Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1884-03-01
Temperance.

mitler We give below some extracts
from the speech of Rev. T. Nj. Me-
Crnuell, male before The Prohhilion
Club Of McMinnnvil-. NJ It's public
meeting February ~, 1884:
81 have hepn invited by the execu.
tive commitipenf the Prnhinition Club
Of Mc\lirnville, To address YOU upon
tins occ,lsinl,, aud while | cheeriul>
acc, de Ia the request. can neither
hope nor expect To "frr you anything
new upon the suIjsct ut temperance,
for it has been discussed in your hear.
ing from the sober standpoint u! rea-
son. rs we'll ~ presented in its gayrl
dress If wit and hnmnr. II has been
discussed in its relations with the sub
lime truths Of religion, M well MS Eel
firth IN NIL The living freshness ot p'-
etic fancy, 81 that find il already EN-.
balme,l ''in thoughts that breathe and
words that burn" X * 4 4
Mortal man can never fath0m the
ocean Of tears which inIemprrauce has
formed, nor count The numberle.s
wrecks of fallen greatness that flml
upon the strands ot Shoreless ct, mi
~. No flute mind can ever cnmpre
hend the misery, the an 1uish, the deep.
dread sorrow that intemI~rance has
wrung from the human heart. 1t is Al
monster If the most fearful propor-
tions and most frightfrl powers, aud
were it not fur this fact, We're it not for
the tears that fl Nv from weeping thou
sands, and the graves that rise from
stricken households all over our land
were il not for the dark cloud of dsap-
p0intment that settles over 80 many
lives, and that deep. dread, raylpss
despair that clutches ~ the heartstlings
of 81 many that are homeless and friend
less, we've it not that our young men
are exposed to danger and liable ut any
moment to fall before this fiery h"nl
thai sweeps like mighty deluge over
our land, carrying death and destruc.
ton IN its track, we're it not that young
ladies, in their loving trust and unsus-
peciing innocence are liable to be de.
coy-d from the sacred precincts OF
hume and made the victims ot a living
death BY falling into the clutches Of
this heartless aud relentless monster,
were it not that the very foundations
Of s,ciety are attacked and the sacred
affairs If religion invaded, were it no,
for the awful pail Of dark despair thai
gathers around the grave Of The drunk
ard, aud the baleful n .dows that gath
or around the druukard's snul rs il
takes its exit from the blmted body in
tu that world of dark, dnletul, hopelc,,
misery, ! might refrain from dlscussln.
such subject. u X 4; X.
10y From the most reliable statistics, in
temp rance Is found IL he d;rectiv re-
sponsible for twenty per cent. Of ou
idiots, forty per cent. Of our lunatics
seventy FIVE per cent. of our criminals
ninety per cent. of our paupers, an'
ninety>6ve per cent. of the broker
down, broken hearted, miserable PEI,
pile of our commonwealth. 1t is thu
seen to be sill of gigantic proportions
not only against all the true interest
and holier impulses Of the soul, but
is at the same time terrible sin ugains
God, SO much so that if persevered il
it is recorded by the inspired penma
as an objectionable sin. Dark an,
dreadful indeed is the deathbed of
drunkard. for over against him tn
spirit Ut God has written in words q
dreadful significance, "No drunkar
shall inherit the kingdom of God.
( LIST Cor, 6 l0) The spark Of morla
life Is quenched in infinite and eterns
darkness. The shrieks and groans {
the dying drunkard as he writhes III
der the fearful power OF deleriur
tremens, are hut the awful prelude I
an eternity Of woe. 1t is this fact thu
invests intemperancc with its unuter.
BILE horrors aud that makes the tempe
auce work SO inspeSkably importan
It is the horrors of the second deaf
and the echoes from the world of de
pair that should strike terror into I'll
hovrt oG tho LIVING and narva ,ha,