Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1889-08-24

ard unkempt, want on every
patch of their faded dress and on every
wrinkle of their p~rematurely Old Gown
~tenances. who would have been in
| churches today, and as well clad as you
are, but for the fact that rum destroyed
their parents and drove them into the
| grave. Oh, rum! thou foe Of God, thou
| despoiler of homes, thou recruiting ON
| Ger of the pit, abhor thee
But nv subject takes a deeper tone,
and that is, that the inebriate suffers
from the loss of the soul. The Bible in
| Inmates that in the future world, if we
are unforgiven here, our bad passions
| and appetites, unrestrained, will go along
| with us and make cur torment there. SO
that l suppose when an inebriate wakes
up in the lost world he will feel an in
finite thirst clawing on him. Now, down
in tue world, although he may have been
very poor, he could beg, or he could
steal 5 cents with which TO get that
which would Stake his thirst for q little
while; but in eternity, where is the Ium
to come from? Dives could not get
one drop of water. From what chalice
of eternal fires will the no.
lips of the drunkard drain his
draught? No mi to brew it. No one
to mix it. No one 10 pour il. No n
: to fetch it. Millions Of worlds then for
the dregs which the young man just now
| s!ung on the sawdusted floor of the res
t%aurant. Millions of worlds nov for the
rind thrown out from the punch bow Of
an earthly banquet. Dives cried for
water. The inebriate cries for um.
| Oh, the deep, exbausting, exasperating,
| everlasting thirst Of the drunkard in he'll!
| Why, if a fienc anne up TO earth for
some internal work in a grog shop, ana
should 90 back taking on its wing just
one drop of that for which the inebriate
in the lost world longs, what excitement
il would make there. Put that n drop
from off the tend's wing on the tip OF
the tongue of the destroyed inebriate'
let the liquid brightness just touch il, let
the drop be very small if it only have in
it the smack Of alcoholic drink, let that
drop Just touch the lcct inebriate IN the
lost world, and he would spring TO his
feet and cry: That is rum, aha that is
ruml" and it would wake up the echoes
| Of the damned: Give me rum Give
me rum, Give me rum In the future
world, ! do not believe that it will be the
absence of God that will make the drunk
ards sorrow; | do not believe that il will
be the absence Of light; do not believe
that it will be the absence Of holiness;
think it will be the absence of strong
drink. Oh, look not upon the wine
when ii is red, when il moveth itself
Alright in the cup, for at the last, il biteth
like a serpent and it stingeth like an
adder"
But want IN conclusion TO say one thing
.-,o-ol g. H., mot 1iba a nrprn th.t
has no personalities in it. Perhaps this
has not had that fault already. | want to
say to those who are the victims Of strong
drink, that while | q declare that there was
a point hey ond which a man could not
stop, | want to tell you that while ii man
cannot stop in his W strength, the Lord
God, by his grace, can help him 10 stop
at any time. Years ago | was in a room
in New York where there were many men
who had been reclaimed from drunken.
ness. | heard their testimony, and for
the first time in my life there flashed out
a truth | never understood. They said:
1--WE were victims of strong drink. We
tried to give it up, but always failed; but
somehow, since we gave our hearts 70
Christ, he has taken care Of US" ! be.
lieve that the time will soon come when
the grace of God will show its power
here not only TO a the mans soul, but
his body, and reconstruct, purify, elevate
and redeem it. / verify believe that,
although you feel graphing al the roots
of your tongues an almost omnipotent
thirst, il you will this moment
give your heart to God he will
help you, by his grace, to conquer. Try
it. /. is your last chance. | have looked
off upon the desolation. Sitting under
my ministry there are people in awful
peril from strong drink, and, judging
from ordinary circumstances. there is not
one chance ia 5000 that they will get
clear of it. l see men in this congrega-
ton of whom ! must make the remark
that, if they do not change their course,
within ten years they will, as to their
bodies, lie down in %drunkards' graves;
and as their souls, lie down in a drunk
ards perdition. / know that il is an
awful thing to say, but can't help say
ing it. Oh, beware! You have not yet
been captured. Beware! AS you open
the door of your wine closet today, may
that dtcanter flash out upon you. Be-
ware. and when you pour the beverage
into the glass, in the foam at the top, in
white letters, let there be spelled out 70
your soul, "Bewarep' When the books
of Judgment are open, and 10, 900, 900
drunkards come up to get their doom,
| want you to bear witness that
| today, in the fear Of God, and in the
love for your soul, told you with al sf-
lection, and with all kindness, to beware
Of that which has already exerted its in
fluence upon your family, blowing cut
some of its lights-a ~premonition Of the
blackness of darkness forever. Oh, il
YOU could only hear this moment, intern
perance, with drunkard's bones, drum
| ming on the head OF the wine cask the
| Dead March Of immortal souls, methinks
| the very glance Of q wine cup would
| make you shudder, and the color OF the
liquor would make you think Of the
| blood Of the soul, and the foam on the
top of the cup would remind you of the
| froth on the maniac's lip, and you would
T! 90 home from this service and kneel
down and pray God that. rather than
your children should become captiyes Of
this evil habit, you would like to carry
them out some bright spring day 10 the
cemetery and put them away to the last
sleep, until at the call of the south wind
! the flowers would come up all over the
grave-sweet prophesies OF The resurrec-
ton. God has q balm for such a wound;
| but what flower of comfort ever grew
| on the blasted heath Of a drunkard 6