Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-03-24
Practical TempereDca

A paper read by T. c. johnson be-
fore the I. o. Il. T. of Phillipsburg
! Almost 1000 years ago the wise king
OF Israel gave utterance to this Lam
guage: Wine is a mocker and strono
drink is raging; and whosoever IS de-
celved thereby is not wise" The same
person also used these words. who
hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who
hath contentious? Who hath babbl-
ing? Who hath wounds without a
cause? Who hath redness of eyesP
They that tarry long at the wine; thew
that go to seek mixed wine" In the
mind of Solomon, it seems that WINE
or strong drink was the author of very
much or the misery which was suffer-
ed by the people. His first statement
that wine is mocker," was the only
legitimate conclusion at which an OBJ
serving mind could arrive. The splen-
dor of oriental cities was at it's most
dazzling stage. The wealth of ma
tions then in existence was at its zenith.
Mingled with. and prominent part
of the pagentry of that time was the
conviyial bowl. The great sin of in
temperance had become so prominent
IN the various lands of the east, that
the Votaries of Bachus were becoming
more and more numerous, until IT be-
gan TO dawn upon the minds of the
truly God fearing people, that
through the subtle influences of the
demon of intemperance, the love and
reverence for the God of Abraham
was becoming more and more cold.
1t was great blessing for the world
that Solomon was raised MP at this
time, for the Jewish nation had be-
come very great and it was with them
as it has been with every nation in
the history of the world. They be-
gan to trust in their own strength and
forgot God. So we say it was great
blessing for the world that Solomon
was made king, for we learn that
when the Lord appeared to him and
babe him ''Ask what shall give thee"
instead of asking the Lord for more
wealth and to be enabled to affect the
conquest of the rest of the world he
said, GIVE me wisdom and knowl-
edge" and we find that God granted
hun his desires in such great measure
that none that went before him nor
that came after HIM was like unto
him. The list of questions which he
asked and which you will find in the
23d chapter of Proverbs, 18th verse
is one which the searcher after the
most potent cause of misery in the
world in this the last part of the nine
teenth century may study, and, ia the
answers which he must give to them
find very nearly the solution of the
M IL 1 !
and said that it was good, and had
made it pleasant home for his last
and noblest creation; yet here we find
the one who had been endowed by
God with superhuman wisdom declar-
ing that a certain class OF his crea-
lures had become the subjects of woes,
sorrows, contentious, babbliDgs, and
wounds-lCithOm cause. We find
that God had created man in his own
image; beautiful, upright, bright.
eyed and intelligent being, yet we
find in many instances that he de-
scended from his high estate until he
had become a blear eyed. staggering,
babbling, contentious creature. Sol
ONION understood all of the trouble,
and in his imprisoned manner asks
who is it that is this way? Then fol-
lows his own answer. It IS not the
man upon whose shoulders rests the
cares of this great nation necessarily.
1t is not of necessity the one who goes
forth to legitimate business pursuits
1t is not the student. 1t is not the
one who officiates at the holy altar
and burns the midnight oil in order
that he may be able to instruct his
fellow man in the way of holiness. 1t
is not the poor day laborer. even
though his life be ever so humble, his
lot ever so hard No. Solomon does
not tell us that it is any of the legiti-
mate vocatlons of life that brings
these things upon men, but he tells us
plainly that the one who are subject
to all of them are, They that tarry
long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine" Then he gives the on
ly safe rule by which we can be gov
erned--''Look not upon the wine"
the only absolutely sure way in which
we can go, and the reason he tells us
to abstain from the cursed bowl is,
that sat the last 1t blteth like a SER
pent, and stingeth like an adder" I
know that those who drink in moder-
alton tell us that they can take their
social glass and stop; that no evil eff
feet follows, and that their hands are
as steady and their brain as clear as
those of the one who abstains, but, go
with me to the public games or gath
ering of any kind, and if there should
be bottle or two along, how soon
you can notice it. How soon it is that
you will notice the unnatural bright
ness of the eye. the unwonted loud
ness of the voice, and the fitfulness of
the temper of him who has drank ION
" a social drink" In an instance like
this you see how easy 1t is for one to
pour a demon down his throat and
how readily his reason and judgment
resign their seat, and give way to the
demon of evil and passions. All, my
moderate drinking friend may be ex-
cused for saying that he feels no evil
effects from his libations when we IN
derstand that every time he pouTs a
glass of liquor down his throat, his
brain is numbed to a certain extent
so that he does not feel perhaps what
his body IS suffering. but let him keep
on in his moderation, and he Will
surely find that ''At the last it biteth
like q serpent and stingeth like An
adder" As my moderate drinking
friend, if he Is here Will notice that I
an arguing from a religious point, he
might be impelled to ask, "Why did
God create such an evil as alcohol7"
To this I would reply, God never did
create alcohol We might with the
same propriety ask, why did God Gre
ate gunpowder. or dynamite or any Of
the destructive engines of war with