The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-05-08
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A Temperance Sermon.

A Temperance sermon.
On Sunday night last, Rev. r. Smithson,
pastor Of the M. E. Church, by request
of the Good Telnplars, delivered sermon
on TEMPERANCE, which was listened to by
large audience and has created consid-
cradle comment since.
He selected for his text, Exodus q Is.
%: n,t,-,, .,ifs:as
"If an OK gore man or woman, that they
flesh shallnet be eatened; but the owner OF the
OK shall be quit. But If the OK were wont 70
push with his horn in time past ana u h il ~
him in, but that he hath killed man OF
woman; the OK shall be stoned. and his owner
also shalt be put to death.
After speaking of the law announced in
the text as one of the divine enactments
in the political code of the Mosaic or
Jewish economy, the--speaker summed up
the main points in the following questions :
L.. Was the OK accustomed to gore?
81 Did the owner know it
8. Whosxas responsible?
Tl,e-prineiple OF the law was then APP
piled to the liquor business The three
questions were closely investigated
l. Is the liquor business damage
3, Do the people know it?
81 Who are responsible?
The speaker answered the first question
in the Affirmative, and proceeded to estah-
lish the truth of his answer 1t is unlike
other business in that the supply creates
the demand by forming an unnatural and
Unsuitable appetite. which, when formed.
is as a mortgage held by the liquor dealer
upon the stomach of the victim, the in
terest only of which is met by the money
paid for the liquor lie drinks. The bust
ness first creates the demand and then
supplies it. 1t is u damage to the indi-
vdualI- z 70, the body Alcohol is a
poison, and is in all int0xicants. 1t i'm
| pairs health, brings on numerous diseases,
7 enders the system unable to resist the at
tacks of disease, assails the most vital
parts of the human system, and finally
kills the body. To the mind-AlcOhol
| inpairs every mental faculty.
tion. Judgment. memory, and the will
producing permanent insanity.
drunkenness being itself temporary in
sanity. To the soul-Blunting every
moral sensihlity destroying sense of honor.
killing fondest affections, degrading its
victim beneath the brute, robbing of man.
hood sslemonizing fathers. husbands, sons
and brothers, and finally sending the soul
into eternity us the murderer of its own
body. 1t is. n damage to the family
-Blighting homes, destroying comforts.
creating want and poverty, causing more
heart sorrow than all other evils combined.
turning the paradise of home into hell
on earth. 1t is a damage to the
community: In commercial point of
view, as what is spent for liquor cannot be
spent in useful articles. The thousands of
dollars spent for liquor in a community
were it not for this infamous traffic, would
be spent in merchandise which would be
to the advantage both of the purchaser and
the merchant. Socially. in that it de-
grades society. corrupts good manners,
and is an enemy to refinement and pure
civilization. What affects individuals must
affect society in general. Morally. in
that it is the legitimate parent of all man.
ner of vice and crime. 1t is damage
to the State J In the panpers it creates in
the Insanity it produces in the criminals
lat makes in the ideness it begets; in the
millions of grain and fruit annually de-
lstroyedi in the manufacture of alcoholic
drinks in the 800,000,0OO spent yearly in
the United Stat es for drink in the $780,
100000 more sa ddled upon the people every
year in the United States by way of taxes
to support the insanity, pauperism and
CRIME produced by the traffic, making a
total cost to the people of the United
States annually of not less than $780,
600, 900. ~ 1t is a damage to the
church. These two institutions are antag-
onistic The church is the school of morals:
the dram-shop is the school of vice and
crime. Gambling and leWdness are con-
nected with the liquor business the world
over. These e wills are genial companions
and go hand in hand. The liquor business
of our country is at war with the Sabbath
witness the beer gardens and Sunday sell
! ing. 1t is the foundat ion of riots. Where
there is no liquor there are no riots. Wit
ness Cincinnati with it's thous ands of DRAM
shops and beer gardens. This evil is
an organized one Look at the liquor
associations that are being held in all the
land These combinations, cliques, and
rings are in every place where their dia-
bolical business has not been put down
by law. They seek to control politicians,
political parties, and legislation. They
have the audacity even to attempt to
silence the pulpit, and drive the very
church of God into its mea sures.
| 2. Do the people know it !? Ask the
preachers and they will tell you of the eff
| feet of alcohol upon the morals of the peo
| pie. Inquire of the physicians and they
will tell you of its evil effects upon the
human system of the thousand ills it
begets. Go to the judges and lawyers and
| they will tell yOu'Of the criminals before
the bar of justice brought there by the
liquor influence. Summon the rum sellers
and bar-tenders, and ON oath they will
testify that liars, swearers, sabbath break
ers, gamblers, brawlers, thieves and MUIR
dererS, are all made to order in their places
of business. Visit the keepers of iails.
penitentiarieS, almshOuses, asylums houses
of correction and of reformation, and YOU
will be told that the inmates of those
places were brought there in most instances
by way Of the dram shop. Go to the cheer
less home Of the drunkard's wife andlchil-
dren, or of his widow and orphans, and
read there the sad, sad story of want and
sorrow! After going the rounds, you will
be fully satisfied not only that the liquor
business is a scourge, but that it is known
to besuch in every place and by everybody.
8. Who are responsible? The man
ufacturers who bring into existence this
liquid poison. The rum seller who
deals it out to his fellow being. Our
legislators who enact laws for the pro
lection of the nefarious business
The people who by their ballots elevate
men to office who are in sympathy with or
under the control of the liquor rings of
the country. The lawyers who assist
in getting license to sell this poison
| In short, all who do not use their utmost
influence against this accursed business,
4. COnclusion.-Th liquor BUSINESS
is the goring OK. 1T has damaged lndi-
viduals, families, communities, States and
church. 1t is the source of all villainies
| 1t is corrupting, dishonest, murderous. IT
| Sc IN al ~ q