The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-12-20
TEMPERANCE.
a SHORT TALK ON DRUNKEN
NESS.
- Look Not Upon the Wine when 1t Is
r Red"

- Look Not Upon the Wine when 1t Is
Red"
II l could bring together a thousand
boys and girls from one city, and a
thousand from another, and 50 90 all
over this country, and ask each one:
What do you expect to be when you
grow up?'' not one would say: Il ex-
pect to be a drunkard No one wants
to be drunkard. When we hear the
name it brings up in our minds pict-
ure of a man in shabby clothes, with
red, bloated face and bloodshot eyes,
reeling along the streets, saying foolish
things, quarreling with those about
him, fighting, and at last lying down
helpless in the gutter.
That is dreadful sight that nearly
all of us have seen, and drunkards
must have been Just the same in
the days of Solomon, although
they had no whisky then, and could
only get drunk upon wine Here what
Solomon says about these drunkards of
his day: ''Who hath woep who hath
Sorrowp who hath contentious? who
hath babbliag? who hath wounds with
out caused who hath redness of eyesP
They that tarry long at the wine; they
that 90 to seek mixed wine"
ffsut MI tire -rfr1inkards in the world
have been made; they were not born so;
they have been made out of bright-faced
children, with clear eyes, and pure,
sweet breath, and strong, steady steps,
and happy voices-children who never
meant TO be drunkards, and who never
would have been if they had taken
SOlomon's advice. He says there is
only one way to be safe, and that is,
not to begin, to let the wine alone; not
even look at it. He says: 'look not
thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it giyeth its color in the cup,
when it moveth itself Alright; at the
last it biteth like serpent, and sting
eth like an adder
This red wine that sparkles in the
cup, and has pleasant taste, is like a
beautiful serpent that is moving its
glittering coils, and getting ready to
bite you. A cluster of ripe grapes is a
beautiful thing, and when you crush
the grapes in your mouth, and swal-
low the delicious pulp, you are taking
what is harmless and nourishing. But
is you squeeze out this refreshing Juice,
and let itstand very few hours it be-
gins to change. A part of it turns into
the poison that is called alcohol; all
that could nourish and feed your body
is destroyed, and the juice becomes
wine, Just such wine as Solomon said
bites Ike a serpent.
If you eat an apple, the juice that is
ground out by your teeth is exactly the
same as that which is crushed out by a
cider mil; 1t is wholesome and nOurish-
ing, and you like it, because it is mixed
with the spicy pulp. But what is called
''swect cider is this same juice that
has stood few days until it has begun
TO work" that means that part of it
has changed into this same poison that
makes it no longer nOurishing, but dan
gerous. The more of the poison there
is in it the more it sparkles and the bet
ter it suits the taste of those who have
learned little by little to love it. So,
when people say to you: what harm
can there be in the juice of grapes, or
in sweet cider?' you can answer them:
mo harm at all, if you take them Just
as God made them. But the juices of
the grapes and the juices of the apples
begin to change as soon as they are
crushed out, and the poisonous alcohol
is formed, and then there is always
harm in it. If you We're dying of thirst
it might be worth while to take drink
from spring that you knew was i'm
pure and unhealthy; but with so many
good things to eat and drink in the
world, do You think it is sensible to
drink what may have poison in it just
because YOU are not sure it has? II
You let all cider alone YOU will be
sure never to drink the wrong
kind, nor let your example
lead any one else to do So" That
is about what | would say on the cider
question If | We're a boy or u girl; and
when ] had made up my mind / would
stick to that course, whatever any one
else said or did. Why, one of nv
neighbors, at great Inconvenience and
expense, has all his water brought from
distance, although he has well in
his own yard. The water looks pure,
and tastes pure, but he knows some
wells have poison in them, and he
thinks it quite possible his may have,
and 20 he lets it alone. Is he not more
sensible than his neighbor who Went on
drinking the water because he could
not sec ANYTHING wrong with it, until
half his family were attacked with
typhoid fever?
If you mean to take Solomon's ad-
vice, aad not even stop to look at this
dangerous enemy, that can seem SO
harmless at first and yet sting like a
serpent afterward, you must remember
and not 60 with those who drink wine.
Don't be found among them; keep
away from them; give them no chance
to tempt you; for if the children
could grow up right for one genera
ton, we should have no more drunk
ards.-Bmity Huntington Miller, in
Christian Union.