or Lis deliErrsuCe from which D. an occasion %! pro-
found gratitude and joy. What parent is not glad
deued by the fact that his son comes ~ manhood
without being a drinker Of intoxicating driuhsl
How large also - the percentage Of nIddi--ageI
men that die Oi strong drink. i think that / In4y
uuly sag that more than halt % ali the mildle-aged
men-4nd they have uDt been iew-wbOsef funerals
I have attended. have gone down 10 the grave in
consequence Of their drinking habits Tie ranks
Of common drinkers are all the while rapidly thin
ming by sudden death. They move about appar-
entity ia ordinary health, but soon they are in the
drinkers grave. aud their Maine has rOtted. and
their memory gives Little JOY Thus thousands
upon thousands are annually whirled into eternity
By the cap that intONicates, and thousands Of
thousands Of defendent ones are kept in aims
houses by IL. and hundreds Of thousands more are
continually in tue prisons Of the world in couse-
quence Of lL. The crimes Of the world are mostly
instigated b. IL, and billions OF dollars that should
be Tor the comfort and refinement and progress Of
the race are annually worse than wasted IN its use
But what D. tar worse, what mUliitudes upon null
ttudrs OF souls are kept from eternal lie through
its influence. What hopeless despair. what misery
81 mind and heart. what conflict and Indebtedness
of soul and death eternal are in the world ia CON
sequence OF IT,.
IL is one Of the great obstacles to the advancement
Of Christ's kingdom in the world. But | need not
dwell on these evils. The curse is everywhere. It
stands out glaringly as one of the great foes Of human
welfare, as one of the great and prevailing AID dam
ming sins Of earth. And now | wish 70 say that this
fact alone, as IT seems to me, is reason enough why
every beneiactOr, every well-wisher Of humanity,
every true man and woman, and especially every
Christian, should be entirely free from any completely
in its wrong and guilt. 1t IS reason enough why
every one should in 10 way countenance, encourage,
abet, OF indulge in its use. 1t Is reason enough
why every one should be unequiyOcally and positively
IA temperance man or woman. 1t is reason enough
why every one should fear, lest his influence should
be on the side Of so great an evil. Can / be n wine
bibber without sharing in this great sin and curse 7
Ii the cup goes to my lips, is not my standing ON the
side Of this great worldwide iniquity and wOe7 Am
/ not at least careless of the miseries of my fellow
men2 Am | not indeed, through example, "A par
takeT Of other mems sins, even of one Of the great
and glaring and curseful sins Of the WOrld2 And if
/ share in the traffic that works such ruin, if l make
n gain out Of that which is such a curse and woe to
man, Gun | be innocent Of a part in the great sin
ITSELF Oh better far better be poorer than TO live
and grow rich ON profits derived III any way from
that which Is such n curse and misery to man /!
Better even beg for bread than to have any COM
plicity or agency in helping to beggar and ruin
bodies and homes and souls in such u way. The fact
than that the drinking Of intoxicating drinks is one
Of the worlds great and crying sins and miseries is
a plain common sense reason and reason enough
why our hands and lips should be wholly and alto
gether clean Of the drug.
Another class of reasons why we should not be
among wine bibbers Is found IN its pernicious and
deceittul influence on him who uses it. 1t is indeed Il
worker 10 every one who INDUCES in its use. Ii
gradually aud unawares gets control of the appetite.
IL creates by degrees an unnatural craving and thirst.
At first il wins by its pleisantness of taste, the
agreeable excitement that II produces, the temporary
feeling Of vigor and freshness that IL imparts, and
the sOciabili'y that II prnHntcs- but in all these il is
mO0ksr. The agreeable excitemen passes over into
the iHaamed desire for stimulation, the seeming vigor
gives way To declining strength and health, and the
social enjoyment is followed by many a dropping Of
heart and inner struggle and gloomy misgiving. IL
makes q man largely the creature Of his appetite. 1t
makes turgid and swells unnaturally his carnal pro-
pensIues- HIS uneasy craving rules him. lie - IN
danger Of becoming the slave of habit, nay he is in
danger Of falling completely under its power, and Of
being carried by IL against the greatest efforts Of his
will. l cannot but recall here an instance of n man
in the carly prime Of life and Of noble parts, the son
Of most respectable and pious parents, himself a
trustee Of the church 20 which | ministerial man
Of frst-class business ability, and at the very time n
prominent manager III one OF the most extensive UuS-
inesses in the State. Intimate as | was with him l
knew him as taking only AN occasional glass. He
had not the reputation Of being a hard drinker. But
20 my surprise late at night he came to my study and
there wept for hours beseeching me TO tell him what
to do He had taken solemn temperance obligations,
aud had III former years belonged TO the church, and as
he told me, he often arose in the morning and read his
his Bible to get something 10 keep him through theday,
and vowed To his wife and children that he would not
drink, but before midday the glass would irresisti-
bly, find its way to his lips. He even gave up his
business and went to another State to avoid tempta-
ton, and from there he wrote me, still asking what
he should do. But alas, he now sleeps in an early
and untimely grave, laid there by the appetite that
became his master. How bitterly was wine his
mocker. Tie was first led, as he told me, to trust
himself in drink by hearing Daniel Webster's speech
at Rochester while partially intoxicated. That and
the fact that his sister refused TO take n temperance
position led him not TO fear the cup until he was
under its power.
This is virtually the story of thousands upon
thousands. First, trusting themselves TO drink,
thinking that they can be strong 1T any time against
IL. and then bye-and-bye feeling that they must
drink and cannot help it until they fall under its
raging. This has been the story of many Of my
personal acquaiutauces. and doubtless OF yours also.
How truly says the wise man. " he that trusteth in
his own heart is a FOOL But suppose the drinker
even lives along year after year without coming TO
the drunkard's lot. Suppose that considerations Of
responsibility and family lies and his own position in
business and otherwise keeps him up. yet what q
struggle does that man have, what craving, what
temptation : How much harder it is for him 10 keep
from taking too much than it would have been for
hun TO take none at all. He has many n conflict;
and then at last the victory is quite sure to be against
him. He lives on for a few years, perhaps not a
beastly sot. but only q respectable drinker, but there
is many an inflammation and many an uneasiuess
and pain in his system. The acids Of the tropical
fruits are mingled with the alcohol Of the cup, the
blood is thinned, the digestion impaired, and bye
and-bye he dies. the papers say of heart disease, or
something else, but it is whispered around 50 what a
pity that he drank" and the tear that falls in secret
is over the grave of the drinker.
And even if my years were not shortened thereby,
If there were a surety that the drunkard's woes and
grave would not be mine, l should still deplore and
lUathe to have this body Of mine flushed and defled.
and filed with uneasy craving, and enslaved, rs the