The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1892-01-13


found in Isaiah 2s: 1t.
INTRODUCTORY.
A lesson on temperance. What IL IL do
not speak of teetotalism or OF prohibition!
We must with due discretion fit the times
Ia the truth, and tho Scripture principlel
that spoke against the drunkenness that
prevailed then speaks to-day against the
drunkenness OF the nineteenth century. In
this age OF the world we are coming To see
that all tipping is intemperance. and IL
verges fast toward drunkenness. The aim
Is to cure the state OF society that Is "out
OF the way through strong drink" Ten
glasses then or two glasses now, whatever
sets men out of the way, Is TO be decried.
And may mighty voice go up from all the
Sunday schools OF the land against the ac-
cursed thing!
WHAT THE LESSON SAYS
Crown of pride, 1. e., the proud crown,
the proud kingdom.-To the drunkards.
Rather. of the drunkards. First meaning,
TO drink, second, to get drunk.-Ephraim.
Name applied to the ten Northern tribes.
Whose glorious beauty, etc. Literally:
To the fading blossom of its glowing splen-
dor. Tho original meaning of the word
beauty Is to swell, an added hint as to
Ephraim's pride.-Overcome with wines
Smitten, as in the Margin. is one of the
first meanings. To stamp or tread hard Is
earlier still, and perhaps from this is de-
rived the suggestive reading of Jerome In
the Douay. See Variations.
The Lord hath mighty and strong one,
!. o., the Lord himself The Hebrew, how
ever, reads, a mighty and strong one Is to
the Lord.-Wlih the hand. Possibly re-
ferring to the King OF Assyria, who was
Gods punitive hand here.
Under feet That is, the Assyrian army.
Placed first in the Hebrew for emphasis.
though last in the English.
Hasty fruit. Revision "First ripe fg."
1t may be, however, first riIe grapes, as IL
rnfnr 70 Ind off rttit hn ia IN
burst open, hence to ripen. The earliest
was OF course most apt to be seized and
eaten. He that looketh upon. One word
In the Hebrew. onlooker or Inspector
Eateth 1t up. strong word. ~ devour
greedily, to swallow. Hosea s: s. sIsrael
is swallowed up.n)
A crown of glory. In contrast with the
crown OF pride In v. 1: !. C., God-trust VS..
self-trust.-The residue. The faithful
remnant at the South, Gods judgment prov
ing all human glory to be vanity. The
first meaning OF Shaar, used here, Is to be
firm and enduring.
Turn the battle to the gate. difficult
passage. See Variations. The King james
rendering is quite literal, the reference be-
ing probably to driving the enemy back to
the gates of their own city, l. c., complete
discontinue or rout
WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES.
Woe to the crown of pride. Satan is wise,
but he often overrcaches himself His dis
continues usually result from his own
overweening arrogance. Does he not seem
TO be verging toward such now? / have
been re-reading the life of that pioneer of
modern evangelism, Elder Jacob Knapp.
He is rehearsing the origin OF the Washing
tonian movement due more to him per-
haps than to any other man. He instances
It in IA sermon en- "Why the wicked live and
why the devil lives" "Look at this case"
he says, ain modern times. In 1882 as /
friends n temDerance meeting
the other night, God sent me to Baltimore
to preach God began the work in the first
place among 6runkards The rum-sellers
became very much out Of patience because
they were losing their customers They
became very much filed with wrath and
malice toward the unworthy Baptist
preacher whom God employed in leading on
the sacramental host from conquest to con-
quest. and they swore vengeance upon him.
4 he young men constituted n temperance
society and invited me one night to preach
sermon on temperance. L agreed to do
So The rum sellers had a meeting and
appointed a delegation To go and hear my
sermon and report They came In and sat
down behind the door, and as the sermon
went on and solemn, pointed, pungent
truths were preached, they began to feel
the power OF Gods truth. After service
they went back to make a report. and the
old rum seller behind the counter said,
What report have you to makef We'll.
Salu one, we nearu II great ueal truth
than poetry, The rum seller began to
feel indignant and vindictive and poured
out his anathemas on Knapp. Il won't hear
that man abused said Mitchell. one of the
men. Il believe that he is "A good man and
that he Is doing good in the city. IL you
abuse him any more / will leave your house
Mitchell was as good as his word. He
rose up, put on his hat and said, Il will
never drink another drop In your house so
long as my name is Mitchell, and left. On
the way home, said he, why can / not re-
solve never to drink another drop any
where? will do it, said he; and that
night they got up pledge OF total absti-
hence from intoxicating drinks; and there
began the Washingtonian reform that rolled
over the Eastern States, and converted
hundreds and thousands OF inebriates."
They are out OF the way through strong
drink 1t is the disturbing element in all
our life OF to-day-strong drink. Not that
all imbibe, but that all are affected; the
air is poisoned with it. The statesmen in
Congress, even the preacher In the pulpit,
feels its dire power The little children on
their way to school catch It's fumes and
their delicate sensibilities are at first
shocked and afterward dulled You recall
the train that left the track In Indiana and
carried the three reporters to their un-
timely death. Is the suspicion wrong that
IL was whisky that misplaced the switch?
aOut OF the way through strong drink" It
seems as though whatever whisky touches
to-day 1t jostles and hurts Law, medl-
cine gospel even. Has not the time come
when we may say. alt is the DEVILS,
utterly and completely the devils? Let 1t
alone!n
Line upon line, line upon line; here
little and there n little. The reference Is
to dull, prosaic beating In Of the truth.
But Is there any better way? IL Is the
persistent proclaim ton OF the sober truth
OF God that after awhile, under tho Spirits
influence. brings the proud heart to yield.
Blow upon blow, blow upon blow, no one
perhaps sharper or stronger than another.
but there at last the hard rock has split
asunder, and the work Is accomplished.
Grant and Sherman held conference I'm
the fall OF "a and agreed together upon
"a hammering campaign" Nothing brill
iaut, just a steady pounding away. Sher-
man did his work at the South. Grant to
the North Both worked steadily, slowly.
No great victories no startling achieve
ments, but then In the spring the war was
over. The hammers had won.