The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1888-07-26
John u. Cough on Two Cups

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John u. Cough, the great temperance Ice
turer, did more perhaps than any other one
to educate the public sentiment against the
rum traffic. In one Of his lectures he used
,he following language, referring to cup of
cold water aS the cup of blessing, ana TO tho
wine cup ms the cup of horrors:
THE Cur OF BLESSING.
"1here is no poison IN that cup, no 1endish
spirit dwcs beneath these crystal drops to
lure Won and me and all of us to ruin; no
spectral shadows plSy upon its waveess sur
face; no widows groan nor orphans tears
rise To God from those placid fountains;
misery, crime, wretChelness, woe, want, and
rags come not within the hallowed precincts
where cold water regns supreme-purc now
as when II lett its native he wen, giving
vigor TO our youth, strength to our manhood,
and solaCe to our old age. Cold water ls
beautiful, aud bright, and pure everywhere
In the moonllt fountains and the sunny
rils, in the warbing brook and the giant
river, in the deep tangled Wildwood and the
cataract's spray; in the hanl Of beauty or on
the lips Of manhool-cOld water is beautiful
every where.
THE cur OF HORRORS.
"Rum There Is poison in that cup
There is q serpent in that cup whose sting is
madness and Whose embrace Is death. There
dwells beneath that smiling surface Il ilend-
ish spirit which for centuries has been wan
dering over the earth, carrying on war OF
desoation and destruction against mankind,
blighting and mildewing the nobest afiec-
tions Of the heart, and Corrupting with its
foul breath the tide OF human l,fe, and
changing the glad, green earth into lazar
house. Gaze ON i'll But shudder as you
gaze! Those sparkling drops are murder in
disguise; 80 quiet now, yet widows groans
aud or phnns' tears and manacs' yes are in
that cup. The worm that dieth not and the
fire that is not quenched, are in that cup.
"Pcaco and hope, and love and truth, dwell
not within that fiery circle where dwells that
1esolating monster which men call rum, cor
rupt now us when IL left its native hell, Civ
ing fire To the eye, madness to the brain and
rum To the soul Rum is vile and deadly and
nccuIs.I rvtrywherc The poet would liken
it, in it, fiery glow, to the flames that flicker
around the abode of the damned The theo-
logian would point you TO the drunkarl's
life and thunder in Your ears the drunkards
doom, while the historian wonld unfold the
dark record of the past, aud point you To the
fate of empires aud Kingdoms. lurrd 20 ruin
10y the siren song of the tcmptcr. and seop.
ing now IN cold OlsCurty-the wrecks of
what was once great grand and glorious.
Ncs, rum is corrupt and vllc aud deadly and
nccurscd everywhere. Fit type and sem.
bancc of all earthly corruption
Base art thou yet, as when the wise man
warned MS of thy power and hade u, ilco
thy cnchuntmont. ' Ile art thou yet as
when thou first went forth ON thy unholy
misSiou--illug earth with dcSolat.on and
madness woe and anguish. Deadly art thou
yet us when thy cnyenumcd tooth first took
hold ON human hearts, and thy serpent
tongue first drank up thn warm life blood of
immortal souls Accused art thou yet rs
when the homes of thy first victim rotted in
a damp grave, Hnt ITS shreks echurd along
the CaVpTnS of hell Yes, thou Internal
spirit OF rum, through all past tmo hast
,hou been rs through all coming time thou
shalt be-
ACCURSED EVERYWHERE.
"In tho fiery foundations Of the still; in
the seething bubbles OF the cauldron; in the
kngly palace and the druukard's hovel; in
the rich mans cellar and the poor mans
closet. in the pestilentlal vapors OF foul dens,
and in the blaze of glded saloons in the
hand Of beauty, and on the lip Of manhood 4;
rum is vile AMI deadly and accursed every
where.
Rum, we yield not 10 thy unhallowed in
nucnce and together we have met TO plan
thy destruction. And by what new name
shall we call thee, and TO what shall we liken
thee when we speak of thy attributes: 9th
ers may call thee the child OF perdltion, the
base born progeny of sin and Satan, the mur-
derer OF mankind and the destroyer of i'm
mortal souls; but this night will give thee
n new name among men and crown thee with
n new horror, and that new name shall be
the sacramental cup of the rum power; and |
will say to all the sons and daughters OF
earth: Dash IL down! And thou, rum, shalt
be my text in my pilgrimage among men
and not alone shall nv tongue utter 1t, but
the groans of orphans in their agony and the
cries of widows in their desolatiOn shall pro
claim it the enemy of home, the traducer OF
childhood, and the destroyer Of manhood,
whose only antidote is the sacramental cup
of temperance cold water"