The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-19

SERMON ON STRONG DRINK.
TIE DRUNRARD's LOSSES.


The first suffering of the drunkard
is in the loss of mis- good ame. God
has so arranged it that no man ever
loses his good name except through
his own act. All the hatred of men,
and all the assaults of devils, can
not destroy mans good name, if
he really maintains his integrity. If
a man Is industrious and pure and
Christian, God looks after him. AL
though he may be bombarded for
twenty or thirty years, his integrity
is never lost and his good name Is
never sacrificed. No force on earth
or In hell can capture such a Glbr>
altar But when it is said of q man,
HE drinks" and it can be proved,
then what employer wants him for a
workman what store wants him for
q clerk? what church wants him for
a member? who will trust him? what
dying man would appoint him his
executor lie may have been forty
years in building up his reputation
it goes down. Letters of recommend
alton, the backing up of business
firms, brilliant ancestry, cannot
save him. Whyi 1t is whispered
all through the community, "He
drinks he drinksn' That blasts
hin.
When man loses his reputation
for sObriety he might as we'll be at
the bottom of the sea. There are
lnen here who have their good name
as their only capital. You are now
achieving your own livelihood, under
God, By your own right arm. Now
look out that there 10 no doubt Of
your sObrlety. Do not create any
suspicion by going IN and out of i'm
moral places, or by any odor of your
breath, or by any glare of your eye,
or by any unnatural flush of your
cheek. You cannot afford to do it,
ior your good n"me is your only
capital. and whc that is blasted
with the reputati, Of taxi strona
dirk, all is gone.
another loss " III tie inebriate
suffers is chat of self respect, Just
as soon as man wakes up and finds
that he is the captive Of strong
drink, he feels demeaned. | do not
care how reckless hC acts. He may
say. 81 don't care;' he does care.
He cannot look pure man In the
eye, unless it IS with positive force
of resolution. Three-fourths of his
nature Is destroyed. His
sELF-RESPECT GONE.
he SAYS things he would not other
wise say; he does things he would
not otherwise do. When man is
nIne -tenths gone with strong drink
the first thing be wants to do Is to
persuade you that he can stop any
| time he wants to. He cannot. The
PhiGstlnes have bound him hand
and foot, and shorn his locks, and
put out his eyes. and are making
him grind in the mill Of great horror
He cannot stop. I will prove it. He
knows !hat his course is bringing
disgrace and ruin upon himself, He
loves himself. If he could step, he
would. He knows his course is
bringing rum upon his family Ht
loves them. He would stop Z he
could. II cannot. Perhaps be coult
three months or year ago: mo-
now. just ask him to stop for :
month. He knows he cannot, SO ht
does not try.
go further, aad say that the in,
eb-iate suffers
LOSS OF USEFULNESS.
Do you no: recognize the fact tha
many of those who are now captives
OF strong drink, only little while
ago meIo foremost in the churche:
and in the reSormatory institutions
Do YOU not know that sometime!
! ti,nr Ln-l In the family ntrcln2 IL