The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-08-13
NO. 90

she is lost forever. Our country is de-
graded, and the reason | fight WhiSkey
IS because whiskey is my enemy, and | am
going to fight for these wives, mothers
and children as long as God will let me
stay above ground. Yes, l am in full
range OF all the guns of this Blue Grass
region. Laughter. I will tell you,
from the worms of the still of Kentucky
there is not as much water floats down
yonder Kentucky river as you pour out
on this world in whiskey. It is not
only throwing its awful arms around
your own State, but it is trying to grasp
other States around you, and send them
| to hell and perdition with you. Yes, it is
time you are awakened.
Sometimes a State reaches that point
where that if man is not for whiskey
and the whiSkey party you need not talk
about running him. God bless you, you
can't be elected for Governor, Judge or
member of the Legislature now unless you
are Of the whiskey crowd: God pity the
unfortunate wretch that floats on this
river-that's all 1 have to say about him.
| will declare before God, and write it in
letters of blood on every gate post in this
country a man has to submit to debauch-
cry OF soul and body now to become a
Democrat. / hardly care to say I'm a
Democrat. We are Democrats because
we say we don't want niggers settled on
us. The niggers are not on the side of
whiskey always. l never had Niger
to dome harm in my life but whiskey was
the cause of it. No niger ever made my
poor wife sick and drove the roses out of
her cheeks and made my little child al
most pauper. Mono niger ever did
that for me. If it is niggers or whiskey,
knock your whiskey in the head and give
me the niger eVerV crack
That's the only difference between the
Republican party and the Democrats one
is for niggers and the other for whif Key.
believe I'll join the Republicans.
Sin III take no sin into my life, into
my politics, into my family, into our
World-let'S away with it.
HE that pursueth evil pursueth it to
his own DEATH" | am practical, in one
sense at least, and l always propose to be
practical. am determined on one thing.
and | don't care whether anybody agrees
with me or mott don't care if every per-
son here goes off and calls me fool and a
fanatic. Well meet in Judgment and dis
cuss that in the future. don It care what
your opinion of what say is and whether
you indorse it or not, you are going to I'M
derstand and see it. You can call Sam
Jones fool all you want to, and say you
will never hear him preach again, but if l
never preach the Gospel again I'm going
to give you the naked truth to-day. Take
me down here and pitch me me off the
bluff, and as l fall you will say there goes
that little tallow-faced fellow that told the
truth while he was here.
He that pursueth evil' pursueth it to
the death of his conscience. That's what's
the matter with this country-conscience
has been stabbed to death. A man who
sins deliberately against his conscience
StabS his conscience, and it will breathe
its last some of these days and be dead
forever.
Sam Jones gave as as an illustration of
conscience, a man who joins the church.
and yet, after atime, falls back into his old
SINS and who, knowing he has not done
right, feels it in his conscience, and it
troubles him, until his conscience becomes
so sin hardened that nothing can affect it.
"A man joins the church, and next week
is at the races. l have said it, and will
say it again, [ love fine horse next to a
woman. | cannot help outlovlng awoman
above everything else in this country, and
next to woman I love a good horse.
like q grand hOrSe-I can't help it. There
is that magnificent blooded horse out
there. cannot help but admire him, and
would go to every fair in this country to
look at him if it was not for one thing, and
that's that low-down, triting, pusillani-
nous fellow who says to everything you
do or he does, Il bet you.N / have con-
tempt for those cusseS, and It's that sort
that keeps me away from such places. l
love blooded horses, but God help me, I'll
never get on horse and ride him to a
race, want that understood. There's
many a, Kentuckian gone to hell on a
blooded horse, mark what l tell you. This
little body sneers about fair and l have a
pronounced and supreme contempt for
him.
Talk tome about no harm in these things.
That old member of the church who will
walk out of a grocery and wipe his mouth
and say, mo harm in DRAM" There
is harm, but your conscience is dead
dead dead And I want to say right here
and if any of you are a member of any
critic of the deepest dye. An old Metho-
dist demijohn. An old Baptist jug. An
old Presbyterian decanter, half full all the
time, and every time your poor wife wants
to go to church she has to stick her arm in
the handle of an old demijohn and walk
with that. have contempt for you
you old hog.
Lexington wants me but she'll have to
excuse me, as this sort of talk won't do for
Lexington. If l do go there | tell you
whenI turn some OF you loose you will hit
science dead dead all over this country.
Y on may just as well be dead as without
conscience. They say they drink whisky
and dance and play cards because it's in the
fashion. If that's the fashion, God bless
you, l m going to try to live out of it. l
wish you preachers would say amen right
there. DON'T let anybody hear you-that's
right.
Sam Jones then scathingly denounced
the church people who, being in control in
certain cities. grant license to sell whisky
and create devilment at so much per
month-factories for making drunkards
and running homes. Don't give them a
licenSe-cloSe them up.
This is the best thing some of you have
struck up to date, you old red-nosed devil,
you ~ said he at the close of another SEN
tence denunciatory of whiskey and its at
| tendant eyils.
His entire sermon was replete with
scathing sarcasm, which cut and stung
some of his hearers so that they were
hardly able to hear more, and his remarks
were obviously personal.
| Sam Jones hasa wonderfully vivid and
heartrending number Of incidents, which
almost move his hearers to tears, and he
| uses them well,